WATA Pop Reports are HERE

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

Just got the email, lots to go through, but here we go! I immediately went to Genesis, being a fanboy lol the numbers are miniscule.

 

https://www.watagames.com/populations/index.html

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by ExplodedHamster

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

Just got the text from my buddy. HELLLLL YEAH

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Most surprising thing I've seen so far is that YGO: The Sacred Cards is the #1 graded GBA game. More than even Pokemans. Wtf. Skimming through most of the top stuff is exactly what you'd expect.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

Looks like I’ll be ordering my steaks “medium sealed video game” from now on

[inasuma | 1,203]

i barely consider this "the" pop report for wata though. still no seal grades

that said, having something is still better than nothing.  also i have a pop 1 battle network 2 (9.8)  

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

4 minutes ago, inasuma said:

i barely consider this "the" pop report for wata though. still no seal grades

that said, having something is still better than nothing.  also i have a pop 1 battle network 2 (9.8)  

Yes, we need the seal grades!!

[jonebone | 1,307]

1 hour ago, inasuma said:

i barely consider this "the" pop report for wata though. still no seal grades

that said, having something is still better than nothing.  also i have a pop 1 battle network 2 (9.8)  

Would be nice to see CIB stuff too.

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

 

Looking through Nintendo 64...

The much-speculated-upon Mario 64 numbers...81 first prints total and 3 graded in 9.8. 

Zero Mario Kart 64 in 9.8

Zero Smash Bros 64 in 9.8

Three regular edition Ocarinas in 9.8, all from the case pack

ZERO Collector's Edition in 9.8

Zero Mario Party in 9.8

Four Majora's in 9.8

Zero Mario Golf

Zero NFL Blitz

Zero Wave Race

ONE OF THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME QUEST 64

Edited April 19, 2022 by ExplodedHamster

[OptOut | 8,883]

2 hours ago, ExplodedHamster said:

The much-speculated-upon Mario 64 numbers...81 first prints total and 3 graded in 9.8. 

Lol, I remember when "less than 30" sealed Mario 64's of any kind, ever, existed... You remember that @Gulag Joe?

It's still crazy to think someone spent 1.56 mill on one of those, I think about that every time I need a good chuckle to myself! 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

5 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Lol, I remember when "less than 30" sealed Mario 64's of any kind, ever, existed... You remember that @Gulag Joe?

It's still crazy to think someone spent 1.56 mill on one of those, I think about that every time I need a good chuckle to myself! 

I do remember that. However, the overall assessment on the population of 9.8’s in existence remains undefeated!

[PuppyWaffles | 1,853]

Y'all gotta check out Batman on the Genesis. What's up with that?

[Gulag Joe | 582]

Al Unser Jr. hanging tough at 4 graded specimens. Compare that to NWC who didn’t even make the pop report this time around because it’s so common.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Gulag Joe

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

Looks like I have:

• highest graded copy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool Of Radiance
• highest graded copy of Brett Hull Hockey

I had and sold without realising it:

• highest graded copy of Mortal Kombat 3 (Made In Mexico)

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

1 hour ago, PuppyWaffles said:

Y'all gotta check out Batman on the Genesis. What's up with that?

That's just Genesis for you. It's a very rare sealed game. 

[PuppyWaffles | 1,853]

5 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

That's just Genesis for you. It's a very rare sealed game. 

Very random! I thought that was a common game (but I also haven't bought Genesis stuff in a decade)

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

7 minutes ago, PuppyWaffles said:

Very random! I thought that was a common game (but I also haven't bought Genesis stuff in a decade)

Nope, not at all. Even CIB it's up over $100, I believe. 

[tidaldreams | 654]

cant get enough of these pop 1's, i already jacked up all the prices

 

Honorable mention:

[jonebone | 1,307]

9 hours ago, ExplodedHamster said:

 

Looking through Nintendo 64...

The much-speculated-upon Mario 64 numbers...81 first prints total and 3 graded in 9.8. 

Zero Mario Kart 64 in 9.8

Zero Smash Bros 64 in 9.8

Three regular edition Ocarinas in 9.8, all from the case pack

ZERO Collector's Edition in 9.8

Zero Mario Party in 9.8

Four Majora's in 9.8

Zero Mario Golf

Zero NFL Blitz

Zero Wave Race

ONE OF THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME QUEST 64

Those 1996 releases just aren't out there.  You won't see 9.8 games like Wave Race, Cruis'n USA or KIller Instinct Gold (in non Player's Choice) unless a case pops up.  Mario Party is a scarce title too, that took me 4 or 5 years of searching for an 85+ back in the early 2010s when competition was a lot less.  VGA pop on that one is very low Gold as well.

[RH | 4,903]

14 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Most surprising thing I've seen so far is that YGO: The Sacred Cards is the #1 graded GBA game. More than even Pokemans. Wtf. Skimming through most of the top stuff is exactly what you'd expect.

It was people hoping/expecting to see a Yu-Gi-Oh bump at some point coz pokemans to expansive!

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

9 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

Al Unser Jr. hanging tough at 4 graded specimens. Compare that to NWC who didn’t even make the pop report this time around because it’s so common.

These are the fresh takes I need in game collecting.

[RH | 4,903]

Well, on of the things I find truly.... odd(?) is the large lack of 10.0s.  Don't get me wrong, a 10.0 should be held for the highest, of highest quality games.  I skimmed through the higher quantity systems and I only saw two, and they were both for NES titles-- Wolverine and Karate Kid.  Has anyone ever seen these two games?  I know when I pulled my "unofficial" pop report of my own last June (or was it two years ago?!) there was only one 10 in the entire population of ALL games.

The reason why this is odd is because I swear these guys are just looking at games and slapping grades on them that "feel" right to the grader.  I don't know what they are really doing, but I've pointed out with my one graded game, it was damaged at the factory, they took pictures of it and posted them before it was cased or they posted a grade and they gave the seal an A and the title a 9.6.  That type of slackness in grading, to me, means that NOTHING should be a 10.0 (because you're not looking that close) or some games, a certain percent, even if it's 1-in-1,000 should reach that 10.0 mark by some standard.

It's odd.  I'd almost think that if they aren't honest, they'd slap a 10 on something every now and then just for marketing but no, they grade poorly but are stingy for 10.0s.

Edited April 20, 2022 by RH

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

4 minutes ago, RH said:

Well, on of the things I find truly.... odd(?) is the large lack of 10.0s.  Don't get me wrong, a 10.0 should be held for the highest, of highest quality games.  I skimmed through the higher quantity systems and I only saw two, and they were both for NES titles-- Wolverine and Karate Kid.  Has anyone ever seen these two games?  I know when I pulled my "unofficial" pop report of my own last June (or was it two years ago?!) there was only one 10 in the entire population of ALL games.

The reason why this is odd is because I swear these guys are just looking at games and slapping grades on them that "feel" right to the grader.  I don't know what they are really doing, but I've pointed out with my one graded game, it was damaged at the factory, they took pictures of it and posted them before it was cased or they posted a grade and they gave the seal an A and the title a 9.6.  That type of slackness in grading, to me, means that NOTHING should be a 10.0 (because you're not looking that close) or some games, a certain percent, even if it's 1-in-1,000 should reach that 10.0 mark by some standard.

It's odd.  I'd almost think that if they aren't honest, they'd slap a 10 on something every now and then just for marketing but no, they grade poorly but are stingy for 10.0s.

For the most part people are grading cardboard boxes. It would be hard to be manufactured in a "10" state, let along survive a few decades. I bet once people send in the deluge of Switch games we will see more 10s from the ones with thicker shrink wrap, just because they're more recent, smaller, and durable.

Also I don't know how the Wata scale really works, but 10 doesn't mean perfect. The highest coin grade for example has no flaws up to 5x magnification. At the end of the day it's all just mass produced retail packaging, so under a microscope of course there are flaws.

Also grading is subjective. I agree that if you cracked and resubmitted a "10" anything whether game, comic, or card you're much more likely to get a 9.8 back. You're basically collecting the novelty of the grade.

[RH | 4,903]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

For the most part people are grading cardboard boxes. It would be hard to be manufactured in a "10" state, let along survive a few decades. I bet once people send in the deluge of Switch games we will see more 10s from the ones with thicker shrink wrap, just because they're more recent, smaller, and durable.

Also I don't know how the Wata scale really works, but 10 doesn't mean perfect. The highest coin grade for example has no flaws up to 5x magnification. At the end of the day it's all just mass produced retail packaging, so under a microscope of course there are flaws.

Also grading is subjective. I agree that if you cracked and resubmitted a "10" anything whether game, comic, or card you're much more likely to get a 9.8 back. You're basically collecting the novelty of the grade.

Well I did find another F-Zero seems to be the only 10 in the SNES lot.  And I hear you.  i just find it odd that now that they've probably graded near Many 10s of 1,000s of sealed games (or close to it), so few are 10s when their grading is so lax.

Anyway, other interesting things I've noticed.  Unless this is just sealed games, there were no graded Game Factory/New Leaf carts, which I always pay attention too.  If it weren't for my former experience, I'd also consider sending mine in just to get them entombed but, no.  Not with Wata.  Does VGA grade items like this?  I know that grade games that were unshrinkwrapped and high-end items like NWCs but I don't know if New Leafs fit the bill since they are still quite obscure.

They seemed to only the true vintage games, but no PS1 stuff?  Why not?  I still don't know why they wouldn't post reports for modern stuff, but seeing the PS1 stuff missing is odd.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

35 minutes ago, RH said:

Anyway, other interesting things I've noticed.  Unless this is just sealed games, there were no graded Game Factory/New Leaf carts, which I always pay attention too.  If it weren't for my former experience, I'd also consider sending mine in just to get them entombed but, no.  Not with Wata.  Does VGA grade items like this?  I know that grade games that were unshrinkwrapped and high-end items like NWCs but I don't know if New Leafs fit the bill since they are still quite obscure.

New Leaf is probably the further thing from what people in the graded games market care about, lol. You might as well grade a super rare Bally Astrocade game. New Leaf isn't even really in the collective conscious of regular game collectors.

You gotta become a tastemaker in the graded games space and pimp the stuff you already have! Ideally, other people hoarded and pumped the same stuff and you can start a market making circlejerk of astronomical proportions. Otherwise you're just the solo guy complaining that the market doesn't value your weird cart enough that no one cares about in the first place.

[RH | 4,903]

16 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

New Leaf is probably the further thing from what people in the graded games market care about, lol. You might as well grade a super rare Bally Astrocade game. New Leaf isn't even really in the collective conscious of regular game collectors.

You gotta become a tastemaker in the graded games space and pimp the stuff you already have! Ideally, other people hoarded and pumped the same stuff and you can start a market making circlejerk of astronomical proportions. Otherwise you're just the solo guy complaining that the market doesn't value your weird cart enough that no one cares about in the first place.

I get the joke, but these are completely the NWCs of the Genesis world.  The problem isn't that people aren't aware of them and want them within the Genesis space, it's just that not enough people are in the Sega/Genesis collector camp.

THAT is what we need to pump.  I think we need to start a new grading company AND premium auction house just for this purpose! Who's with me?!