Heritage Auctions Thread

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

25 minutes ago, DarkKobold said:

His instagram, while fun to follow and impressive, is ~2/3rds WATA graded games. He probably has one of the largest WATA collections out there, if not the largest. If videos like the Jobst materially effect prices of WATA games, jonebone stands to lose a lot of value to his collection.  

 

This is an issue here. Many are saying that people like Jonas are "conflicted out," yet there are really few better people positioned to give information on what's out there. People who have collected and amassed these items are the ones who would be in the best position to know how difficult things are or are not to obtain. There's really no other way to get around that than the population reports, but people in these positions, such as Jonas, Minus, myself, Bronty etc., have been pretty consistent that we welcome pop reports. I think the NES population report that dropped pretty much speaks for itself. Yeah, there's more out there, and there's VGA and what's left ungraded to consider, but the numbers after 3 years and an insane amount of publicity are what they are. There's an assumption that people who own games are saying these are rare because they own them, as opposed to they started collecting them because they were rare. 

But, I'll say it again. Personally, I am very happy we have at least one major piece of data, and I'd absolutely love to see everything released and will be glad when it is. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by ExplodedHamster

[MinusWorlds | 193]

9 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

This is an issue here. Many are saying that people like Jonas are "conflicted out," yet there are really few better people positioned to give information on what's out there. People who have collected and amassed these items are the ones who would be in the best position to know how difficult things are or are not to obtain. There's really no other way to get around that than the population reports, but people in these positions, such as Jonas, Minus, myself, Bronty etc., have been pretty consistent that we welcome pop reports. I think the NES population report that dropped pretty much speaks for itself. Yeah, there's more out there, and there's VGA and what's left ungraded to consider, but the numbers after 3 years and an insane amount of publicity are what they are. There's an assumption that people who own games are saying these are rare because they own them, as opposed to they started collecting them because they were rare. 

But, I'll say it again. Personally, I am very happy we have at least one major piece of data, and I'd absolutely love to see everything released and will be glad when it is. 

Couldn’t agree more. 
 

When I say rare to describe SMB3 sealed. I say it in relative terms, not to be manipulative, misleading, or anything other than stating a sealed SMB3 is rare relative to other collectibles. That’s just a fact. 
 

Now would I say SMB3 is rare compared to other sealed games? Of course not. But that’s where demand comes in.  
 

Also, couldn’t agree more with @OptOutthat SE is a huge pile of, well, you know. I have been very, very, vocal about that in the past. So to see a shift to what IMO is more rational market behavior with Zelda, Mario, Sonic et al spiking in value I get it. Others don’t because they agreed SE was king because it was rare. That’s what Seth wants you to believe too. I don’t see it that way. 
 

Like I would legit walk right past this to pick up that case of Soccer. 
 

[Gulag Joe | 584]

I find it pathetic that some of you are trashing a successful business venture that has brought great value to the hobby, going insofar as labeling the owners of Wata as inexperienced all the while elevating the criticism from a person who is only popular for playing video games really fast. You're treating that guy like he's the supreme leader and success story of how business ventures work and its absolutely laughable.

[DarkKobold | 196]

20 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

This is an issue here. Many are saying that people like Jonas are "conflicted out," yet there are really few better people positioned to give information on what's out there. People who have collected and amassed these items are the ones who would be in the best position to know how difficult things are or are not to obtain. There's really no other way to get around that than the population reports, but people in these positions, such as Jonas, Minus, myself, Bronty etc., have been pretty consistent that we welcome pop reports. I think the NES population report that dropped pretty much speaks for itself. Yeah, there's more out there, and there's VGA and what's left ungraded to consider, but the numbers after 3 years and an insane amount of publicity are what they are. There's an assumption that people who own games are saying these are rare because they own them, as opposed to they started collecting them because they were rare. 

But, I'll say it again. Personally, I am very happy we have at least one major piece of data, and I'd absolutely love to see everything released and will be glad when it is. 

Here's the problem, he wasn't discussing the rarity of sealed games, he was discussing with Karl the content of his videos, which is all about unethical business practices. Having a good video game collection doesn't make you an expert in FTC guidelines. And that's were the conflict of interest comes into play.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,009]

5 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I find it pathetic that some of you are trashing a successful business venture that has brought great value to the hobby, going insofar as labeling the owners of Wata as inexperienced all the while elevating the criticism from a person who is only popular for playing video games really fast. You're treating that guy like he's the supreme leader and success story of how business ventures work and its absolutely laughable.

Well luckily the owners of Wata have white knights like you to defend their honor on internet message boards. lol

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,173]

11 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I find it pathetic that some of you are trashing a successful business venture that has brought great value to the hobby, going insofar as labeling the owners of Wata as inexperienced all the while elevating the criticism from a person who is only popular for playing video games really fast. You're treating that guy like he's the supreme leader and success story of how business ventures work and its absolutely laughable.

*Cringe*

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

1 hour ago, Gulag Joe said:

Meh, I play every NES game exactly like the Angry Video Game Nerd. However, just because one of those trash games like Stadium Events is "rare" doesn't mean I believe people should pay more money for that game. SE is a bigger pile of dogshit than almost any other NES game produced. So, to me, the way the "Old Guard" approached video game collecting, I see that as FLAWED. A junk game is a junk game. Just because you need it to complete a true NES set shouldn't make it a high priced game, but that's how early hobbyists viewed collecting NES. But ultimately, the game is still dogshit but people chose to pay a higher price for it because that is how they valued it 

No, people paid more for SE because they needed it to complete the full set. That price was based purely on supply and demand, and its numbers even 10 years ago would be laughed at nowadays. 

That wasn't artificially inflated... it was a necessity for most NES collectors,  and it was rare as fuck... thus, expensive. 

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,173]

11 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I find it pathetic that some of you are trashing a successful business venture that has brought great value to the hobby, going insofar as labeling the owners of Wata as inexperienced all the while elevating the criticism from a person who is only popular for playing video games really fast. You're treating that guy like he's the supreme leader and success story of how business ventures work and its absolutely laughable.

Every comment is more arbitrary and pointless than the next. 

[Gulag Joe | 584]

Just now, WalterWhiteJr. said:

*Cringe*

Cringe is right. It's absolutely pathetic. I sure hope the Hamburgler doesn't make a youtube video talking about how Wata is this big scary criminal enterprise. The Hamburgler features Grimace as his prop attorney to say "maybe" and "may have" and some of you guys will have #TeamMcDonalds t-shirts ordered right off of Wish faster than Jobst can jump over a Mario flagpole.

[avatar! | 1,841]

More awesome investigative work by @karljobst - your work is much appreciated!

I have to say I'm quite surprised about that Sonic - not even so much the price as the fact that it should never have been rated so high considering the damage to the seal. If you can't even trust the grade given, what's the point??

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,173]

Did you take a lien out on the house to buy them slabs Joey? How leveraged are we these days? How much do we NEED this market to seem LeGiTiMaTe?

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,173]

Just now, WalterWhiteJr. said:

Did you take a lien out on the house to buy them slabs Joey? How leveraged are we these days? How much do we NEED this market to seem LeGiTiMaTe?

@Gulag Joe

[Gulag Joe | 584]

10 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

No, people paid more for SE because they needed it to complete the full set. That price was based purely on supply and demand, and its numbers even 10 years ago would be laughed at nowadays. 

That wasn't artificially inflated... it was a necessity for most NES collectors,  and it was rare as fuck... thus, expensive. 

I addressed that they paid more because they wanted to complete a set. That pop report makes it look foolish considering Wata has graded more sealed copies of SE in 3 years than they have of Al Unser Jr's Turbo Racing.

FOH

Edited December 1, 2021 by Gulag Joe

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

16 minutes ago, DarkKobold said:

Here's the problem, he wasn't discussing the rarity of sealed games, he was discussing with Karl the content of his videos, which is all about unethical business practices. Having a good video game collection doesn't make you an expert in FTC guidelines. And that's were the conflict of interest comes into play.

I don’t agree it’s a conflict. He is allowed to form his own opinions and others are free to listen to what he and others say and form their own. You could just as easily say Karl has a conflict because this subject gets him more views, and I wouldn’t agree with that either. Or you could say X person wants video game prices to go down, he or she has a conflict. In the end, all that matters are the substance of the arguments.

[Jono1874 | 144]

10 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I find it pathetic that some of you are trashing a successful business venture that has brought great value to the hobby, going insofar as labeling the owners of Wata as inexperienced all the while elevating the criticism from a person who is only popular for playing video games really fast. You're treating that guy like he's the supreme leader and success story of how business ventures work and its absolutely laughable.

It's only "successful" because the people involved actively lied and cheated their way into it. The owners of WATA are inexperienced. They couldnt figure out how to covertly commit their crimes like any other business has. Had they been competent, we wouldn't be talking about any of this right now. The name "WATA" is poison at this point as far as I'm concerned and it's going to take a lot to change that. All accounts point to them being a complete laughing stock as far as the general public is concerned. How are they going to turn that around?

You should be angry that WATA has no integrity. Not at Karl Jobst for pointing it out.

[Gulag Joe | 584]

1 minute ago, Jono1874 said:

It's only "successful" because the people involved actively lied and cheated their way into it. The owners of WATA are inexperienced. They couldnt figure out how to covertly commit their crimes like any other business has. Had they been competent, we wouldn't be talking about any of this right now. The name "WATA" is poison at this point as far as I'm concerned and it's going to take a lot to change that. All accounts point to them being a complete laughing stock as far as the general public is concerned. How are they going to turn that around?

You should be angry that WATA has no integrity. Not at Karl Jobst for pointing it out.

Why haven't any of you called the police on Wata? Why are these alleged notorious criminals roaming free?

[Gulag Joe | 584]

11 minutes ago, WalterWhiteJr. said:

@Gulag Joe

Don't get mad at me because the games you collect aren't rare. 

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

4 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I addressed that they paid more because they wanted to complete a set. That pop report makes it look foolish considering Wata has graded more sealed copies of SE in 3 years than they have of Al Unser Jr's Turbo Racing.

FOH

My point is, it isn't desirable for play value, but it has high collectible value. There is sense behind its price point. Ironically,  if your point is a games play value, you really can't play a graded game now, can you?

If your argument is historic value, that's fine too, but history and collecting don't have to coincide. But, FWIW the history of SE probably means more to the NES collector than a lot of other titles, because it builds the lore of the hobby. SE on the mantle is a story to share, and half the fun of collecting is that story sharing process. 

[ExplodedHamster | 404]

8 minutes ago, Jono1874 said:

It's only "successful" because the people involved actively lied and cheated their way into it. The owners of WATA are inexperienced. They couldnt figure out how to covertly commit their crimes like any other business has. Had they been competent, we wouldn't be talking about any of this right now. The name "WATA" is poison at this point as far as I'm concerned and it's going to take a lot to change that. All accounts point to them being a complete laughing stock as far as the general public is concerned. How are they going to turn that around?

For the general gaming community, they’ll probably never recover. But the very large majority of that community never would have used them to begin with, and I doubt the overall effect on their business will be negative, in fact it’s probably increased since September. What is a real threat is the operational issues combined with increased competition, namely CGC. But if WATA becomes PSA and games in their cases sell for more than games in other cases, people will suck it up and submit.

[Gloves | 11,863]

@Gulag Joe and @WalterWhiteJr. can you guys kiss already? I've been watching this show for a while and we all see the chemistry at work, but y'all are too slow about it, we've had almost an entire season dedicated to this and you're nowhere near the inevitable romantic climax. Gimme some action, baybeeeeeee.

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,173]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

@Gulag Joe and @WalterWhiteJr. can you guys kiss already? I've been watching this show for a while and we all see the chemistry at work, but y'all are too slow about it, we've had almost an entire season dedicated to this and you're nowhere near the inevitable romantic climax. Gimme some action, baybeeeeeee.

LOL

[Gulag Joe | 584]

1 minute ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

My point is, it isn't desirable for play value, but it has high collectible value. There is sense behind its price point. Ironically,  if your point is a games play value, you really can't play a graded game now, can you?

If your argument is historic value, that's fine too, but history and collecting don't have to coincide. But, FWIW the history of SE probably means more to the NES collector than a lot of other titles, because it builds the lore of the hobby. SE on the mantle is a story to share, and half the fun of collecting is that story sharing process. 

I absolutely agree with that and I get it. I know the history of SE. I'm a different collector though. I don't value the need for a complete set. Some people have that itch. But I see why others want to spend large sums for other titles that the old guard doesn't seem to agree with. But rather than saying "well I wouldn't spend that much for Mario 3", we have radical maniacs formulating ridiculous conspiracy theories to justify it rather than "hey that person really likes a mint Mario 3, good for them".

[inasuma | 1,207]

48 minutes ago, avatar! said:

More awesome investigative work by @karljobst - your work is much appreciated!

I have to say I'm quite surprised about that Sonic - not even so much the price as the fact that it should never have been rated so high considering the damage to the seal. If you can't even trust the grade given, what's the point??

It's probably that inner holder... it's crushed a few corners and ripped a few seals. Really poor design IMO.

[MinusWorlds | 193]

7 minutes ago, inasuma said:

It's probably that inner holder... it's crushed a few corners and ripped a few seals. Really poor design IMO.

I was thinking the same thing. If I were to guess I’d say it started as an A seal and has continued to rip since grading. 
 

Pure speculation however 
/\
See what I did there?

[Code Monkey | 2,020]

Is this RETRO guy Seth Abramson? The same guy featured in all the Jobst videos with his weblog posts against Heritage and Wata? The same guy that calls into Pat and Ian each week asking them for their opinion on their top 10 X games?

So Karl references Seth's posts, Karl references Pat's videos and Seth leaves Pat voicemails. Seems like there's collusion here and Karl should specify that connection for monetary gain in his videos.