Wolf

Crushing is a strong word, which is why I said pressure. It is definitely putting pressure on the corner, but I'm not going to go as far as to say it's crushing. Time will tell if their cases are good for the games, but it seems elemental that they should not put any pressure on corners, a-la-VGA.

On topic: I’m still collecting VGA and actually converting the few WATA games I have to VGA. The couple WATA games I have show some slight pressure on the corners of the game box. I also don’t like the size of the box, which starts to be relevant when you have hundreds of graded titles. There are many positives with WATA and I’m glad they are in the market, but some of their promises have yet to be fulfilled. As a side note, the connection between Heritage Auctions and WATA is distasteful to me. I would have preferred a truly independent marketplace. Off topic: I used to live quite close to Adam (rarebucky). During that era, I went to his house countless times and spent a bit of time with his collection. I’ve never seen anything to suggest that he gets special treatment from VGA. I’ve personally witnessed some of his titles come back with lower grades on resubmission. As for Adam selling ungraded, I haven’t spoken with him recently, but he’s a VERY discerning collector. If a game wont receive a sufficiently high grade, he doesn’t bother submitting the game for a grade. He has an incredibly accurate eye for predicting what a game will grade, and (in my opinion) the ungraded games he sells fail to meet the condition standard he is seeking for his personal collection. The volume of games coming through his house is so great that it just isn’t worth grading EVERYthing. On another off-topic note, I just discovered the death of Nintendo Age, and I’m happy to see that we have a new home!