Heritage Auctions Thread

[phart010 | 1,708]

21 minutes ago, spacepup said:

Also, of all the allegations discussed, the biggest crime of all, is clearly the case design for N64 titles as @Gloves pointed out.  I mean, that is just dastardly!   In seriousness though, I do think that was a really strange choice and makes no sense to me personally as how one would display it.  Oh well, haha

 

Like this  

Come on man!

Edited August 30, 2021 by phart010

[Gloves | 11,823]

1 minute ago, phart010 said:

Like this  

Come on man!

[karljobst | 242]

Does $6000 for Majora's Mask in that condition seem extremely cheap. Considering how much other N64 titles were going for on HA, that seems insane. Also a good condition Mario 2 went for $90k which seems really cheap as well given how much Mario 3 went for.

Edited August 30, 2021 by karljobst

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

Just now, karljobst said:

Does $6000 for Majora's Mask in that condition seem extremely cheap. Considering how much other N64 titles were going for on HA, that seems insane. Also a good condition Mario 2 went for $90k which seems really cheap as well given how much Mario 3 went for.

6k for MM is reasonable for 85+-90

mario 2 is common in both white seal and black seal

mario 3 is super common in white seal. very rare in 'left' bros (1st edition)

[karljobst | 242]

Just now, CIBWholesale said:

6k for MM is reasonable for 85+-90

mario 2 is common in both white seal and black seal

mario 3 is super common in white seal. very rare in 'left' bros (1st edition)

Reasonable in what sense? Reasonable for what it 'should' go for, or reasonable in the current market?

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

11 minutes ago, karljobst said:

Reasonable in what sense? Reasonable for what it 'should' go for, or reasonable in the current market?

90  would get 5 good offers in a week

an 85 would be hard to know if it's in good shape or great shape -- a lot of time back and forth with a buyer.

a 80+ would sit for a long time unless it was graded 80+ for shrink

 

 

every game is extremely rare in 90 except maybe starting gamecube/wii. 95 is hard there

 

100 on anything is another universe.

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by CIBWholesale

[BriGuy82 | 788]

34 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I get people are still upset about the NA transition and all that, and hey, some legitimate complaints there.

However, I actually do think it's a bit unfair to lump him in (in terms of equal perception) with all the other individuals highlighted in the video.  Personally, I think his name and likeness was used mainly just to promote the legitimacy and experience of WATA - and if anything, I think the company used this longer than was appropriate, whether intentional or not.  Regardless of earlier timelines and his potential involvement, I've not seen any real indication that he was meaningfully involved with WATA or Heritage, especially as it pertains to the allegations of manipulation.

I actually would be curious to get his thoughts on everything, like the questions Cody asked for example, but I also understand someone just wanting to get away from all this nonsense and not dig in deeper.

Also, of all the allegations discussed, the biggest crime of all, is clearly the case design for N64 titles as @Gloves pointed out.  I mean, that is just dastardly!   In seriousness though, I do think that was a really strange choice and makes no sense to me personally as how one would display it.  Oh well, haha

 

Well here's the thing though. At one point he was part, or perceived to be part of wata (his picture, profile and title at wata were originally posted on their site). Lay with dogs, you get fleas.

[spacepup | 2,410]

3 minutes ago, BriGuy82 said:

Well here's the thing though. At one point he was part, or perceived to be part of wata (his picture, profile and title at wata were originally posted on their site). Lay with dogs, you get fleas.

I personally think that he withdrew from WATA early on, but the company did not appropriately remove him from their web site / marketing / discussions / etc.  This is a bit sloppy at best, or it could have been disingenuous / deceitful.  I can't really say.

I can't prove his total lack of involvement - but if I had to guess, he was basically brought on / used to help legitimize the service since he was so well known.  But did he actually have any real involvement for any material amount of time? I personally don't think so (and again, I could be wrong).  

All I'm saying is, my personal perception of his actions, is very different from, say, Halperin and some others.   Even Karl doesn't exactly highlight him much in the video in any real negative sense - clearly the allegations against the other actors are much stronger.    

 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

9 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I personally think that he withdrew from WATA early on, but the company did not appropriately remove him from their web site / marketing / discussions / etc. 

Yes, this was proven earlier in the thread, thanks to Dain's emails that he shared and Sealed Wholesale's emails that he shared. Without these private emails, we wouldn't have the proof, but there they are right in this thread. That is a super shady thing for WATA to do. If a guy who brings legitimacy to your company backs out, his name should immediately be removed from any and all communication to investors/ etc. 

Point being, if there's one shady thing they are doing, what else are they doing that is shady?

[karljobst | 242]

Jeff Meyer has made a more detailed response - https://blog.gocollect.com/jeff-meyer-responds-to-questions-raised-by-karl-jobst-video/

He is claiming that NintendoAge was a forum. But NintendoAge was not a forum. It had a forum as a part of the website, but it was also a database to find information about nintendo games. Is it possible Jeff is completely ignorant to what he purchased? I don't know how to explain that comment. It seems deceitful. 

There are other issues that I won't bring up again here but I will definitely talk to him about when we catch up.

[jonebone | 1,307]

48 minutes ago, karljobst said:

Does $6000 for Majora's Mask in that condition seem extremely cheap. Considering how much other N64 titles were going for on HA, that seems insane. Also a good condition Mario 2 went for $90k which seems really cheap as well given how much Mario 3 went for.

Majora's Mask is extremely prevalant, $6k on 9.4 A++ Is a strong sale there.  Seller is happy.

SMB2 9.4 A+ at $90k would have been absolutely stellar in ordinary thinking, but with the current Mario hype, I would have expected $125k+ there.  But anything above $50k there shows that the current Wata drama has no bearing on the market right now.

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

16 hours ago, WalterWhiteJr. said:

This is VGA pop report data from several years ago for Mario 64:

Super Mario 64 (1996): U95+(1), U95(2), 95(4), U90(3), 90+(4), 90(16), 85+(18), 85(19), 80+(11), 80(4), 75+(4), 75(1)

I’m going to say that all the 90+ and above are equivalent to 9.8 A++ and I’ll be generous and say half of the 90s will cross to equivalent. that’s 22 right there. This data is several years old. Given the explosion in popularity since, I don’t think it’s crazy to think that these numbers have doubled since. I’ll be generous yet again and just say 1.5X. Now we are up to 33. Toss in the 2 actual Wata 9.8 A++ and we are at 35. You honestly don’t think that there’s at LEAST 15 9.8 A++ equivalents that are raw or in cases? Not every sealed collector is a social media whore or cares about grading. The more I type this out, the more I’m convincing myself that 50 is actually on the low end. 

Major caveat here is that N64 games generally cross poorly. VGA seems to put a heavy emphasis on seal, WATA is strict on the N64 box grades, and N64 boxes are so prone to indenting and creasing because of the air inside. There is absolutely no chance there are 50 or more of these, or anywhere near it, unless someone has been stashing case packs in their basement (possible, but decreasingly likely as huge numbers hit the news and none come forth). Even then, casepacks you usually see 1-2 9.8 with N64. 

But this is the problem with no pop reports and why they really ought to start THIS WEEK to address that problem. I'm also hoping that WATA has been tracking all the crossovers, such that we can at least try to pinpoint as accurate a count as possible between the companies.

 

[jonebone | 1,307]

13 minutes ago, karljobst said:

Jeff Meyer has made a more detailed response - https://blog.gocollect.com/jeff-meyer-responds-to-questions-raised-by-karl-jobst-video/

He is claiming that NintendoAge was a forum. But NintendoAge was not a forum. It had a forum as a part of the website, but it was also a database to find information about nintendo games. Is it possible Jeff is completely ignorant to what he purchased? I don't know how to explain that comment. It seems deceitful. 

There are other issues that I won't bring up again here but I will definitely talk to him about when we catch up.

Well Nintendoage was a forum, that's the main reason people went there.  

However, through the forum participation, databases were created.  Forum members scanned in manuals and boxes.  A rarity guide was there but more or less a swag and not something updated continually.  There was an eZine that was popular but not enough participation to keep going more than quarterly by the end.

And to be fair, Nintendo age was mostly a centralized location of stuff.  Checklists of "sets" for collecting, scans of items, etc.  Most of that information could be found elsewhere, so it's not like Jeff bought NA and instantly has executive power to delete all info from the internet.  People were also given enough warning that they could backup whatever they deemed was important to them. 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

5 minutes ago, karljobst said:

Jeff Meyer has made a more detailed response - https://blog.gocollect.com/jeff-meyer-responds-to-questions-raised-by-karl-jobst-video/

He is claiming that NintendoAge was a forum. But NintendoAge was not a forum. It had a forum as a part of the website, but it was also a database to find information about nintendo games. Is it possible Jeff is completely ignorant to what he purchased? I don't know how to explain that comment. It seems deceitful. 

There are other issues that I won't bring up again here but I will definitely talk to him about when we catch up.

Wait wait wait...does he think he only bought the forum?  Does that mean that @Dain might still own the database itself?  Or is Jeff completely unaware of what he actually owns?

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

12 minutes ago, karljobst said:

Jeff Meyer has made a more detailed response - https://blog.gocollect.com/jeff-meyer-responds-to-questions-raised-by-karl-jobst-video/

 

"The NintendoAge forums were never taken away, nor were any of the forum’s information/discussions. 

GoCollect’s video game price guide will be launching this fall and will deliver the data and tools that video game enthusiasts will be excited about. My goal was always to give NintendoAge a second life. That remains unchanged. I certainly wish that I’d been able to get the new site off the ground faster."

[CIB_Wholesale | 418]

17 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

Even then, casepacks you usually see 1-2 9.8 with N64. 

this is so big. a lot of games inside the case packs are damaged

 

here is my table for case packs of pokemon gold and silver graded a long time ago. I would expect to see 1 vga 95, 95+ or 100 show up 0 times in 1,000,000 case packs of 64 which are not sturdy boxes at all

 

    2000    NINTENDO     GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        85+                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE     POKEMON GOLD VERSION        95                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        85+                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        85                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        95                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        90+                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        95                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR     GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION        95                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON GOLD VERSION         85                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON SILVER VERSION        85+                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON SILVER VERSION        85+                N/A
    2000    NINTENDO    GAME BOY COLOR    GAME CARTRIDGE    POKEMON SILVER VERSION        85+                N/A

 

 

 

 

****they are long gone, #notadupecollector

Edited August 30, 2021 by CIBWholesale

[captmorgandrinker | 1,650]

11 hours ago, BriGuy82 said:

Lol, it's like the artwork of a serial killer. 

Why else do you think we'd be nice to him?

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Just now, jonebone said:

Well Nintendoage was a forum, that's the main reason people went there.  

However, through the forum participation, databases were created.  Forum members scanned in manuals and boxes.  A rarity guide was there but more or less a swag and not something updated continually.  There was an eZine that was popular but not enough participation to keep going more than quarterly by the end.

And to be fair, Nintendo age was mostly a centralized location of stuff.  Checklists of "sets" for collecting, scans of items, etc.  Most of that information could be found elsewhere, so it's not like Jeff bought NA and instantly has executive power to delete all info from the internet.  People were also given enough warning that they could backup whatever they deemed was important to them. 

If I remember correctly from the time, NA was not started to be a forum, it was started to be the penultimate database of information for the NES, as information was scattered over multiple websites and forums, and finding it was a goddamn chore for all but the most hardcore of us.  The forum was added more as an extra than anything.  With all the other communities out there at the time, there was really no need for another one.  The site was meant to be a database right from day one.

[Gloves | 11,823]

HNNNNNGGGGGG.

[spacepup | 2,410]

Jeff obviously knew about the database (as a component of the forum).  In fact, back on NA when he first announced the acquisition, I don't think he was shy at all about expressing that the database, and also knowledge contained in NA, was a huge primary focus for his purchase.

I didn't particularly get a deceitful vibe about that portion of his recent statement, calling it a forum.  From what I recall, he never tried to hide the fact that a big part of his interest was for the database info as it would help him to create pricing / tracking tools.  Which he also discusses in this same blog. 

I'm not really speaking to other parts of the blog or his involvement, but as it pertains to the purchase of NintendoAge, I think that was clear from day one.  He obviously wasn't just wanting to buy the forum alone, that was pretty inactive at the time.

[Alder | 243]

"The NintendoAge forums were never taken away, nor were any of the forum’s information/discussions."

That's a bit of a stretch, given how mangled everything is after being reinterpreted with the new forum tech. I don't know if it's different now, but all I remember is a big unsearchable list of raw HTML and broken images.

[spacepup | 2,410]

Well, that part is funny of course.  While technically true, the information was almost rendered unusable in the implementation of that transfer.  We all know how that turned out ha

 

[spacepup | 2,410]

At the end of the day, that particular acquisition was definitely marketed and sold as something that was supposed to be great for the hobby, great for the community, etc.  Pricing / tracking tools, transparency, etc., I mean, people were promised all sorts of things.

I've yet to really see anything particularly positive for the community that came out of that transaction - but that's just my personal opinion.

EDIT: Actually, I'll rephrase the last part a bit.  I do think something very positive came out of the acquisition, and it is that some dedicated folks saw what was happening and thus created VGS, and thanks to the dedicated staff and community that followed / joined here, I think we have a great thing going now. 

[Gloves | 11,823]

Just now, Alder said:

"The NintendoAge forums were never taken away, nor were any of the forum’s information/discussions."

That's a bit of a stretch, given how mangled everything is after being reinterpreted with the new forum tech. I don't know if it's different now, but all I remember is a big unsearchable list of raw HTML and broken images.

@karljobst

It's noteworthy also that users can't access private forums at all. NintendoAge had a system not unlike our own "Clubs" where you and your pals could have a private little invite-only forum to discuss whatever suited your fancy.

Often this feature was used to get a group of testers and team members together to work on developing a homebrew game for the NES or some other retro console. There's years worth of history that are currently entirely inaccessible to people. 

[Alder | 243]

2 minutes ago, spacepup said:

Jeff obviously knew about the database (as a component of the forum).  In fact, back on NA when he first announced the acquisition, I don't think he was shy at all about expressing that the database, and also knowledge contained in NA, was a huge primary focus for his purchase.

This is what led me to ask the question earlier: the database was public and could be exported, so what does he gain by buying the site? If he just wanted the name, or wanted to merge tech with GVN, fine. If it was the cherry on top of buying all of Dain's games, so be it. But (tinfoil hat warning), in theory, couldn't he also have access to everyone's private messages? I don't know how secure those things were in the old system.