1

I haven’t been here long enough to know, how does the price of arcade sticks fluctuate?

Mainly wanting to know if the TE stick will ever drop in price (not anytime soon of course) based on past sticks.

And also, random question, are more TE sticks still being made/for how long?

2

supply and demand. people want something at a certain time (like now with SF4) and it goes up.

3

Yeah, I realize that, I’m interested in how the price of sticks changed before SFIV came out on consoles.

(Older hraps, sf15tha sticks, etc?)

4

It seems like they’re still making TE sticks. I had a friend pick one up from a local Game Crazy just a week ago. They’re not limited edition or anything, so I’m sure they’ll keep making them, as there continues to be a demand for them. I’ve actually not heard of anyone picking up SE sticks lately though.

5

I picked up a couple of Hori Ex2 on sale for $40 each about a year ago, retail was $60 I think. Now, Amazon 3rd party retailers are selling them for about $100 each (not worth that price IMO).

I would suggest just waiting for the TE sticks, I got one through Gamestop’s online store using a tracker on http://www.nowinstock.net/streetfighteriv/. When I got the email, it was still available for a good 30 mins before they ran out.

6

I thought the TE’s WERE supposed to be a Limited Edition stick? So, all that fancy writing on the inside of the box/certificate of authenticity is garbage, eh? :lol:

I reserved my MadCatz TE well over a month before Street Fighter IV was released and got at the local Gamestop within 10 days AFTER the game arrived. Since then, I have added a stick or two including scavenging older joysticks from my “Sega era” for mods and upgrades…

The reason I was given for no more sticks being available locally was that people/customers in my area were just too cheap to reserve them and the area Gamestops just didn’t stock them because sticks generally don’t sell well!

(Of course, if the RESERVES hadn’t been $50 more people MIGHT have reserved the sticks, too!) :nono:

I’m going out on a very short limb and suggest the stick shortage WILL last through the entire summer…

I don’t think it’ll be until fall at the earliest before we see a cutback in demand.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will be a very big reason for the current low stock situation to continue. I think unless people reserve the upcoming special edition sticks (BlazBlue) or a new production run of HRAP’s become available that they’re still going to be looking for sticks.

The whole situation is unprecedented and I’ve never seen a run on sticks like this in my entire life… and I’ve been playing video games for over 25 years and Street Fighter since 1993…

7

Quality sticks generally don’t depreciate in value much. The price of HRAP’s stayed pretty consistent before the SF4 tax. The only sticks that get cheaper are the lower quality ones, that retail for about $60-70, then get clearanced to maybe $40 when they stop printing them, i.e. EX2’s and Fighting Sticks.

8

What I’ve seen online –

HRAP 2 SA (PS2 stick with white HRAP plastic base, reflective face plate and all light blue buttons and light blue ball handle; it is the only Hori stick with grey Sanwa start/select buttons; 24mm grey Sanwa pushbuttons specially made for this stick) = $199; it’s an older generation stick but still one of the best ever made; very usable on the PS3 and computers with a good PS2-to-PS3 USB adaptor; people have problems with PS2 sticks because of crummy adaptors, not the PS3 software or the PS2 stick hardware; I bought my PS3 adaptor for my own copy of this stick from Cables4PC on ebay…

Other HRAP 2’s = green and orange editions; generally selling for $150 or more, average is $170; if you’re going to spend at least $150, you might as well get the HRAP 2 SA with full arcade-quality parts unless you hate light blue buttons or have a fetish for spending on different colored buttons, or really, really want to buy different colored upgrade Sanwa pushbuttons; personally, I think the HRAP 2 SA is a better buy than these sticks…

HRAP3 = average closer to $170 online, and remember this stick doesn’t even have Sanwa buttons! Before the supply crunch, you could get one of these sticks for around $90 – some of the more limited versions like the all-white Amazon-Japan version sold for around $30 more… Ironically, the cheaper HRAP3’s online ARE used Amazon-Japan white versions. I’ve seen some online retailers selling the regular black-base production run HRAP3’s for $240 or more… that’s definitely overpriced for a stick that doesn’t have arcade-quality pushbuttons…

MadCatz TE = $150 if you bought it at a game store around the SF IV launch… After that, expect to pay at least $200 online for it. I’ve seen these going for $300 or more online depending on how desperate people are for them. Frankly, I think the HRAP 2 SA is just as good and an upgraded HRAP3 (with Sanwa buttons) is equivalent, too. The MadCatz TE has just as big a footpad as the HRAP base but a slightly shallower/shorter base…

All the other sticks that used to be $70 or less = at least $100 online although I’ve seen SFIV branded sticks selling for $150 or more depending on production; the Hori SF IV sticks (not HRAPs, but produced in HRAP casing like the Tekken 5 sticks) are the most expensive since they were produced for Asia only; a MadCatz SE is definitely not worth over $70…

HRAP 3 SA = the rarest stick of all; I have never seen one of these for sale online; they were produced in very limited quantities last December (2008) and sold out very quickly; originally penned in for late 2007/early 2008, production was cancelled at that time because of low pre-orders or forecast for a weak PS3 market in Japan; equivalent to the Hori HRAP 2 SA but with a revised turbo switch options, Home button, and USB cable link which the HRAP 2 SA lacks – otherwise, the sticks are basically identical… Note that upgrading a regular HRAP3 with Sanwa buttons brings your stick up the level of the HRAP 3 SA…

If HRAP 3 SA’s became available again on e-Bay, they’d probably make the MadCatz TE sticks’ price-gouging look like bargains by comparison!

9

I’ve been on the stick hunt for a while. Here are some of my observations.

The post below pretty much has it. My recent buy was a Madcatz SE for $86 including shipping. But imo it’s not that bad. Because of SF4, I’ve seen Hori Tekken 5 sticks being bought for $70. Note that this a PS2 model in which the wiring is soldered to the board.

But going back to the original post, being that TE are considered a collector’s item by many, I don’t see the price dropping by any amount for a long long time. Most people are just waiting on Madcatz for them to make and ship more out. They’re good sticks too so people take note of the quality parts when they put it up for re-sell.

One last example I have to draw on is my DC Agetec (used). When I bought it for $40 a few years back, I looked at the EB price tag and it was the same price. Now, when I go through the Ebay pages, this stick is even higher than in the past. Not many consumers I think are avid modders, so I don’t think they’re thinking about making it work w/ PS3/360 upon purchase. In any case, good things take forever to decrease in value. If you’re one of them lucky owners who have a TE stick right now, nice. For most of us, we can only hope for Madcatz to do the community a little favor.

10

they should remove the limited thing if they are making more because of the supply and demand effect

11

I’m pretty sure the TEs aren’t limited. MadCatz said that everyone who wants a stick will be able to get one. But I don’t see prices going down anytime soon, especially with MvC2 confirmed. In the distant future the SEs may go down in price as the hype dies down and those stay on the shelves. But that will take quite a long time.

12

true true as long as madcatz is gaining a lot of profit from the TE they will continue to produce it, its their cash cow for now

13

They will go down, they all do. I remember a little while back that you could get a new HRAP2:SA for only $99 when they were going for $200 just a few months prior.

14

The prices are already starting to drop.

SFAC stick pre-SF4: $50-60
After SF4 release: $150+
Now: <100$

The SE sticks are selling at or slightly above retail. I’ve seen some TE’s lately where people are just trying to recover what they spent on them. There’s definitely demand for arcade sticks, but probably not enough so to sustain the hype.

In a couple of months I wouldn’t be surprised if the non-Mad Catz sticks are back to their original value.

15

well a couple of months is kinda long

16

^ Well, if you’re very anxious I’d say get an SE and mod it. They sell reasonably now and there are enough people reselling Sanwa/Seimitsu parts that you shouldn’t have to wait forever on an order.

17

It’s crazy how the Hori EX2 sticks are going for $100 or more on Ebay when a couple of months ago no one was buying them and they were pretty inexpensive.

18

Yeah, my GameStop had an EX2 on the shelf for as long as I could remember. It just recently sold. I can’t believe people are paying decently for those.