Have your views changed regarding graded games in 2023?

[GPX | 1,369]

It’s now the era of “post-pandemic”, with Covid-19 still being a nuisance but on a much less deadly scale. People are going back to their usual routines, less public agoraphobia, and if you happen to come on this forum, likely to still be collecting games. 

Overall, have your perceptions on graded games change in 2023? This thread isn’t necessarily about your views on any individual grading company, but about your love/hate/love-to-hate relationship with graded games in general. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

Never cared.  Not my thing.  I'm probably one of the least prolific posters in this site as far as those threads go.

[GPX | 1,369]

5 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Never cared.  Not my thing.  I'm probably one of the least prolific posters in this site as far as those threads go.

Is there a chance you might care after you complete your SNES guides or whatever your current goals are? I respect you for being resolute with your current goals though.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

23 minutes ago, GPX said:

Is there a chance you might care after you complete your SNES guides or whatever your current goals are? I respect you for being resolute with your current goals though.

No.  The vast majority of the games in my collection are bought to be played.

For arguments sake let's say I managed to beat "all the games" and had to move into a more collecting-based goal. Even when collecting shelf candy I don't really care for the big bulky, ugly cases for graded games.

For reference, I'm all about overwhelming density on my shelves.  Others may like a less "cluttered" look where a handful of graded games take up a bunch of room with a shrine, but I'm all about this:

[GPX | 1,369]

8 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

No.  The vast majority of the games in my collection are bought to be played.

For arguments sake let's say I managed to beat "all the games" and had to move into a more collecting-based goal. Even when collecting shelf candy I don't really care for the big bulky, ugly cases for graded games.

For reference, I'm all about overwhelming density on my shelves.  Others may like a less "cluttered" look where a handful of graded games take up a bunch of room with a shrine, but I'm all about this:

That’s the beauty of games, they look good whether you’re playing them or displaying them. And looking at a wall of games, graded or not, is a thing of beauty to me.

[fox | 1,667]

scam alert

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

I eventually want to grade a bunch of my sealed games to get them in nice flashy boxes but most of the graded cases either take up too much room, have quality issues, and/or it's too expensive. I have a VGA CD that's the same height and barely thicker than a PS3 game. The other companies would double the volume of the game due to their bulky generic outer cases, I'm sure CGC/Wata Switch games are comically larger than they are raw. But getting a VGA game graded starts at $100/game

Since I'm not selling stuff it's perpetually on the "Eh, I'll get to it later if things are better/cheaper" backburner.

I have no issue buying graded stuff (besides the bulkiness of it). Sometimes deals come up on the graded auction sites because the market is so tiny. A 9.0 Popful Mail just sold for $300 with a single bid on Goldin, because who is the market for a decently nice graded CIB Popful Mail? Nobody.

[final fight cd | 186]

i like em.  in fact, i'd say i love em.  when i first found NA by far my favorite thread was the show off you VGA game thread.  but now, because they are so widespread, the allure has definitely started to fall off.

but, as somebody who isn't planning on selling anything anytime soon and who doesn't show off on social media,  i personally don't see reason to grade a game.  plus, the stuff i would grade aint nobody gonna give a 2 fugs about.  but i am confident i have a good eye for what is a legit seal and what is not and i absolutely know what condition i like and what condition i don't like.  i don't need to pay money for somebody to hold my game for weeks/months to tell me any of that.  i can do it for free in the comfort of my own home.  

plus, i am trying to cultivate a better mindset regarding material things.  if i would ever start grading games i know would fall down the hole of, "on my gawd, my game has a A seal.  but if i use the  zoom-in icon thingy on ebay i think this game might have an A+ seal.  i need to buy this RIGHT now so i can spend $100 dollars so WATA can hold my game for several months so maybe, possibly, hopefully, pretty please, upgrade my seal from an A to an A+.  and if i am really lucky, it might be an  A++!!"

i know i would fall into that trap. 

Edited November 21, 2023 by final fight cd

[Renmauzo | 1,201]

I understand the appeal, much more so than the pursuit of full sets; I mean, the artwork was meant to set apart from the crowd on a store shelf, so the display aspect is completely understandable. 

That's about as far as my 'getting it' goes, though.

The value component doesn't resonate with me. The evaluation to then entomb a game in an acrylic case doesn't resonate with me; putting a game in a protective case that you can access at any point, though, does (and still displays great). I have a lot of sealed games, but that's just because I haven't gotten to those games yet. Perhaps because I will never sell, I don't vibe with the valuations of seals and such.

I don't post in these threads since I neither want to come off as being critical of anyone's decisions about what collecting games means to them, nor do I have anything to add to the conversation on the 'pro' side, but it's a slow night in the NBA right now so this seemed like as good a thread as any to post in while the Bucks and Wizards are in halftime

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

Personally speaking?

I feel like the separate years I have tried to start an AFA graded Transformers was a mistake. Let's simplify that by saying it boils down to select groups that claim to either be collectors and/or fans. But graded video games? That is another topic. One that became the reason why I joined NintendoAge in 2019 as YOURTURN and VGS in 2020 as FenrirZero. Before I reverted my name back (for off-topic reasons).

So if I have to give myself a reason to stick with it... I have to side with the same reason @final fight cd gave. More specifically when it came to VGA graded NES titles. Which happens to be the reason why I have convinced myself to reboot my goals by building a strictly limited VGA graded Switch collection.

I mean do I need to do a full run? I have tried with both Dragon Quest and ATLUS. But in the end I found myself questioning why I was collecting a game that I would not choose to play.

With is why I still love this idea. In the end it has to do with me having a collection of Switch exclusives (timed and variants included; remasters excluded) that I have enjoyed playing. Because knowing me, once the day Nintendo unveils the Switch 2's successor... I want to see what I have for the Switch be preserved/displayed in my collection. Even if I don't have a complete run, a huge collection, or whatever.

But as of right now? I will not bother with Wata just because my test run with them was unsatisfactory, will not deal with both CGC and CAS for a number of reasons, and cannot do business with UKG. Plus, I also know a good chunk of both the scandals and controversies tied to CGA. So me being pissed off at them is not a biggie these days.

Plus... My rule of thumb in regards to collecting graded boils down to "Which portions of the Switch library matter to me?" With me just getting those titles graded, and playing everything digitally.

[ikk | 560]

I'm neutral, grading just seems like a US thing to me and all the outrage about it is enjoyable to watch.

There's no trustworthy grading company in the EU as far as I know. If that were to change I would be tempted to submit a couple of games for my own collection, but I'm just as happy having those in regular acrilic display cases.

[Rhuno | 107]

I've never been into it. 

I don't really think it's a scam. Nobody is forcing people to buy these, but I was on a whatnot auction and someone bid like 8k on a graded Golden Axe II. $8,000 for Golden Axe II... yeah, I don't get it.

But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

[fcgamer | 4,723]

Graded sucks, not much else to say. It's a wank fest circle jerk and the one time I did want to submit, I was told the seal wasn't legit by a bunch of asshats that didn't know anything about the fabrication of goods locally here. Then again, given the scandals and incestuous relationships, it's no wonder those folks wouldn't want my game to be legit, just to preserve their own games and values.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

OG sealed collector here who was too cool for NA. Sealed first, condition second. Will always prefer sealed over anything else. However, since the jump happened in sealed prices, I’ve turned my attention to CIB for the big money titles I don’t have and look for first prints 100% complete that way. Only a few games left on that list. One day I’ll have a circle seal 100% CIB of Paperboy for NES, but even that is probably gonna push close to $500 as time goes on.

[Ankos | 441]

I'll vote neutral, though I would say that I am fairly certain of my position and doubt it will ever change. I have nothing against the idea of sealed games, and nothing against people who enjoy collecting them. I think that there has been a lot of poor execution on the part of grading companies, some of which may have been intentional. I don't think I'd ever get into it myself though, I'm not condition sensitive to begin with

[Tyree_Cooper | 755]

Missing option

"Have always disliked graded games, now even more than before"

[GPX | 1,369]

2 hours ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

Missing option

"Have always disliked graded games, now even more than before"

You really hate graded collecting that much? Or more the malpractice by certain groups associated with the hobby?

[GPX | 1,369]

20 hours ago, ikk said:

I'm neutral, grading just seems like a US thing to me and all the outrage about it is enjoyable to watch.

There's no trustworthy grading company in the EU as far as I know. If that were to change I would be tempted to submit a couple of games for my own collection, but I'm just as happy having those in regular acrilic display cases.

Grading of games was initially a US thing and it started with VGA. This caught on gradually about 10 years ago over to UK and Europe and you can see plenty of VGA Pal games currently on eBay of Europe.

The last few years most of the attention is towards the US again because of the WATA entering the market. Most of the WATA collectors are currently from the US. I would say VGA is still the preferred option over in the Pal regions for the sealed collectors. UKG a popular choice mostly for UK people.

[fcgamer | 4,723]

44 minutes ago, GPX said:

You really hate graded collecting that much? Or more the malpractice by certain groups associated with the hobby?

The only good graded game is one that was damaged en route and lost in the mail.

[fcgamer | 4,723]

16 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

OG sealed collector here who was too cool for NA. Sealed first, condition second. Will always prefer sealed over anything else. However, since the jump happened in sealed prices, I’ve turned my attention to CIB for the big money titles I don’t have and look for first prints 100% complete that way. Only a few games left on that list. One day I’ll have a circle seal 100% CIB of Paperboy for NES, but even that is probably gonna push close to $500 as time goes on.

Loose carts are more experienced though

[GPX | 1,369]

13 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

The only good graded game is one that was damaged en route and lost in the mail.

You need to differentiate the greed and scum in the hobby as opposed to the passion of a graded collector.

2 completely separate entities, which I feel some on here are treating it as the same. No difference really if you take the greed and scum of the CIB scene and the passion of genuine CIB collectors.
 

 

[jonebone | 1,307]

Everyone is just a lot more selective these days.

In the up market it's easy to be a graded collector.  For a year or two there you could buy almost anything high grade and turn around and sell it at a profit in 3 or 6 months if you got bored with it.  Pretty easy to collect in that market.

In today's market, or the market of the last 2ish years now?  You have to look at every purchase as being immediately underwater.  Thus you're only going to buy it if you really like it or if you want it long term.  

Not to mention the space issue.  They take up too much damn room and if you collect a lot of things (platforms, games, consoles, toys, displays, cards, who knows what else) then you only have so much room to dedicate to them.

[Hammerfestus | 3,846]

It’s all masturbation.  Some just rub caviar on their dongs instead of jergins.   Prototypes are bullshit too.  But mah history  

[GPX | 1,369]

8 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

It’s all masturbation.  Some just rub caviar on their dongs instead of jergins.   Prototypes are bullshit too.  But mah history  

For those initial wave of big spenders from the WATA/HA era, I would probably agree. It was all about the e-peen and hype-fest. Only they actually don’t represent what graded collecting is really about.

The public have been fooled into thinking that it’s just for idiots wanting to splash their cash all over the internet. A lot of long term legit graded collectors I know are very insightful on this hobby, and aren’t interested in overspending by 100x market value.

[ikk | 560]

1 hour ago, GPX said:

Grading of games was initially a US thing and it started with VGA. This caught on gradually about 10 years ago over to UK and Europe and you can see plenty of VGA Pal games currently on eBay of Europe.

The last few years most of the attention is towards the US again because of the WATA entering the market. Most of the WATA collectors are currently from the US. I would say VGA is still the preferred option over in the Pal regions for the sealed collectors. UKG a popular choice mostly for UK people.

Most graded games you see on european ebay are from the UK and graded by UKG, but if you actually look at the EU only 43 graded games sold in the past 3 months. Even if you do include the UK, there's still only 219 sales in the past 3 months.

There just doesn't seem to be much interest in graded games over here.