WATA Finally Getting Sued?

[RH | 4,903]

12 minutes ago, CIB_Wholesale said:

ya wouldnt you say that having 2 of them start marketing their 'consignments with nothing attached' would have an impact on the other 4 sealed collectors?

Dude, that's a gross under-estimation of the sealed game collecting market and the graded game market.  Sure, there might have been "4-5" graded game collectors back in 2018 who were looking to own every game, but there were plenty of us that enjoyed owning "a few" graded games.  There's a wide range, and the main target market they Wata wanted to manipulate were both the collectors who like to own a few, nice pieces for their shelves but ALSO the people who can be motivated to get into armchair speculative bubbles that scratch itches like nostalgia.

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

12 minutes ago, RH said:

Dude, that's a gross under-estimation of the sealed game collecting market and the graded game market.  Sure, there might have been "4-5" graded game collectors back in 2018 who were looking to own every game, but there were plenty of us that enjoyed owning "a few" graded games.  There's a wide range, and the main target market they Wata wanted to manipulate were both the collectors who like to own a few, nice pieces for their shelves but ALSO the people who can be motivated to get into armchair speculative bubbles that scratch itches like nostalgia.

you're right! 2 left

 

i think you're confusing resellers and collectors:

 

the resellers get changed out every 4 or so years

Edited October 25, 2023 by CIB_Wholesale

[fcgamer | 4,723]

Always said d was a d, looks like it still holds.

It's always nice to see the faces behind the assholes that ruin the hobby.  Would be nice to see a few of them rot in jail, if they don't yet posting a rental contract online yields jail time, then you know we lived in a screwed up Welt.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

I'm late to the game but I remember what @SNESNESCUBE64 was saying way back and it was called conspiracy, and I remember it because I said it and felt the same, that it was a huge racket and that whole Pawn Stars speculation million dollars "could be?!" bit of pure lying on camera made it clear even back then.  To see that bronty seemingly is in on this, lying about being out with that 2019 mail that's even putting more nails into the coffin of quite a few people and their integrity.  I can only hope in the end when discovery is exposed, this goes fully through, and likely some/most of them will end up destroyed that it causes some panic among the suckers who bought into it.  Would be nice to see a nice 1930s style bank run on selling their shit off before it loses 90% of its value due to the trust bottoming out, or them cracking cases to try and get other entities who aren't amoral/bankrupt who have some history (like CGC etc) re-do it.  The blowback would hit the press hopefully harm the values in a trickle down effect.  While I don't see it going all beanie babies and pogs freakout, a nice slap down is well in order.

[RH | 4,903]

Don't expect the speculators to dump their games.  People who dumped 10s, if not 100s of thousands of dollars into this as speculation probably had the cash to do it.

Those people won't but at $10k to sell at $1k.  They'll keep there stash in a box and let them rot until they die and their kids sell them at their estate sale.

Don't under estimate the power of shame.  Sure, some will sell these games off because they need some money but for the most part, the market will never fully recover (because unlike things like beanie babies, people do still enjoy collecting games) but it might very well slowly go down a bit, especially if we have another major economical downturn that doesn't give free-money from the government.

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

the most important factor in selling a sealed game is the comps

buyers will ride a low comp forever. until the next comp

sellers will hold on to a high comp forever. until the next comp

 

the part that's missing are eBay, known private, and VGS comps happening alongside with similar pricing

 

it was sort of believable until the 1.56 mario

 

 

 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

[OptOut | 8,884]

12 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I wondered how long it would take for you to crawl in here with one of your classic cope posts.

Actually, I'm surprised it took you this long! 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

Just now, OptOut said:

I wondered how long it would take for you to crawl in here with one of your classic cope posts.

Actually, I'm surprised it took you this long! 

This is not just my moment, it can be our moment. Together, we will watch nothing happen!

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

to be honest i thought the judge was going to rule with CU and throw out the case

 

so double surprised on both being accepted

 

35 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

 

[GPX | 1,369]

I think what’s undone the hype train was the 1.5M Mario. That was when most collectors were collectively saying “WTF is going on?” You can understand to a point that graded games were going to be on the rise, but just the transition between 5-digit items to 6-digit to 7-digit items, this all went too smoothly and quickly. Instead of maintaining the hype, it sort of backfired from this point onwards. 

Anything that goes above a million bucks, you’d think a fair few would start to scrutinize the validity of that trajectory.

[final fight cd | 186]

5 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

I love drama. I’d be pretty bummed if nothing happens. 

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

Find it unlikely that WATA survives this.  Even if the RICO doesn't hold up, the class action will sting, and barring that failing, their reputation might be beyond repair.

Idk what kind of rebrand can save them now.

Looks like I'll have to try out CGC

I'm just glad most of the graded games I have are for my personal collection, and I believe I can say I've never purchased a graded game before.

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

21 hours ago, OptOut said:

Yeah, but in this case the initial hype was generated by co-founders of WATA themselves, by wash-trading a copy of Super Mario Bros.

Jim Halpern, who was an original board member of WATA, bought that Super Mario Bros off of Bronty, who was also an original board member of WATA.

The price was 100,105, an INSANELY inflated value compared to any other game ever sold, and WATA and HA were able to leverage the media using the story to launch their pump and dump scheme.

That's not just regular mass-media marketing, that's outright market manipulation.

a) Bronty never served on Wata's board at any point in time.

b) The sale price was $100,150.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

6 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

a) Bronty never served on Wata's board at any point in time.

b) The sale price was $100,150.

So when they showed him on their website as a member on the board, with a whole picture and his real name and everything, was that just made up? I dont understand.  You always speak in absolutes?

 

pic from watas site from years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

8 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

So when they showed him on their website as a member on the board, with a whole picture and his real name and everything, was that just made up? I dont understand.  You always speak in absolutes?

 

pic from watas site from years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

This is very interesting, you got this from their website? He was on the board for Heritage Auctions, it would be bizarre if he was on the board for Wata as well. I could be wrong about him not being involved with Wata.

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

Wait, you're referring to their advisory board? Whoopty do, who cares about that? I thought you meant their Board Of Directors which actually matters for decisions on company direction. Anybody can be an advisor.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

5 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Wait, you're referring to their advisory board? Whoopty do, who cares about that? I thought you meant their Board Of Directors which actually matters for decisions on company direction. Anybody can be an advisor.

A lot of fucking people care about that bro. You need to stop talking like your opinion carries any weight For the general populace. 
 

Do you have actual insider information? All you do is make conjecture like its fact, with nothing to back it up. Can you clarify the difference between the roles that an advisor played, vs a board member during this time? Do you have a copy of their contract, or discussions? Im sure if an ADVISORY board member, and someone on the BOARD OF DIRECTORS who were best buds who collected games would never talk about how to make a bunch of money manufacturing hype its almost like its the first time something shady went down for money

 

This looks exceptionally shady to everyone, except the people that have money tied up as investments, and the hanger-ons. 
 

I still know a bunch of people, here and else where that are tied up in this mess. Weather on the ADVISORY BOARD or “unofficial” advisors

 

Thank god i collect non graded
 

 

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

7 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

A lot of fucking people care about that bro. You need to stop talking like your opinion carries any weight For the general populace. 
 

Do you have actual insider information? All you do is make conjecture like its fact, with nothing to back it up. Can you clarify the difference between the roles that an advisor played, vs a board member during this time? Do you have a copy of their contract, or discussions? Im sure if an ADVISORY board member, and someone on the BOARD OF DIRECTORS who were best buds who collected games would never talk about how to make a bunch of money manufacturing hype its almost like its the first time something shady went down for money

 

This looks exceptionally shady to everyone, except the people that have money tied up as investments, and the hanger-ons. 
 

I still know a bunch of people, here and else where that are tied up in this mess. Weather on the ADVISORY BOARD or “unofficial” advisors

 

Thank god i collect non graded
 

 

 

here's a fun one from one of the haspel bros: july 2019:

 

'I CCed my brother on this email as we often collect games together.  Also makes it easier to afford to collect them with someone you can trust, lol.'

 

 

one of those.... doesnt make sense till much later sentences

Edited October 26, 2023 by CIB_Wholesale

[OptOut | 8,884]

2 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Wait, you're referring to their advisory board? Whoopty do, who cares about that? I thought you meant their Board Of Directors which actually matters for decisions on company direction. Anybody can be an advisor.

Well, I guess that will be for the judge to decide... I hear the penalties for a RICO conviction are quite punitive. 

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,162]

[Gulag Joe | 582]

I have insider information:

[OptOut | 8,884]

1 hour ago, Gulag Joe said:

I have insider information:

I have insider information:

Spoiler

goatse

 

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

2 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

I have insider information:

says the guy with 0 VGS feedback

nothing happens with u over here either

 

 

 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

1 hour ago, CIB_Wholesale said:

says the guy with 0 VGS feedback

nothing happens with u over here either

 

 

 

How do you get VGS feedback?