Could this possibly grade out as a WATA 9.8?

[Caliboy24 47]

Hey guys,

New to video game collecting.  I'm trying to educate myself on how to grade games better so I don't overpay too much :).  I just recently bought this Maximium Carnage game sealed and noticed that there are is some light dents on both sides of the flap (see pictures). Could this still have a chance at a WATA 9.8?  If not, what do you estimate the grade would be if everything else about it is perfect. Thanks for you help!

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Caliboy24

[O.G. CIB 388]

Not a chance at a 9.8

Edited March 11, 2020 by Mr. CIB

[Vaosu 104]

I already have little faith in WATA, especially with their grading of Pre-Owned items, containing only Cart/Box, listing "No Manual" on their data sheet, then using the CIB icon anyways, but if that were to get higher than an 8.0 with that amount of edge damage, I think it would basically prove how sporadic their ratings really are.

[Caliboy24 47]

Thanks guys for your feedback!  So it seems like WATA 9.8's are considered to be gems too?  With regards to the CIB grading, yeah that's very odd.  They should at least have incomplete in their labels if it is missing something..

[MrWunderful 2,700]

Without seeing the rest, I would be surprised if that got over a 9.0. 

[Jim Jimmer 234]

If every corners are  perfect and these are the only flaws you’re looking at a 8.5-9.2 range. 
 

9.8 should be pretty much flawless

 

good luck

[Caliboy24 47]

Thanks!  Yeah corners perfect, the plastic wrap, etc as far as I can see.  I paid quite a bit for it and after giving it some thought I may return it for a refund back.  

[Ninja_xxx 2]

IF everything else is perfect i would says Wata 9.0 A++ or VGA 85. Still a good grade man. Try to enjoy the piece bro. I have a few pieces like that i think the pictures make it worse then it really is.

[oops 77]

On 3/12/2020 at 9:35 AM, Ninja_xxx said:

IF everything else is perfect i would says Wata 9.0 A++ or VGA 85. Still a good grade man. Try to enjoy the piece bro. I have a few pieces like that i think the pictures make it worse then it really is.

i would be very surprised at an 85 with that amount of creasing. I think 80+

[GPX 1,224]

On 3/12/2020 at 4:56 PM, Caliboy24 said:

Thanks!  Yeah corners perfect, the plastic wrap, etc as far as I can see.  I paid quite a bit for it and after giving it some thought I may return it for a refund back.  

I’d recommend buying cheap graded items first so you can get a better idea of what the grading system is like. Much better way than not knowing what to look for and buying expensive items in the first place, and if unhappy, wasting the seller and your time for a refund.

[Bronty 187]

On 3/14/2020 at 4:34 PM, oops said:

i would be very surprised at an 85 with that amount of creasing. I think 80+

I think if the rest of the game is flawless it would get 85 no problem.

Now, chances are there are other small flaws, so I think the likely result is 80+ or lower I agree, but not just because of that side creasing.

As for wata, probably 8.5?

[Strange 1,641]

On 3/12/2020 at 1:26 AM, Caliboy24 said:

Thanks!  Yeah corners perfect, the plastic wrap, etc as far as I can see.  I paid quite a bit for it and after giving it some thought I may return it for a refund back.  

I would be very irritated as a seller if someone bought my sealed game, posted it online to see if it’ll grade to the grade they want, and then asked for a return and refund when they find out it won’t.

Edited March 16, 2020 by The Strangest

[oops 77]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

I think if the rest of the game is flawless it would get 85 no problem.

Now, chances are there are other small flaws, so I think the likely result is 80+ or lower I agree, but not just because of that side creasing.

As for wata, probably 8.5?

Im just trying to give the guy the best possible guess. we both know there is likely some scuffing aswell.

[jonebone 1,261]

Agree 8.5 to 9.0 on Wata scale from what I see.

[Tulpa 2,981]

38 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

I would be very irritated as a seller if someone bought my sealed game, posted it online to see if it’ll grade to the grade they want, and then asked for a return and refund when they find out it won’t.

This.

Did the guy promise it would achieve a 9.8 grade? Or did he misrepresent the condition in some way?

If not, just sell it to someone else if you don't want it.

[Caliboy24 47]

After much thought, I decided to send it back just to be sure.  And yes, the condition was misrepresented as the creasing was not pictured nor mentioned at his auction. This was part of the Maximum Carnage QVC set in which he described everything in the package as mint.   

[Magus 169]

50 minutes ago, Caliboy24 said:

After much thought, I decided to send it back just to be sure.  And yes, the condition was misrepresented as the creasing was not pictured nor mentioned at his auction. This was part of the Maximum Carnage QVC set in which he described everything in the package as mint.   

I just went through something similar, only the game was already graded, and ended up being overgraded. Meaning it had many more flaws than the grade should have had which took me by surprise when i got it. 

I almost sent it back, there was a big post here on how to handle it, but i changed my mind las second and decided it wasn't the sellers fault VGA overgraded it. So i kept it and just lived with it. 

Your situation is a little different since it isn't graded. It really depends on how it was listed. What wording was used in the listing to describe its condition, and what the listing pictures looked like, etc. What in the listing made you believe this was pretty much dead mint and would grade a 9.8??

You sound like you already made up your mind, but i know for me i appreciated peoples opinions here because it helped me decide how to properly and reasonably handle it. 

 

[Caliboy24 47]

Thanks for your story Magus.  if this game was professionally graded and bought for whatever value I thought was fair then this would be a different story and I would have kept it.  But because the game is raw, then it's a little different if it was misrepresented in the auction.  When I saw the pictures, it was only taken front and back of the game.  No pictures of the top, bottom, and side flaps were taken.  Also, in the listing there was no indication on any defects associated with the box. The seller was really cool about the return and didn't give me any problems, so he is good in my book.

[GPX 1,224]

20 hours ago, Caliboy24 said:

Thanks for your story Magus.  if this game was professionally graded and bought for whatever value I thought was fair then this would be a different story and I would have kept it.  But because the game is raw, then it's a little different if it was misrepresented in the auction.  When I saw the pictures, it was only taken front and back of the game.  No pictures of the top, bottom, and side flaps were taken.  Also, in the listing there was no indication on any defects associated with the box. The seller was really cool about the return and didn't give me any problems, so he is good in my book.

If you genuinely are after “mint” games, you need to ask for pics of all sides of the box. Can’t just take the seller’s description as gospel. The other issue I can see here is that there may be possible damage during postal transit.

[Caliboy24 47]

22 hours ago, GPX said:

If you genuinely are after “mint” games, you need to ask for pics of all sides of the box. Can’t just take the seller’s description as gospel. The other issue I can see here is that there may be possible damage during postal transit.

I think it was unlikely that the game was damaged during transit because the seller did not say anything back to me after I pointed out about the creases. I showed him the same pictures I posted on here and he was fine about me returning the game. 

[Jeevan 8,171]

On 3/17/2020 at 8:44 PM, Caliboy24 said:

Thanks for your story Magus.  if this game was professionally graded and bought for whatever value I thought was fair then this would be a different story and I would have kept it.  But because the game is raw, then it's a little different if it was misrepresented in the auction.  When I saw the pictures, it was only taken front and back of the game.  No pictures of the top, bottom, and side flaps were taken.  Also, in the listing there was no indication on any defects associated with the box. The seller was really cool about the return and didn't give me any problems, so he is good in my book.

Glad it worked out for ya!

On 3/18/2020 at 5:47 PM, GPX said:

If you genuinely are after “mint” games, you need to ask for pics of all sides of the box. Can’t just take the seller’s description as gospel. The other issue I can see here is that there may be possible damage during postal transit.

Not to be mean, but ask for more pics, glad u got a refund or whatever.  No harm in that for sure, but ask for more deets.  That being said, Don't take this as a hit, just as more deets the better   I am against grading myself, but because i wanna play my games.  No harm in collecting and I do think that grading games and slabbing have a place in the collection scene, albeit not for me

[Caliboy24 47]

9 hours ago, Jeevan said:

Glad it worked out for ya!

Not to be mean, but ask for more pics, glad u got a refund or whatever.  No harm in that for sure, but ask for more deets.  That being said, Don't take this as a hit, just as more deets the better   I am against grading myself, but because i wanna play my games.  No harm in collecting and I do think that grading games and slabbing have a place in the collection scene, albeit not for me

Yeah, I should've asked for more pictures on the item but decided to jump on it before someone else does while waiting for the pictures.  I was trusting the seller due to his high feedback, guess it didn't work.  Cool you still play your vintage games.  I stick to more modern games now when playing :). But yea I will get better at learning how to grade sealed games and other things associated with vintage game collecting.  Just continuing to learn and educating myself.  

[Amermoe 150]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:32 AM, Bronty said:

I think if the rest of the game is flawless it would get 85 no problem.

Now, chances are there are other small flaws, so I think the likely result is 80+ or lower I agree, but not just because of that side creasing.

As for wata, probably 8.5?

Hi Bronty, always respect your opinion, but I recently sent in 2 games that I was sure would grade ok, that ended up 75 on the VGA scale because of similar creases. Yes, granted it was not flawless, but one of them was in much better condition than the other. One of them had the crease in the bottom front edge, and the other to the back top left corner. The only other flaws I could find were corner pokes. The seal itself was flawless.

[Bronty 187]

I mean, I've seen lots of 75s and they usually are pretty beat.    And I've seen otherwise minty games with those creases, if light enough, get 85 no problem.

Its not 100% consistent at either company.

[Amermoe 150]

5 hours ago, Bronty said:

I mean, I've seen lots of 75s and they usually are pretty beat.    And I've seen otherwise minty games with those creases, if light enough, get 85 no problem.

Its not 100% consistent at either company.

You might be right, but I think VGA has been very strict in the past year or so. I thought I'd add some pictures just so you can get a better look yourself.

In the below example, the creasing is there, and one corner has a small dent, there's a few corner pokes - I think about 3 of the 8 corners, but overall the box is in good shape, and the seal is almost flawless - but gets a 75...