Grondorr

10 hours ago, GPX said:

Good to see you have a clearer understanding of your goals. Having 90% of them sealed/graded is already a mighty fine effort. Congrats on the achievement so far!

Thanks! But, to be clear the lower tiers are inclusive of the tiers above them. IE: 74% includes all sealed (raw and graded). Still a ways to go before 90%, but overall I’m still happy with the progress.

On 1/27/2024 at 5:49 PM, GPX said:

Congrats! I’m curious to know if you’ve revised you’re goals with the graded stuff? Have you had any further thoughts since the original post?

Bearing in mind that my goals have always been aspirational and so was clear it was impossible and would take more than one lifetime.. I’ve now gamified those goals…

Grading costs for VGA need to come down, and I need a better name (than NM+/M+) for the tier that includes 9.8/A++ and 90+ and better. Edit: I’m calling that tier Minty+. 

Also, I do own some non-VGA games but have made an equivalancy table to map them onto one scale. (I know equivalencies are tricky but it’s fine for my external goals since I am planning on upgrading.)

Caveat, things must make some financial sense which will create some blockers or at least slow progress.

On 11/9/2019 at 1:57 PM, Grondorr said:

As I stated in another post, I expect this to take longer than a single lifetime, and I'm going to first attempt to complete the set in whatever condition I can. (Which is achievable.) I'll add that when I first added graded games to my collection, my thoughts were as you said, "at least Gold".

The lowest bar of a loose+ complete set will probably take less than 5 years. (I hope, but GBA is currently a harder set to complete than NES, because there are some inexpensive rare games that no one is rushing to sell, unlike rare NES games which are constantly hitting auction sites. In addition there are more games in the set.) The idea to upgrade everything to MINT, will keep me occupied for more than a lifetime, and is more of an unattainable goal to constantly work towards. Even just getting everything boxed will be an accomplishment, and just having them all sealed will be near impossible. Who knows, I've only been collecting for about three years, and my goals have changed many times. They may change again.

At the moment I'm going for in parallel the following sets (Although I don't consider GBA video to be part of the main set, I include them in these goals.):
- A complete loose or better GBA set
- A complete boxed GBA set (sealed and graded games count)
- A complete sealed GBA set (graded games count)
- A complete MINT GBA set (I still haven't sorted out how I'm going to handle grading for common $10 sealed games. I'm indefinitely deferring that for now.)
Separately:
- A complete set of GBA NFRs

I expect that any 3rd party graded games in my collection will all be VGA Gold, and if I get an opportunity to upgrade them from an 85+, 90, 95, or 95+ to anything higher, I will.

The key thing I think though is that if I'm going to be collecting so many sealed games, I need to learn to accurately evaluate a game's condition. At the very least, I need to be certain that a game in a certain condition has a chance of grading MINT, and will be certain to grade Gold before even considering sending a game in for a grade.

In the meantime, I am trying to find things to read, and sort out what equipment I'll need, like magnifying lamps, loupes and whatnot.

P.S. - I've had a number of people tell me I'm crazy for collecting GBA, and even crazier for going for a full set. (from serious graded collectors to people who shun sealed games). I understand that it's not financially wise, as the new thing is to hoard multiple copies sealed and graded "key games", but that's not what I want to do. (That seems more like a business than a hobby.)

 

987/987 GBA
8/8 GBA PC
35/35 GBA Video
43/43 GBA NFR

Let the upgrades begin/continue…

Sign me up!

As someone who collects loose, cib and sealed, I am seeing an overall pause in the market. Some things have pulled back. Other things haven't dropped, but volume has dropped. It really feels like FOMO is pausing and a bit of rationality is surfacing. 

I have to assume whatever is happening had to have correlations in other collectible markets and video games will somewhat move with them. (Guessing there is more analysis/data available for more mature markets.)

I'll also add that even in the peak of the FOMO bubble (Q1 2021) there were not 10s of thousands of $50k+ Pokemon games.  (Orders of magnitude less.. but soon enough we won't have to guess.  pop reports will indicate how many Gem Mint cardboard Pokemon games are actually out there.)

I'll also add that I'm shocked at the sheer number of people who had been buying games just to "flip". It will be interesting to see what happens when a bunch of flippers have to hold.

Need a bunch of stuff. The SoTN doesn't happen to also be for sale does it? Anyway: Earthbound and Chronotrigger, mmm actually you already sold everything else. Hoping the SoTN is avail.

Cheers,

Brian

I am remembering that Super Mario Advance is another title that has a known second version that is basically just a retail cart with a backsticker, but it like Metroid Zero Mission has a different ID # on the back sticker. As far as I know this is the only NFR variant that has the same back sticker # for both variants. (Remember there are other known NFRs that are basically just retail carts with back stickers that didn't have a special manufacturing run with a distinct front label.)

Literally nothing. But ...

1) I know who I bought it from in 2019 (a known long time collector from NA) and I just asked where they got it and it was from a Nintendo rep years ago.

2) The Sapphire NFR has been pretty hard to come by for years, so it wouldn't make sense to desecrate one. (There is no sales data in eBay or pricecharting for example). Certainly there wouldn't be a financial reason to do it as most people would be very suspicious, and it would be much easier to sell with the proper front.

BTW I'm a little mad at myself that it took me this long to notice, but I recently completed the set after many years and was going through my entire GBA NFR collection and carefully documenting the condition of each cart when I noticed.

That said because the back stickers have the same serial number (unlike the Metroid variant) I'm not sure if this should be considered part of the standard NFR set or a bonus nice-to-have like the MEW and TRU distro carts.

Metroid Zero Mission is no longer the only GBA NFR that has two versions that are only distinguished by whether NOT FOR RESALE is printed on the front label.

Pokemon Sapphire now joins that club. Makes you wonder what else is out there. I suspect that a low number of these remain as paranoid gamers and sneaky GameStop employees probably just peeled off the back stickers, which would make them indistinguishable from retail carts. Which is probably what they were to begin with. My best theory is that these were quickly assembled when Nintendo ran out of "proper"  NFR carts to send to Video Game shops. (The back stickers contain the same information.)

Just an update. 

I'm up to 19 games that are 95, 95+, or 100.

My total graded games collection is 145 games, of which 102 are GBA. (I've been spreading my wings a bit.)

Some observations.
1) Games below 90/90+, can show quite a bit of variability. 
2) 95 and better is still a worthy goal, but it's really really hard.
3) Grading games definitely hits that endorphin rush from the anticipation and resolution of the actual grade.
4) Despite that I am not sure if I like buying graded games more or getting them graded myself (the long lead times really kinda take a damper out of the whole process.)

I now own 2 WATA graded games. I will probably not bother cross grading them because the process is such a nightmare, and the game in question was hard enough to get that I'd have to potentially wait months for the right grade. IE: I got it at a price I am happy with today and I was buying the game not the case.  That said I can still use an upgrade so who knows, maybe I'll be able to get them VGA after all, and then I can sell the WATA copies.

Cheers,
Brian

No

17 minutes ago, segashack said:

There is a theory that I noticed with collecting over the years that I’d like to call the “Gamestop Theory”. I feel that in many regards Gamestop is and always was the price setter for used games. 

In the early 2000s Gamestop / EB Games / Funko Land all carried classic games and consoles. Their prices seemed on par with ebay at the time for popular titles (most popular titles 10-20 dollars, RPGs/rarer titles for 30 dollars), for shovelware/licensed titles no one wanted you would have prices at ranging from 25 cents to a dollar for many games.

 2004 is when Gamestop announced they would no longer purchase NES, Gameboy, PS1, SNES, N64, Genesis, and Dreamcast games. 2008 is when I saw the price of games from these consoles start skyrocketing online. I think this is also the start of the popularity of the youtube gaming era, a lot of which highlighted classic gaming.

Fast forward to 2012 and Gamestop discontinues trading in Xbox, Playstation 2, and Gamecube games. Gamecube had started to become collectible before this discontinuation, but prices weren’t even close to the levels that would follow.

Now Gamestop currently sells PS3, Wii, DS, and Xbox 360 games, and I belive they still do accept trade ins, but each store has fewer and fewer titles from these platforms. I am almost certain that once Gamestop stops selling seventh generation games that in a few years a collector’s market on those platforms will follow.

I truly believe that Gamestop is an entity that can keep game prices normalized, so long as they sell them. What are your thoughts on this? Am I crazy for thinking this?

 

This is a great theory and totally makes sense. If there is a a ready easy no-hassle buyer of used games, those games will remain in circulation rather than being put in the attic or thrown out. (Drastically reducing recirculating supply and leading to rising prices.)

-Brian

Question for sealed collectors? I'm under the understanding that a sealed 1st print is basically unobtainium. For sealed collectors, what are people targetting instead?

Thanks!

11 minutes ago, cj_robot said:

I guess I'm the weirdo who actually liked the tablet. I found myself playing on the tablet exclusively more often than not, and I would actually get upset when I started a game that required me to turn on the TV. It was just so convenient to play an actual console-quality game on a tablet while my family watched TV. Obviously, the Switch is a more perfect realization of this concept, but at the time I thought the Wii U was pretty cool.

Lots of great first-party games, but overall, the library is pretty small compared to it's competitors. The Virtual Console was a big plus, though.

6/10

You aren't the only one. I liked being able to switch screens in the later games.

Sigh. Still looking for LttP.

10 minutes ago, Darth Vader said:

I think there will be something with Wind Waker. Seeing as though they keep moving stuff from the Wii U over to Switch. WW HD on Switch. Possibly a compilation like 3D All-Stars. In that case I would say OOT, WW HD, and Skyward Sword.

 

Hmmm. I see another TP rerelease before Skyward Sword. That's really a somewhat gimmicky wimote game, and even though the switch controllers are motion controllers, it just doesn't seem the same. That game seems best left for Wii.

6 hours ago, GPX said:

When a mint CIB is brand new and was never factory sealed, then it’s the best state a CIB can be.

But it's also going to be in the best state any copy of that game can be in. It's in some heisenberg state between sealed and CIB. I think that other than the nagging doubt that a game hasn't been tampered with, most sealed collectors would consider something that's never been opened and didn't come with a seal, as equivalent to sealed (case fresh). Especially if they get it graded and the grading company doesn't riffle through the pristine contents. (not sure how to assure this other than send it in with the case and special instructions.)

Overall I have to give it more thought, but I definitely see that a trashed copy of a game that still has a seal intact should be worth less than a pristine CIB, but where that crossover happens, I'm still exploring. (I think it will prove to be situationally dependent, with a few more variables needing to be thrown into the mix.

At the end of the day, there are way more game collectors than sealed copies of key titles, so CIB collecting has to expand and evolve as a hobby, especially if HA is going to be able to justify to their shareholders their huge investment attempting to turn game collecting into a big new business line for their company. (There needs to be enough "product" to keep the auctions flowing.)

Counter-counterpoints:
1) A CIB can't have all 10s. From what I've been reading, a 10 box means that it's never been opened, which means it should be impossible to know the condition of the contents. Also the seal would have a 0, so ... ????
2) Well, in WATA, they consider the seal a separate grade, but if you were to go with a singular grade, a game without a seal, that was originally sold sealed, can't be NM, as it's missing a major component of the retail item.
3) While it's not the same condition, as a singular grade stops being able to fully convey everything once you start dropping down the scale.
4) Presuming NS Mint would mean a game that never shipped with a seal. I am fine with this being Mint, but if the game was sold sealed and it lost the seal over time, if trying to map to a singular score/grade, it should take a significant hit. (I don't think the community is of one mind though.)

A few further thoughts:
1) It probably doesn't make sense to try and put CIB and sealed on the same scale, as it's really two distinct hobbies, but at the same time I do feel that WATA cases/grades tend to obscure the fact a game is missing its seal.
2) We shouldn't ignore the seal. All else being equal, having the seal fully intact and in great condition, is a major differentiator.
3) On the other hand, comic book collectors might argue otherwise, as it seems that books aren't allowed to be graded if they still have their factory seal intact. (Of course unlike video games, the norm for comic books is to sell them unsealed, with only a few oddball books coming sealed, so it might not be a good analogy.)
4) Apparently vinyl collectors are in the two sealed/unsealed camps as well. Sealed collectors who don't play the records and pay more, and open collectors who buy them to play, or to just get less expensive copies.

Bump. Not adding anything new for now, as I want to focus on LttP.

I know Pokemon games are a bit of a meme these days, but these were in the first batch of games I sent to VGA, and were really hard to track down. (For those that don't know the box on the right has an uncirculated Pokemon Emerald in the box, and I've only seen a couple unopened copies.) Only missing one thing to make this a complete Pokemon Emerald set. (Hint: it's another bundle.) 

My copy also has the off-center (1mm too low) H-seam w/ the front vent holes. Metallic box cover on mine looks fine. Checked all corners and flaps, looks unopened. I can't see it being a reseal. Could it be a complete fake? It's kinda too good to be a fake, but anything is possible. It happens to be in my next batch scheduled for grading. I'll let you know if there are any issues raised, but my sense is you should not be concerned about it being a reseal. 

Updated.

Updated.

Bump