Amermoe

This is true, except:

Absolutely agree with Jone. This is a very standard PS1 overlap seal, and is actually quite common for this game. I've seen countless examples over the years. The Y-Fold I would even say is more rare, particularly for the 'Realistic Violence' prints.

If it doesn't say Mexico, then it's probably made in Japan. Check the side of the box, I think you'll find it there.

I have to ask, SMRPG and Contra III, Mexico or Japan?

A Pi3B+ or Pi4 should run PS1 fine, if using retroarch and you have the right cores. N64 is not playable on Pi3, and its ok on Pi4, but not great. It can run them, but the performance is very bad. Same with Dreamcast and Saturn. DS, GBA, SNES, Genesis, NES, Sega CD should run flawless. In order to run PS/N64/Dreamcast emulators, you need a more powerful single core CPU, which is the bottleneck with those systems, not the ram or GPU. If you want something that can play everything up to PSP and dreamcast, you need an Odroid. It will run everything down almost without issue. If you want to run PS2/PS3, Gamecube, Wii, Wii u, you need a pretty high end PC, with a good graphics card. PS3 emulation is still not great, same with Switch, it's still early and has a 50/50 play rate.

This one's tough for me to answer, I had a decent library of games by late 1990s (around 97/98) mainly PS1 rpgs and some sega games but wouldn't call myself a collector then. I was never into NES/SNES/N64 at the time, but I realized much later how much I missed out and went back after those games, particularly SNES (with exception to NES, which I still don't care much for, save for a few select titles) . I guess I started actively collecting after PS2 launch, which was around 2001 (PS2 is easily my biggest library). Since then I've been collecting for pretty much all home consoles up until the PS4. I only collect what I like, I've never been one to go after complete sets/libraries. The concept just doesn't appeal to me.

It used to be 100% for me and I still try to keep it that way, but as of the last 4 years, there's 5 games I started but didn't beat (FFXIII, Disgaea 1, Xenosaga III, Castlevania SOTN, and Soul Reaver), mainly because I had to stop for lack of free time. I still intend on going back and finishing them. it really bothers me when I don't finish a game, no matter how bad the game is. I usually like to play the worst games first in my library, and then work my way up to the ones I really like, very satisfying, but bad strategy overall. My backlog now is just not manageable...and I'm pretty heavy into RPGs.

Dragon Valor is a good one that not many talk about. It's an action RPG with fun gameplay. Galerians is also interesting, a survival horror game similar to resident evil, but with superpowers...its kind of hard to explain, reminds me of parasite eve.

very nice SNES collection.

You're right about that, but there are so many variants of his rookie card flooding the market. Some are legitimate re-releases as far as 2008, some are reprints. If I recall correct his rookie year wasn't even in 86/87 but in 85, but they didn't produce cards at that time so most consider 1986/87 his rookie year. Regardless, there are a lot of factors why the sports cards market is booming again. I collected heavily in Hockey cards in the 90s, with some basketball and some baseball, even Marvel cards, I have 80s era Gretzky and Jordan cards (non-rookies). The market has had its ups and downs, and I stopped collecting in the 2000s because the market was pretty much dead. Certain cards were always considered valuable, but the upward and downward swings are too volatile. The same thing is happening with Magic the Gathering and Pokemon cards. I'm sure an Alpha black lotus or a Pikachu Illustrator card will always retain some value, but there's no telling what that will be 10-20 years down the road. the only ones that really locked in the profit were the ones that got in very early.

You seem to have missed my argument. Present value does not equal future value, just because a market is hot, does not mean it will continue to rise indefinitely. Also, there are different MJ rookies out there, and they all don't command the same price, this get muddied further when you consider condition and grading. The top 1-5% of any collectible market typically retains value, the remaining 95% typically die off. This can be proven with historical data.

This statement couldn't ring more true, and don't let anyone discourage you. Videogames are no different from any pop-based collectibles (comics, MTG, toys, dolls, movie posters, etc.), and the market for them has only been 'established' (i.e. no longer niche) in the last 5 years, whereas the market for say comic books was established in the 1970s. They are not in the same category as traditional antiques, like art, manuscripts, coins, ancient weapons/armor, ancient furniture etc., and arguably never will be because they simply do not carry the same level of cultural/historical significance (with very few exceptions). Every generation grows up with items that are significant to their time, whether they be trains, comic books, sports cards, non-sports cards, die-cast cars, star wars figures, GI-Joes, barbie dolls, beanie-babies, pogs, etc. it's no different than videogames. If you think baseball cards are up and up and up, I'm sorry you are mistaken, only the top 1-5% of baseball cards have retained any value, the rest are worthless. If you think comic books are pure gold, again I'm sorry you are a fool. Only the key issues from the silver age era (pre-1970) have any significant value, and even then these were highly inflated after the MCU movies reinvigorated the interest in Marvel characters. I'm curious if anyone was ever paying attention to comic prices pre-2001, my guess is they weren't, because it was looking grim. Not to mention comics completely flattened in the late 90s (the infamous comic-book crash), after people completely hoarded them in mass, in pristine condition, and interest waned. Today, only comics graded in the highest grade possible command any value in the secondary market, the print run is simply too high, it needs to be CGC 9.8 or higher. Why do you think so many comic collectors are jumping ship to videogames? I guess they're seeing the writing on the wall, or as some would say 'diversifying'. Does that mean comics are completely worthless? No, again the top 5% still command extreme premiums (which some might argue are highly inflated), first appearance of Superman (Action Comics 1), first appearance of Spiderman (Amazing Fantasy 15), First appearance of Batman (Detective Comics 27), all command in hundreds of thousands if not millions. Those are the exceptions, they are the 1% of the 1%, the majority are worth less than paper. Baseball cards, sure your Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson's are going strong, but how are the Ken Griffey's, Sammy Sosa's, Mark Mcguires faring... not so good. Even Michael Jordan rookies were trending under $20 for the longest time until the 2020 documentary hit Netflix, and now they're boomin'. Does all this mean you can't "invest" in pop-based collectible such as videogames? if you're smart about it and know what you're doing, you can make a good profit, but the term "Investing" is incorrect, the risk is too high, the volatility is way too high, the more accurate term is speculating, and the more crude term is gambling. People gambled on beanie babies and lost, people gambled on atari games and also lost (I am aware of the 'resurgence' in the past couple of months which I wonder how long it will last - but overall people were wiped), people gambled on comics, foil variants, first appearances, mint condition etc. etc. and lost. Trains, don't get me started on trains, there was a massive market for collectible trains, the train market is completely dead, gone with the generation of its time. If you're lucky, and a "The Legend of Zelda" or "Super Mario Bros" for NES still hold the same relevance 20, 30, 50 years down the road (in an all-digital or VR age), those items might continue to appreciate. Speculating on a sealed Faxanadu or Snakes & Ladders for NES, to continue to appreciate in 50 years, is a fool's game, your money is better placed elsewhere. Short-term speculating, is a different matter entirely, and can be very lucrative in a collectibles-based market, if you read it right and ride the emotional waves, you can sell high and buy low, and repeat every couple of years. Short-term speculating can be in 2-3 year cycles but can even extend to 10 year cycles. Long-term investing is not compatible with pop-based collectibles, it's a gamble, the risk is just too high, the volatility is too high. I can walk in a casino, and convince myself that I can net a return of 100x on my initial investment and choose to ignore the risk I'm undertaking. If you're looking for investing, the first rule any financial advisor would tell you is to manage your risk, and that means NOT investing in something that can wipe out more than 20% of your holdings, this means avoiding highly volatile assets, and focusing on low but steady assets that can net you consistent returns on an annual basis. The second rule they will tell you is diversifying your portfolio, this means real-estate, stocks, mutual funds, starting your own business, or even investment-grade collectibles (debatable on which truly are - and videogames are nowhere near that level). Any fool can put all their life savings on an Apple/Google stock, and it might pay off one day. That's not investing, it's gambling.

Curious how this is even possible. I can understand one game increasing 10x in value over a 20 year period, but for something in the 300k magnitude, you either would need thousands of games increasing 10x, or hundreds increasing 20-20x. I guess it could also be possible thatsomeone bought in heavily into NES sealed way back when. either way, seems difficult to believe...

I can understand the sentiment. I have a copy myself, and have no interest in selling it regardless of price.

It consistently sells for over $20k if that gives you any indication. Finding a buyer is not easy, but you should be able to sell it with time.

I can safely say it's as authentic as it gets. The security seal, y-fold, hangtab and placement, yea pretty legit.

That Lufia II sure is special, much nicer than my copy. btw, love how you have all three examples on display, sealed, CIB, and loose - a sign of a true collector.

I agree Bearcat, this case is a bit hard to tell. Here is a few examples of what I was talking about earlier, I figure it would be easier to see it than try to explain it; 1. Drill hole - through cellophane & jewel case, damaging both cello and case: 2. Hole punch - no damage to either cello or case:

Right, but what I'm asking is if he cello is intact where the drill hole is. In other words, what is the sequence of drilling; was it drilled, then shrinkwrapped, or was it shrinkwrapped then drilled. My experience has always been the latter, I've never seen a copy where there is no hole in the shrinkwrap despite a hole being in the jewel case - suggesting anyone could've drilled the hole.

All the hole-drilled copies I've seen go right through the cello, suggesting it was done after the fact. it'd be interesting to see a copy where the cello is intact but still has a drill hole. On the other hand, the hole punched sealed copies are done behind the case itself, making it impossible to be done after manufacturing.

All sealed promo copies had shrinkwrap. Sometimes, the stores would drill the hole themselves, and re-shrink wrap the case, but the factory made ones, would punch a hole in the cover art, and officially seal the case.

That's not an employee copy, it's just a hole punched copy which is much less desirable by collectors. The hole punch was used for store promotional display and the drilled holes were done by the store employees and not the factories. The factory promotional copies were hole punched on the cover at the ERSB logo behind the cello and jewel case. All promotional copies are less desirable because whether it was a drilled hole or hole punch all are generally considered damage to the case itself. This copy that rester has posted is actually quite interesting, because it has a sticker. I don't know much about these stickers, and whether they are authentic, but it could be something Square employees did back in the day when they handed out promotional gifts. I admit I really don't much about this because I haven't seen any examples of it. Would be interested to hear from any CIB PS1 collectors if they ran into a similar case.

By the way, FFVII is my second/third favorite game of all time, only under FFVIII, and tied/slightly under Xenogears.

I've played through the game several times myself, and never got that bug. I'ts pretty interesting, my first thought was that it could just be part of the animation for the item, and not really a random number generator for damage. My reasoning is, as you mentioned, the cap to single hit damage is 9999, so maybe it registers as 9999 damage, but always shows the same numbers on screen. This would also explain the Sephiroth boss battle, not having a one-hit KO, because obviously that would break the game. I don't know, I'm pretty much a stickler when it comes to items and supplies, and usually beat the game with way more items and supplies than I need, but I've used my fair share of ethers, particularly for my healers. I'm so cheap on items, that I wait until my healer is completely drained before depleting my healing supplies. Usually there are so many inns nearby, that I just pay the 50 gil for full HP/MP and never have to use the items anyway. I would say though, there are battles, not necessarily in FFVII, but in other RPGs where having ample supply of ethers and potions is the difference between life and death. So yeah, my philosophy is always never use it till you need it, and when you need it, you'll really need it.

There's quite a bit to unpack here, so you'll need to narrow this down. I'll give you few basic points about the sealed/graded market, and once you've had some time to give it some thought, and provide more information, I might be able to help answer your question. first thing's first, know your market, and your target consumer. Selling graded NES games is NOT the same as selling graded PS1 games, similarly, selling RPGs is NOT the same as selling shooters, or platformers, or action/adventure games or obscure rare titles. Second, you have to decide whether to sell RAW or graded. the fundamental rule of grading anything is to provide assurance/confirmation to the buyer. the biggest factor in making this decision is CONDITION. Only grade items that you think will grade high, this means they have no or very few flaws. What determines a high grade varies from system to system. For PS1 games, the main things it look for is cracks, cello tears, scuffing, tightness of shrink wrap, corner wear, security seal warping, hole punches, stickers, dings, yellowing, and hangtab damage, almost in that order, there are more flaws but those are the main ones when it comes to PS1 jewel cases. The absolute worst flaws to have are cracks. If you see ANY crack in the case, don't even think about sending it for grading, it's an automatic 75 7.5 regardless of condition, which is a useless grade. You're better off selling it raw at that point, and saving yourself the cost of grading. If you grade it, you only validate that it's a poor copy to the consumer, and you will have a very hard time selling it. Having loose discs generally does not affect the grade, and sometimes the graders are able to pop the disc back in without opening the seal. Third, if you decide to grade you need to determine whether to go with WATA or VGA, they are two completely different markets, and you need to be able to navigate through either to make an informed decision. More on that later. Lastly, pricing; this depends on so many things... I'll give you an example, say you 5 different copies of FFVII black label for sale for the PS1, all in sealed condition but with slight variances; 1. Black Label Masterpiece Misprint - RAW sealed ungraded with Y-Fold seal, no cracks, no cello tears, nice condition 2. Black Label - Realistic Violence print, with overlap Seal - Graded 80+ 3. Black Label - Masterpiece Misprint - Y-Fold VGA graded in 75+ 4. Black Label - Comic Mischief variant - Overlap seal, WATA graded 9.2 A+ 5. Black Label - Comic mischief variant - graded with overlap seal, VG 90+ At face value, you might think same game, all sealed, all black label, so price must be similar, and that would be completely false. The price variance between all these copies is in the thousands. Item 1 and item 4 are closest in value, only because both are of similar condition, the Masterpiece variant is more desirable, but the game's condition has not been validated by a grading company, whereas item 4 has. item 1 has the potential to sell very high in an auction, but at face value in the current market both would be valued ~ $3000. items 2 has the less desirable overlap seal, less desirable Realistic violence but with 80+ silver grade. Since its condition has been established, this item would not sell any more than $1500. item 3 is in a unique spot, because it is graded, and is a desirable print, but with a low grade. This item typically would be valued at $1500-$2000, but since most consumers willing to spend that kind of money in an item only want something of high quality, this item would have a very difficult time finding a buyer. Consumers with the ability to afford its value are not interested, and the ones that are interested are priced out. To find a willing buyer, you'd need to take a loss, and sell to a lower market. Which takes us to item 5, because gold graded copies of this game are generally hard to find, even 10 years back, this kind of item would attract the very high end of the market. Even though it is not the more desirable Y-Fold, or the masterpiece misprint, any grade higher than VGA 90 (or equivalent Wata 9.6 A++ / 9.8 A+ - do not confuse WATA grading with VGA they are not the same), particularly for a popular title generally not kept sealed during its release, can go for a very high premium. Historically, similar copies have sold for $5000+. In contrast, say you have a flawed (cello tears, minor cracks) black label copy, ungraded for sale, the best you can hope to sell it for is $500-700, asking for more would mean sitting on it for a very long time. This is basically it in a nutshell, it all depends on the popularity and demand for the title, whether it's Hot or Not in the current market, and whether it's in good condition or flawed condition.