WATA/VGA Grading Record Logs

[WhyNotZoidberg | 590]

I don't know if this has been asked before as I'm just now becoming curious about grading, but is there a grading history for items? 

It'd be really interesting to know how many items with each grade they had.

I'm more specifically interested in the outliers, like one game could have a 6.0 and still be the highest graded. Or the opposite, it seems like a sealed Mario Galaxy 2 with a 9.4 grade goes for about $1k CAD but there are plenty of those to go around, and more are sure to pop up.

[DefaultGen | 5,967]

It's called a population report and grading people have all been mad for years that Wata doesn't release this information when every other grading company does. AFAIK Wata was only planning on initially releasing NES population, maybe that changed.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 590]

22 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

It's called a population report and grading people have all been mad for years that Wata doesn't release this information when every other grading company does. AFAIK Wata was only planning on initially releasing NES population, maybe that changed.

Thank you for naming of the thing I wanted to talk about, english is my 2nd language. And thanks for the answer!

So VGA has them?

[AdamW | 714]

Wata certainly has the info, but never seems to get around to sharing...

Iirc, vga has published them before but isn't doing it recently, right?

[retro.magnus | 136]

I feel like WATA's connection/partnership to HA will forever stop them from releasing any sort of report. It helps consumers but hurts their business. Sucks.. I'd love to be wrong though. 

[YOURTURN | 1,258]

6 hours ago, AdamW said:

Wata certainly has the info, but never seems to get around to sharing...

Iirc, vga has published them before but isn't doing it recently, right?

That is correct. But my guess is that they dropped it because the current owners had reasons to. Just like how they chose to drop their photo service instead of improving the entire website.

[GPX | 1,444]

I haven’t graded from VGA for over a year now so can’t speak on the present day. In the past, you can message and ask for population reports for 3 games per day, and they give you the stats. 

Regarding WATA, I find it highly ironic they’re heavily promoting for the comic collectors to jump into the scene, with the similar grading scale, the mention of “print runs” and “key” titles. Yet, when it comes to population reports, awfully silent on their part..

[3rdStrongestMole | 461]

I wonder if the new matrix app will include that? It'd be awesome to be able to scan a game and it gives you breakdown of where that game title falls in terms of percentile. But... yeah, if it doesn't benefit Wata to release the info, then it probably won't be there

[inasuma | 1,228]

I messaged Wata about this specifically a few months ago. Their communications person, Megan, indicated a pop report should be coming this year. Is it true? Who knows. One can hope.

[retro.magnus | 136]

56 minutes ago, inasuma said:

I messaged Wata about this specifically a few months ago. Their communications person, Megan, indicated a pop report should be coming this year. Is it true? Who knows. One can hope.

AFAIK she isn't with them anymore, so I'd take anything you heard from her with a grain of salt. 

[inasuma | 1,228]

Well, she was working there at the time. I don't see any reason for her to lie right before leaving. lol

That said, Wata is clearly taking their sweet, sweet time.

[Frost271 | 22]

I agree with a previous comment. Its about the $$.

Not releasing reports in fact help the older collectors, now, in general, as most long-timers know what is and isnt rare and a great time to cash in.  Especially since grading takes a year right now unless you pay $500 which is still worth it to sell a high value market title.  

These new collectors are paying $50k plus for games that have a huge sealed population in mint condition (i.e Marios bros 3, Ninja Gaidens, etc…).

You release the reports, those values will drop hard.  So the WATA collectors’ games go down in value, less buyers and seller premiums for HA. 

Other side of the coin, set collectors will catch on to the rare titles outside of black boxes and popular titles so those values would go up.  

Market would correct itself essentially.  If WATA were to do it right like CGS. They will solidify itself as the only grading company in the market. VGA screwed it up and had a decade head start. Whether you like them or not, WATA is doing it right.  Big big money is being made. 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Frost271

[MrWunderful | 2,933]

13 minutes ago, Frost271 said:

I agree with a previous comment. Its about the $$.

Not releasing reports in fact help the older collectors, now, in general, as most long-timers know what is and isnt rare and a great time to cash in.  Especially since grading takes a year right now unless you pay $500 which is still worth it to sell a high value market title.  

These new collectors are paying $50k plus for games that have a huge sealed population in mint condition (i.e Marios bros 3, Ninja Gaidens, etc…).

You release the reports, those values will drop hard.  So the WATA collectors’ games go down in value, less buyers and seller premiums for HA. 

Other side of the coin, set collectors will catch on to the rare titles outside of black boxes and popular titles so those values would go up.  

Market would correct itself essentially.  If WATA were to do it right like CGS. They will solidify itself as the only grading company in the market. VGA screwed it up and had a decade head start. Whether you like them or not, WATA is doing it right.  Big big money is being made. 

This. 
 

I wish wata was doing it for the love of collecting (which they said it was [marketing]) but most businesses are in it to make money  So yeah, capitalism

[Frost271 | 22]

18 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

This. 
 

I wish wata was doing it for the love of collecting (which they said it was [marketing]) but most businesses are in it to make money  So yeah, capitalism

Sitting on a beach sipping on margaritas with your family > “love of collecting”  

Always. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Frost271

[inasuma | 1,228]

3 hours ago, Frost271 said:

I agree with a previous comment. Its about the $$.

Not releasing reports in fact help the older collectors, now, in general, as most long-timers know what is and isnt rare and a great time to cash in.  Especially since grading takes a year right now unless you pay $500 which is still worth it to sell a high value market title.  

These new collectors are paying $50k plus for games that have a huge sealed population in mint condition (i.e Marios bros 3, Ninja Gaidens, etc…).

You release the reports, those values will drop hard.  So the WATA collectors’ games go down in value, less buyers and seller premiums for HA. 

Other side of the coin, set collectors will catch on to the rare titles outside of black boxes and popular titles so those values would go up.  

Market would correct itself essentially.  If WATA were to do it right like CGS. They will solidify itself as the only grading company in the market. VGA screwed it up and had a decade head start. Whether you like them or not, WATA is doing it right.  Big big money is being made. 

lol wata’s founder is perfectly comfortable consulting on the prices of his own products on pawn stars.

they are fully taking advantage of the situation by not releasing pop reports and it’s obv. cash money.

[Gulag Joe | 591]

Playing devils advocate, one could say they haven't released pop reports yet because they would get flooded with even more submissions. The order they have from me from April of last year is in the 575's (still haven't gotten it back and no movement), I think they're in the 581's now. Unless they do their order numbers randomly, that's only about 6,000 submissions in the last 14 months. It could be argued that the pop reports are still relatively lower than everyone thinks. 

[AdamW | 714]

The order numbers are definitely sequential, but remember you can submit multiple games per order (and I often see listings for item numbers higher than 001, so people often do). 6000 submissions doesn't mean 6000 games.

[Gulag Joe | 591]

6,000 submissions doesn't mean 6,000 sealed left bros. Let's say 200 of those orders had a sealed left bros. Even with that presumption, that's still less copies of Left Bros. than Batman #1.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Gulag Joe

[OptOut | 9,278]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:47 AM, MrWunderful said:

This. 
 

I wish wata was doing it for the love of collecting (which they said it was [marketing]) but most businesses are in it to make money  So yeah, capitalism

What about this face DOESN'T scream passionate videogame collector and hardcore gamer to you?

With a CEO like that at the helm, you KNOW that cultural significance and the preservation of videogame history will be at the FOREFRONT of every business decision!

[fcgamer | 5,136]

1 hour ago, OptOut said:

What about this face DOESN'T scream passionate videogame collector and hardcore gamer to you?

With a CEO like that at the helm, you KNOW that cultural significance and the preservation of videogame history will be at the FOREFRONT of every business decision!

C'mon dude, that guy was a former professional cyclist, he and I are basically brothers. 

Should I invite him over and take him cycling up in Alishan?

[OptOut | 9,278]

4 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

C'mon dude, that guy was a former professional cyclist, he and I are basically brothers. 

Should I invite him over and take him cycling up in Alishan?

I would LOVE to see a venn diagram showing the overlap of professional cyclists and hardcore gamers! It'd be like two circles several miles apart lol!

Don't worry tho, he used to play NES at his friend's house back in the 80's, I'm SURE his heart is in the right place! 

[AdamW | 714]

I mean, it seems like kind of a cheap shot. It's pretty common for a business founded by enthusiasts to bring in a Business Person when it gets big enough that they realize they don't know any of the stuff they teach you in business school. Companies that don't do that tend to get in trouble over boring stuff like record keeping and accounting and HR that you can maybe slide by on when you're a small company whose five employees are all friends, but that you have to start taking seriously once you reach a certain size. Which is what's happening to WATA now.

[OptOut | 9,278]

11 hours ago, AdamW said:

I mean, it seems like kind of a cheap shot. 

I have never once claimed to be above taking cheap shots! 

[jonebone | 1,336]

Aren't the only people clamoring about these population reports "investors"?  If you want a copy of a game, do you really need to know how many games have been subbed to date?

Sure, population reports need to come out but if you're really that upset about it then it's just an excuse.  I mean heaven forbid we collected stuff pre-Wata like damn gunslingers of the Wild West not knowing what was out there. 

[AdamW | 714]

Even if you're a collector not an investor, a pop report at least could help you figure out if you need to buy now before prices get any higher, or you can wait for em to drop...