Look at these prices...unreal right ?

[avatar! | 1,811]

1 hour ago, phart010 said:

Ok so I need to invest in DOGE, Pokémon and beanie babies. Am I missing anything else?

Stamps, coins, comics, cars, real estate... definitely not video games

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

On 6/2/2021 at 10:18 PM, avatar! said:

That's definitely just you

Well, maybe not just you, but you're definitely in the minority! Look, consoles sell much better than PC games, they make tons of retro consoles, they're plug-n-play, people like them, people are willing to pay lots of money for them, and with little exception consoles and console games appreciate in value while PC games do not.

I don't know that he's definitely the minority in general, probably just on forums like this.  As far as PC games appreciating in value, I think you need to look again at what older computer games for most any system are going for these days.  It makes me thankful that I managed to grab almost all of the old Sierra games I had and/or loved as a kid boxed for cheap before things started getting stupid.  Sure, there's no appreciation for digital distribution games, but physical releases, especially old ones?  You betcha, people are clamoring for them as well, just not in this and similar circles.  You should see what even crappy older computer hardware goes for these days!

 

On 6/3/2021 at 12:27 AM, avatar! said:

Some truly rare games sell for a mint. Ultima I, Doom (original), World of Warcraft (original)... but those are all classic games that have tremendously influenced gaming. Other games that are phenomenal. even in the series such as the acclaimed Ultima V - that sells for $100-150 CIB. And those CIB are far more rare than say Zelda, Mario, etc. but they sell for less. Also, with inflation, you actually lose money on used copies of PC games even those that sell for over $100 (unless of course it's one of the really coveted ones). If Ultima came back, and became immensely popular then I'm sure prices would greatly increase, but until then, it will likely be a niche collector's item.

And that's more or less how console games started out, as far as crazier prices.  Stuff that was really rare, or really iconic (and rare, such as the first release sticker sealed SMB and other NES launch titles, etc.) demanded higher prices, then things started to snowball, and then investment minded folks got more money involved than collectors, and here we are.  Just because a market isn't as familiar and/or hasn't exploded due to things like WATA/HA doesn't mean that they don't exist or that the potential value isn't there.

Edited June 4, 2021 by darkchylde28

[avatar! | 1,811]

20 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

It makes me thankful that I managed to grab almost all of the old Sierra games I had and/or loved as a kid boxed for cheap before things started getting stupid.

Just because a market isn't as familiar and/or hasn't exploded due to things like WATA/HA doesn't mean that they don't exist or that the potential value isn't there.

I definitely agree that it's possible PC games will become incredibly collectible - some of them certainly are already today. BUT, as it stands at the moment, it's a tiny fraction and only a few are significantly valuable. Hey, Sierra is awesome! The old stuff totally rules, but... not so much price-wise from what I can tell. Of course there are always exceptions, but I took a look at a few King's Quest games

ironically enough, the most expensive King's Quest game sold is... the NES version

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Shush on computers games. They've gone up enough already. Even as a computer game collector I'll see some BS like Mach Rider or whatever and be like "$100, yeah that makes sense now", but something actually on my want list like an Oregon Trail or Might and Magic variant I'll see and it will be like "$100, that's nuts, I'll wait to see if the seller lowers the minimum bid".

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

$4000 for an incomplete Zelda TP remake. What's the motivation? Is it a number-collecting thing? Hoping you can short term flip anything that says Zelda/10? Buyer didn't know it's a big box game? Does someone seriously think this DVD case outside of its packaging is one of the most collectible video games of all time?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164896558800

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

14 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

$4000 for an incomplete Zelda TP remake. What's the motivation? Is it a number-collecting thing? Hoping you can short term flip anything that says Zelda/10? Buyer didn't know it's a big box game? Does someone seriously think this DVD case outside of its packaging is one of the most collectible video games of all time?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164896558800

There’s like... very few 10s in existence. Most sealed games, even out of a case pack or bundle, will not get a 10. So yes it’s just a number thing.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Is the end buyer of random 10s a "Wata collector"? Not a collector of video games graded by Wata games, a literal collector of items produced by Wata games? I think someone on VGS bought an incomplete TLOZ they graded from HA, AFAIK literally the only incomplete game they've ever graded without a manual, which I guess in a way is a "Wata collectible". I guess there are mistakes and test runs you could collect too?

I just can't imagine the mental gymnastics for someone to seriously think this is the best condition Wii U Zelda TP ever, even if you believe the gap between a 9.8 and 10 grade is worth extreme premiums.

Edited June 4, 2021 by DefaultGen

[sp1nz | 611]

39 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

$4000 for an incomplete Zelda TP remake. What's the motivation? Is it a number-collecting thing? Hoping you can short term flip anything that says Zelda/10? Buyer didn't know it's a big box game? Does someone seriously think this DVD case outside of its packaging is one of the most collectible video games of all time?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164896558800

Wew, I remember buying buying the Amiibo bundle big box at a local super market for somewhere between 29.99 to 49.99 euros I believe, it was on sale, they weren't moving at all for months on end before that for full price anyway - just my Finnish perspective, not applicable to the US of A. I can only imagine how many people buy random cLaSsIc ViDeO gAmE cHaRaCtEr modern plastic case million prints by the case load and grade them for endless 9.6-10 speculation fodder.

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

Yeah from talking to high end collectors I can comfortably say that the gap from 9.6 to 9.8 commands a huge premium and the gap from there to 10 is basically unicorn territory. Doesn’t matter what game it is. 

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

2 minutes ago, sp1nz said:

I can only imagine how many people buy random cLaSsIc ViDeO gAmE cHaRaCtEr modern plastic case million prints by the case load and grade them for endless 9.6-10 speculation fodder.

Not just gambling for high grades, but if you get it graded from the case you get the coveted “uncirculated” designation too.

[avatar! | 1,811]

48 minutes ago, MiamiSlice said:

There’s like... very few 10s in existence. Most sealed games, even out of a case pack or bundle, will not get a 10. So yes it’s just a number thing.

I's the same thing with any collector's item that is graded. If you get a perfect 10, it will skyrocket in value typically regardless of how common the item is. For example, say a CGC 9.8 comic (basically perfect) sells for $600. The same comic that is a 10 might then sell for $3000 - perhaps more. Interesting what an added 0.2 does sometimes eh?

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

An actual 10 on something in original packaging is one thing, although I personally wouldn't pay $1000s more than a virtually identical 9.8.

Throwing away the only condition-sensitive part of the collectible, the outer box, then just grading the inner case and calling it perfect is crazy IMO.

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

1 minute ago, DefaultGen said:

An actual 10 on something in original packaging is one thing, although I personally wouldn't pay $1000s more than a virtually identical 9.8.

Throwing away the only condition-sensitive part of the collectible, the outer box, then just grading the inner case and calling it perfect is crazy IMO.

You missed my point though. You could pull 100 of these from the Amiibo bundles and I’d bet that zero will come back with a grade 10. It’s not as easy as you think to get a 10. The grading for plastic box games is very stringent.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Just now, MiamiSlice said:

You missed my point though. You could pull 100 of these from the Amiibo bundles and I’d bet that zero will come back with a grade 10. It’s not as easy as you think to get a 10. The grading for plastic box games is very stringent.

I know 10s are rare, but what are we even grading? You can open 100 sealed copies and how many discs would get graded a perfect 100/100 by the Disc Grading Authority? I'm sure it's basically impossible to get a CGC 10 Zelda Wii U manual insert if you send the manual insert to CGC, should a CGC 10 be worth $1000s in that case? The world's most perfect incomplete collectible is still incomplete.

The people tossing big boxes to grade their components are just the most egregious to me. People are going to start opening sealed big box PC games to grade the inner jewel cases for higher numeric grades, lol.

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

11 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

I know 10s are rare, but what are we even grading? You can open 100 sealed copies and how many discs would get graded a perfect 100/100 by the Disc Grading Authority? I'm sure it's basically impossible to get a CGC 10 Zelda Wii U manual insert if you send the manual insert to CGC, should a CGC 10 be worth $1000s in that case? The world's most perfect incomplete collectible is still incomplete.

The people tossing big boxes to grade their components are just the most egregious to me. People are going to start opening sealed big box PC games to grade the inner jewel cases for higher numeric grades, lol.

You probably won’t be a fan of the people opening NES console boxes to pull the sealed SMB3 inside and grade that

[Dumars2001 | 164]

This Nes Matte sticker sealed Stack-Up just sold for almost $8,000.

Don't get me wrong, I know that is a lot of money, but doesn't it seem kind of low for a copy of this extremely rare to find black box game?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324653508279?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=mdOX%2BnMVPOWLIXF1d8vkNA2fV34%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

[AdamW | 713]

Whisper it, but I sorta feel like prices outside of really top-tier stuff seem to be slackening a bit lately. I need to get some graphing code into my Pokemon db, but just watching the prices go by, they're not going brrrrrr the last 4-6 weeks like they were before that. Really high quality copies still make bank, especially Red and Crystal, but outside of that it's kinda softening. I think.

Gonna be really interesting to see how the next HA auction goes.

[jonebone | 1,307]

4 hours ago, AdamW said:

Whisper it, but I sorta feel like prices outside of really top-tier stuff seem to be slackening a bit lately. I need to get some graphing code into my Pokemon db, but just watching the prices go by, they're not going brrrrrr the last 4-6 weeks like they were before that. Really high quality copies still make bank, especially Red and Crystal, but outside of that it's kinda softening. I think.

Gonna be really interesting to see how the next HA auction goes.

Yeah people who churn a good amount can already notice it.  I think summer HA is going to going to have a lot more disappointments than crazy all-time highs.  The true cream of the crop stuff is okay but the 95% of stuff that gets churned may not be so hot. A couple reasons:

1) Post COVID back to normal. People will be taking their thousands in the "fun" funds to spend on traveling instead of collectibles.

2) The auction is just way too loaded anyway.  Dumping too much on the market all at once.  People are piling over themselves to send stuff to HA and you're seeing some items already have dupes up (Matte Mario, SE carts, etc.)  

3) Summer time lull used to be a thing, market has been pretty much straight up since early 2019 and we're due for one.

4) Wata was so backed up and a ton of stuff is actually coming back across the board now, you can notice a lot of people posting showoffs.  And yet many of those items are already being put right back on market... and not selling.  

Some of the pure investor crowd are going to be feeling a bit of a burn IMO, time will tell. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by jonebone

[MiamiSlice | 3,091]

Agree 100%. I’m seeing softening in the normie eBay / Mercari / private groups, CIB and loose markets too. 

[OptOut | 8,883]

[avatar! | 1,811]

PS2 games on the rise...

[AdamW | 713]

that's from April, though. Which was kinda peak "everything go brrrrrr" time. HA is selling a 9.6/A+ and a 9.8/A+ in their July auction, it'll be interesting to see where those go.

Another one sold in May and 'only' got $3k:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/393308832727?nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

Edited June 9, 2021 by AdamW

[avatar! | 1,811]

3 minutes ago, AdamW said:

that's from April, though. Which was kinda peak "everything go brrrrrr" time. HA is selling a 9.6/A+ and a 9.8/A+ in their July auction, it'll be interesting to see where those go.

Don't know if this is legit, but if it is... sheesh!

[AdamW | 713]

HA is selling a 9.8/A+ and a 9.8/A++ of that one in July Again, it'll be interesting to see where they go. Definitely might be overegging the "rare" pudding, though, how rare are high quality copies of that game if three of them sell in three months...

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

4 hours ago, avatar! said:

PS2 games on the rise...

I've got a Kingdom Hearts and  Final Fantasy X I'll get back from Wata eventually. Maybe the wrong place to discuss, but as far as RPGs go I'd imagine those two are pretty high up there as far as 'iconic' titles for the console. Maybe I am just biased though.