Heritage Auctions Thread

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 minute ago, darkchylde28 said:

Well, honestly, I got really, really tired of all of the random, off topic jokes and fanning-of-drama-flames that kept going on and on and on in this topic since I stopped reading it late last night and hopped on this afternoon to discover roughtly TWENTY PAGES worth of stuff to digest (while it was still growing).  So if like 2 pages worth of dick jokes and 4-5 pages worth of similar material and GIFs just weren't there...yeah, big fan in a topic that's been as serious and expansive as this.  The occasional joke to lighten the mood can be very appropriate, and has been several times in this thread, but when half a dozen people all jump on the badnwagon and they just start feeding off of each other in an ongoing circle, well... (sorry Gloves, here's my hopefully one for the thread) ...it's annoying as fuck.  So, please, don't take it badly, but take it to heart, everybody doing jumping jacks in the middle of the room with their dicks out all giggling at the top of their lungs while the rest of this topic is going on at the edges really isn't appreciated anymore, even if it garnered several legitimate smiles and giggles from everyone at the start.

I woke up admittedly to less, around 10ish pages, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading every post up to that point.  But then, that's the kind of thing I enjoyed about message boards back in the day that I feel is lacking on most nowadays.  There's a reason I'm still hanging out on this thread.  The relevant info is intriguing, the drama has been relatively mild and honestly not detrimental (despite being a side story to the main topic), and the bro banter has been a wonderful blast from the past.  Again, it's an agree-to-disagree thing in my opinion, and if it gets too far out of hand I'm sure @Gloves will step in (as he did in the brief pause, whether or not I agree with his stance is irrelevant - I'm not doing his job). 

5 minutes ago, Johnny said:

I’m just here to see what other old NA members will show up

At this point, me too.  Still waiting on Tim Atwood though

1 minute ago, Rhapsody98 said:

That's quite the mental image.    My view of the thread went kind of like this:  

[Rhapsody98 | 1,535]

Also, in light of this whole debacle, Thank you for all you do, Gloves.   I'm sure keep looking at your screen in increasing horror.  

 

 

[NZCollector | 107]

Well, this is an entertaining read! Thanks everyone 

Been gone four days and the thread has doubled in length. Very reminiscent of contentious NintendoAge threads, pulled me right out of inactivity! 

Edited August 27, 2021 by NZCollector

[Rhapsody98 | 1,535]

9 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

 

 

 

[Gloves | 11,778]

16 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

Well, honestly, I got really, really tired of all of the random, off topic jokes and fanning-of-drama-flames that kept going on and on and on in this topic since I stopped reading it late last night and hopped on this afternoon to discover roughtly TWENTY PAGES worth of stuff to digest (while it was still growing).  So if like 2 pages worth of dick jokes and 4-5 pages worth of similar material and GIFs just weren't there...yeah, big fan in a topic that's been as serious and expansive as this.  The occasional joke to lighten the mood can be very appropriate, and has been several times in this thread, but when half a dozen people all jump on the badnwagon and they just start feeding off of each other in an ongoing circle, well... (sorry Gloves, here's my hopefully one for the thread) ...it's annoying as fuck.  So, please, don't take it badly, but take it to heart, everybody doing jumping jacks in the middle of the room with their dicks out all giggling at the top of their lungs while the rest of this topic is going on at the edges really isn't appreciated anymore, even if it garnered several legitimate smiles and giggles from everyone at the start.

Oh you can swear, that's no prob. Fuck fuckity fuck fuck! I appreciate the way a little swearing can liven up a conversation. 

The rest of your point made here however is indeed well made and exactly what I was getting at. 

The thread has been derailed, let's take it back on course as best we can. I've no problem with people popping in saying hi and then disappearing forever, either, it's whatever. 

But the thread was in serious danger of going far enough off the rails that it had to be quashed. 

@the_wizard_666 I appreciate the compliment by the way. It means a lot to hear the positivity. 

The fact is, this is *a community*. If a bunch of new guys pop in and start upsetting the balance we've worked so hard on, well, the handful of private messages I received simply made it clear that I had to step in. 

I've provided an alt. I'd be happy to see ALL of these people stick around. Seriously! But we'll need to keep the vulgarity down, keep the threads as in line with their intent as we can, and if you wanna bro it up in a group PM or a private club, that's an option! Seriously, PM each other! I hope you've already started to do so, I'd be glad to know that even if for one day the old group got together to shoot the shit. 

As for this thread, best as we can, back on the rails please, everyone. 

 

[Dain | 193]

10 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

At this point, me too.  Still waiting on Tim Atwood though

I sent him a message to this thread, so maybe he'll drop by.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

13 minutes ago, Gloves said:

@the_wizard_666 I appreciate the compliment by the way. It means a lot to hear the positivity.

Any time.  I used to mod one of the pre-NA forums.  I know how thankless the task is, and there really is no right way to do it as someone will inevitably get salty about whatever move is made (or not made).  And like I said in one of the posts, it doesn't matter if I agree with it or not, it's your call.  For example, I was unaware of any PMs you received (as I obviously would be since they're private), but it still doesn't change my feeling that stepping in may have been a touch premature.  But that's MY feeling, and is entirely irrelevant to the task at hand.  VGS is a great place, and you've done your best to make it that way.  All the props in the world for doing the work to make it that way!

5 minutes ago, Dain said:

I sent him a message to this thread, so maybe he'll drop by.

Between him and NGD (who I've messaged), I think the only one missing would be dangevin

EDIT: Thinking about dangevin, I still have his Dragon Wars repro that he lent me like 15 years ago He probably don't give a shit at this point, but I lost touch with him before I could give it back.  If he does pop in somehow, I'd love to resolve that at some point, whatever it would entail.

Edited August 27, 2021 by the_wizard_666

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

24 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

I'm not saying it makes them look squeaky clean, automatically, or anything.

I'm just saying it adds a pretty significant wrinkle, when you consider the scrutiny they were likely under for a company sale. (assuming it was done competently)

 

And again, recognizing that HA has been under no such scrutiny.

(and to reiterate, if it's necessary, I have no love for Wata, and thought it was a pretty major conflict of interest from the inception, in terms of how they were spooling up their original batch of grading -- and I don't know that it's a particularly "useful" service --- I'm just trying to stay a bit rational about what is "likely" versus what is simply possible, based on what we know)

My guess is they probably did their due diligence and figured the risks were minimal or non-existent, especially considering pretty much all of this information was already out in the public and easy to research and they would seem to be a competent acquirer. That’s why imo, there are some just some independence issues that I personally see as troubling based on the nature of the grading business and discussing valuations of items that you are grading. Ideally, you’d want your authority on grading to just be concerned about the authenticity and condition of the games and let other companies focus on the valuation of what the games are worth. I think about credit rating agencies and their independence standards as an example. With that said, we’re talking about a relatively small company, in a new and growing market with lots of potential versus an established, enormously more economically significant, broad based industry.

Edited August 27, 2021 by ICrappedMyPants

[a3quit4s | 4,098]

5 minutes ago, Dain said:

I sent him a message to this thread, so maybe he'll drop by.

I mean at least he released a population report of how many SE cases he had!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

I mean at least he released a population report of how many SE cases he had!

That already makes him more credible than WATA in my books.

[port | 32]

30 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

but when half a dozen people all jump on the badnwagon and they just start feeding off of each other in an ongoing circle, well... (sorry Gloves, here's my hopefully one for the thread) ...it's annoying as fuck.  

Mission accomplished. Cavern, we're done here. 

[a3quit4s | 4,098]

4 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

That already makes him more credible than WATA in my books.

Wtf does WATA stand for?

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 minute ago, port said:

Mission accomplished. Cavern, we're done here. 

Well, it was fun while it lasted.  Until next time man!

Just now, a3quit4s said:

Wtf does WATA stand for?

We're All Total Asshats

Seriously, I have no idea.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

7 hours ago, BriGuy82 said:

@ThePhleodo you still have records on nwcs?

Yep., they're coming.

A lot going on with personal life right now.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

7 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Wtf does WATA stand for?

From their website:

The inspiration for our name, Wata, comes from Bruce Lee:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. Now if you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. Put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or creep or drip or crash. Be water my friend.”

Personally, reminds me of my mother in law from Brooklyn saying water.

[BriGuy82 | 768]

1 minute ago, ThePhleo said:

Yep., they're coming.

A lot going on with personal life right now.

Ok thanks. I'm gonna repost the video in which Deniz is sharing a graded nwc. I believe it is 0057., I'm just curious who the nwc belonged to at that time. He showed it at the 5 min mark. 

 

[Prime2099 | 176]

1 minute ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

From their website:

The inspiration for our name, Wata, comes from Bruce Lee:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. Now if you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. Put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or creep or drip or crash. Be water my friend.”

Personally, reminds me of my mother in law from Brooklyn saying water.

Um, a little racist? Or is it just me.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

1 minute ago, Prime2099 said:

Um, a little racist? Or is it just me.

I didn’t even think of that. Tbh, most things like that go over my head.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 minute ago, Prime2099 said:

Um, a little racist? Or is it just me.

I agree with ya.  A real tribute wouldn't have incorporated his accent into the name.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

5 minutes ago, BriGuy82 said:

Ok thanks. I'm gonna repost the video in which Deniz is sharing a graded nwc. I believe it is 0057., I'm just curious who the nwc belonged to at that time. He showed it at the 5 min mark. 

 

 

Publicly known cartridge, but I don't track owners for the sole sake of their privacy.

My goal also isn't to inflate the value of these things so I never bothered tracking if they were NOA Employee copies, or competitor copies.

Besides, only four copies matter. The three winners, and Howard Phillips' copy.

[BriGuy82 | 768]

4 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

 

Publicly known cartridge, but I don't track owners for the sole sake of their privacy.

My goal also isn't to inflate the value of these things so I never bothered tracking if they were NOA Employee copies, or competitor copies.

Besides, only four copies matter. The three winners, and Howard Phillips' copy.

Ok thanks for the info.

[nick | 61]

4 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Definitely got a nwc, it was labeless and he had a fake label affixed to it

Well, we told the community about it and what we did with it, what more could possibly be asked for? After Mike Langenfeld sold it, he removed the repro label, so that it couldn't possibly be passed off or confused as being an authentic label by some future owner. The repro label using double-sided removable tape that we literally got at Staples was for improving the intrinsic value for Mike Langenfeld's collection ONLY. We literally just put in my authentic NWC Gold (with a label) into the color copier at Staples and hit "Copy" and then he found the tape in some random aisle and like 10 minutes later we were out of Staples. It's not like we were making any attempts to copy the exact paper or anything like that - the purpose wasn't to make a fake label. Then we came back to my house and he cut it out all carefully and affixed the repro label to his real authentic label-less NWC Gold. I have videos that I documented of us putting on the repro label and Mike cutting it out all carefully - which I made so I could share with the community and there would be no confusions which I assumed people would appreciate - boy did that work out well /s - if anyone wants to see these videos I can share. I also documented Mike and I driving up to New Hampshire to buy it, photos of the handoff between Thom and I at the GameStop in Claremont NH where we did the transaction, and some videos after of MIke's reaction holding it and how he felt being the new owner of a NWC Gold and stuff. I documented all this thoroughly. Our goal for telling the community all this was so that there could be no possible confusions about that our intentions was for improving the display-ability and appearance and that nobody could possibly think we were attempting to make a fake label, and so that the community would know that the lineage of that specific cart does NOT have an authentic label, but that the rest of it IS authentic. Mike is the one that suggested we put on the repro label. It was his call since it was his NWC Gold - I was cool either way.

I can say that after I handed the Thom guy $17,000 and held a NWC Gold in my hands without the label and just the ugly glue residue, it felt like really shitty. I remember thinking to myself as soon as I held it "$17K... for this...? Is this even worth it? I guess it's good?". It didn't have that "FUCK YEAH!" feeling AT ALL that a NWC Gold should make a game collector feel when they hold it in their hands. But after it had the repro label back on it, when I held it, I remember feeling it "FUCK YEAH" - it made it feel awesome again. At that point I agreed with Mike that it was definitely the right call to do that - using double-sided removable tape which could be removed at any time.

The way the community reacted to Mike is a big reason why Mike decided to leave the collecting scene. He also sent the NWC Gold away to VGA (with the repro label OFF - he said he was going to affix the repro label back on to the OUTSIDE of the VGA case after grading) to be graded, but they refused it because the VGA people read the thread where some armchair idiots were demonstrating their idiocy and speculating that the entire thing was faked from a NWC Grey and a Zelda because it was associated with me. So not only were people accusing Mike of all sorts of mean nasty words, but also VGA wouldn't grade it - the NWC Gold felt tainted at that point - even though it wasn't. Mike also basically couldn't get any "atta boys" and "nice collection man!" from people after that - which as minor of a thing as that MIGHT seem at first, is a big reason why we are involved in a community in the first place.

When Mike decided to sell out, we arranged that I was going to buy it back from him. He listed it on NintendoAge and kept lowering the price from $17K and eventually down to $12K, so I was gonna buy it from him for $12K. I needed like a month to come up with the $, and Mike said OK, and in that month period that I was in money-raise mode Mike had sold it to some random person that I don't know who they are that said they would pay the $12K on NintendoAge and they paid Mike right away. So I was kind of pissed about that - but also at that point, Mike was just so over the entire scene, and wanted to be done. But honestly - at the time - that NWC Gold felt tainted - even though there was NOTHING wrong about it - I remember thinking like how bad that might have looked for ME if I did buy it back from him. On one hand, I'm sort of sad I didn't buy it and be able to own 2 NWC Golds (which I would have decided who the next owner of it would be - since I have no need to own 2 and I'm not a motherfucking investor hoarder), but I also didn't have to deal with trying to convince everyone it really was real when I would be the one benefiting from it being authentic. Now, some random person has it that I have no idea who they are, and guess what, I'm still saying it's 100% a real actual NWC Gold because it is.

Edited August 27, 2021 by nick

[nick | 61]

37 minutes ago, Dain said:

I sent him a message to this thread, so maybe he'll drop by.

Hi Dain!!!!! It's good to see you. Seriously it is. I'm sorry for the times where I was a shithead to you. Thank you again for your amazing NintendoAge which was our playground for a long time.

[Prime2099 | 176]

5 minutes ago, nick said:

Well, we told the community about it and what we did with it, what more could possibly be asked for? After Mike Langenfeld sold it, he removed the repro label, so that it couldn't possibly be passed off or confused as being an authentic label by some future owner. The repro label using double-sided removable tape that we literally got at Staples was for improving the intrinsic value for Mike Langenfeld's collection ONLY. We literally just put in my authentic NWC Gold (with a label) into the color copier at Staples and hit "Copy" and then he found the tape in some random aisle and like 10 minutes later we were out of Staples. It's not like we were making any attempts to copy the exact paper or anything like that - the purpose wasn't to make a fake label. Then we came back to my house and he cut it out all carefully and affixed the repro label to his real authentic label-less NWC Gold. I have videos that I documented of us putting on the repro label and Mike cutting it out all carefully - which I made so I could share with the community and there would be no confusions which I assumed people would appreciate - boy did that work out well /s - if anyone wants to see these videos I can share. Our goal for telling the community all this was so that there could be no possible confusions about that our intentions was for improving the display-ability and appearance and that nobody could possibly think we were attempting to make a fake label, and so that the community would know that the lineage of that specific cart does NOT have an authentic label, but that the rest of it IS authentic. Mike is the one that suggested we put on the repro label. It was his call since it was his NWC Gold - I was cool either way.

I can say that after I handed the Thom guy $17,000 and held a NWC Gold in my hands without the label and just the ugly glue residue, it felt like really shitty. I remember thinking to myself as soon as I held it "$17K... for this...? Is this even worth it? I guess it's good?". It didn't have that "FUCK YEAH!" feeling AT ALL that a NWC Gold should make a game collector feel when they hold it in their hands. But after it had the repro label back on it, when I held it, I remember feeling it "FUCK YEAH" - it made it feel awesome again. At that point I agreed with Mike that it was definitely the right call to do that - using double-sided removable tape which could be removed at any time.

The way the community reacted to Mike is a big reason why Mike decided to leave the collecting scene. He also sent the NWC Gold away to VGA (with the repro label OFF - he said he was going to affix the repro label back on to the OUTSIDE of the VGA case after grading) to be graded, but they refused it because the VGA people read the thread where some armchair idiots were demonstrating their idiocy and speculating that the entire thing was faked from a NWC Grey and a Zelda because it was associated with me. So not only were people accusing Mike of all sorts of mean nasty words, but also VGA wouldn't grade it - the NWC Gold felt tainted at that point - even though it wasn't. Mike also basically couldn't get any "atta boys" and "nice collection man!" from people after that - which as minor of a thing as that MIGHT seem at first, is a big reason why we are involved in a community in the first place.

When Mike decided to sell out, we arranged that I was going to buy it back from him. He listed it on NintendoAge and kept lowering the price from $17K and eventually down to $12K, so I was gonna buy it from him for $12K. I needed like a month to come up with the $, and Mike said OK, and in that month period that I was in money-raise mode Mike had sold it to some random person that I don't know who they are that said they would pay the $12K on NintendoAge and they paid Mike right away. But honestly - at the time - that NWC Gold felt sort of tainted - even though there was NOTHING wrong about it - I remember thinking like how bad that might have looked for ME if I did buy it. On one hand, I'm sort of sad I didn't buy it and be able to own 2 NWC Golds, but I also didn't have to deal with trying to convince everyone it really was real when I would be the one benefiting from it being authentic. Now, some random person has it that I have no idea who they are, and guess what, I'm still saying it's 100% a real actual NWC Gold because it is.

I remember reading the thread after the fact. He was so happy that he had one and just got absolutely shit on. It was unfortunate.

[Gloves | 11,778]

7 minutes ago, nick said:

Well, we told the community about it and what we did with it, what more could possibly be asked for? After Mike Langenfeld sold it, he removed the repro label, so that it couldn't possibly be passed off or confused as being an authentic label by some future owner. The repro label using double-sided removable tape that we literally got at Staples was for improving the intrinsic value for Mike Langenfeld's collection ONLY. We literally just put in my authentic NWC Gold (with a label) into the color copier at Staples and hit "Copy" and then he found the tape in some random aisle and like 10 minutes later we were out of Staples. It's not like we were making any attempts to copy the exact paper or anything like that - the purpose wasn't to make a fake label. Then we came back to my house and he cut it out all carefully and affixed the repro label to his real authentic label-less NWC Gold. I have videos that I documented of us putting on the repro label and Mike cutting it out all carefully - which I made so I could share with the community and there would be no confusions which I assumed people would appreciate - boy did that work out well /s - if anyone wants to see these videos I can share. I also documented Mike and I driving up to New Hampshire to buy it, photos of the handoff between Thom and I at the GameStop in Claremont NH where we did the transaction, and some videos after of MIke's reaction holding it and how he felt being the new owner of a NWC Gold and stuff. I documented all this thoroughly. Our goal for telling the community all this was so that there could be no possible confusions about that our intentions was for improving the display-ability and appearance and that nobody could possibly think we were attempting to make a fake label, and so that the community would know that the lineage of that specific cart does NOT have an authentic label, but that the rest of it IS authentic. Mike is the one that suggested we put on the repro label. It was his call since it was his NWC Gold - I was cool either way.

I can say that after I handed the Thom guy $17,000 and held a NWC Gold in my hands without the label and just the ugly glue residue, it felt like really shitty. I remember thinking to myself as soon as I held it "$17K... for this...? Is this even worth it? I guess it's good?". It didn't have that "FUCK YEAH!" feeling AT ALL that a NWC Gold should make a game collector feel when they hold it in their hands. But after it had the repro label back on it, when I held it, I remember feeling it "FUCK YEAH" - it made it feel awesome again. At that point I agreed with Mike that it was definitely the right call to do that - using double-sided removable tape which could be removed at any time.

The way the community reacted to Mike is a big reason why Mike decided to leave the collecting scene. He also sent the NWC Gold away to VGA (with the repro label OFF - he said he was going to affix the repro label back on to the OUTSIDE of the VGA case after grading) to be graded, but they refused it because the VGA people read the thread where some armchair idiots were demonstrating their idiocy and speculating that the entire thing was faked from a NWC Grey and a Zelda because it was associated with me. So not only were people accusing Mike of all sorts of mean nasty words, but also VGA wouldn't grade it - the NWC Gold felt tainted at that point - even though it wasn't. Mike also basically couldn't get any "atta boys" and "nice collection man!" from people after that - which as minor of a thing as that MIGHT seem at first, is a big reason why we are involved in a community in the first place.

When Mike decided to sell out, we arranged that I was going to buy it back from him. He listed it on NintendoAge and kept lowering the price from $17K and eventually down to $12K, so I was gonna buy it from him for $12K. I needed like a month to come up with the $, and Mike said OK, and in that month period that I was in money-raise mode Mike had sold it to some random person that I don't know who they are that said they would pay the $12K on NintendoAge and they paid Mike right away. But honestly - at the time - that NWC Gold felt sort of tainted - even though there was NOTHING wrong about it - I remember thinking like how bad that might have looked for ME if I did buy it. On one hand, I'm sort of sad I didn't buy it and be able to own 2 NWC Golds, but I also didn't have to deal with trying to convince everyone it really was real when I would be the one benefiting from it being authentic. Now, some random person has it that I have no idea who they are, and guess what, I'm still saying it's 100% a real actual NWC Gold because it is.

That's something I do prefer about the arcade communities - modding and/or repairing things isn't historically frowned upon. I get that people might be worried about some future buyer/seller claiming something is real when it's not, but you obviously (by the sound of it) went to great lengths to make sure that'd not happen.

It has to be extremely demotivating to go to share something you're excited about only to get shit on. That sucks hard.