YOURTURN

13 hours ago, ApebitMusic said:

Graded vintage is awesome. The "games are meant to be played" argument is super silly, and I won't even bother with people about that at this point.

Getting brand new games graded though? Buying a 9.6 Super Mario Wonder for $150? I don't get it AT ALL. But hey, if you like it, you do that. 

Same here. They always either misuse the word "scam" or act like it's a personal agenda. 

But as for the second part? It boils down to the fact that there is a collector who wants "grade X" from "grading company Y". And if it means they have to pay a premium for a new collectible, or just simply do a straight trade down, they will do it. Especially since the added amount they spend is not for the grade. It's a convenience fee for them.

My experiences (when it comes to the first part) is why I am just buying raw and having what I intend to keep long term/permanent be graded by CGA in 2024.

6 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

That looks so bad as a Switch game. I respect it as the SFC but I honestly thought that was a fan mock up. Good for them for squeezing every penny out of nostalgia.

Ummm... The images from that link are from the original. ArtePiazza did a spectacular job with the remake (just like they did with remakes of a number of Dragon Quest games). 

For those who still don't know me... The answer is yes.

Just not with Sony. I had issues with them during their PlayStation 3 days. To the point I did something that had their lawyers call me up to say that they were going to look into the HafuGirl issue (that many were bringing up for months in their forums). And using their consoles ended after my second attempt at owning a PlayStation 4, which turned out to be a boring experience.

But past that? I do miss the simplicity of an older controller. But I love the fact that I can play both modern and retro games on a single console. With my only complaint with Nintendo is that they do not offer Dragon Warrior I-IV as part of their online service offerings.

8 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Wait is that really the jpn box art?

Yup. Because it was a collaboration between Nintendo and Square, my only guess is that Square did all of the production and designs while Nintendo did the publishing.

Next thing I know is that you guys did not know that Samus Aran has a cameo appearance in the game (click here).

Happy turkey dropping eating day! 

7 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

9. Three times more than SM64. But if you want to count only gem mint, then 3 mantles are gem mint, equaling that of SM64. Therefore, SM64 pricing = 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. This theory proves that SM64 prices are indeed true and accurate so we can now confidently say that myth has been busted.

Just like @CT, I also have to agree to disagree.

But since this is Thanksgiving, I will point out that value is based on supply and demand. As opposed to hype-induced demand. With Mickey Mantle's demand being tied to legit sport enthusiasts. While Super Mario 64 was not given that much attention before the whole Wata-HA scenario.

Either way... I am asking those who do not know how to respond to what I say to use your time by donating to the @fcgamer NEEDS A BEER EVERY TIME HE IS REMINDED THAT THERE ARE THINGS WRONG WITH GRADING COMPANIES Foundation.

Thank you. And also happy turkey eating day. 

10 hours ago, jonebone said:

In a "mature" hobby with defined pricing and steady demand / supply, you'd expect to be able to get out of items near even, plus or minus fees and shipping.  I.e. if you bought something worth $1000 today and wanted to sell it next month, you should be able to get probably $850-$1150 if that pricing were fair and stable at the moment you bought it.

I have to agree.

Simply because the last decade by itself has become both a speculative market and a hobby for me. Not sure if it is for others, but it has for me. Because if it is not about me taking a chance on a product I see on eBay, it is also how "mature" those tied to the hobby can be when confronted with anything that does not fit their interests.

In the end I have also turned my financial losses into data that helps me figure out what I could improve on. It is not for everybody, but it does help me know know what to expect if I ever chose to revisit the need to do business with CGA, Super Potato, or even people in forums. As well as my interest in Sotheby's collaborations with NigoⓇ.

10 hours ago, jonebone said:

The market on the way up was so crazy that the $1000 could double to $2000 within months or sometimes much higher if you got lucky on the buy price and the item was in a drought.  Conversely on the way down, that $1000 could dwindle to $500 or less if you bought near the top and it was a case copy or supply kept coming out on it.  And over the long haul it was much worse, that $1k could have turned to $10k and could have turned to $100 depending on the title and how it went.

Also agree. Which is why I treat the collecting end of any hobby as a speculation market. And also regret knowing nobody in 2011 that was into video game collecting while I was preparing to receive permanent disability. But it also makes me feel a bit more grateful when I do business with Mandarake. Because I paid ~$20 USD (~$50 USD with shipping) for some rare promotional products that go for ~$200 USD (~$300 USD with taxes and shipping) on eBay

10 hours ago, jonebone said:

This is not just a graded games thing though, it's any speculative investment ever.  Beanie babies, VHS, crypto, etc.  People just keep focusing on video games because this is a video game forum and they like to rant.  It's really just a much broader argument about speculative investments and the cycles they follow.  The difference between this and something like beanie babies is that a stable set of core collectors always sets a floor to how low the games can fall, while beanie babies really had no organic collector base in the first place.

And once again, I agree. Just because the end result shows that only Nintendo has helped give the video game market said organic feeling. While the addition of forums and vlogs have helped reduce that organic status. With the end result being that while Beanie Babies fall under the same trend as Cabbage Patch Kids, the competitive end of the speculative market has helped all given hype a means to keep this side of every hobby afloat.

Which is why I took a page out of the vintage graded Star Wars collectors' rulebook and decided to have my current collection build be a more focus-based niche than complete. With me wondering if I should aim for variants of what I choose to collect, even though the more modern import market makes that be trickier than, let's say, this (click here).

15 hours ago, GPX said:

You need to differentiate the greed and scum in the hobby as opposed to the passion of a graded collector.

2 completely separate entities, which I feel some on here are treating it as the same. No difference really if you take the greed and scum of the CIB scene and the passion of genuine CIB collectors.

^ 100% this.

I mean 1upped (not going to tag her here) is the very definition of a passionate graded game collector. With her passion being a motivation to a collector like me. I mean did she ever brag about how much she paid for a game? No. Did she also treat her collection as a social status? Also no. She made it her way to collect, she brought her passion of collecting to the boards, and those (again, including me) see her as a positive influence in this part of the hobby.

Then again... I have spanned my attempts at graded [insert product or type here] because I love the idea of owning a protected/slightly preserved collectible that I may never see in that condition again. Always with me losing money just because it was more about the passion than the value. With me supporting those who use their profits to finance their hobby, as opposed to just using hype to make a quick dollar. Just because that is how it should have been.

15 hours ago, jonebone said:

Everyone is just a lot more selective these days.

In the up market it's easy to be a graded collector.  For a year or two there you could buy almost anything high grade and turn around and sell it at a profit in 3 or 6 months if you got bored with it.  Pretty easy to collect in that market.

In today's market, or the market of the last 2ish years now?  You have to look at every purchase as being immediately underwater.  Thus you're only going to buy it if you really like it or if you want it long term.  

Not to mention the space issue.  They take up too much damn room and if you collect a lot of things (platforms, games, consoles, toys, displays, cards, who knows what else) then you only have so much room to dedicate to them.

I totally miss the days when "buying and selling" were nothing more than the ins and outs of this hobby. It made complete sense to me when somebody would buy a cart or CIB copy as a means to fill in a gap, or simply sell what they no longer want as a way to finance what they now want to collect.

Plus, the space scenario is why I have shrunk down my current graded collection goals. Because I have seen what you are talking about. And the results in some have me wonder what the collector had to sacrifice in the end.

14 hours ago, GPX said:

For those initial wave of big spenders from the WATA/HA era, I would probably agree. It was all about the e-peen and hype-fest. Only they actually don’t represent what graded collecting is really about.

The public have been fooled into thinking that it’s just for idiots wanting to splash their cash all over the internet. A lot of long term legit graded collectors I know are very insightful on this hobby, and aren’t interested in overspending by 100x market value.

That is pretty much it.

If this was a comic book thing, people would have mentioned how well known collectors bought certain issues in bulk all because of some shared speculated theory. With eBay showing signs that people ramped up prices for older raw and graded comic books just because they believed they could cash in before it happens. 

14 hours ago, fcgamer said:

So why again is my John Maddens that was fabricated forty minutes from the shop I bought it in nos not a legit seal? Oh wait, yeah that's why folks don't care about sealed now. It was and is and always has been a huge wank fest for the in-crowd to line their pockets, while screwing everybody else.

If you are talking about VGA, I have tried to bring up complaints on how lazy they are with foreign game titles/variants. In the end a few members here ended up downplaying that by saying "Anybody can see a sticker on the packaging." Which turned into a hilarious sense of irony because that excuse became an irony just because people complained about that same issue when Wata did it to a North American copy of a game. 

But yeah... I guess the reprisal of this report (click here) does point out that the pre-Wata era was worse. But even then, for every "for profit" teabagger there are those who collect graded collectibles for a legitimate reason (click here). With me learning for the past 10+ years is that those who turn into some type of wanker had also found themselves financially screwed over at some point. While the rest have nice collections they are willing to share online.

12 hours ago, Hammerfestus said:

Nah.   Nobody is interested in “overspending” no matter which slice of game collecting you are into.  Graded collecting was never some noble pursuit so let’s not mythologize it as such.   Pretty irritating attitude but that’s kind of always been graded collecting’s calling card hasn’t it?  I mean what do I know though as a public  

Hi... I'm that "nobody" you speak of. All because the idea of me overspending in hopes of either starting a collection, or have a better idea on how I want to build that collection, has been less stressful when compared to me trying to belong somewhere (both offline and online). 

Oh, and my means of aiming for a graded collection is tied to the idea that I would have it in the same condition when I am ready to pass it down to the next generation. Hopefully a future family member that I had grown to like.

2 hours ago, CT said:

For awhile (the VGA days), I didn't mind graded games, although I've never bought any.

My perceptions/interest changed when I saw Deniz on Pawn Stars. It's just gotten worse since then. 

There was definitely some wacky stuff going on the higher end, but things have settled a bit.  I don't trust Wata or Heritage Auctions but perhaps they can rebuild trust somehow.

Similar boat for me.

My introduction to CGA was tied to legitimate graded Transformers collectors. With this branching out to legitimate graded Star Wars collectors and even their VGA branch. Which itself resulted in me finding legitimate graded video game collectors. But that was pretty much it before my research had me see how bad this has become.

For beginners, the OP tied to this anti-CAS Star Wars topic (click here) was rumored to receive benefits from CGA for doing stuff like this. Between this, the responses I had gotten from a CGA representative, and the topic I had posted a link to (see above), all I saw was the effects that started during CGA's Tom Darby era to be similar (but in a more mild sense) to the one you have mentioned.

But like you said, these companies have to rebuild their trust in some form. With me guessing that for others, the "band waggoneers" no longer care just because CGC is their new fad. With those who stuck with Wata being no different those who still trust VGA when it comes to their own scandals. 

Personally speaking?

I feel like the separate years I have tried to start an AFA graded Transformers was a mistake. Let's simplify that by saying it boils down to select groups that claim to either be collectors and/or fans. But graded video games? That is another topic. One that became the reason why I joined NintendoAge in 2019 as YOURTURN and VGS in 2020 as FenrirZero. Before I reverted my name back (for off-topic reasons).

So if I have to give myself a reason to stick with it... I have to side with the same reason @final fight cd gave. More specifically when it came to VGA graded NES titles. Which happens to be the reason why I have convinced myself to reboot my goals by building a strictly limited VGA graded Switch collection.

I mean do I need to do a full run? I have tried with both Dragon Quest and ATLUS. But in the end I found myself questioning why I was collecting a game that I would not choose to play.

With is why I still love this idea. In the end it has to do with me having a collection of Switch exclusives (timed and variants included; remasters excluded) that I have enjoyed playing. Because knowing me, once the day Nintendo unveils the Switch 2's successor... I want to see what I have for the Switch be preserved/displayed in my collection. Even if I don't have a complete run, a huge collection, or whatever.

But as of right now? I will not bother with Wata just because my test run with them was unsatisfactory, will not deal with both CGC and CAS for a number of reasons, and cannot do business with UKG. Plus, I also know a good chunk of both the scandals and controversies tied to CGA. So me being pissed off at them is not a biggie these days.

Plus... My rule of thumb in regards to collecting graded boils down to "Which portions of the Switch library matter to me?" With me just getting those titles graded, and playing everything digitally.

1 hour ago, Link said:

I think the people in that space of collecting have taken the narrowest aspects of print runs from the book world and the comics world and cards and coins and everything else and combined them to give every single minimal detail as much weight as possible.

Tell me about it. When I was heavy in Transformers the biggest topic I would read was which "production variant" of Optimus Prime was the true first release. [This link is all I can find on the subject.] In all cases the means of having a "first release" Optimus Prime is based more on which Diaclone (not Microman) overstock variant somebody is willing to buy.

Which is why I am happy not dealing with stuff like that anymore. Because at the end of the day, it's all fun and games until somebody calls Optimus Prime a "former Microman toy". And then "chairs" start to fly around, people take sides as it stopped being about a print ratio for that product, and the mod who lost has to be Jerry Springer.

My "Top 3" are...

1) Those who think that by calling themselves a "fan" of any game, series, or franchise, it somehow automatically means that they can act like they deserve more than what is being offered. 

Reason: Not every game is a "one size fits all" scenario. Just like not every AAA game that came out in Japan automatically means it will sell as well outside Japan. Nor be distributed outside Japan due to a licensing scenario (ex. Dragon Quest XI on the 3DS). Stuff the "fans" should know but do not because it does not give them what the "customers" want.

2) The "rare game" people who base rarity on secondary market prices, often the higher end ones, and not how hard it is to find said game. 

Reason: In my case I had made my second (failed) attempt at getting the "first purchase benefits" sticker variant of Dragon Quest Heroes I∙II for Nintendo Switch. The end result was that the official Japanese site says that the offer was "very limited" and did not say which stores participated in said offer. Yet... Trying to see how rare it is among all of the Switch games gave me results like this one (click here).

3) Uneducated gamers who think their "Graded games are a scam!" comments automatically make it a scam.

Reason: They sound less educated, at least to me, than those who think a market value is how anybody should determine a game's rarity. In the end, using hype to manipulate the market is a scam. Trying to sell a slightly better protected game is not.

The remaining two are the "Games are meant to be played." types; more specifically those who act like the people they use as examples are not collectors themselves. And the "This game is rare because it costs this much!" types.

On 11/10/2023 at 8:22 PM, Gloves said:

Everyone should care about themselves more than the forum. This is just a forum, at the end of the day. Just like NintendoAge before it, it's entirely replaceable, technically. That said I honestly don't know what you're talking about - I know that all of the admins and staff in general care pretty deeply about the site and community.

Sorry for not making that clear. What I was talking about happened at a well known Transformers fan forum in 2012. It's one of those sites that have me appreciate you guys. And one that had me notice actual changes during my last visit in 2021.

In the end all I can say is that I am glad they had wised up, but my brief time at NintendoAge was still saner than my brief return to that forum. 

11 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I have no clue how you come to the conclusion that anyone at all thinks your opinion on how a page on a website could look is "offensive". 

That's because in all fairness I'd rather deal with a "We worked hard on this." vibe than what I received from others when I had made suggestions to them. With me getting a response to why a 'anxiety system' would work being the site admin showing that he cared more about himself than the forum, the moderators who were doing their job, and its owner. 

On 11/8/2023 at 9:59 AM, xelement5x said:

Was watching the recent Karl Jobst video and remembered this thread when he mentioned the Dreamer Collection.  It was interesting re-reading this thread and the various takes on prices after seeing the Resident Evil in the original post specifically had sold for $264,000 in 2021, then sold just a bit ago for $38,400. 

Times have definitely changed in only a couple years.

I agree. But I also had urges to say "Those are hype prices!" just because there are tons of people who act like their assumptions are concluded facts, with any facts they overlooked just being a waste of their time.

Which turned out to be a sad move for them. But I guess that is what happens when people choose to be impatient. 

When it was first introduced, I brought up a similar point. Because to me it would have been more fun to see a video game forum that has a "start" and "continue" option on the opening page. That way people who are looking for a particular theme or topic could press "continue" and be shown results of what they are looking for.

Kind of like how the old Famicom/NES games required passwords to be where they had left off. But I also had decided to drop the thought because I ended up feeling like my opinion was deemed "offensive" back then. 

Sorry about the loss, @fcgamer.

I don't know what else to say. So I will just say, and hope if sounds the way I am typing it, is "As long as you are alive, a piece of him will always live on." 

On 10/26/2023 at 5:22 AM, Gloves said:

It was not really porn in the traditional sense. 

Not to necro your response, but I do relate to you when it came to that. 

What I mean is that before I started to be a moderator at this anime/video game forum (circa the PS2 days), there was a member that got hit hard with the ban hammer by a mod that had a "zero tolerance for any stupidity" policy. With me finding out how stupid he was. Because instead of him accepting my offer to have his account reinstated, he chose to attack me with literal hardcore "porn" on the forum while using fake IPs that still ended up rerouting to his ISP. 

2 hours ago, Sumez said:

Wow I hope you're being sarcastic here. You think third party controllers is just about cheap knockoffs? 

Honestly? If I was going to be straight up sarcastic about anything I'd be "praising" this site's block function. Just because you making that type of response is one of those reasons why I opted to use said "useable" function. 

But to answer your "Is he being serious or sarcastic?" question... I'll be polite enough to point out that I did mention both Sharp's Twin Famicom and Hudson Soft's controller in that response. And that I have considered the idea of simplified those examples by stating that both products were officially licensed third party products in Japan.

Would that help? Or should I have also quoted Microsoft's publicly stated comment sounding like they are targeting those who think that spending $50+ on a controller is highway robbery? Because that is what it sounds like:

"Microsoft and other licensed Xbox hardware partners' accessories are designed and manufactured with quality standards for performance, security, and safety. Unauthorized accessories can compromise the gaming experience on Xbox consoles (Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S.) Players may receive a pop-up warning that their accessory is unauthorized. Eventually, the unauthorized accessory will be blocked from use to preserve the console gaming experience."

Because all I am hearing from Microsoft is "Since we now own Call of Duty and Overwatch, we are going to follow the same guidelines that competition-based organizations like EVO use when it comes to banning illegally modified controllers." With unlicensed stuff often being a good workaround when it comes to the whole "mod = cheat =ban" rule.

But yes... What I said can be seen as sarcastic thanks to Microsoft's desire to cut corners when it came to their comment. But I prefer to see it as a jab at both them and those who are going to use their assumptions as an excuse to whine. 

@Tanooki I am not going to lie, but that game had reminded me of the time you found out that the SNES was not high on my console list. But even then it is cool that you had that type of luck with that game. 

Which reminds me... I need to hope that I can get a new memory card for my OLED before I set it up. Because like you said, it's going to get cold soon. And with me, I hope to reconnect with my Nintendo game library once that chill hits the California coast. 

On 11/2/2023 at 9:44 AM, fcgamer said:

Microsoft disagrees, per the article in the thread I linked to above.

That article made more sense than how I probably sound to you guys. 

I mean unless somebody can totally shut things out when they are doing something, some portions of the hardware should be considered. Especially when it comes to what type of controller the individual player needs to play a game. For one, it could be an NES Advantage controller while using the NES "top loader" variant. While another it can be a Twin Famicom and an official Hudson Soft controller.

With Microsoft "saying" (as opposed to what they think they are saying) to those who are using a cheap third-party controller to consider the fact that if they can at least buy a used Xbox Series X, they can also buy a used officially licensed controller.

32 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Obviously Microsoft feels the hardware is an important part of the experience:

 

You said hard.

4 minutes ago, avatar! said:

Did you ever play DQIX? It's not a bad game at all, just not as fun as the others in my opinion since in IX you no longer have playable characters with personality, rather they are just, well, there. Also interesting tidbit. It's the longest non-online game I know of, to get to 100% completion --

I never got the chance.  One of my bigger regrets is that I had jumped ship before the mainline Dragon Quest games came onto the DS. So while I did play Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, which I did not like, I did not have the money to get a replacement DS when I started to hear great things about XI. 

9 minutes ago, avatar! said:

DQIV for the PS1 was supposed to have made it here stateside. BUT, I remember back in the day (that would be what, two+ decades ago -- they cancelled it much amid fan outrage. I never really forgave them for that (idiots) but, fortunately they did release the DS version. DQIV, VII, and VIII are my favorite. Although, I'm really looking forward to the DQIII remake

I remember reading that in 2017 when I was making my first major attempt at doing a complete Nintendo-based Dragon Quest collection. It also made sense to me seeing that Enix was losing money doing business in North America. Which makes me feel guilty that I did not buy the last two sealed copies of Dragon Warrior VII at a Colorado Springs Toys"R"Us in 2004. 

Plus, I have to admit that Dragon Quest VI is (both) my guilty pleasure (and the reason why I broke down and bought these). I am still hoping to find a playable SFC ROM version, but I do love the job system and the whole "A Link to the Past" vibe. And do feel that playing it will make me be more excited for the Dragon Quest III 2D-HD remake. 

Well... I went from the idea that I wanted to build a sealed "Switch only" collection to buying Dragon Quest VI (because it was my favorite in the main series) to me completing the Tenku (Zenithia) trilogy. With me only getting the versions of each game I wanted, and me making sure I got the print variant I wanted as well. 

With me also getting a game that was on my "grail" list but always missed out on each time I had the money. 

Here is an update while I wait for a few more orders (that'll fill in a few gaps in my rebuilt Dragon Quest collection).

- Dragon Quest IV (PS1): Asking prices for PS1 this print variant is officially scary. Finding a sealed copy is probably as easy to find as the later two "priced down" variants Square Enix had sold. Which is why I have very little to complain about since the alternative was to pay a "scary-level" premium for a more mint copy.

- Dragon Quest Monsters 1∙2 (PS1): Sealed-wise, I believe this is one of the more rare PS1 titles out there. I mean for a Dragon Quest title, it had sold 292,275 copies during its run in 2002. But I had to buy it because it was on my "grail" list, the copy looked very mint (and it is), and sealed copies very rarely show up for sale on eBay.

- Dragon Quest V (PS2): This one is probably not as rare sealed, but it is tricky to find a seller that shows any copies with the "Dragon Quest VIII video included" sticker. And while it is not as mint as I hoped for the price I paid, it does complete what I wanted (video game wise) for my Tenkuu (aka Zenithia) trilogy focus.