VGG 50% off Labor Day Sale..EDIT: Game is back from VGG :)

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

46 minutes ago, NesQuest said:

As anticipated, my low ball CIB variant graded horribly with VGG. Lol.

Will say it’s interesting they provide a FULL report showing exactly where the box, manual, and cartridge had score deductions.  Their pre-grading images are also much more bright/clear and not muddy (like one of their competitors that will go unnamed).
 

The game is on the way back (I did their 15 day turnaround), so I can post a brief review next week if anyone is interested.

And say whatever you want, like I’m not using my money wisely as stated above….I don’t really care or give a darn.  

Im actually really curious about how this turns out!

[OptOut | 8,883]

For real, if I ever decided to get something graded it would be with VGG, hundo percent!

[Brickman | 3,983]

27 minutes ago, OptOut said:

For real, if I ever decided to get something graded it would be with VGG, hundo percent!

VGS members really should get a permanent 50% discount. He’d be still using his word art design if it wasn’t for us lol.

[OptOut | 8,883]

25 minutes ago, Shmup said:

VGS members really should get a permanent 50% discount. He’d be still using his word art design if it wasn’t for us lol.

Agreed!

Also, he should rebrand I reckon...

Video Game Slabbers... VGS! 

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

All these guys need to cool it with using acronyms that are a bunch of v‘s, g‘s and c‘s.  Here at HAGS (tentative title) we only use acronyms you’ll remember.  

[NesQuest | 93]

So the game arrived back and overall I’m pretty happy with it.  I intentionally sent in a lowball condition CIB SMB3 “left” variant that had been sitting on a shelf for nearly a decade…so any peanut gallery comments about why I sent in something in this condition, meh whatever.  Not a huge person on grading games, but I wanted to give a new company a fair shake and sample.  I will try and provide fair and honest feedback.

We’ll start with the positives first… 

Turnaround time….”A+“… I used the “level 3” option at the 50% Labor Day discount and ordered on 9/01.  The game arrived at VGG 9/03, pregrading photos up 9/04, results in 9/08, and back safely in my hands 9/14.  Pretty quick and better than advertised.

Customer Service…”A”….answered questions in a timely manner.  You couldn’t ask for anything better in this regard.

Online service….”A”….really easy to navigate your dashboard for orders.  You get email alerts when your order status changes. I will be completely honest and say VGG’s pregrading pictures knock the socks off a major competitor.  They’re bright and clear, not muddy.  Very easy to see your CIB game, the contents, and identify it. 

Opinion of the grade…”A”….nothing surprising at all.  Interesting that they provide an EXTREMELY detailed grading report (digital and paper) so you can easily see exactly where the deductions are….Kind of like that sort of transparency.

The case label….”B-“….it’s ok.  The part below the number grade where it looks like a security holo in their pictures, appears to just ink on paper.  The back of the label does provide good detail about the contents, but parts of the text that are lower case get cut off.  There’s also a QR code for easy verification, a date of grading, and holo VGG sticker on the back as well.  

The case…think it needs to be broken down into eye appeal and security.

Overall appearance…”B”.  Looks are subjective though.  I personally think it looks fine and keeps attention where it should be, which is on the box. I dig it being displayed on my top shelf. 

Security/full protection…”C“… maybe?  Not exactly sure where it should fully land. I’m not sure if/how everything “locks” into place so to speak, like the security measures of the Wata cases (it may very well, I’m just not able to determine that). There is a foil type security sticker that I guess would give you a clue if it’s been tampered with.  There are also little gaps in rounds/cornering on the case front….that appears to be by design (close up pic below).  Can anyone enlighten me on what’s up with that?

Would I use them again?  Probably, especially if they have another big sale. Customer service seems top notch.  Turn-around time is better than advertised.  If the case were improved I would definitely be on board in the future.

These are all my opinions.  Others will feel one way or another about any service they use.  

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by NesQuest

[Mega Tank | 960]

1 hour ago, NesQuest said:

There are also little gaps in rounds/cornering on the case front….that appears to be by design (close up pic below).  Can anyone enlighten me on what’s up with that?

Ask VGG. I'm sure they will want to maintain the "A" rating you gave them for customer service. If the case isn't fully sealed, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of preserving the contents? Surely they have to have some logical explanation for this, right?

[AnimalHouse | 117]

2 hours ago, NesQuest said:

So the game arrived back and overall I’m pretty happy with it.  I intentionally sent in a lowball condition CIB SMB3 “left” variant that had been sitting on a shelf for nearly a decade…so any peanut gallery comments about why I sent in something in this condition, meh whatever.  Not a huge person on grading games, but I wanted to give a new company a fair shake and sample.  I will try and provide fair and honest feedback.

We’ll start with the positives first… 

Turnaround time….”A+“… I used the “level 3” option at the 50% Labor Day discount and ordered on 9/01.  The game arrived at VGG 9/03, pregrading photos up 9/04, results in 9/08, and back safely in my hands 9/14.  Pretty quick and better than advertised.

Customer Service…”A”….answered questions in a timely manner.  You couldn’t ask for anything better in this regard.

Online service….”A”….really easy to navigate your dashboard for orders.  You get email alerts when your order status changes. I will be completely honest and say VGG’s pregrading pictures knock the socks off a major competitor.  They’re bright and clear, not muddy.  Very easy to see your CIB game, the contents, and identify it. 

Opinion of the grade…”A”….nothing surprising at all.  Interesting that they provide an EXTREMELY detailed grading report (digital and paper) so you can easily see exactly where the deductions are….Kind of like that sort of transparency.

The case label….”B-“….it’s ok.  The part below the number grade where it looks like a security holo in their pictures, appears to just ink on paper.  The back of the label does provide good detail about the contents, but parts of the text that are lower case get cut off.  There’s also a QR code for easy verification, a date of grading, and holo VGG sticker on the back as well.  

The case…think it needs to be broken down into eye appeal and security.

Overall appearance…”B”.  Looks are subjective though.  I personally think it looks fine and keeps attention where it should be, which is on the box. I dig it being displayed on my top shelf. 

Security/full protection…”C“… maybe?  Not exactly sure where it should fully land. I’m not sure if/how everything “locks” into place so to speak, like the security measures of the Wata cases (it may very well, I’m just not able to determine that). There is a foil type security sticker that I guess would give you a clue if it’s been tampered with.  There are also little gaps in rounds/cornering on the case front….that appears to be by design (close up pic below).  Can anyone enlighten me on what’s up with that?

Would I use them again?  Probably, especially if they have another big sale. Customer service seems top notch.  Turn-around time is better than advertised.  If the case were improved I would definitely be on board in the future.

These are all my opinions.  Others will feel one way or another about any service they use.  

 

I hope VGG has plans on improving its case design because the feet at the bottom and your SMB3 box "touching" the side of the slab is what prevented me from submitting anything. Idk if this was a design flaw or them rushing but shouldn't there be a space gap? I noticed the same thing with P1. Since you submitted a lowball condition game. Would you be willing to conduct a case test to see what happens when you "accidently" drop it from 3 ft to the floor (carpet, tile, wood or concrete)? Like a shipping boxes ECT, I want to know what kind of abuse this case can handle or was it only made to look pretty.

[OptOut | 8,883]

Oof, first impression is the case/label situation looks pretty cheap... Security label slapped on the side there like a VHS rental... Eh, still looks like a work in progress to me.

[AdamW | 713]

14 hours ago, Mega Tank said:

Ask VGG. I'm sure they will want to maintain the "A" rating you gave them for customer service. If the case isn't fully sealed, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of preserving the contents? Surely they have to have some logical explanation for this, right?

AFAIR cases for games shouldn't be fully sealed, some airflow is actually needed. I don't think WATA or VGA cases are hermetically sealed either. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though.

[phart010 | 1,707]

I don’t know about the gap. The whole intent of encapsulation is to preserve the condition. This is very important because the grade should match the actual condition of the item.

With that gap their, you could easily stick a needle or a small object inside and do some serious damage to the game box. If that were to happen then the grade would no longer be accurately describing the condition.

Edited September 16, 2021 by phart010

[retro.magnus | 136]

I just can not get behind spending any sort of money on a case that looks like that/has multiple flaws or a label that looks that miserable. It all just looks cheap. 

[NesQuest | 93]

16 hours ago, AnimalHouse said:

I hope VGG has plans on improving its case design because the feet at the bottom and your SMB3 box "touching" the side of the slab is what prevented me from submitting anything. Idk if this was a design flaw or them rushing but shouldn't there be a space gap? I noticed the same thing with P1. Since you submitted a lowball condition game. Would you be willing to conduct a case test to see what happens when you "accidently" drop it from 3 ft to the floor (carpet, tile, wood or concrete)? Like a shipping boxes ECT, I want to know what kind of abuse this case can handle or was it only made to look pretty.

Don’t you think think box has already had enough over its lifetime?  

In all seriousness, I don’t think I want to do that!  If does feel pretty sturdy though.  I trusted the durability enough to let me young kids carry it around and look at it.  Is that enough?  

Edited September 16, 2021 by NesQuest

[NesQuest | 93]

2 hours ago, phart010 said:

I don’t know about the gap. The whole intent of encapsulation is to preserve the condition. This is very important because the grade should match the actual condition of the item.

With that gap their, you could easily stick a needle or a small object inside and do some serious damage to the game box. If that were to happen then the grade would no longer be accurately describing the condition.

I’m right there with you about this.  I did get a response from them stating it is by design to let things breathe while it’s slabbed.  I guess I could get that reasoning to an extent just thinking of how temp fluctuations cause things to expand and contract. Idk. 

BUT….What would worry me is environmental damage.  Grading services (at least to my knowledge) don’t provide slabs that are fully water or airtight.  But the gaps on these cases do seem to leave it more vulnerable to things like humidity, moisture, and such than others.  I could be wrong about all of this though.   

Fwiw, I do still dig it sitting on the shelf in the game room.  Guess that’s all that matters!   

Edited September 16, 2021 by NesQuest

[phart010 | 1,707]

1 hour ago, NesQuest said:

I’m right there with you about this.  I did get a response from them stating it is by design to let things breathe while it’s slabbed.  I guess I could get that reasoning to an extent just thinking of how temp fluctuations cause things to expand and contract. Idk. 

BUT….What would worry me is environmental damage.  Grading services (at least to my knowledge) don’t provide slabs that are fully water or airtight.  But the gaps on these cases do seem to leave it more vulnerable to things like humidity, moisture, and such than others.  I could be wrong about all of this though.   

Fwiw, I do still dig it sitting on the shelf in the game room.  Guess that’s all that matters!   

The old VGA slab had a ventilation slot also. I don’t know if they still have it on their new design.

The WATA slab may or may not have ventilation.. I’m not sure. But one thing is for sure, there is definitely not a visible opening on WATAs slab that would allow you to stick a small object in and potentially damage the game.

Honestly, seems like a serious oversight in design. When competitors like WATA release a product into the market, it is up to others to study the existing designs and improve upon them. That’s how you get progress. This design seems to be going backwards.

They should have just taken a WATA slab, handed it over to an engineer to measure precise dimensions, make a 3d model and then add some minor modifications so that WATA wouldn’t sue them for stealing their design

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by phart010

[AnimalHouse | 117]

2 hours ago, NesQuest said:

Don’t you think think box has already had enough over its lifetime?  

Think of your game as a crash test dummy. Your testing the case to see how well your game will survive. Dropping it from 3ft to your floor is a safer test to conduct than say running it over with your car. Haha lets be real, if the case can survive that. I'll trust it with my crème de la crème or cream of the crop games.

[NesQuest | 93]

45 minutes ago, AnimalHouse said:

Think of your game as a crash test dummy. Your testing the case to see how well your game will survive. Dropping it from 3ft to your floor is a safer test to conduct than say running it over with your car. Haha lets be real, if the case can survive that. I'll trust it with my crème de la crème or cream of the crop games.

Definitely not going to pull a Kip and shove it under a tire like Tupperware.  Lol. 

But I gave into peer pressure and gave it a drop from waist height onto the carpet.  Survived fully intact.  There, y’all happy?!?!  

[OptOut | 8,883]

6 hours ago, phart010 said:

The old VGA slab had a ventilation slot also. I don’t know if they still have it on their new design.

The WATA slab may or may not have ventilation.. I’m not sure. But one thing is for sure, there is definitely not a visible opening on WATAs slab that would allow you to stick a small object in and potentially damage the game.

Honestly, seems like a serious oversight in design. When competitors like WATA release a product into the market, it is up to others to study the existing designs and improve upon them. That’s how you get progress. This design seems to be going backwards.

They should have just taken a WATA slab, handed it over to an engineer to measure precise dimensions, make a 3d model and then add some minor modifications so that WATA wouldn’t sue them for stealing their design

 

I agree the case looks super amateur, but I'm not sure the hole is THAT big of a deal! Usually if people want to misrepresent the grade of a game it will be to try and pass off a lower graded game as higher, not to take an already highly graded game and fuck it up! 

I mean, even a WATA case I could think of a dozen ways to fuck up the game without taking it out the case or poking it through holes... What do you think your microwave is for?!

[phart010 | 1,707]

5 minutes ago, OptOut said:

I agree the case looks super amateur, but I'm not sure the hole is THAT big of a deal! Usually if people want to misrepresent the grade of a game it will be to try and pass off a lower graded game as higher, not to take an already highly graded game and fuck it up! 

I mean, even a WATA case I could think of a dozen ways to fuck up the game without taking it out the case or poking it through holes... What do you think your microwave is for?!

If one wanted to sabotage the grading companies reputation they could take a high grade game and intentionally screw it up.  Then list it on eBay and people would be questioning  why the grading company gave such a high grade to such a trashy game.

I’m apologizing in advance for thinking up a scheme like this. I’m an engineer and I always try to break things.