Are CIB games worth grading?

[Franmotard | 79]

So, Im kind of new to the grading scene and got some questions.

First of all let me introduce myself. Im 29, and in the past few years after I started working and making money ive been collecting some of my favourite games from my childhood. I would like to have them all put on my shelves at home and just look at them and tell my kids in the future "those were actual fun games to play"

Fun fact, I am currently replaying Pokemon gold in my childhood gbc with my childhood pokemon gold cartridge (picture attached)

After investing a decent amount of money I manage to get the first and second pokemon games sealed (thank got much cheaper of what they currently go for).

I got them grading at WATA and Im currently waiting for them to be shipped (stuck at post grading, bought the speedrun service and just 5 more days remaining for the 45 day so hopefully they will be shipped soon ).(Also, I read about all the wata things and why people are hating on it but i just sent them there because IMO their case and tag is BY FAR the best looking and most complete one, VGA is just so poor compared to that)

The thing is, I cant affor paying / cant find the rest of the games I would like sealed, so I got pokemon fire red, leaf green, Ruby and Emerald in a condition people seem to call CIB. I got the original insert, manual, game ofc and all the nintendo vip and commercial papers included). 

My question is, is it worthit to send them grading and capsualing them? I am not doing it for the "sell them for $$$" reason, just dont want them to get older, loose their colour, get humidity... I just want them in a beautiful case to show it off. Are they well "recognised" as CIB or nothing compared to Sealed games? I got extra cartridges of them oll for playing apart from the collecting ones so that wouldnt be an issue.

Thanks for your help and opinions

[OptOut | 8,883]

First of all, welcome to VGS!!!

I think the answer to your question depends on what you want, really. If you think you will be satisfied with CIB and not consider them as somehow deficient because they are not also sealed, then I see no reason NOT to have the CIB's graded. After all, if you already have the games, getting them graded is a good idea to save money compared to buying them already graded at a huge premium. So, if you WANT to have them graded, then the answer is YES.

 

However, if you are asking in a more general sense, SHOULD someone grade CIB games, in order to, maybe legitimise their collection, or appeal to a higher standard of collecting? Well, NO is my answer. You should base your collection aims and desires on what you personally want, and your own personal standard.

I think people are NUTS to spend that much money on graded games, CIB's in particular. I like to collect the old fashioned way. But, if it makes you happy, then yeah, go for it, why not, eh?

[Scrobins | 1,725]

If your main interest is just to protect your games, and do so beyond regular box protectors, maybe you would be happy with acrylic cases you could assemble yourself from someplace like Rose Colored Gaming?

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

Depends on if the $ will fall to nice cib when the sealed grades run out.

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

Some are buying high grade cib right now as investments 

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

No slabbing unless selling

copyright 2021 a3quit4s 

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

No slabbing unless selling

copyright 2021 a3quit4s 

Is there any other reason really?

[Capn_RDM | 9]

22 hours ago, OptOut said:

First of all, welcome to VGS!!!

I think the answer to your question depends on what you want, really. If you think you will be satisfied with CIB and not consider them as somehow deficient because they are not also sealed, then I see no reason NOT to have the CIB's graded. After all, if you already have the games, getting them graded is a good idea to save money compared to buying them already graded at a huge premium. So, if you WANT to have them graded, then the answer is YES.

 

However, if you are asking in a more general sense, SHOULD someone grade CIB games, in order to, maybe legitimise their collection, or appeal to a higher standard of collecting? Well, NO is my answer. You should base your collection aims and desires on what you personally want, and your own personal standard.

I think people are NUTS to spend that much money on graded games, CIB's in particular. I like to collect the old fashioned way. But, if it makes you happy, then yeah, go for it, why not, eh?

This post says anything I would have said...go with what makes you happy.

[BirdDogGaming | 218]

On 11/10/2021 at 3:39 AM, iLikePssys said:

I just want them in a beautiful case to show it off.

If this is all you really want, then I'm gonna say no, I don't think it's worth it. Get yourself an acrylic case somewhere else, like @Scrobins said, and you'll save a few hundred dollars. Then you can spend that money you saved on more games from your childhood!

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

I'll echo what others have said and recommend some nice acrylic cases. If you have no desire to resell, those look pretty classy and can even come with UV protection if you want to spend a bit more.

[T-Pac | 7,527]

CIB grading confuses me for several reasons, but the main one is this:

Getting a CIB game graded incentivizes you to send in a really nice cart and manual, only for that cart and manual to never be seen again once they're entombed inside the box. You might as well just have the box graded and slabbed by itself. It would display exactly the same, and you can actually still SEE that minty cart and manual.

Apologies for my ranting here - I realize this isn't very helpful regarding the initial question.

-CasualCart 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

2 hours ago, CasualCart said:

CIB grading confuses me for several reasons, but the main one is this:

Getting a CIB game graded incentivizes you to send in a really nice cart and manual, only for that cart and manual to never be seen again once they're entombed inside the box. You might as well just have the box graded and slabbed by itself. It would display exactly the same, and you can actually still SEE that minty cart and manual.

Apologies for my ranting here - I realize this isn't very helpful regarding the initial question.

-CasualCart 

Reasons like that is why I opted to promote CAS as an alternative option for most CIB collectors. Because they will encase those three items the same way AFA also encases mail away Star Wars figures. But I failed because people were falling for those who were Khan-ing them into using Wata.

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

As for the OP... The only time a CIB is worth getting graded is one of three reasons:

1) There never was a sealed copy.

VGA will only grade these types of CIBs. Both CAS and Wata will do the same in their way, with their results depending on you want these to be displayed.

2) You feel that your treasured collectible will be safe (in many ways) this way.

I tend to recommend it for records more than anything else. This is tied to past stories related to the stealing of Star Wars collectibles.

3) It is your preferential means of collecting for any reason.

Again, it is your collection and nobody else's. That is the most neutral thing I can say here.

In the long-run I personally reverted back to me collecting modern Star Wars stuff. All CIB, with variants depending on who -- and what -- I am collecting. None being factory errors.

And no real guarantee that me having them graded would make me any money. Even though I hope to keep these for a long time.

That is all I can say. So welcome and happy collecting! 

[T-Pac | 7,527]

20 hours ago, FenrirZero said:

Reasons like that is why I opted to promote CAS as an alternative option for most CIB collectors. Because they will encase those three items the same way AFA also encases mail away Star Wars figures. But I failed because people were falling for those who were Khan-ing them into using Wata.

I don't understand the Star Wars analogy. Are you saying they encase each component separately or something? That seems like a viable solution, but I imagine the size of those slabs would be pretty obtrusive. 

-CasualCart

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

1 hour ago, CasualCart said:

I don't understand the Star Wars analogy. Are you saying they encase each component separately or something? That seems like a viable solution, but I imagine the size of those slabs would be pretty obtrusive. 

-CasualCart

That is exactly what I am saying. It costs $50 (around $62 with the acrylic upgrade) to do, but these type of things always look nice when displayed. 

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

If you're keeping the games anyway, why spend the money grading them and locking them away. In 10 years if @AdamW finds a misprint in a Pokemon Sapphire manual that makes it the cool version to have, no one who has a graded copy will ever know if they have the cool version. There's so much info we don't have documented even for the most popular games out there. If everyone sent their TMNT #1s to the graders off the newsstand, we wouldn't be able to identify the first couple of prints.

[inasuma | 1,203]

If it's worth a lot and sale comparisons exist, then sure, grade it if you want to preserve its value/condition.

If the grade doesn't matter and you just want good protection, an acrylic case is more than enough. I like the ones over at videogameboxdefender.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Are you ever planning to play the game again?  Because if you are, you probably shouldn't put it in a case like that.  Also, I wouldn't worry too much about damage.  Keep it out of direct sunlight and you should be fine.  Any number of cheap box protectors will protect from shelf wear without having to spend a fortune on those ugly ass acrylic cases.  So if you're just worried about keeping them in good shape, there's better options than paying out the wazoo and having to wait months for your item to come back to you.

[AnimalHouse | 117]

On 11/10/2021 at 4:39 AM, iLikePssys said:

bought the speedrun service and just 5 more days remaining for the 45 day so hopefully they will be shipped soon )

Not 45 days, 45 business days and the TAT is estimate, not actual. With Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas right after; on top of there existing backlog and there moving soon (or in the process). Expect a delay of 2-3 months or more. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by AnimalHouse