RH | 4,904 Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 I don't pay attention to these things that much, but I wanted to see what options are available at the moment to get my Rated E SML2 entombed. Turns out there is currently only the "Speed Run" option available. All other options are blocked off. I find it odd the lower tiers are disabled. I used "Select" for a game that received on 12/2. No word on that one and from the sound of things, it might be many more months before it's graded and ready to ship. I was initially estimated 6 months, and that check point has passed. I wish I'd get some update with a general ETA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Hologram | 23 Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 Wata is complete garbage compared to VGA at this point. Submitted 3x Sealed Genesis games September 2020 @ Turbo level. Been getting the runaround every time I’ve contacted them, then in March 2021, they asked if I wanted to pay the difference to bump them up to Speed Run. I told them sure, whatever, just get it done. They haven’t followed up after that. Order status hasn’t changed. This is the last time I’m doing business with them. Considering having them just mail my shit back and get a refund. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 On 5/19/2021 at 7:29 PM, Count Hologram said: Wata is complete garbage compared to VGA at this point. Submitted 3x Sealed Genesis games September 2020 @ Turbo level. Been getting the runaround every time I’ve contacted them, then in March 2021, they asked if I wanted to pay the difference to bump them up to Speed Run. I told them sure, whatever, just get it done. They haven’t followed up after that. Order status hasn’t changed. This is the last time I’m doing business with them. Considering having them just mail my shit back and get a refund. I'd try emailing them again. They came out & said some emails got lost & they fixed whatever the issue was. (I think it's bc Megan left and no one was even checking their email lol). I didn't get a reply on a few emails and they finally replied last week. But I agree, with them being not great compared to VGA. Which is unfortunate bc I prefer their cases a lot more. I've been contemplating just giving up on WATA and sending a bunch of what I have to VGA.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Hologram | 23 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 4 hours ago, epiczail said: I'd try emailing them again. They came out & said some emails got lost & they fixed whatever the issue was. (I think it's bc Megan left and no one was even checking their email lol). I didn't get a reply on a few emails and they finally replied last week. But I agree, with them being not great compared to VGA. Which is unfortunate bc I prefer their cases a lot more. I've been contemplating just giving up on WATA and sending a bunch of what I have to VGA.. Just do it. I’ve just gotten my invoice for a 3rd shipment of games to be graded from VGA today while still waiting on the above mentioned order from WATA to go anywhere. Really hammers the nail in the coffin how pathetic their business has become. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron64 | 37 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 So if I've been reading this thread correctly, VGA is superior to WATA and should be the go to option? My bad if this is a stupid question, I'm new to sealed collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Feisty_Pickle | 244 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Just now, AtariGuy said: So if I've been reading this thread correctly, VGA is superior to WATA and should be the go to option? My bad if this is a stupid question, I'm new to sealed collecting. I've never used VGA so I can't speak too much on the details, but I think the main driving force with Wata is Heritage Auctions has a partnership with them and they don't (currently) take VGA games. So if that's your plan you've really only got 1 choice right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 713 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, AtariGuy said: So if I've been reading this thread correctly, VGA is superior to WATA and should be the go to option? My bad if this is a stupid question, I'm new to sealed collecting. Well, that's kind of a big and controversial question But this thread is specifically about turnaround times, and it seems like right now VGA's times are somewhat better, either because they're coping better with insane volumes than WATA is, or just because WATA has more buzz so VGA isn't getting as much volume. So if you just want a game graded and you want it back soonest and other factors are irrelevant, VGA seems to be a better choice than WATA right now. If other factors are potentially relevant, it gets more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron64 | 37 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, AdamW said: Well, that's kind of a big and controversial question But this thread is specifically about turnaround times, and it seems like right now VGA's times are somewhat better, either because they're coping better with insane volumes than WATA is, or just because WATA has more buzz so VGA isn't getting as much volume. So if you just want a game graded and you want it back soonest and other factors are irrelevant, VGA seems to be a better choice than WATA right now. If other factors are potentially relevant, it gets more complicated. Are the gradings equal on merit, or is one grading system favored over the other? My apologies for asking a big and controversial question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 713 Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 (edited) You're gonna get different opinions on that from different people, I think! There have been legitimate questions about both. VGA has graded fake games as genuine, multiple times. WATA grades "significant" repros, prototypes, and CIB, which some people question, especially since defining and proving "CIB" is so fraught. There have also been cases discussed here of WATA grades appearing rather generous. There are also some concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving the owners of both VGA and WATA, AIUI. Longer standing forum members would know more about that. I personally slightly prefer WATA, for two reasons. One, I'm not aware of any cases of them outright grading a clearly fake game as genuine yet (not saying it hasn't happened, just that if it has, I don't know about it, and I *do* know VGA has). Two, they make a better effort to identify key features of different prints and record them on the tag. They're not perfect at this, but they do try, whereas VGA pretty much just slaps the name of the game on the tag. In terms of how consistent/reliable they are in the actual condition grading department I really don't have an informed opinion. Edited May 24, 2021 by AdamW typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Got an update from WATA. $10 per game for a 35 business day turnaround, and I don't have a good estimate for the Select tier right now. We have tripled our grading team to get everything caught up, but we don't know how fast they can do it yet. I would guess more than a few months. Whoever is answering emails recently seems to be doing a lot better than right after Megan left. Not sure if I want to upgrade or not. Got two orders with 20 games in each and I paid the $35 for select before they bumped the price up. Part of me just wants to keep waiting since I'd like to think I'm one of the older Select orders they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,779 Administrator · Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 1 minute ago, epiczail said: Got an update from WATA. $10 per game for a 35 business day turnaround, and I don't have a good estimate for the Select tier right now. We have tripled our grading team to get everything caught up, but we don't know how fast they can do it yet. I would guess more than a few months. Whoever is answering emails recently seems to be doing a lot better than right after Megan left. Not sure if I want to upgrade or not. Got two orders with 20 games in each and I paid the $35 for select before they bumped the price up. Part of me just wants to keep waiting since I'd like to think I'm one of the older Select orders they have. Honestly I'd just wait it out unless you're really itching to sell. If you're slabbing them for your own collecting/keeping purposes, there's technically no harm in waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulag Joe | 582 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 (edited) 53 minutes ago, epiczail said: Got an update from WATA. $10 per game for a 35 business day turnaround, and I don't have a good estimate for the Select tier right now. We have tripled our grading team to get everything caught up, but we don't know how fast they can do it yet. I would guess more than a few months. Whoever is answering emails recently seems to be doing a lot better than right after Megan left. Not sure if I want to upgrade or not. Got two orders with 20 games in each and I paid the $35 for select before they bumped the price up. Part of me just wants to keep waiting since I'd like to think I'm one of the older Select orders they have. Older? Like more than 1 full year like me? I did that upgrade a few months back and we're now well past that business day estimate they gave me with still no movement. I'm starting to think they lost my order. Edited May 27, 2021 by Gulag Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,779 Administrator · Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Just now, Gulag Joe said: Older? Like more than 1 full year like me? I did that upgrade a few months back and we're now well past that business day estimate they gave me with still no movement. I'm starting to think they lost my order. Giv us mo money and we'll work faster, we pwomise! uwu 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shredpirate | 5 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 5 hours ago, epiczail said: Got an update from WATA. $10 per game for a 35 business day turnaround, and I don't have a good estimate for the Select tier right now. We have tripled our grading team to get everything caught up, but we don't know how fast they can do it yet. I would guess more than a few months. Whoever is answering emails recently seems to be doing a lot better than right after Megan left. Not sure if I want to upgrade or not. Got two orders with 20 games in each and I paid the $35 for select before they bumped the price up. Part of me just wants to keep waiting since I'd like to think I'm one of the older Select orders they have. Here’s the reply I got last week about upgrading my Turbo order from 7/29 to Speedrun - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot | 5,800 Events Team · Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 4 hours ago, Gloves said: Giv us mo money and we'll work faster, we pwomise! uwu I told my boss the same thing. She didn't fall for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Pac | 7,548 Graphics Team · Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Just so you guys know - paying someone extra money to do a job they already didn't do the first time you paid them ... isn't something you should do. -CasualCart 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOURTURN | 1,256 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 On 5/24/2021 at 12:49 PM, AtariGuy said: So if I've been reading this thread correctly, VGA is superior to WATA and should be the go to option? My bad if this is a stupid question, I'm new to sealed collecting. Here is the 4-1-1 that I can give you. Grading: VGA's grading system uses AFA's standard scoring style with the manner on how they grade modern toys. The overall score is based on overall visual appeal as opposed to how the box looks under the seal. Wata grades games like CGC has often graded comic books: Soft. And I am betting HA convinced them to grade games that way as well. Encapsulation: VGA is part of CGA, Inc., which means they do the cases on-site. There is another grading company that does this, but people tend to ignore me whenever I bring them up. All I can say is that my only gripe is that VGA will ask for extra money if they have to "modify" the case in some way. Even if the change is not a big one to do. Information: VGA is primarily a "grade and case" company. Wata gets brownie points for not being them in this manner. I should also note that my submissions with said third option has me go from thinking that these are "Tier 1" (30-60 days) to being "Tier 2" (60-150 days) since they are still a little green when it comes to them grading video games. I plan to contact them if they do not update me by day 90. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray | 2,448 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 There’s a third option? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,884 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Murray said: There’s a third option? Oh god. Please don't get him started... 1 1 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calan87 | 45 Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 3 minutes ago, OptOut said: Oh god. Please don't get him started... im down for this... what we talking about here? LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,884 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 2 minutes ago, Calan87 said: im down for this... what we talking about here? LOL 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calan87 | 45 Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 1 minute ago, OptOut said: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 (edited) On 5/27/2021 at 10:17 AM, Gloves said: Honestly I'd just wait it out unless you're really itching to sell. If you're slabbing them for your own collecting/keeping purposes, there's technically no harm in waiting. Yeah I've got no rush to sell - most are for my collection & a few I'll sell to recoup the grading costs. Don't really see the value dropping on what I want to sell so I'm going to keep waiting. While $10 a piece isn't that much, $400 total isn't a small amount of money to blindly throw at a company who can't keep up with any estimate they give... I'm just trying to share as much info as I can on my situation because I know there are so many others that are in a similar situation and there's nowhere else to go (afaik) where people are sharing these experiences. Hopefully it's helpful to others! Edited May 28, 2021 by epiczail 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro.magnus | 136 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 On 5/27/2021 at 11:08 AM, Gulag Joe said: Older? Like more than 1 full year like me? I did that upgrade a few months back and we're now well past that business day estimate they gave me with still no movement. I'm starting to think they lost my order. One order I placed/shipped early June last year & another that I placed/shipped the end of June. I'm not going to pay extra, especially after hearing your experience. They say 35 business day turnaround if I pay, but there is literally nothing that makes me believe they would actually live up to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncofantd793 | 138 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 I think a year minimum is a good expectation for turnaround time for grading anything at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now