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Ah, quite the drop. Would the listing still be up? Here's hoping 8.5 nets a bit more.

Finally got it back from WATA. 8.5 "near mint" rating. Heritage have been selling mint 9.6s for around $1400. Anyone have any experience with how much of a value dropoff to expect between the two conditions?

Finally got this mailed back from WATA. Ended up getting a 8.5 A+ rating. A little better than I was expecting, but not the 9.6 A++ rating I'm seeing going for $1400 on Heritage. Wonder what an 8.5 would fetch. The two 9.6s were my only point of reference; no listing for anything else.

Well, FINALLY got the WATA grade for sealed Blaster Master and put back in the mail after 3 months (using their 30 day turnaround package, delayed due to COVID). It scored an 8.5 A+, or "near mint". A little better than I was expecting. However, not the 9.6 A++ mint rating that I'm seeing two copies going for $1000-$1500 on Heritage. https://comics.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=52+6437+793+794+791+1893+792+2088&Ntk=SI_Titles&Nty=1&Ntt=wata+blaster+master&ic4=KeywordSearch-A-K-071316 Hard to guess what value an 8.5 would have, as I can only find those examples of the 9.6s.

I thought NG2 was better than the original in every possible way: gameplay, cutscenes, and not revolving around cheap getting knocked into pits deaths or ridiculous final area lack of checkpoints.

All right I'll look into that. Never sold anything here before. And I guess ship out Blaster Master to WATA.

So would plain 'ol Ebay be the best bet for Rule of Rose?

Sorry. The box is most definitely opened. Manual and disc are both in near new condition. Box just has the slight cut in the outer plastic on the back (can see it start on the dog's face and run up and to the left). And yes, it was purchased "new" from Gamestop. Good eye! An opened copy with the manual just went for $455 on ebay. It's hard to tell the price from there. Most are without the manual and the "Buy it Now" prices are all over the place. This is the highest one with actual bids. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rule-of-Rose-Sony-PlayStation-2-US-Canada-version-in-Very-Good-Condition/133462918271?epid=53830379&hash=item1f1302847f:g:ws4AAOSw44FfCflA I'm definitely in the mind to sell it. Wondering if just ebaying it up is the best option since it's not sealed.

Well hot damn. Look what I just found while helping clean out my parents' basement.

There will probably be an increase, but the nostalgia market will never be anywhere close to NES/SNES levels. It's not just a matter of waiting until the generation that grew up with them reaches middle age with money to spend, it's the fact that NES was more monolithic. Nintendo WAS video games from 1985 to at least 1990, to the point that a lot of people just said "Nintendo" when referring to video games. It was the birth of the medium (not the first home video game system, but the one that established it as more than a fizzling fad). No future generation will ever be as synonymous to video games. Also, nobody knew video game collecting would be a valuable thing back then, so nobody thought to save mint condition sealed stuff. Not so with more recent generations. Same exact thing that happened to baseball cards and comic books; everything from beyond a certain year (~1980) are almost all completely worthless because as soon as people realized they could be valuable, speculating collectors started hording everything. There will never be another Honus Wagner card or Action Comics #1.

Recently was helping out my folks with quarantine-forced basement spring cleaning. Found a sealed copy of Blaster Master for NES. Apparently my dad got it as a gift around 1990, hid it for my birthday months away, then just forgot about it. No damage or marks that I can see. Seal has folds, but no visible holes. Still has hang tag. Also pricetag from defunct retail chain Benny's! I did see this recent Heritage Auction where a sealed copy rated 9.6 A+ by WATA went for $1500. For the oval Seal of Quality version too, not the original run circle. https://comics.ha.com/itm/video-games/blaster-master-rev-a-oval-soq-tm-carolina-collection-wata-96-a-sealed-nes-sunsoft-1988-usa/a/7212-93007.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-Thumbnail-022817&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417&fbclid=IwAR1VlTKKEfLI4-E7xL6vUwzYg5EzpGzlV7EYHAvYF5iUwfTGLiRb18dwLy0 I'm seriously considering getting mine WATA graded. Really hard to tell what grade this would get going by the scale photos on their site. Definitely higher than a C. Probably a B. Hopefully an A. (Wishfully an A+) (visible to the right: copy of Rule of Rose, also discovered during cleaning. Apparently THE most valuable PS2 game right now)

How about Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy? In my opinion, the single most underrated game of that entire console generation. Basically a Metal Gear Solid game where you get cool psychic powers. Telekinesis that's way more fun than the gravity gun in Half Life 2 (I was bored by Half Life 2 right at release, simply because I had been spoiled by Psi-Ops). Pyrokinesis to light guys on fire to send them screaming like the cultists in the classic Blood game. Mind controlling guards to have them shoot up their buddies ("Bob? What are you doing? AHHHH!!!"). Sneaking up behind guards for a stealth kill that sucks all the juice out of their brain for a Scanners style head explosion. The game was a constant sandbox of fun. You can pick up guards with telekinesis, watch them flail around, then just shoot them or fling them into a wall or their buddies. Every time you flung one, the game seemed to auto-aim them right into nearby explosive barrels. 2 hilarious highlights I still remember to this day: - Mind controlling a guard in a sniper tower. Having him snipe all the other guards. Then I force him to jump off the tower and end the mind control in mid-air. He had half a second to go, "Huh? AHHHHHHHH!" before he hit the ground with a snap. - One section you have run through a circular particle accelerator. A wave of lethal energy constantly travels around and you have to duck into one of the side holes until it passes or get fried. Me and a guard were shooting it out until the wave came. We both stopped shooting and ran for the safety of the hole. I got there first, turned around, and used telekinesis to hold him in place right outside the safe area. He screams as he tries to run in place before the wave fries him. Definitely get a copy if you can. The game still holds up, and as far as I know is still the closest thing we got to a Magneto simulator. The only downsides were a boring first 15 minute before you get powers, and the final 2 levels where they just stopped trying (stop playing right after the fire boss).

And then a sealed copy of Blaster Master for NES. Recently discovered it in the basement during quarantine spring cleaning at my folks'. Apparently my dad got it as a gift around 1990, hid it for my birthday months away, then just forgot about it. No damage or marks that I can see. Seal has folds, but no visible holes. Still has hang tag. Also pricetag from defunct retail chain Benny's! I did see this recent Heritage Auction where a sealed copy rated 9.6 by WATA went for $1500. For the oval Seal of Quality version too, not the original run circle. https://comics.ha.com/itm/video-games/blaster-master-rev-a-oval-soq-tm-carolina-collection-wata-96-a-sealed-nes-sunsoft-1988-usa/a/7212-93007.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-Thumbnail-022817&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417&fbclid=IwAR1VlTKKEfLI4-E7xL6vUwzYg5EzpGzlV7EYHAvYF5iUwfTGLiRb18dwLy0 Really hard to tell what WATA grade this would get going by the scale photos on their site. Definitely higher than a C.

Rule of Rose had been sitting in my basement for 14 years. Had no clue it was the most sought after PS2 game, which I learned from reading this site. I'm reading that the estimated seal value is $900. Opened copies are going for $160-$250 on Ebay, even with missing manual. Unsealed, excellent condition /w manual currently at $455 with 10 bids. Mine includes the manual /w registration card. Both it and the disc are excellent condition (zero marks on disc). The only damage is a slight hairline cut on the outer plastic of the box's back (can barely see it in the photo). The actual rear cover is intact.