General Sealed & Graded Discussion

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

28 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

I've seen A's with bigger holes....

I've seen bigger A holes...

[AdamW | 713]

WATA grades seals differently per console, it's fairly obvious. Their scale doesn't say they do this, but it's impossible to avoid any other conclusion just looking at games they've graded. Genesis seals were pretty bad, so a seal in the same condition on a Genesis game vs. an Xbox game will grade higher.

This isn't necessarily a terrible idea, but they really ought to disclose it and update the scale they have posted to reflect the reality of what they're doing.

And yeah, the seal grade scale is not super well thought out. They need more grades between current A and current A++.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

17 minutes ago, AdamW said:

WATA grades seals differently per console, it's fairly obvious. Their scale doesn't say they do this, but it's impossible to avoid any other conclusion just looking at games they've graded. Genesis seals were pretty bad, so a seal in the same condition on a Genesis game vs. an Xbox game will grade higher.

This isn't necessarily a terrible idea, but they really ought to disclose it and update the scale they have posted to reflect the reality of what they're doing.

And yeah, the seal grade scale is not super well thought out. They need more grades between current A and current A++.

Or just use a different scale/method that isn't confusing and criticized by literally everyone. 

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Yeah this is shady.  There's the busted open seal both front top and bottom, then what looks like chew marks style holes/dents into the wrap/case as well along the upper parts, not to mention the plastic wrap is like hazy unless that's reflection off the box/camera shot?

There should be one set standard, not one you pick and choose just because of the system.  That's just another level of shade on top of enough shadiness already.

Hopefully someone takes them to civil court eventually as this clearly keeps souring more and more by the week it appears now with all sorts of bad behavior by members, graders, etc.

[GPX | 1,369]

21 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Yeah this is shady.  There's the busted open seal both front top and bottom, then what looks like chew marks style holes/dents into the wrap/case as well along the upper parts, not to mention the plastic wrap is like hazy unless that's reflection off the box/camera shot?

There should be one set standard, not one you pick and choose just because of the system.  That's just another level of shade on top of enough shadiness already.

Hopefully someone takes them to civil court eventually as this clearly keeps souring more and more by the week it appears now with all sorts of bad behavior by members, graders, etc.

It’s kinda shady, but this shouldn’t be an issue of a court hearing. That is really an issue of a company doing a service and the consumer can opt in or opt out.

The real shadiness also isn’t about the price rise, but the rise in which it just feels so unnatural to anything before it. The fact that a game can be over 1M dollars, while pre-WATA, everything has been going for 4 to low-5 digits. Something doesn’t add up.

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

45 minutes ago, AdamW said:

WATA grades seals differently per console, it's fairly obvious. Their scale doesn't say they do this, but it's impossible to avoid any other conclusion just looking at games they've graded. Genesis seals were pretty bad, so a seal in the same condition on a Genesis game vs. an Xbox game will grade higher.

This isn't necessarily a terrible idea, but they really ought to disclose it and update the scale they have posted to reflect the reality of what they're doing.

And yeah, the seal grade scale is not super well thought out. They need more grades between current A and current A++.

There's really no reason to do this. The grading system should be the same for all games, regardless of how well different seals hold up. And if they released pop reports they wouldn't have to worry about it, because everyone would see that the highest graded sonic seal is like a B+, or whatever. There would be the obvious trends for NES, Genesis, Atari, etc. 

This is just one more way they are lacking in transparency. 

[AdamW | 713]

1 minute ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

There's really no reason to do this. The grading system should be the same for all games, regardless of how well different seals hold up. And if they released pop reports they wouldn't have to worry about it, because everyone would see that the highest graded sonic seal is like a B+, or whatever. There would be the obvious trends for NES, Genesis, Atari, etc. 

This is just one more way they are lacking in transparency. 

I can see doing it either way, but the key thing is they ought to be clear about what they're actually doing, whichever it is. Then both people grading and people looking at graded games can know what's going on...

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

19 minutes ago, AdamW said:

I can see doing it either way, but the key thing is they ought to be clear about what they're actually doing, whichever it is. Then both people grading and people looking at graded games can know what's going on...

Yea but being more transparent makes it a lot easier to see that it's all objective bullshit in the first place. 

[Tanooki | 4,932]

WATA I remember tried to pitch transparency, probably as a middle finger to VGAs long standing sheisty antics.  Yet now, they are coming off smelling like a shot of poo purri in the porta-potty of a hole this whole thing has sunk into.  The fact they suddenly want to put out a decade plus of pop reports, values, etc to throw WATAs false transparency under the bus is nice, maybe even commendable, even if it's obvious why at this rate.

[sp1nz | 611]

The way Wata grades seals now asks for the end buyer to be an expert in a system that is not explicitly explained to them. Sure there are different seals and methods of sealing for different platforms and that can result in said platform possibly not being able to get maximum grade seals in an uniform system but it feels unintuitive and dumb to go with a mixed system. It'll produce bigger money results though when you have your As or even A+s with gaping holes that buyers don't seem to care about due to the letter being there on some systems. Of course the games on a single platform will compare to each other in seal grades but not at all to other platforms. Disgustang.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

11 hours ago, sp1nz said:

The way Wata grades seals now asks for the end buyer to be an expert in a system that is not explicitly explained to them.

Precisely my point. If you are a collector, which would you rather do?

A) Pay a company a bunch of money to encapsulate your sealed game and give it a confusing rating that is criticized relentlessly when you show it off.

B) Show a photo of your sealed game on an online forum for free, where experts who've been collecting 10+, 15+, 20+ years can tell you "Yep, its a nice seal, there's some holes, it is what it is when it comes to that, but overall, it's a real nice piece".

If you're an investor, you're probably still gonna choose A. If you are a collector, no idea why you'd choose anything but B. 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

1 hour ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Precisely my point. If you are a collector, which would you rather do?

A) Pay a company a bunch of money to encapsulate your sealed game and give it a confusing rating that is criticized relentlessly when you show it off.

B) Show a photo of your sealed game on an online forum for free, where experts who've been collecting 10+, 15+, 20+ years can tell you "Yep, its a nice seal, there's some holes, it is what it is when it comes to that, but overall, it's a real nice piece".

If you're an investor, you're probably still gonna choose A. If you are a collector, no idea why you'd choose anything but B. 

I would choose A to preserve the game in its condition instead of the possibility it may get damaged on the shelf. I'm in the process of sending some prototypes to get graded because I want to have them documented as well.

There are lots of reasons to grade a game besides the letter attached to it.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

10 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

I would choose A to preserve the game in its condition instead of the possibility it may get damaged on the shelf. I'm in the process of sending some prototypes to get graded because I want to have them documented as well.

There are lots of reasons to grade a game besides the letter attached to it.

You can't put it in an acrylic case yourself? I believe that is what @Gloves is planning on doing. Probably others here have done that or are planning to as well. That would prevent shelf damage.

Why is grading the game considered having it documented. @ThePhleo is documenting NWC carts and all sorts of other things as well. That documentation doesn't count because it's not graded?

I don't buy it. Try again.

[Gloves | 11,776]

26 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

I would choose A to preserve the game in its condition instead of the possibility it may get damaged on the shelf. I'm in the process of sending some prototypes to get graded because I want to have them documented as well.

There are lots of reasons to grade a game besides the letter attached to it.

 

14 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

You can't put it in an acrylic case yourself? I believe that is what @Gloves is planning on doing. Probably others here have done that or are planning to as well. That would prevent shelf damage.

Why is grading the game considered having it documented. @ThePhleo is documenting NWC carts and all sorts of other things as well. That documentation doesn't count because it's not graded?

I don't buy it. Try again.

 

I document my games on my personal tracker, including photos (where I've provided them): https://glovesoffgames.com

Also, yes, I've picked up a few acrylic cases to test em out and they're great!

You can see photos of the acrylic case on a Game Boy game here: https://glovesoffgames.com/games/game-boy/final-fantasy-legend-ii

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

21 minutes ago, Gloves said:

You can see photos of the acrylic case on a Game Boy game here: https://glovesoffgames.com/games/game-boy/final-fantasy-legend-ii

See I think that looks great. Kind of making me want to do that with some of my more minty CIBs.

Surely no damage would come to it in that case. Which means that grading for protection purposes only is a waste of money. 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

42 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

You can't put it in an acrylic case yourself? I believe that is what @Gloves is planning on doing. Probably others here have done that or are planning to as well. That would prevent shelf damage.

Why is grading the game considered having it documented. @ThePhleo is documenting NWC carts and all sorts of other things as well. That documentation doesn't count because it's not graded?

I don't buy it. Try again.

You seem very sure of your answer. Wata offers a prototype documentation service where they will send your game out to Video Game History Foundation to have it completely documented with all retail software differences and a full written report. They don't even grade it, they just encase it with a PRO designation and return it with all documentation. That's what I want because I'm very interested in the preservation of these items.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

30 minutes ago, Gloves said:

 

 

I document my games on my personal tracker, including photos (where I've provided them): https://glovesoffgames.com

Also, yes, I've picked up a few acrylic cases to test em out and they're great!

You can see photos of the acrylic case on a Game Boy game here: https://glovesoffgames.com/games/game-boy/final-fantasy-legend-ii

That is indeed a nice acrylic case. I bought some for NES games about 10 years ago. Slide bottoms and a hang tab in the back and they are great. Here's a picture of an interesting home brew I picked up. The game itself is a re-imagined ZAMN but it's pretty ridiculous looking!

[AdamW | 713]

9 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

You seem very sure of your answer. Wata offers a prototype documentation service where they will send your game out to Video Game History Foundation to have it completely documented with all retail software differences and a full written report. They don't even grade it, they just encase it with a PRO designation and return it with all documentation. That's what I want because I'm very interested in the preservation of these items.

It seems a bit obvious, but in this case, could you not just send it to VGHF yourself and cut out the middleman? All you'd be paying WATA for in this case is an acrylic case, a label that says PRO, a mailer to VGHF, and a four month delay...:D

On this specific topic I'm with Gloves and Cody. I personally see no reason to grade a game other than to sell it. If I wanted to sell a high-end game, yeah, I'd grade it. Otherwise, you can buy acrylic cases from several suppliers cheaper than VGA or WATA sell them, and with a much shorter turnaround time...

[Gloves | 11,776]

3 minutes ago, Gulag Joe said:

That is indeed a nice acrylic case. I bought some for NES games about 10 years ago. Slide bottoms and a hang tab in the back and they are great. Here's a picture of an interesting home brew I picked up. The game itself is a re-imagined ZAMN but it's pretty ridiculous looking!

It's a hack, not a homebrew, but I'm being a pedantic jerk.

The case looks nice though, and the hang tab is cool.

[Ferris Bueller | 495]

54 minutes ago, Gloves said:

It's a hack, not a homebrew, but I'm being a pedantic jerk.

Aftermarket

[Scrobins | 1,725]

Also it’s a hack of Zombie Nation, not Zombies Ate My Neighbors. I’m a student of Gloves in the pedantic dept.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

5 minutes ago, Scrobins said:

Also it’s a hack of Zombie Nation, not Zombies Ate My Neighbors. I’m a student of Gloves in the pedantic dept.

SAMSONITE! I WAS WAY OFF!

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

1 hour ago, AdamW said:

It seems a bit obvious, but in this case, could you not just send it to VGHF yourself and cut out the middleman? All you'd be paying WATA for in this case is an acrylic case, a label that says PRO, a mailer to VGHF, and a four month delay...:D

I can't find any way to do that, can you? I think their partnership may be the only way to do that.

The turnaround time is fine with me, it just sits in a safety deposit box in the bank anyway. I'd have to set up an appointment just to see it.

[tidaldreams | 654]

Saw this on FB and had to post it. Lmfao.

[inasuma | 1,203]

3 hours ago, tidaldreams said:

Saw this on FB and had to post it. Lmfao.

i mean it's not that far off from what we all imagine lol