inasuma

Makes me wonder about games like Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. It is quite literally the same game, plus some content. Definitely not a new game, but contains a new isolated piece of content, and is obviously a brand new product, but the majority of the content isn't different. But I tend to agree if the title changes then it's a different game, or the majority of content has changed in such a way that it just isn't comparable.

This thread has been mad helpful recently in upgrading my CIBs. My gen 1 games are lookin tight now. Thanks again Adam.

the pins are broken on the lid. obvious lol

Mmm not really. It’s extremely difficult to get the pins unattached, undamaged. VGA has a similar issue with the way they mold the acrylic pieces, makes it pretty difficult to seal a game and have it look exactly how VGA does it.

Wata and VGA: easy. CGC: no clue. In my experience, Wata is the easiest to open. All you need to do is hold the case, front facing you, grip the top (label) part and push in with your thumbs with a good amount of force. You'll hear the pins snap and then you can pop the top off and slide out the game. Have done this several times with no issues. With VGA, it becomes trickier because it's solid acrylic. but what you can do is slip a flat head screwdriver between the acrylic pieces, between the bottom and backside, and pry towards the bottom. It'll snaps the bottom off piece-by-piece, eventually the game can slide right out. just need to make sure you slide the game out *facing up*. CGC tho I haven't tried... it's ultra sonic welded so I assume you'd need to grab a small tree branch cutter and chop off pieces til the inner blister can be easily removed. lol

haha i see the sarcasm now that i re-read your post. i've seen nothing but folks online say that person deserved it and its just so sad. they'd be singing a whole different tune if their games were horribly mangled by a customs agent. it's been frustrating to read.

seriously now? we're cheering on customs shredding games now? there's basically no scenario where customs destroying personal property should be acceptable. for shame. US customs lets you file a claim in the event of destroyed property. also it's not $10.5k, closer to $2k based on recent sold comps.

ooooh i love free thumbs. @ThePhleoplease show us the free thumb in 4k thx also this is really cool. who else knows about this variant? wonder if the boys at wata or vga know.

While it's true that the item itself is unchanged and has no additional intrinsic qualities, grading a CIB does add perceived value with an approximate guarantee of condition. Even more so if the GSIs are 9.0+. people bid more because they know they're getting what they want. Just my $0.02

This topic is becoming more and more combative now that WATA has updated their CIB criteria to exclude GSIs by default (granted, $50 + $40 GSI upcharge is still cheapest in the hobby). That said, at the very least the poster *is* in there and can be proved with a scan. If you're particularly worried of evidence disappearing, I'd just print off the info page and keep it with the game (including the cert # so it's clear they're paired). Anyway, grading is a fickle thing and if their methodology isn't for you, then just don't submit I guess. lol

Vga will give you a physical certificate. I have one for my qualified Heh You, Pikachu. It’s really fancy and emboss-stamped too. I assume whenever cert lookup comes back you’ll be able to look ip contents there too.

Sadly vga qualified only works if the contents are “verified” to be “unused”. Not really a 1-to-1 substitute for wata/cgc CIB at this stage.

glad i got in my qualified order in 2022 when i had the chance. lol i'm sure it'll come back. it looks like they're speeding up and updating the website incrementally which is promising.

they've always specified GSIs (game specific inserts) on the back.

wata scam

i feel attacked also true

i collect this shit and still don't get it and by that, i mean, why people pay such huge prices lol

IIRC the CGC copy has "First Video Game Graded" written on it which likely adds to its status.

I suppose I should add my $0.02 because this is an internet forum after all. Regarding the Rondo of Blood, I think it's a combination of very silly mistakes and circumstances. Wata should have known it was a repro. They removed the seal, so they knew they were dealing with PCEWorks at that point, and should have at least investigated who they are (clearly nothing to do with Konami, but I digress). That was blunder #1. They also waited way too long to address this, which is blunder #2. Better late than never, I suppose. The Submitter / seller Is a known bad actor in the community, and even if they were expecting "reproduction" to be plastered all over the label, would have likely listed it for a silly price anyway (apparently they originally listed it for $7k about two years ago). At the end of the day, Wata screwed up, and they've admitted such in their own statement. I don't think any company is remotely capable of being perfect, but at the very least, with an official authentication department now, they'd definitely catch this kind of thing today. Despite an unfortunate mistake, I'm also happy they're focusing solely on licensed games now. A massive plus for everyone involved (it was always questionable to have accepted rom hacks/repros, goes without saying). The downside though - this is a stain on Wata's already shakey record, and won't age well at all. It's already become clickbait by Pat and the guy who originally made a video about the listing. If we're being totally fair to everyone, even VGA, who has been around far longer, has graded some repros over the years (not saying one is worse than another). Expecting humans (graders, etc) to be perfect is just silly at this point in the grading industry, BUT some folks will make up their entire opinion based on one mistake and there's no helping that. lol Bad actors are a thing and although consumers deserve confidence in the services they pay for, there will *always* be cracks in the armor. All the "ha ha wata isn't so professional after all!!" people IMO are taking a reductive standpoint that's unrealistic, though I know their heart is in the right place. Personally, my biggest takeaway as a consumer in this circumstance is to be pro-active about your games when buying and grading. Same with securing your passwords/using 2FA on digital services, put in the work to feel confident in your passwords... er... games. If you're a collector and intend to buy a game that costs some $$$ then there are definitely resources out there (such as /r/gameverify... with the caveat that sealed games aren't guaranteed to be represented evenly in that environment), although knowing where to find resources is another story and I don't have an answer to that. Hopefully folks know how to use Google. Anyway, I'm one of those weirdos that sees nuance in this stuff and knowing the folks at Wata perhaps gives me a skewed perspective, but I know they mean well and are trying to do right by folks. I have other grievances, unrelated to authentication, just like everyone else, but on this specific issue, I'm not worried about authentication in scenarios like this moving forward.

wow, what's next, you gonna leave out that video games are for NERDS?

i guarantee they already dumped that cert #.

oh also this dopeness

might as well put these little "sets" here too. inb4 @DefaultGenroasts me for not having Age of Calamity

rofl spittin facts