Ricky Winterborn
-
Posts
45 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1 -
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Blogs
Events
Homebrew Games
Store
Downloads
Posts posted by Ricky Winterborn
-
-
1 hour ago, operationivy said:
That game was already looked at to be crossed before being listed. There is a reason it was not crossed- it was not a 9.8 (the 95). It is not a 9.8. Wata grades N64 games a lot different than VGA.
I've heard this as well.
-
3 minutes ago, WalterWhiteJr. said:
I am of the camp that sealed SM64s are not rare. 9.6 A++ is high grade.
Gotcha. Yeah I don’t think the seal is what’s rare. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always amazing when a 25 yr old artifact not meant to be collected remains in a retail condition. In the case of SM64, it was the conditional rarity (9.8 A++) that made it so rare and special. That 9.6 is cool too. Not as cool depending on how some collect graded games. For me personally, mint copies are like little time travel machines.
-
2
-
1
-
1
-
-
2 minutes ago, WalterWhiteJr. said:
Oh hey look, three more graded super mario 64s. WHAT. A. JOKE. Rare my ass.
Are you of the opinion that graded SM64s are rare? Or are you saying high graded ones aren’t rare? None of those links showed a 9.8 A++, which is incredibly rare. What am I missing here?
-
51 minutes ago, inasuma said:
Not only does Mark not address the allegations but he downplays his role at Wata. I believe AdamW put it best from the HA thread:
The only distinction I'd make is that, while Mark is not an employee per se, he was still a shareholder and therefore was receiving compensation. The best argument I can see here is that he was selling who-gives-a-fuck Atari games, so it would have been hard for him to make a huge profit anyway.
Shareholders do not receive compensation. A publicly traded company can choose to pay dividends, this is not the case here. Only after the sale of the company, will the investor be rewarded financially. If the company doesn't sell and goes under, then the money spent on the investment disappears too.
-
This has already been debunked. Here is a statement from Mark Haspel himself.
Certification has transformed vintage video game collecting considerably in the last 3.5 years. Discussions regarding video game certification, its purpose and future are to be expected. Transparent dialogue is necessary and healthy for all participants in the video game collecting space.As part of this public discourse some concerns have been raised regarding my involvement with Wata and the video game hobby. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my role as it relates to Wata.I have never been an employee of Wata.I have never been a board member or officer of Wata.I was a passive investor in Wata. Like other passive investors in the company, I never had any oversight role or made any management decisions for Wata. I have never been involved in the day to day operations at Wata.I was listed in the Wata SEC filings as was required because of my investment in the company.I no longer have any equity in the company because of the sale to Collector’s Universe in July 2021.I am featured on Wata’s website to help market video game certification to collectors, investors and dealers in other collecting fields. I attended various conventions with Wata in order to help cross promote video game collecting to collectors from other collectable spaces.I provided feedback to Wata when it designed its original holder and label. I also provided my opinion to Wata before its launch on how components of CIBs should be categorized and dealt with.I briefly visited the Wata offices 2 times since its launch in April 2018. The last time I was there was in July 2019. I live in Florida. Wata is located in Denver, CO.I have never graded any of my own games or any other video games submitted to Wata. Apart from Deniz Kahn and Kenneth Thrower, I have not spoken with, nor have I ever met, any of the other graders at Wata. Wata’s integrity is important to me and I have never asked for or received any preferential grading.At no point did I have access to information from Wata that the general public does not. I have no access to Wata’s computer system or database, and I have never had access to any private information about submissions, submitters, financials or population reports. Additionally, I have never requested or received such information from Wata.I submit games to Wata the same way any other customer or collector submits games.I do buy and sell vintage video games openly. I have been doing this in plain sight with nothing to hide.My return address has my name on every package I ship. I often reach out to other collectors, including providing my personal contact information, in order to build relationships in the hobby.I am proud to have been part of Wata’s first steps. I am confident that the resources and opportunities made available to Wata under the new ownership will ensure its future success. I am also excited to see CGC enter the video game certification market. Healthy competition makes companies better and serves collectors well.Mark Haspel-
1
-
1
-
1
-
2
-
-
Added birth control.
-
1
-
1
-
-
I actually have a similar copy @greennamek@Jim Jimmer. Mine was also acquired at Nintendo. Can confirm 100%. I'm glad you posted here, because I've been curious as well to how WATA would grade it. The one I own is in brilliant condition. Welcome to our little First Party Resealed Club!
-
1
-
-
DK Jamz CD
I'm looking to purchase or trade for a new/sealed copy of DK Jamz. I'm specifically looking for the jewel case edition, though I will consider the maxi single variety as well.
-
AdvertiserRicky Winterborn
-
Date09/02/2021
-
Price
-
Category
-
1
-
-
16 minutes ago, OptOut said:
I mean, I don't know where you got that from anything I have said? They're following the market maker's playbook to a tee, and we have literally been talking about how Jim Halperin did the same thing with the coin market like 30 years ago...
So, read better, I guess?
Maybe I inferred a bit more than you said. It’s late here.
. It seems like I’ve been reading the same stuff over and over here and it just doesn’t connect with me the way it has with others. It’s just textbook capitalism, and not unique to WATA. Btw, that same system can really benefit a lot of folks selling right now. Anyhow, if I misrepresented you, I apologize. 
-
1
-
-
7 minutes ago, OptOut said:
Yeah, people are free to spend their money how they like, and' I'm free to call them a bunch of idiots!
Absolutely you are. I just think it’s a little disingenuous to make like this phenomenon is new or unique to WATA or graded video games when it’s not.
-
2
-
-
2 minutes ago, Gloves said:
You wait. Space is next!
-
43 minutes ago, OptOut said:
Err, do you not understand how market manipulation works?
You set the scene with a few high profile, widely publicised and earth shattering record setting prices, and then you let the ravenous mob of greedy, ignorant bandwagon jumpers do the rest. You sell into the massively inflated market an make BANK (or in the case of HA and WATA reap massive profits from buyers premiums and grading fees), and make as much money as you can hand over fist before the market tanks.
The idiots jumping on EVERYTHING they can get their hands on is where the money comes from! Once the ball is rolling, all the market originators need to do is keep the hype machine pumping and count their money. These sales external to HA are side effects of the wider craze that they started.
Welcome to Capitalism. Jesus. Name any product that doesn’t start with a couple early adopter/influencers followed by the mobs of cash paying/neck-breaking consumers. Rolex, Tiffany, Air Jordans, Gucci. Take your pick. Having people ravenous for a product is not some great evil because at the end of the day, people vote with their wallets. If they get tired of immaculate sealed games and Nike’s made in sweatshops, no amount of influence will change that.
-
2
-
-
Added Cigar Set.
-
2
-
-
1 hour ago, inasuma said:
Agreed. The fact even an 85+ can be on par with 9.8 A++ says it all tbh.
That’s not accurate. 95s sometimes still have trouble crossing over. An 85+ tells us either the seal or box or combination of both has wear/damage. Thus an 85+ objectively would not cross to an 9.8 A++.
-
1 hour ago, blarky said:
Can you please source, or give more details of these 95+ SM64's crossings?
Sure. Unfortunately, I need to protect my sources. I realize it sounds cloak and daggery, but it’s their personal story to tell and not mine. You can also read others’ crossing stories in this very forum where things didn’t work out as hoped. Of course that’s not always true. That’s the nature of the objective system that grading is. Sometimes the needle slips past where it should be or just doesn’t quite hit the mark, and the next grader has to grade what they see. WATA has 2 separate grades. One for the seal and one for the box. VGA doesn’t have that kind of breakdown in their 100 digit scale. Those two grading scales sometimes just don’t line up the way you’re expecting.
However, I urge anyone considering on bidding on the VGA in hopes of a successful crossover to fully understand the risk involved.
-
2
-
-
45 minutes ago, OptOut said:
Serious question to @Jared_Goldinauctions, why schedule two Mario 64's head to head in the same auction? If there is a preference for one copy over the other, won't the underbidder eventually just settle on one and let the high bidder sneak off with the other for less than they would otherwise?
You're kind of diluting the bidding pool with two basically identical copies selling at the same time, IMO. If I had consigned one of those two Mario 64's I'd be pretty pissed, tbh, might even pull it entirely if I truly believed it to be worth over a million dollars.
Except that 95 and 9.8 A++ are not the same thing. There have already been examples of 95+ SM64s not crossing well into WATA. There is no guarantee when it comes to crossing over into other grading services.
I think by Goldin placing the 9.8 A++ as the #3 lot, they’ve clearly chosen the most valuable of the two.
-
I was a calm rationale kid consumer. Enjoyed my Nintendo Entertainment System. Then one night when my family was visiting us, this came on.
It felt like a personal attack. I watched my loved ones eyes turn to shock as perhaps my cool Nintendo was not as cool as I thought. I laced up my boots, grabbed my sword and shield, and set off to enlist in the greatest war of my generation- The Console Wars.
-
2
-
-
Added Toru Iwatani Signed Business Card.
-
2
-
-
-
9 minutes ago, Jeevan said:
did u color that in, or is it really like that irl @Ricky Winterborn?? Like did u just edit it in a photo editor or is it really a black rectangle?
Nah, it’s just a quick and dirty iPhone scribble.
-
1
-
-
38 minutes ago, Dumars2001 said:
I know the influx of new collectors started coming into the hobby around 2018, maybe a little earlier (and forever changed the landscape of this once little niche hobby) and prices started to go up on games across the board, but things have gotten to a stratospheric level in prices just this past year (with no end in sight) and the scary thing is, it isn't stopping anytime soon and we could all be talking about a $5,000,000 dollar video game sale in the near future.
I can't even believe we now have a $2,000,000 dollar game! If you scour Ebay to buy something these days (sealed, nice CIB games, etc), you almost can't unless you are rich, because the prices for this stuff is through the roof now but no matter what the price is, someone is buying it up for an astronomical price.
The older collectors will always remember the "old" prices for the games being sold today at today's prices, but we are NEVER going back to those days and just have to accept the hobby for what it is now. Collecting is now an investment!
Some people (older collectors) have made out like a bandit in today's market and some have not. Like any investment/hobby, you win some and you lose some. Congrats to anyone that bought sealed games in the past or have a premium collection you built up back in the day for any platform, because everything has skyrocketed in price and seems to go up in value with each passing day and with the influx of new collectors coming into the hobby on a daily basis.
Every day, I see different games (usually sealed, nice CIB or rare from all systems, especially NES, SNES, Gameboy, N64, Genesis) selling for thousands of dollars and it is scary to me, because I feel it is "normal" now.
I still can't believe where we are in this hobby and how fast it has exploded. The video game hobby seems like an out of control freight train steaming ahead with no end in sight.
I feel such a sense of gratitude towards my collection. It has the potential to convert into something life changing for my family. I would like to give the much younger version of me a hug for having the wisdom of knowing to protect these games then for their value in the future.
-
2
-
-
13 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:
I picture you have some crazy ass prototype DS signed by Miyamoto, Iwata, and Kojima and thinking it's totally normal lol
I'm sure I do somewhere. This was the easiest thing to snap a pic of though.
-
1
-
1
-
-
4 minutes ago, drxandy said:
Over 5k? Was the last I saw someone try I think I saw one complete sell for like 2k a couple years ago and loose cart at 700. Also remember many years ago when it was a couple hundred complete.. everything is crazy.
Yeah mine is not complete. There was a Nintendo DS sticker wrap included. So, for me to sell it as complete, I'd have to send the buyer my DS as well.
-
2
-
-
10 minutes ago, drxandy said:
I neeeeeed to get that trailer so bad, I held out too long and now it's pretty much unobtainable to me price wise but always wanted it since I went to that year of e3 waited 4hrs to play the twilight princess demo haha but didn't have access to the press conferences.
Super nice dooooood!!
What prices have you seen on it?
Million Dollar Mario...1.56M...What the..?
in Sealed & Graded Collecting
Posted
It’s a weird thing to profess a love for video games and video game collecting and still root for the failure of a fellow collector. Sorry you never got asked to the dance.