jonebone

Personally I would prefer the NWC Gray to the Gold and not just due to cost. I like the serial number on the gray that helps add to tracking their provenance. To your specific points: 1) Seller doesn't need to give provenance since it is certified. I'm sure he would discuss more details with legitimately interested buyers. 2) No, it is not irresponsible to grade it. 3) You aren't buying a certified and graded NWC Gray for $16k in today's market. You'd have to get in line at that value. 4) VGA and Wata are ethical. People have their own preferences (and some hate grading), but they aren't going to do game swaps and such like you've alluded to.

Also WTB Some NES Koei carts to fill some IB combos, can anyone help?

Pics for the upcoming games this weekend? I have to be a homer and take all of the favorites: At San Fran (-7) vs. Minnesota At Baltimore (-9.5) vs. Tennessee At Kansas City (-9.5) vs. Houston At Green Bay (-4) vs. Seattle Of the 4 games I really wanted to pick Seattle but I won't disrespect GB like that. They've earned their spot and this not your typical GB of years past. They can actually run the ball and they have a great Defense too. They've changed their identity and should be able to take it to Seattle. But Seattle is playoff tested over the last decade and you can never count them out. I think Minnesota has a decent shot at San Fran but can't pick them. I do expect that to be closer than 7 though. Baltimore *should* destroy the Titans. There would have to be injuries or crazy turnovers for the Titans to win that one. KC and Houston... can't believe it's 9.5 spread! I would take Houston and 9.5 points all day. This should be a close game and a very entertaining one to watch too. KC is about as healthy as they've been all season and Houston looked horrible in the first 3 quarters of the Buffalo game, but each side has some playmakers. Looking forward to this game the most.

Question for you guys, has anyone noticed if the prices of the real arcades have been coming down after the Arcade1Up releases? Like MK2, TMNT, etc? I actually have a dedicated TMNT and TMNT Turtles in Time both in one TMNT cabinet with a switcher to flip between the real boards. It was my highest want and I paid a premium for it 2 years ago, happy to own it. I was pretty astonished to see it replicated not even 18 months later.

Not offhand. I know that for a lot of these signs such as the LTTP / Starfox Nylon, there was a "Coming Soon" attachment (or whatever the text was) that would cover up the "Now Avaialble" or "Here Now" text. Maybe someone was considering that a variant.

I got a CIB Mountain Bike Rally Speedracer ($2k game) shipped in a bubble mailer last year. And miraculously unscathed somehow.

It's not a reseal. 100% legit.

Glad you could join us!

Ah your right I looked it up, it is multi Sega platform (Genesis / CD / Game Gear) but it is Sega unique and not SNES. For some reason I thought that one covered SNES too.

Are you including multi console banners? That one is branded SNES and Genesis together. I believe Jurassic Park came that way too, branded SNES and Genesis.

This year seems kinda early with the next PS / Xbox around the corner. I agree that 2021 could see a Pro version of the Switch though.

Cleveland would have had you beat until Lebron got them a ring. Even so, it looks like your Twins had some WS rings in the Hrbek / Puckett days. I don't follow NHL that sport doesn't matter to me at all

They aren't the only team to experience heart breaking losses though. Take the 90s Bills with 4 straight SB losses. Or the Browns who just are horrible, then rebrand themselves as the Ravens and win 2 Superbowls. Maybe 3 after this year. While the "new" Browns are just like the Browns of old. Most recent comparable to what you posted are the Eagles though. They lost 3 straight Conference Championship games under Reid, then finally made it to the big one where TO even came back from a broken leg just to play in the game and lost that one too. Lost one more Conference Championship for good measure too. Then Chip Kelly comes in and takes the NFL by storm with his new offense... they impress all season to go 1 and done in the playoffs. But finally they get over the hump and beat the Patriots of all teams in a Super Bowl. One of the only black eyes Brady has ever had to take with the other one being the 18-1 season. So there's hope. Unfortunately I don't think this is your year but there's always a chance. As general football fan the only year I really thought you guys had it was the Favre year. That seemed like a storybook season for him to ride off into the sunset but he wasn't right after he hurt his ankle late in the season (or first round of the playoffs?)

SNES MACS + Rifle combo. Made sure to give it a playthrough and "beat" it. Though full honesty I beat it on a larger TV and less than 7 feet away despite the military specifications being a 13" TV at 7' distance.

You don't beat the 49ers by stopping the pass though, you have to stop the run first. Entirely different defensive scheme will be needed for the 9ers.

Here's to a lot more!

To be honest I think the effect of CIB grading is a bit overblown. No doubt it was very significant over the summer and most of last year when CIB grading was so cheap and CIBs were doing crazy numbers on HA, but a lot of that has cooled off. And CIB grading does cost more than Sealed grading, and prices did go up by 25-50% across the board. But yes, I think you should at least double the turnaround time, consider it all business days and then hope you get the grade around then. Then probably wait another several weeks until it return ships. I also am fairly disappointed that they reworked their tiers and posted updated turnaround times like they had ironed out some kinks and these turnarounds were realistic. Clearly they aren't.

I'm an actual investor in Gamestop stock with more than I care to admit this point and the store closings are long overdue. It's merely consolidation and the company still has a very strong financial sheet with tons of liquid cash. They aren't in danger of going entirely under and with the release of PS5 / next gen Xbox that are both physical and backwards compatible, I believe they easily make it through the next generation at least. Now 5+ or 10+ years? That could be another story I agree. The latest earnings report reiterated two points: 1) Close down unprofitable stores or stores that are minimally profitable with overlap. (I.e. if two stores in a 5 mile radius that are minimally profitable, close one and force traffic to one location). 2) Reduce inventory on hand. Effect of this should be more frequent sales and boosting revenue to help buy time for next 3-4 quarters until next gen is here. This one I agree is a bit risky... it gives you an illusionary effect of higher revenue but will barely impact profits. If you're blowing out $10 games at $5 just to sell them it also eliminates inventory that you can sell later. Time will tell, but I don't see the death spiral as imminent.

You like that! Knew it would be a close game but happy for Cousins to finally earn a big time win.

I'm 2 for 2 in picks so far. Looking forward to those AFC matchups next week.

Well that was a hell of a first game for the playoffs, hopefully the night cap is a good game too!

I came here for movies, I left wondering what the hell is a decade and who's arguing what.

Neat, one of my resolutions was to watch more movies this year... and not surprisingly, I've only seen 3 from that list. I'm focusing mainly on 90s and 2000s but hope to catch a few more from that list at least. Thanks for posting.

This pic is old, August 2018 but shows how boxes sit on Oskars. I've used the Oskar 1080s for over a decade too. The middle shelf is fixed and "full size" but the other shelves are slightly recessed and games overhang by a tiny amount. They are still secure, you don't need to worry about them falling over at all.

CIB or Sealed and as Mint as possible.