Sealed grading differences

[ConsoleCollector88 | 8]

For those of you who have actually had sealed games graded, how are some 85 and some 95? Is the cellophane itself graded? I would assume this is really the only difference in the grades, but have never had anything graded. Obviously any tears or other major damage to cellophane would lower grading.

[RH | 5,226]

TL;DR: Regardless of how many guidelines there are, it's relative.  To many variables.

[GPX | 1,411]

Sealed grading is made up of both the grading of the game (box or plastic case) and the seal wrap. You can have varying degrees of damage/wear to game and seal, which gives you an overall grading score.

[Amermoe | 150]

On 9/8/2020 at 1:50 PM, ConsoleCollector88 said:

how are some 85 and some 95?

An 85 will have minor visible flaws, while a 95 is near flawless to the naked eye, at least in theory. Some flaws are heavily weighted in the score, and it depends on each console and type of game and box. cardboard boxed games are generally graded on creasing, corner dings, sun fading, corner pokes, hangtab condition, inking, wear just to name a few. Disc games are generally graded based on cracks (very heavily weighted), scratches, corner damage/pokes, security seal alignment/condition (if exists), drilled holes, etc. 

Condition of the cello is very heavily weighted by VGA and combines to make up the entire score. Wata rates the cello separate from the box and assigns it its own grade. The cello itself is typically rated on scuffing, tears, yellowing, marking, rubbing, water damage, tightness, etc.

These are just some examples of damage, there are many more.

Other factors also come into play at the very high grades, such as eye appeal, centering, sharpness of corners etc. But really GPX and RH are right, any grade will be subjective based on the grader.

[YOURTURN | 1,258]

85 = Near box fresh. This is pretty much what you might see a day after some of the items were taken out of the box and put on shelves, pegs, etc. Signs are notable wear that can be seen by the human eye, but not enough to be an issue.

90 = Box fresh. The standard of what you should find in a box shipped from the factory. There will be shipping-related wear but not enough to be detected right away. If it was a "Modern Graded" toy, chances are that it would get a 9.25.

95 = Ideal condition. To get something like this means that it was both carefully packed and handled. And the wear is in places you would not expect to look for. Minute enough that there might be a question on why it did not grade a 95+.

[JinxtheCat | 2]

Your question is referencing VGA grading specifically.  Its worth noting another major grading company named Wata is also an available grading service with a difference scale - more like comics.  

 

As a general rule "most" sealed games that aren't battered to death come in at 80, 80+, 85 or 85+ in VGA scale.  Anything outside that range is an outlier.  a 75 is usually beat up and visually damaged.  A vga score of 90 is not easy to get and a 95 is almost impossible on older sealed games (SNES and prior).  

 

VGA incorporates plastic wrap directly into their grade whereas Wata has a separate seal rating from the box condition grade.  Translating VGA into Wata can be tricky and takes some experience to predict accurately.