PRICE DATA FROM THE MOST RECENT ARCADE AND PINBALL AUCTION - Kalahari Auction Report Part 2

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Oct 6, 2021

Analysis

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TL;DR

Kalahari auction prices lower than Museum due to lack of online bidding and regional reach.

Summary

Knapp Arcade reports on hammer prices from a recent Kalahari Resort auction in Pennsylvania, featuring pinball and arcade games. The article analyzes why prices were significantly lower than the Museum of Pinball collection auction, citing lack of online bidding, limited publicity, and regional scope. Notable sales include Jersey Jack Wizard of Wizard of Oz #14 at $9,300 and No Good Gofers at $4,100.

Key Claims

Jersey Jack Wizard of Wizard of Oz #14 sold for $9,300 at Kalahari auction
high confidence · Article cites hammer price from Mark Davidson's Basement Arcade consolidated report on the Kalahari auction
Kalahari auction prices were significantly lower than Museum of Pinball collection auction prices
high confidence · Knapp Arcade author's direct comparison and analysis of both auctions
Online bidding availability was the primary driver of higher prices at Museum of Pinball auction
medium confidence · Author's analysis citing Captain's Warehouse enabling international bidding from Europe and Australia
Museum of Pinball auction received major media coverage including New York Times and NBC News
high confidence · Author's observation of publicity reach for Museum auction
Kalahari auction lacked online bidding option, limiting bidder pool to in-person attendees
high confidence · Article explicitly notes absence of online bidding as factor depressing prices

Notable Quotes

“Christmas is coming and the supply of gifts available for people to purchase is low due to supply chain problems. People will pay up for games for the holiday.”
Knapp Arcade — Market insight from venue operators regarding holiday demand pressure on arcade/pinball pricing during supply constraints
“I have come to the conclusion that the current market for games likely lies somewhere between the two.”
[name withheld pending review] — Framework for understanding actual pinball/arcade market valuation between two major auctions
“People who had lots of money to spend, not only in the United States but in Europe and Australia, where the prices of all games are higher, could bid on games from the comfort of their couch.”
[name withheld pending review] — Explains international price premium effect on Museum auction and global market dynamics

Entities

Mark DavidsonpersonKnapp ArcadeorganizationCaptain's WarehousecompanyMuseum of PinballvenueKalahari ResortvenueJersey Jack PinballcompanyBasement ArcadewebsiteBarcadeorganization PAPAorganization

Signals

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market_signal: Kalahari Resort auction shows depressed pricing compared to Museum of Pinball auction; regional, in-person-only sales yield lower valuations than internationally-accessible online auctions
high · Jersey Jack Wizard of Oz Prototype #14 at $9,300; Williams No Good Gophers at $4,100; Stern Lord of the Rings at $6,000 vs. Museum auction prices
$
market_signal: Secondary market pinball/arcade valuations heavily dependent on bidding accessibility and geographic reach; international collector pools drive premium pricing
high · Museum of Pinball auction with online bidding attracted European and Australian collectors; Kalahari's in-person-only format suppressed demand
?
supply_chain_signal: Holiday season supply chain constraints creating upward price pressure on arcade/pinball games as alternative gift options amid low inventory
medium · Retailers attending auction reported holiday demand narrative: 'Christmas is coming and supply of gifts is low due to supply chain problems'
?
venue_signal: First major pinball/arcade auction held in Northeastern U.S. in several years; limited awareness and word-of-mouth promotion kept attendance lower than potential
medium · Author notes limited publicity spread compared to Museum auction; expects higher attendance/prices if second Kalahari auction held with more awareness
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market_signal: Sentimental value and historical connection drive premium pricing in specialty auctions; games with venue history command above-baseline valuations
medium · Author notes willingness to pay premium for games with personal history from arcades like PAPA or Museum of Pinball

Transcript

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Hooray! Mark Davidson's consolidated hammer prices for the pinball and arcade industry's most recent auction at Kalahari Resort in Pennsylvania are now available. Here's a link to his report on his awesome Basement Arcade website: http://basementarcade.com/Auction%20106.html If you've never checked out his site before, it's a must visit. Let's take a look at the prices paid for a few select games. Remember these are the hammer prices. On top of this, buyers had to pay a 10% Buyer's Premium to the auction house, a 3% fee if they used a credit card and Pennsylvania state sales tax of 6% because they were buying in person. BattleZone: $1,300 A fair price paid for a very nice example sold by the folks from Barcade Oct-O-Score redemption game: Ten Bucks! Skeeball Super 21 $175! Jersey Jack Wizard of Oz Prototype #14 $9,300 Atari Relief Pitcher $150 Sticker Machine (which turns out to have been loaded with 700 stickers that are actually worth more than you'd expect) $50 Various Merit MegaTouches The nice ones like these went for $400 to $600. Older generation and standup ones went for MUCH less than that. Skeeball Strike It Rich Free! Arachnid Dart Games Anywhere from $700 for the Galaxy 2.5s to $2,000+ for the Bull Shooters and New In Box Fire Taito Birdie King 3 $25 Sega Altered Beast $200 Midway Arctic Thunder $450 - $500 Gottlieb Bell Ringer $700 Williams Robotron $1,100 Sega Virtua Cop 2 $150 Bally Joust (no not the famous Joust pin lol) $100 Gottlieb Street Fighter $2,500 Stern Monopoly $2,900 Stern Stars (trashed) $250 Arkanoid Cabaret (likely formerly a Pac-Man?) $850 Herbie pinball machine $375 Williams Cyclone - $1,600 Williams No Good Gophers - $4,100 Stern Lord of the Rings (not in great shape) - $6,000 Gumball Pinball Machines The better of the two went for $50 This represents just a small sample of the amazing pricing data that Mark has at his site. I encourage everyone to click on the link to his article and check out the full list for the prices of things from new pinball machines like Aerosmith to classics like Hurricane and Data East Simpsons to all sorts of arcade games. You can even compare the auction prices today to other auctions that he has data for over a decade ago. It's a wealth of information! I've thought quite a bit about the prices that I saw that day and how they were significantly lower than the prices paid for games at the Banning Museum of Pinball collection auction. I have come to the conclusion that the current market for games likely lies somewhere between the two. The prices at the Museum auction ended up being higher than the real market for these main reasons: Publicity: The auction received a massive amount of publicity. I saw articles on it in just about every major publication, from the New York Times to NBC News. Online Bidding: The huge publicity in itself wouldn't have driven up prices as much for an in-person auction, BUT Captain's Warehouse put the Museum of Pinball bidding online. That was the real game changer. People who had lots of money to spend, not only in the United States but in Europe and Australia, where the prices of all games are higher, could bid on games from the comfort of their couch. Big collectors used the auction to pick up games that they normally wouldn't be able to find and the European arcade community had access to things that they rarely see at the push of a button. Sentimental Value: Even I would be willing to pay a little more for a game that I enjoyed playing at a venue over the years, whether it's PAPA or the Museum. There's something cool about owning a piece of history, even more so if you have fond memories of hanging out with friends and family there. The opposite of these trends worked against the recent Kalahari auction. While I knew about it because I follow the hobby obsessively, many local people who are into pinball and arcade games did not. Information about it seemed to spread more by word of mouth than anything. Part of the reason for that is this was the first auction that I am aware of being held in the Northeastern U.S. in several years. If this company has a second auction, more people would likely attend as we hopefully see COVID numbers decline and word of the decent prices at the first event spreads. Again though, the lack of online bidding will always keep prices lower for an auction than they would be if anyone in the world could bid on a game. The one trend that I heard retailers who attended the auction repeat a number of times was "Christmas is coming and the supply of gifts available for people to purchase is low due to supply chain problems. People will pay up for games for the holiday." You know what? That makes a lot of sense. So there you have it, Part 2 of my report on the recent arcade industry auction. I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I did attending it and hanging out with friends in the hobby. Make sure to bookmark the Knapp Arcade site and check back because later this month is the Fall Arcade Road Trip (TM) with lots of visits to amazing arcades.