I personally travelled the entire country buying machines from container importers.
I saw the cost prices paid by the importers who were and became mostly good friends.
Games like Star Wars Data East were C grade titles and honestly were being offered for retail $1400 to $1800 in QLd espescially. Lower for nice but needing attention, higher at 1800 for plug n play n needing absolutely nothing. If I didnt see at least 50 of these and almost every title you can imagine come out of containers, I would be underestimating the numbers easily. These games were on offer by overseas container exporters for $400 to $600 max.
I remember sitting with many importers and suggesting what titles to pick and why wtc.
A Data East Star Wats is not worth more than $4 K even if it was owned by the President of the USA.
I was buying brand new Sterns like ACDC Pro or X Men Pro or Star Trek Pro etc etc and so on for close to 6 grand and mid to just over mid 6 grand in BNIB - brand spanking new.
May I ask how long ago was this ?
If it was when the AUD was around 1 to 1, then with what the AUD is now, then that explains some of the value ?
Without checking my home computer cause I am out in the car, travelled widely and saw containers bought in and unloaded dozens of times over For a 3 year plus period around 2008 to about late 2011 if not a bit later.
Importers in Qld were always buying more and paying less. I think people in other states were paying more but the QLders were buying containers like there was a mad gold rush going on.
If it wasn't for the glut n cheap pricing I wouldn't have packed my Santa stocking with well over 50 pins in only a 3 year period.
I don't think the dollar really had anything to do with it. The prices pins could be had for were chicken feed from the Euro container sellers. And the myth that only junk came from Euro imports was exactly that, a myth.
Most machines I saw pulled out of many containers were in excellent n working condition.
Have seen a few containers come in this last 24 months and the pricing was
