This Month's Pinball Market April 2025

LoserKid Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·9m 35s·analyzed·Mar 31, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

April 2025 pinball market shows historic price collapses for Stern, mixed JJP results, American Pinball crisis.

Summary

Josh Roop analyzes April 2025 pinball secondary market data from Stern, Jersey Jack, American Pinball, Spooky, and Barrels of Fun, reporting significant price declines across most manufacturers due to economic pressure and market saturation. Stern games show historic lows (Pro models at $4,500), Jersey Jack maintains stronger pricing with some titles appreciating (Willy Wonka +7%, Pirates +12%), American Pinball faces severe depreciation (Barbecue down 22-25%), Spooky's Evil Dead sells out while older stock declines, and Barrels' Labyrinth holds value near Stern premium pricing.

Key Claims

Stern Pro models selling as low as $4,500, lowest prices in 6-7 years
high confidence · Speaker has direct marketplace data from Pinside; states this is lowest he's seen in 11 years in the hobby
Venom LE down to $8,100, Premium $7,100, Pro $4,500 with 10-12 units each sitting unsold
high confidence · Direct observation of Pinside marketplace listings
American Pinball Barbecue down 22-25% year-over-year since release ~1 year ago
high confidence · Specific price tracking data; speaker expresses concern about company viability
Spooky Evil Dead just sold out at Texas Pinball Festival
high confidence · Speaker congratulates Spooky on sellout; directly witnessed event
Spooky Ultraman dropped 44% since 2021 COVID-era release, now selling at $5,000
high confidence · Historical price comparison data from marketplace
Jersey Jack doing fire sales on Toy Story 4 with topper for $10K brand new in box
high confidence · Direct observation of current JJP promotional pricing
Led Zeppelin machines gaining second wind on secondary market because Stern stopped production
medium confidence · Hearsay from distributors; speaker states 'I'm hearing from distributors'
Current market is 'definitely a buyer's market' with historically low prices across manufacturers
high confidence · Aggregate observation of multiple manufacturers' pricing data

Notable Quotes

“Stern in mid-fours is pretty crazy. I haven't seen this for at least six, seven years now.”
Josh Roop (Loser Kid Pinball) @ ~2:20 — Emphasizes historic pricing lows for Stern Pro models at $4,500
“If you don't have to get rid of these games, don't sell them right now because it is definitely a buyer's market.”
Josh Roop @ ~1:40 — Direct market advice to sellers; signals distressed market conditions
“I haven't ever seen Sterns lower than $4,500 and I've been in this hobby eleven years now. And I think the lowest I ever bought a Stern used was $4,200. And that was a Star Wars.”
Josh Roop @ ~15:50 — Historical context for current market lows; establishes credibility via personal experience
“I don't know what to say about American Pinball... There's just so many red flags here.”
Josh Roop @ ~9:30 — Expresses serious concern about American Pinball's viability despite company leadership transition
“The pinball market is looking, it's looking kind of bleak.”
Josh Roop @ ~13:40 — Overall market sentiment assessment; indicates broader economic/demand issues
“People just want this game. [Pirates of the Caribbean]”
Josh Roop @ ~8:00 — Notes unexplained demand surge for specific Jersey Jack title (+12% appreciation)
“If you can find yourself one of these [Scooby-Doo first run TNA] at 6,300, that is a great deal.”
Josh Roop @ ~10:50 — Identifies value opportunity in specific production run variant
“Once the economy bounces back, problem is, I don't know when that is. I don't have a crystal ball.”
Josh Roop @ ~14:30 — Speaker attributes market weakness to broader economic conditions; acknowledges uncertainty

Entities

Josh Roopperson Loser Kid Pinball PodcastorganizationStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany American PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyBarrels of FuncompanyZach and Nicole Mannyperson

Signals

?
business_signal: American Pinball showing severe distress with Barbecue down 22-25% one year post-release; speaker questions company viability despite leadership transition
high · 'There's just so many red flags here' and 'Year over year, you are losing value on all American Pinball games'
?
business_signal: Jersey Jack conducting fire sales on Toy Story 4 (LE down to $7K, CE $9.5K; new with topper $10K) and Guns N' Roses (LE down to $7K) to clear inventory ahead of Harry Potter announcement
high · Direct observation of promotional pricing; coincides with Harry Potter announcement
?
community_signal: Led Zeppelin secondary market appreciation (+3%) attributed to production halt; 'starting to catch some second wind' due to scarcity and band merchandising appeal
medium · 'I'm hearing from distributors that Led Zeppelin is actually starting to catch some second wind... because they're not producing any more'
?
event_signal: Spooky Evil Dead sold out at Texas Pinball Festival immediately upon release; indicates strong demand for new Spooky titles despite general market weakness
high · 'They just sold out. Congrats, guys, at TPF'; speaker witnessed event
$
market_signal: Multiple manufacturers reporting inventory accumulation with sellers actively reducing prices to move machines; market described as 'sitting' with 10-12 units per game title
high · 'A lot of people are just trying to drop prices to get rid of them' and specific inventory counts cited

Topics

Secondary market pricing trends across manufacturersprimaryEconomic market conditions impacting pinball salesprimaryAmerican Pinball company viability and depreciationprimaryJersey Jack Harry Potter announcement impact on back catalogsecondarySpooky Evil Dead release and market receptionsecondaryStern manufacturing strategy and pricing pressuresecondaryValue opportunities for buyers in depressed marketmentionedLed Zeppelin secondary market appreciation due to production haltmentioned

Sentiment

negative(-0.68)— Speaker expresses significant concern about market conditions, using words like 'bleak,' 'red flags,' 'shocked,' and 'lowest point.' However, tempers this with advice that current conditions create buyer opportunities. Overall tone is cautionary and worried about economic outlook while providing useful market data.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.029

All right, I got a handful of numbers from current manufacturer producing games. I've got Stern, Jersey Jack, American Spooky, and Barrels of Fun. It may be April 1st, but these numbers are no jokes. This is this month's Pinball Market. All right, sorry, that joke was a little terrible. First, before I jump into these numbers, thanks to Zach and Nicole Menny at Flip N Out Pinball. thank you for for supporting us for sponsoring our content without you there would be no loser kid i also want to thank all those that support us via patreon if you haven't done that so far you can go on right now and do that also server ball swag can give you plenty of our stuff if you're looking for that as well also thanks to pin side and pinball prices.com with 10 fiddly without those sites i wouldn't be able to do this kind of content all right let's start with these stern numbers down right now. I hope this is no shock to you. Venom LE. Right now I saw one for $8,100 or best offer. Premium $7,100. Pro as low as $4,500 and not selling. We have a handful of games, anywhere from 10 to 12 of each one of these that I'm talking about today are just sitting. A lot of people are just trying to drop prices to get rid of them. If you don't have to get rid of these games, don't sell them right now because it is definitely a buyer's market. If you are looking for new pinball, honestly, now is your time. Stearns in mid fours is pretty crazy. I haven't seen this for at least six, seven years now. All right, Foo Fighters, LE in Michigan for $76.50. That's if it hasn't already sold as I've recorded this. Premium is down 4% and Pro is down 12%. If you're looking for a fantastic game with great code depth, Foo Fighters is where it's at. I can't tell you why these are holding out. I've heard rumors of maybe it's because of Dave Grohl and the drama going on with him. Maybe just people are tapped out on this Foo Fighters theme. It's a great design by Jack Danger. Code's wonderful by Raymond Davidson. I don't get it. All right. Black Knight Sword of Rage. LE dropped 14% over the last month. Sold for $8,800. You're going to see a lot of these double-digit percentages. It's kind of shocking. Beatles Gold dropped 13 Sold for That was an awesome game for TMNT Pro with almost 9 plays It sitting at on Pinside right now Stranger Things Pro in California on Pinside right now All right, up. Deadpool Premium is up 3%. So I'm still good. But the Pro did go down 10%. Iron Maiden Premium's up 13%. percent. Jaws premium up two percent and Led Zeppelin of all games is up three percent. I'm hearing from distributors that Led Zeppelin is actually starting to catch some second wind and really selling well on the secondary market because they're not producing any more. And Led Zeppelin is quite the band that holds its weight when it comes to merchandise. All right, let's move on to Jersey Jack Pinball. They just announced Harry Potter. And so, you know, you might want to catch up on some of their back catalog if you've been waiting to get some of these games i know a lot of people have been saying they wanted elton john to come down in price but honestly let's get to elton john here a second let's get to down right now guns and roses le sitting as low as 7k the se so the standard version i've seen for 5100 ces are actually retaining their value so i wouldn't be barking about tree too much toy story 4 le as low as 7k ce as low as 9500 right now jjp is doing fire cells and they're doing it on toy story 4 with a topper for 10k brand new in box so you're pretty much same thing right and then the gnr le they're doing for nine um i mean as low as 7k you're still saving a couple bucks going to use there but for if you've been looking for that toy story 4 and you want the CE, there you go. Elton John CE sold for $1,305. So that means it's down like $1,500, but still it's pretty fine compared to everything else that's going on with Jersey Jack. Let's talk about the ups. Willy Wonka sold for $1,305, bringing up 7%. I don't know what's going on with Willy Wonka. It's a fine game. It really is. Pat Lawler did a great job with it. And so, You know, it's a wonderful theme. Also, Pirates of the Caribbean Standard sold for 19K. This brought it up by 12%. People just want this game. All right, let's move on to American. Down Berrio Barbecue Classic This is the standard edition essentially It took a 22 hit selling as low as If this is a game you've been waiting for, you can find them. Year over year, you are losing value on all American games. Like Houdini loses the least amount of value over the year, over its lifespan. And it's only lost 8%. percent but barbecue is on the high end and it's lost 25 and this game just came out like a year or so ago i mean i just i don't know what to say about american and really on the upside for american i don't know if there is one at this point there's just so many red flags here um i would like to hope and see with them turning the page to a new chapter in their company that something will change, but we will see. Spooky just released Evil Dead. People are loving that game. It's getting rave reviews. They just sold out. Congrats, guys, at TPF. Right now, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is down 8% from $8,500 to $8,000. $500 is $500. Scooby-Doo and both the TNA runs are down 3%. The first run just had one sell for 6,300. My opinion, the first run was one of the best runs of the TNA. If you can find yourself one of these at 6,300, that is a great deal. Down also, this one kind of blew me away. Ultraman. I know you're not shocked to that, but it has dropped 44% since its initial release. Remember, this is a game that released at the height of COVID in 2021. It was the counterpart to Halloween and it was, it's now just selling at five grand. If you want an Ultraman and you want a spooky, it's probably the game you should go for right now on the up and up Alice Cooper's nightmare castles up 8% from its original release. And it is holding steady at $6,800. Pretty good. And this one kind of took me from left field. I wasn't expecting this. Domino's is up by 12% from its initial release. There's not a ton of these floating around out there. And the last one sold in like 2023. But still, it's holding its value at 5800 People are still re relisting this occasionally And so I mean if you really want on Domino you don have to worry about taking much of a hit with it Barrels of fun I know they only released one game so this was kind of easy That's why I tacked it on here, but barrels of fun. The rumor is, is they're getting close. I mean, they've been announced in an email themselves. They're getting close to releasing the next game, right? Wrapping up labyrinths. They release a labyrinth MSRP at 10, six, one just sold used for 92 50. That's 13% down. there's a handful of these on pin side right now but they're all hovering around 10k so my thought process is is the 92 50 it's still a lot of money for a game right like you're still it's where foo fighters not foo fighters venom is setting at 4500 and not moving i'm not complaining if i have a labyrinth and i sell it for 92 50 right you're still getting in at pretty much all the way at a Stern premium. If you felt inclined to move from barrels of fun to Stern, you know, the pinball market is looking, it's looking kind of bleak. Um, it's, it's nothing selling at this point. If you have a pinball machine that you've been thinking about selling, I would just hold off. Um, unless you really need to move it. I know there's some people out there, economic times are hard right now. And so people are just trying to squeeze a dime out of wherever they can find it. but I, you can get a lot more value later on out of these pinball machines. Once the economy bounces back, problem is, I don't know when that is. I don't have a crystal ball. I'm just letting you know, this is probably the lowest point. We're going to see some of these. It could go lower. I haven't ever seen Sterns lower than 4,500 and I've been in this hobby, uh, 11 years now. And I think the lowest ever bought a Stern used was 4,200. And that was a star trip. thanks for tuning in if you want to get a hold of us we're loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com if you want to get a hold of us on all the socials at loser kid pinball tiktok youtube facebook instagram you name it we're on it also once again silver ball swag check it out also right behind me stumbler pinball they sent me a new mod wonderful mod the buoy of death for jaws loving it we might do a little wrap up on that on the next episode once again thanks for tuning in