Sealed SMB Sold for $140,000 to Crowdfunding Investment Company

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

If you thought prices were getting ridiculous before, well now you can join 3,000 of your closest friends and contribute to the problem by purchasing a 1x1cm square of SMB for $50.

I didn't see this story posted anywhere, but this is certainly interesting. Apparently there is a company called Rally that buys collectibles and then sells shares in the item (it's slightly more complicated than that, but you get the point), hosts a marketplace for those shares, and then resells the item at a later date if a lucrative opportunity arises.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/investment-platform-pays-record-140000-for-sealed-super-mario-bros/

Anyone interested?

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

This is a fantastic investment. If they sell $150,000 of “shares” to “investors” they’ll have $150,000 AND the Mario game. Win/win!

[TylerBarnes | 184]

I'll buy my 1x1cm share only if they cut me off my piece. 

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

Wata Games President Deniz Kahn said in a statement. "This is the 1-of-1 highest graded copy of Super Mario Bros. in existence, considered by many collectors to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of the hobby. It’s the Action Comics #1 of video games."
 

Deniz has been kidnapped and replaced with a clone of GoCollect Jim

[O.G. CIB | 415]

A fifth print for how much???? Pump and dump just like the dot com boom. 

Edited August 14, 2020 by Mr. CIB

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

What a great scam. Like @DefaultGen you get a paid to sell a virtual portion of the collectible, and you still have the collectible in your vault. It's a win-win if you find enough idiots.

I think I passed by a place that does this kind of thing for artwork by the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan yesterday. I was literally thinking about this for other collectibles.

[Richardhead | 2,813]

I’ve spent $50 on worse things. I won an auction for Howard the Duck CIB for the Commodore 64 earlier this week for $61. I don’t even have a fucking Commodore 64.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

The terms and conditions of this site are WILD. The best bits are hidden in the SEC filings too. This is a huge scam, lmao.

Here are some good bits actually on the site:

• An investment in an Offering constitutes only an investment in that Series and not in the Company or directly in any Underlying Asset.
• There is currently no trading market for our securities. An active market in which investors can resell their Interests may not develop.
• There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern
• Members of the expert network and the advisory board of the Manager are often dealers and brokers so may be incentivized to sell the Company their own collectibles at potentially inflated market prices. No shit

The best bits from the dense and labyrinthine SEC filings are the fees, all conveniently missing from the website itself. Besides the plethora of sourcing fees (presumably the bonus $10,000 on top of the Mario price), you get to pay all these operating expenses out of your shares. And any free cash flow above and beyond the operating expenses, half of that gets paid to the asset manager twice a year!

Boy it sure sounds better to OWN a real asset than to "OWN" a fractional share of a "series of interests specific to one or more collectible underlying assets"!

Edited August 13, 2020 by DefaultGen

[Tulpa | 3,492]

Back on NA I once (jokingly) floated the idea of a "community Stadium Events," where people could pay into a pot, the game sat in a safe deposit box somewhere, and everyone who paid in could claim the game for their collection.

I never thought someone would actually come up with a variation of that idea that's even more fucked up.

[Richardhead | 2,813]

2 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

The terms and conditions of this site are WILD. The best bits are hidden in the SEC filings too. This is a huge scam, lmao.

Here are some good bits actually on the site:

• An investment in an Offering constitutes only an investment in that Series and not in the Company or directly in any Underlying Asset.
• There is currently no trading market for our securities. An active market in which investors can resell their Interests may not develop.
• There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern
• Members of the expert network and the advisory board of the Manager are often dealers and brokers so may be incentivized to sell the Company their own collectibles at potentially inflated market prices. No shit

The best bits from the dense and labyrinthine SEC filings are the fees, all conveniently missing from the website itself. Besides the plethora of sourcing fees (presumably the bonus $10,000 on top of the Mario price), you get to pay all these operating expenses out of your shares. And any free cash flow above and beyond the operating expenses, half of that gets paid to the asset manager twice a year!

Boy it sure sounds better to OWN a real asset than to "OWN" a fractional share of a "series of interests specific to one or more collectible underlying assets"!

I trust your investment advice ALOT! Do you think it was a wise investment to get a Howard the Duck C64 cib? I’m hoping to flip it for thousands. Thanks In advance.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

A 1x1 square? Theoretically they can sell infinite slices of the square since the item is 3 dimensional and they're only selling you a 2 dimensional portion of it.

This is a stab at people that consistently confuse a square with a cube.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

1 minute ago, Richardhead said:

I trust your investment advice ALOT! Do you think it was a wise investment to get a Howard the Duck C64 cib? I’m hoping to flip it for thousands. Thanks In advance.

IMO you should have hedged your risk by creating an offering issuing membership interests in a series of an LLC that segregate assets, liabilities, profits and taxes pertaining to the underlying asset. If you're being prudent that is.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

11 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

Back on NA I once (jokingly) floated the idea of a "community Stadium Events," where people could pay into a pot, the game sat in a safe deposit box somewhere, and everyone who paid in could claim the game for their collection.

I never thought someone would actually come up with a variation of that idea that's even more fucked up.

Evidently you missed out on a whopping 50% management fee

[Tulpa | 3,492]

3 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Evidently you missed out on a whopping 50% management fee

That and replace "safe deposit box" with "my collection."

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Another weird thing in the disclaimer:

Quote

Membership Interests offered under Rule 506(c) are being offered and sold only to “accredited investors” within the meaning of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act, pursuant to the Memorandum and related subscription documents. Individuals are accredited investors only if they meet certain minimum net worth or sustained annual income thresholds. Entities are accredited investors only if they hold assets of at least $5 million or are completely owned by accredited investors. Other membership Interests are being offered and sold to “qualified investors” under Tier II of Regulation A under the Securities Act, pursuant to an Offering Circular as qualified by the SEC.

So their business model is essentially set up so college kids can own a piece of the dream, no doubt their target audience, but legally only millionaires can actually buy a $50 piece of a copy of Super Mario Bros. Cool.

[RH | 4,902]

I'd almost bet money that two years after all the shares are sold, this thing is "stolen".

[Richardhead | 2,813]

19 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Another weird thing in the disclaimer:

So their business model is essentially set up so college kids can own a piece of the dream, no doubt their target audience, but legally only millionaires can actually buy a $50 piece of a copy of Super Mario Bros. Cool.

Jesus. I’m only allowing VGS members a piece of Howard the Duck. Rich, poor, stupid, redneck. Anyone want a piece?  PM me. Only $25 a share and there’s 100s to be had. I’m keeping it at my place though. 

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

47 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

Back on NA I once (jokingly) floated the idea of a "community Stadium Events," where people could pay into a pot, the game sat in a safe deposit box somewhere, and everyone who paid in could claim the game for their collection.

I never thought someone would actually come up with a variation of that idea that's even more fucked up.

I’ll put up my copy so Let’s start it up! I’ll open an LLC, make 1000 shares of the company, and sell them for $50 a pop.

Of course the corporation will have to have a physical location so we’ll make it at my house to keep costs low and I’ll only charge the corporation a small fee....then the corporation needs a CEO and I’ll be willing to take minimum wage......so $50,000 over $10/hr min wage plus a modest $1000/mo for office space allows for almost two years of uninterrupted operation!

...oops company is bankrupt, gotta liquidate all assets to pay past debts. Did I mention that the corporation took out a loan to purchase the item from the CEO? Well oops yeah he owns it now since we can’t pay the loan back,....ok wait that’s me!

Maybe we can delay the inevitable by opening up an unsecured unmonitored and untraceable app marketplace where you can sell your shares and we only take a 10% cut out of each share sold for administration!

When the value of the game goes up, your share is worth more! It’s like bitcoins only even LESS secure  

Edited August 13, 2020 by ThePhleo

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

59 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

A 1x1 square? Theoretically they can sell infinite slices of the square since the item is 3 dimensional and they're only selling you a 2 dimensional portion of it.

This is a stab at people that consistently confuse a square with a cube.

Infinite slices = Infinite shares

We'll all make a fortune!

[JamesRobot | 5,795]

[jonebone | 1,307]

Just when you think the prices and hobby can't get any nuttier...

And I thought Facebook raffles were bad!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,520]

I got it!

 

Video game timeshares.  You're all allowed to come over and play my games for 4 days a year, for a one time fee-I mean investment, and some small quarterly fees for upkeep.  Weekends are an upgrade that costs a bit extra.

[Tulpa | 3,492]

14 minutes ago, jonebone said:

And I thought Facebook raffles were bad!

Oh, God, I remember those, and when NA blew up over a couple of them.

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

26 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I got it!

 

Video game timeshares.  You're all allowed to come over and play my games for 4 days a year, for a one time fee-I mean investment, and some small quarterly fees for upkeep.  Weekends are an upgrade that costs a bit extra.

Is that new game room done yet? If not I’m buying into @Archon 1981 timeshare 

[TheBiRD | 137]

2 hours ago, Richardhead said:

I’ve spent $50 on worse things. I won an auction for Howard the Duck CIB for the Commodore 64 earlier this week for $61. I don’t even have a fucking Commodore 64.

An investment