MinusWorlds

Hey thanks for the tags @JamesRobotand @Bearcat-Doug Yes, I’ve known about this since before day one. @Dan64came to me with the idea for the name a long time ago. He asked me to think about if I was okay with him using it and was 100% upfront and said if it was a no for me he would completely scrap the idea of using the name. No questions asked. I mulled it over and told him I was fine with it. As for the site…I’m a fan. I think it’s a good, and viable alternative to what we have now. Dan is a stand up guy and someone I 100% trust in the hobby. To be clear, I am not affiliated with the site other than “allowing” him to use the name and some user testing. I didn’t receive, nor will receive, any money from the site using my name. So any feedback is genuine and deserved. I hope that clears it up. I hope you all have been well. Peace! - MinusWorlds

I have nothing but love for all of you. Truly. I miss the community that a lot of us built together. I was very disheartened to see my name dragged into the Wata/HA market manipulation article. Those of you who know me personally know I always do my best to act with integrity and have built my reputation over 20+ years in this hobby. I hope my contributions speak for themselves. The only thing I’ll say on the matter is this. At no time did I try to manipulate the market, never, I wrote an article that Wata published about the state of the sealed and graded video game market. It was my opinion and at no time did Wata try to direct me in any one place. I simply shared my collecting journey and gave an update as to how things have changed and where we are. Now those words are being used against me to try and paint a picture of me being one of the manipulators. It’s sad to be honest with you all. I dedicated thousands of hours of my life into this hobby. Thousands. I’ve always tried to help others. I created the sealed collecting guide. I did my best to always act with integrity and professionalism and help others with their collecting journeys. I’ve worked with many of you on projects and had the absolute pleasure of calling some of you friends. Seth tried to sell sales data, and while 100% valuable information, and quite honestly well worth the $5, it wasn’t what he marketed it as, a population report. Historical sales data is just that, a record of past sales, it is nothing like a population report. I confronted him and told him to stop calling it that. For whatever reason he refused and that digressed to me being accused of “bilking” buyers because I sell video games. I said I welcome a true pop report because it will confirm what WE know. In relation to all other collectibles sealed video games are far and away rarer. In turn with the pop reports my games would increase in value, meaning my collection. He took that as me saying I’m making tons of money and labeled me a money grubber. He continued to peddle his data as a pop report. I again asked him to stop. He blocked me. Then two days ago included me in his article. I can’t really explain how disheartened I was, and still am. It seems all the work I’ve done in the hobby was for nothing. I’d like to think I had a part in bringing sealed and graded collecting to where it is today. I’m not talking about the money, I’m talking about it being recognized as a legitimate collectible hobby. I poured over 2 decades into this. I just wanted you all to hear this directly from me. Again, I love you all, and hope you all see the truth It was always for the love of the hobby. Peace ✌ MinusWorlds

I was the buyer. It’s a very nice copy and should grade high. I believe it was undervalued based on condition.

Awesome seller. Just as described. And a good dude all around. Wish they all went this way. Lol.

Qualified was great in theory and bad in practice. VGA f’d up bad with those. I’ve gone into detail a bunch of times on it but VGA screwed the pooch. For example I have two games that are actual Q’s. Pretty high-end too. One of them was opened the one and only time at VGA . But, then you have others like the Castlevania I posted on another thread that was clearly opened, having the wrong inserts and manual. That is inexcusable. People do pay a premium and I would have loved it if VGA would have handled it properly as I think the market would be much bigger for them if they had. I love the concept but don’t pay more than I would for a CIB Wata counterpart.

I am doing me. Sorry for my outburst. Yes I am very passionate about this. Probably too passionate. I do apologize for coming at you. I can tell you are passionate too and I respect the hell out of that. Yeah you guys are right. I concede the point. I get locked into the way it used to be. It is getting exceedingly difficult. Good luck to both of you in your searches.

No. It was a gloss. Not sure on the price tho.

No. It was technically a private sale. But, there was at least one offer that was higher than the $100k and change it sold for.

I am one of the many others. I’ve been collecting CIB and sealed for almost 20 years. Maybe I have more resources than most in terms of relationships etc. but I can’t think of a single CIB I can’t get if I so choose. Maybe I like to preserve the work I did to find the pieces I have? You're entitled to your opinion and I couldn’t give two shits if you think it’s silly. I don’t collect for you. I collect for me. I’m sorry the way I choose to do it bothers you so much. Maybe if you spent less time caring and complaining about how myself and others do it, and more time on finding the pieces you need, you’d be happier? Or maybe I’ll just start a new crusade against a random group too. Hmmmmm. Let’s see. Oh I got it! All new collectors must go!! Anyone who’s started collecting in the last say 5 years has to exit the hobby. You’ve driven up prices and I won’t have it! Please leave your games at the door. Sounds kind of silly doesn’t it?

I don’t grade all my CIB’s, just the ones that mean the most to me. I like having them safe and preserved. I’ve had enough games to know when something is mint, the grade itself is just a bonus. For just about every graded CIB I have a cart counterpart to play. The point of CIB collecting is whatever I want it to be for me and my collection. Just like I don’t care if other choose not to grade their games. Im not sure what you mean by all the time and effort. It takes no longer to collect CIB than it does sealed or cart. I look for the nicest copies and buy or trade what I want. I’m not building pyramids. I definitely don’t consider myself a reseller as I’ve only sold 3 Wata games this year and 1 was sealed.

Absolutely no reason to get rid of CIB. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

Can someone pass the salt?

Yeah I think that’s a great idea.

We have 3 cats, not by choice. I had 1. My GF had 1. We bought a house together a few years ago and our 2 cats simply don’t get along. They just don’t seem to like each other. Last year for Christmas we got my mom a kitten. She had him for about 3 weeks and my mom passed suddenly. Well, guess who got another cat. The funny thing is, my cat gets along with him, and my GF’s cat gets along with him. Its just the other two that don’t get along. It’s the strangest dynamic but whatevs. As far as your stray, I’d let him into your apt slowly over time and see what happens. They could become best buds. He could just be looking for a loving home. Personally, I’d give him a chance.

How about “a lot more than people realize”? Maybe that is more accurate. Because “a lot” is a relative term. They have always been cared about for sure. But you’re right, it really depends on what people would consider a lot. At the end of the day we’re talking about a very small subset, within a very small subset. I won’t argue that. That subset is growing tho, some organically, and some because of the hype.

We’ve always been a niche part of the market. We still are. It’s just that with all the high profile sales that small slice of the overall market is getting serious exposure. I think the grossly obvious push by some to push others to the MTPO’s, Mario’s & Zelda’s is slimey. But you know what? It give me the chance to go and grab other things that they aren’t looking at yet. It’s also not Wata themselves that are making that push. They are just the preferred grading service for those who are. And, it’s not Wata’s fault they try to educate collectors and people use that info to try and cash in on sales. People need to stop blaming Wata for a lot of this. It’s not them specifically.

I have to disagree with you. People have cared for years about the sticker seals and hangtabs. That’s why there were multiple buyers for the gloss SMB even at $100k+. Not all the potential buyers were new collectors. There are many collectors who paid premiums for hangtab or sticker sealed games. Myself being one of them and I can tell you with 100% certainty others who collected sealed and CIB cared as well. It’s been a thing for as long as I can recall. It just seems that with the hype, and new money coming in, those pieces in particular have skyrocketed in price, but the demand has always been there for those that collected CIB and sealed. The hangtab and/or sticker sealed games were, and still are, the pinnacle for a LOT of us. Which is why we own them.

Completely fair. I can get on board with that. I just wouldn’t pin Wata as the culprit. But I certainly see and appreciate the point that things are being jammed down our throats. I don’t like it either. No I don’t think they think people are stupid at all. IMO it was marketing, that’s it. I believe the goal was to attract new collectors (I could be wrong) and it clearly worked. I could certainly be wrong but that was my take. I don’t think the target audience was us. We’re all much too savvy and good looking to fall for that.

Again, so what? Why is that a problem? Who forced a group of people to pay $100k for a sealed game? I mean if they were forced to do it against their will then yes maybe we should look into that. But, until I see a video with a guy getting slammed in the face repeatedly with a thick ass Wata case until they hand over their wallet I don’t see the point. If people drop $25k on a graded game because they want to, let them. Nobody is making them buy them.

A 9.3 doesn’t exist and a 9.4 does? Grading IS subjective, well until AI and robots get involved and then we can take out the human factor completely. Shouldn’t be long. Any chance you can paint a much clearer scenario, because I’m looking at a Rembrandt and finger painting is much more my speed. And, It’s not irrelevant, but I’ve asked a sincere question about what the potential ramifications of such a structure could be and the only answer I got was Wata may have given out a pedigree people didn’t feel it deserved. Yeah, so? Who's dog was hit by a car because a pedigree was given? And, the Indiana Collection already makes the point moot. That is a ridiculous and absurd pedigree yet it happened, so how is the Carolina Collection any different when that certainly presents a much better case to have a pedigree? Pedigrees for the most part are dumb and pointless. That’s the only answer I’ve gotten so if you have a better gripe with the structure and the potential conflicts that could arise please let me know, but dumb it down a little. I don’t want to have to call in Will Hunting to help me understand the issue. At the end of the day you still need a buyer for the hyped item. And, again, how many people collect graded games? We are talking about a ridiculously small portion of the hobby. Yet everyone is screaming foul with zero stake in the game.

I hear ya dude. I 100% understand your stance. I’m in the same boat dude. I was lucky to snag a bunch of stuff years ago so at least I have that. I have 3 grails. Always have. They are: sealed hangtab Kid Icarus sealed hangtab Castlevania sealed hangtab Ice Climber A few years ago I could have made a play on any of those if they came up for sale. There’s no shame for me in saying I can’t do that anymore. I’m priced out. Yes it sucks. It sucks bad. I have chased those games for almost 20 years. Think about that. That’s insane. It’s a tough pill to swallow knowing my chances of ever having even 1 of those have now all but disappeared. But, regardless I’m happy the hobby is where it is, and I’m happy some of my friends are having success. It took some soul-searching to come to terms with all of this. I questioned throwing in the towel and walking away. I was close, but ultimately the community is why I’m here. And that doesn’t change just because I don’t have what I want on my shelf. In fact, the Socks poster we all signed hangs on my wall and it will always be more valuable to me than any game could be. That’s why I stayed.

Welcome. Kubo rocks!!

Understood. I’m not trying to build-up Wata at the expense of VGA and I agree there’s no place for that. When it comes to VGA issues I do know the facts. I posted about the Q issue with VGA on NA and people lost their minds claiming I didn’t bring evidence to the table and implied I was lying or just trying to knock VGA. That’s fine. I’ve had the “evidence” for awhile and honestly didn’t care enough to drag up that body just to prove a point. However, when I constantly gotta hear about that stupid Wata Jaws game and not hear about VGA’s flaws I thought it would be a good time to revisit that, but provide the evidence people wanted. I did that. The evidence I provided is irrefutable and clear. Had people not been screaming about that damn Jaws I would have been content sticking to the main talking points. But, when people have to repeatedly bring up silly talking points just to bring down Wata I’m going to respond with some leveling of the playing field. Because I believe we can have 2 grading companies do well in this hobby. And I sincerely hope that continues but it’s very important to know the pros and cons of each.

Agreed. I prefer the clean lines of the VGA case for sure. It’d be great if the two cases just made a baby. We could call it a VAGA case. Actually, that’s prob not a good idea. Let’s skip that.

I don’t summarily dismiss VGA. They do a lot of things great. Some things they aren’t qualified to do. Period. I was one of VGA’s biggest supporters for many years. I wrote the guide on NA for how to submit and utilize VGA. I have a great relationship with their employees. Their customer service is outstanding and I believe them to be good people. However, when it comes to grading I believe Wata has done it better, they’re more secure, more consistent and have a better ability to identify fakes. That is what I care about. I have sold precisely 3 Wata games. 3. And last I checked I’m not getting hundreds of thousands of dollars for those. I have also sold prob over a hundred VGA games. And made a good amount on those. So why am I here talking about VGA’s faults? Because I think people need to be a lot more objective and know facts before they try and tear down a company that has bettered the grading part of the hobby.