Pinball pricing.. useless but interesting information.

[Retropin]

Here are some statistics... in 1936 US was going through the worst depression it has ever know.
Average wage was $1713.00
Bally Bumper retailed at $64.50 ( thousands were sold!) which equated to 3.8% of the average yearly wage.


2012.. another US depression.

Average yearly wage was $47000
ACDC Pro retails for $5699 which equates to 12% of the average yearly wage
ACDC LE retails for $8500 which equates to 18% of the average yearly wage


..Nearly 20% of the average wage for an LE???... its a rich mans hobby

[Freiherr]

And if you compare games, you can see why pinballs are no longer profitable to operators. If you blew your whole 1936 wage on pinballs at 5c per game, you would play 34, 260 games compared to 47, 000 games in 2012 at $1 a pop. This is roughly the same so the relative price per game has not changed much over time. The cost of a machine however has gone up 100 times. Who would want to be an operator with those numbers?

[Retropin]

And if you compare games, you can see why pinballs are no longer profitable to operators. If you blew your whole 1936 wage on pinballs at 5c per game, you would play 34, 260 games compared to 47, 000 games in 2012 at $1 a pop. This is roughly the same so the relative price per game has not changed much over time. The cost of a machine however has gone up 100 times. Who would want to be an operator with those numbers?

Ooh.. i like the expanding of the figures!!

It can be argued that the Bally Bumper was a much simpler game than that of modern day, but i deliberately chose it as it introduced the bumper to the machine and so tooling, labour and extra materials have to be factored into that price.. despite this.. it was affordable and priced to SELL

[Caveoftreasures]

In 2010, apx 75 percent of all USA citizens earnt less than $50,000 p.a.   Of that 75%, over 50% earnt less than $25,000.

Making a ACDC Pro pinny (at dealer $4795 delivered std pricing), even more expensive to the average buyer, cause only 50% of all Americans earnt between 25 and 50 K per annum.

It would seem that Aussies are better off $ than our USA counterparts these days. Makes u love Australia even more.
Good thread Gav.

[Retropin]

America is a strange place with very wide polarities. When i was about 23 i spent a long time in New York.. had a job.. woman... place on E17th street Manhatten to live in. The poverty back then was just unbelievable and at the sametime.. the wealth of others. I knew a stock broker.. penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park.
I would drink and shoot pool on the lower east side.
When i first went over there, i had intended on staying and living. I changed my mind.. its whole system has zero compassion and i found it hard to come to terms with.. life was cheap and also had a value that could be bought and sold.
Since then ive always been grateful for any country that has a safety net for those that fall on their luck.. it what makes us human beings.
Ive been to a lot of countries and have still to find one like USA.. you dont want to hit hard times in USA.

75% earning less than $50K is astounding.. and they are on the figures.. there are also those who live in the subways and will shoe shine dog shit if you pay them.. they are not on the figures and are very real.

Just goes to show how marginal the pinball market is..

[Strangeways]

The depression hit hard and then the "good times" started in the early 40's and then the USA was dragged into WWII. It is like a vicious cycle. The budget pours money into defense, yet the poor live on the streets. The rest of the world are safe in the knowledge that the USA Armed Forces will answer to aggressive countries. But the sad reality is that there is a huge problem with the homeless. The armed forces are protecting a country that is almost broke anyway.

I would have loved to walk into the Bally factory in the 70's. Tens of thousands of units per year. The Americans knew how to play. Just like they did in the early 40's..

I hope to go to the USA for a pinball pilgrimage next year.

[joele]

Since then ive always been grateful for any country that has a safety net for those that fall on their luck.. it what makes us human beings.

+1, makes me sad that people want to be like America and eliminate the 'socialism' from our system, at times we are pulling that way and then pull back a little.. depends who is in power I guess..

But on topic, I found your OP very interesting, if you look at something like housing though the decrease in affordability is just as high!