ExplodedHamster

Ok I can add the following. Sorry @final fight cd!:

Bass Masters Classic - Pro Edition

Berenstain Bears

Beyond Oasis

Champions World Class Soccer

Comix Zone

Dashin' Desperadoes

Dick Tracy

El Viento

Elemental Master

Exile

Growl

The Immortal

Jewel Master

Mario Lemieux Hockey

Mazin Saga

Mercs

Mystical Fighter

Shadow of the Beast

Shadow of the Beast II

True Lies

On 12/3/2023 at 8:02 PM, final fight cd said:

terminator

spot goes to hollywood - given how garbage and unintuitive the controls are for the 2nd to last level, the 2nd to last level boss was hard as shit. 

 

@ExplodedHamster im coming for you.  if the tallies are correct i am 7 games down.  i'm going hard this final month.  may the best nerd win.  

 

Ah crap! I have actually been negligent and need to add a few, sorry brother. I know this is honor system, but I have beaten a bunch since I last posted, list incoming…

On 11/2/2023 at 2:24 PM, ThePhleo said:

No, I prefer integers, so by default 90 is better than 9.8

However, my favorite number is 2520.

It's divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and additionally it's divisible by other good numbers like 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 24, 28, 30, 35, 36, 40, 42, 45, 56, 60, 63, 70, 72, 84, 90, 105, 120, 126, 140, 168, 180, 210, 252, 280, 315, 360, 420, 504, 630, 840, 1260, and of course itself - 2520.

All things that you want to measure should be based off of 2520 units...but sigh we don't live in such a world.

That's nice, but forty is the only number in the English language that is spelled in alphabetical order. What do you think of that?

On 11/2/2023 at 2:12 PM, CIB_Wholesale said:

do you think 9.8 is better than 90

The Mario 64 9.8 was a VGA 90+ cross . 

I will say this. For whatever reason, VGA in the past was lenient on their N64 games when it came to conditions of the box. Their grades for N64 are very seal-heavy. It's not really that way with other cardboard consoles, but for some reason it is with N64. I think there is so much air in those boxes they decided to be a bit more lenient on the box and focus primarily on the seal, more like modern games. However, once you get to 90-90+ or so, the box had to be really nice as well. It's really in the 85+ that you'd see some noticeable box damage. 

Look at this one, for example, that sold tonight. Pretty bad visible box damage on the front left top corner, but the seal is basically perfect as it's uncirculated:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - VGA 85+ NM+ Uncirculated | Lot #28082 | Heritage Auctions (ha.com)

With NES, though, an 85+ the box is more often than not going to cross over to the higher end of the 9.2 to 9.8 range. Most of mine were 9.6 I'd say, and the seal would almost always be A+ or better. 

5 minutes ago, Scrobins said:

Like most things in law, it depends. There are circumstances in which a motion of this type could be made after discovery, but the point is that such a motion is a legal rather than a factual argument, since it assumes the truth of all the factual allegations (i.e. best case factual scenario). I think though you’re right, and while having not followed this case, would guess Pat is making bad assumptions about how the legal system works.

Yes, I should not have used the term "Facts." I meant complaint/allegations. It's one of those things where assuming something is true and "fact" aren't the same thing in legal terminology, whereas in layman's terms it could be conflated that way. I kind of waffled back between legal terminology and layman terminology. My bad, Counsel . 

27 minutes ago, Scrobins said:

This is not correct or at least confusingly imprecise wording. Claims are a legal term and shouldn’t be conflated with factual allegations. Matters of law refer to how the law is applied.

While I’m not watching this matter, there are several grounds for filing a motion to dismiss, a prominent one known as a 12(b)(6) motion, referring to the relevant federal rule of civil procedure, claiming the plaintiff fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted. In such a motion, the argument is that even if all the facts are true, there is no legal cause of action justifying the lawsuit.

Sorry if my wording was imprecise, but I think what you said is what I was trying to say. The main point is that, in the Motion to Dismiss, the judge is likely looking within the Complaint only. Thus, when Pat says "the judge saw X and Y from Discovery and decided the case needs to go on," I believe that would be incorrect, as the judge would be looking solely within the four corners of the Complaint made by the Plaintiffs, and I think this usually happens prior to Discovery being initiated. 

Am I wrong on that point? 

Not trying to be snarky, legitimately curious. 

On 10/25/2023 at 8:26 AM, CIB_Wholesale said:

 

 

I guess so. lump sum payments are overrated it usually ends badly check out all the lottery winners

 

just FYI if i ever get 1.5M for something i paid 500 bucks for it's likely to get reinvested in games

 

guy has 0 feedback on VGS

 

 

I don't really buy/sell on VGS (though I did quite a bit on NA back in the day), but trust me when I say far too much of the money has gone back into games. If you don't believe me, ask my wife.

We all have the same sickness, brother. 

On 10/25/2023 at 8:16 AM, CIB_Wholesale said:

my favorite part of the whole thing is the 1.56M mario seller going around promoting

 

like whoa cant u hire it out to be less obvious?

I'm not sure what you mean by this? 

Fwiw, the buyer of the Mario 64 has gone public. It was Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband of Serena Williams. His IG and Twitter (or whatever it's called now) are full of very high end collectibles he purchased from various different consignors across various different categories. I can assure you I'm not rolling in the same social circles as Alexis and I've never spoken or otherwise communicated with the guy in my life. The buyer of the 2 million dollar Mario also went public in this video: 

I didn't sell that game and never owned it, but since it gets mentioned, I figured it was worth mentioning. 

Regarding the lawsuit, something Pat I think got wrong is that in a Motion to Dismiss, a judge is looking solely at the complaint filed and has to take the claims by the plaintiff(s) to be true as a matter of law. Then a judge will say, assuming this is all true as claimed, could a reasonable jury make a finding of X. Surviving a Motion to Dismiss is almost automatic provided the lawyer filing it is competent.

Discovery does not begin until after a Motion to Dismiss is dealt with. After Discovery, there will usually be a filing for Summary Judgment, and that is the point in time a judge will no longer assume claims are true, but apply evidence from Discovery. So when Pat says "a judge must have seen something in the evidence," I don't believe that can be true, at least at this point in time. Rejecting a Motion to Dismiss predates Discovery, and in fact is what triggers it. 

Anyway, we'll see what happens. I know covid backed up courts all around the country, so it's taken a long time and probably will continue to do so, but maybe something happens within the next 6 months or so. I believe the next step would be conclusion of Discovery and then the Motion for Summary Judgment. If it survives that, that's when there would be either a trial or settlement. 

5 hours ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Definitely rare, but by no means should it out price a high graded matte sticker SMB. Or many, many other NES titles. 

I think that's the thing about it... it was never that SM 64 at that grade was a dime a dozen, but that many more highly historical games should have been at the top of the bidding wars.

Well, there are no known sealed SMB mattes, and the highest graded gloss would very likely end significantly above where the Mario 64 ended. How many NES games in top grade should end above a top Mario 64? Mario and Zelda top grade earlier print, definitely. Past that? I'm not really sure tbh. There's also a single 9.8/A++ early print Sonic that I think could top a million. Many consider Mario 64 the single greatest video game ever created, so I think the very top grade collectible should probably be in the top 5. 

Note, I'm speaking in relative terms of where I think a top grade Mario 64 should be in the echelon, not commenting on how much I think it should have gone for. But I think long term, top grade Mario 64s will be near the very top of the ladder for video game collectibles. 

4 minutes ago, RH said:

No problem, and to be clear, the box is not cracked.  Also, you see the damage I was trying to point out on the seal.  This game was submitted and it wasn't in that condition when I submitted it because I wouldn't have submitted a game with that damage.  Regardless, thanks for the input.  I'm curious what the average consensus will be and your judgement already helps.

 

Got it, though it's odd that damage would happen before encapsulation. It's not like someone would drop it and cause that sort of damage. I wonder how it could have happened. 

If the box isn't cracked, the case seems fine from what I can see, though again it's always hard to say without seeing the entire thing or seeing stuff under a light. 

1 minute ago, RH said:

I don't think so, no.  I got this in the mail Q2 this year, but they had had it since early December 2020.  They posted the photos long before I got the game back.  That might have been Q4 2021, but they hadn't had it a full year.  I honestly don't know when they took the photos, but I do know it took them a long time to take the photos and then I still had to wait a long time to get my game graded and back.

Got it. Yeah, I think they might have just done front and back at that time. Now it's all 6 sides. I will say that I see something there at the bottom. Certainly the seal is torn in two places and perhaps the box itself is cracked, but it's impossible to tell without holding the game in hand. Likewise, given I can see that go onto the bottom, it's really difficult to estimate a guess on the overall grade without seeing the entire thing. With those bottom seal tears and scuffing, I'm guessing you're looking in the A/B+ range? Box is the one I really can't tell because I can't tell if it's at all cracked. Even a minor crack, you're probably down around a 9.0/9.2 or so?

Sorry, it's really tough lol. 

2 minutes ago, RH said:

I understand but I don't this game is in cased and these are the only pre-graded photos I have, which Wata took.  Grade from the front and back, and assume the sides are comparable.  I will say, there was no noticeable damage on the sides when I had it.  Other then some very faint scuffing only available from a side lighting, this seal and the game looked perfect to me to the naked eye.

Interesting. When was the game graded?

Do you have pictures of the four sides, as well? Impossible to do without those. 

Goods that are 35 years old and no longer made for profit, yes. 

Now, one thing I will say, is at some point WATA could and probably should have changed their estimates on the lower tiers. I doubt it’s legally actionable, but it likely would have helped them from a PR perspective and curbed some of the anger. I think that’s a fair criticism for sure. 

3 hours ago, inasuma said:

I’m surprised you have this take honestly considering you use wata’s services as much as you do. I’ve used wata for non-DVD sized games, speedrun, and had my orders take 9 months. That was just recently too. Know of at least two others with turbo orders from *2020* that only just got their orders back, or are still waiting.

Trust me, I’ve had stuff take forever and done my fair share of being pissed off throughout the process. Two years plus for some of the snail pace ones. But the issue they, and other grading companies have had, is that higher speed tiers jump the line. And so what you end up with is that supply chain issues keep just enough cases for the Warp Zones and maybe some Speed Run, but then the rest get neglected because by the time supplies come in, you get more WarpZone and Speed Run orders. 

So, there are two options. You shut everything down except maybe the top tier, as PSA did, and focus on the backlog. Then people get pissed your service is shut down when the market is hot and only catering to the “elites” using your top tier (there was plenty of this kind of sentiment on PSA groups, esp because PSA jacked prices on top tier they kept open), or you keep pressing, hope supply chain issues slow, and deal with the backlash for longer wait times on the Speed Runs and slower orders. I can understand why a company would choose either option tbh, but the smaller startups probably would tend towards staying open because the income stream is more of a necessity than for example a giant like PSA. I don’t blame customers for being pissed, but there really isn’t a way to get things done without a lot of customers being pissed, and these supply chain issues are a menace across the globe to businesses everywhere atm. Many are left facing these kinds of choices and many customers are pissed off daily.

This isn’t to say WATA was as ramped up as it should have been, but I imagine rapid expansion in the middle of covid, which likely would require relocation for many, is easier said than done, and supplies were always going to be a significant bottleneck regardless. Demand definitely outpaced supplies and expansion. Nobody was prepared for it across the board.

Also, context here again is we are talking about a lawsuit. I’m not saying customers shouldn’t be upset, I’m saying the factors associated with covid is something a judge will likely and should consider in any such claim at the moment.

9 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Lol, as if a million dollars is enough to retire these days!

#tellmeyouarepoor

Dude a Subway meal is like $15 now. Soon, it'll be a 50...50...50 dollar foot loooong. 

A lot depends on where you live, really. There's such a large discrepancy in costs of living in various parts of the US. In some places, you can retire on a million, in others you'd be lucky to retire if you made a million at 90 years old. Depends how much medication you need. 

On 4/28/2022 at 11:45 PM, Californication said:

Wata is infamous for delays and its many pricing tiers that it uses to offer people hope that they will get a more normal return time if they pay more. They have essentially set up a business model where they are incentivized to not return games in a reasonable amount of time. 

They used the same business model that most other grading companies have used for a long time. It’s the standard business model in this category. All of these companies have been able to meet deadlines in the past, but got hammered with insane demand and supply issues during covid, so you end up with a lot of pissed off customers across the board. 

Forget grading, what's crazy to me is WATA has taken shit for lack of pop reports, yet here we are and VGA hasn't hasn't had a publicly available and fluid pop report for 12 years. And in order to submit games you need to use carrier pigeons. 

12 hours ago, Californication said:

Again, accepting work that you do not have capacity for is not a supply chain issue.

Supply chain issues are happenening, but there are also many company's crying wolf and using it as a catch all excuse for business failures. 

If a business offers something, you pay for it, and they do not provide the service/good as expected the business should have to make you whole, period.

It's funny that you are moving the responsibility to the customer for the businesses failures by saying it's the customer's responsibility to not use the service. Lolz.

 

 

Again, many of the delays are due to supply chain issues and not "accepting work they do not have capacity for." Grading of games has not been an issue for close to a year at this point, the issue is they keep ordering supplies, told they will get them, and then they don't get the materials because of significant delays. Same thing is happening all across the globe. What would you tell businesses in general to do in this situation?  Either they take money and survive knowing customers will be mad or just shut it down and take significant financial loss, which would be fatal to many companies. 

Define "make you whole" in this situation. What are your damages? People are getting their games back, there were no guarantees for refunds, and the times were listed as estimates with caveats attached. You're writing the complaint, tell me what you're telling the court damages amount to. 

I didn't move any responsibility to anyone, I'm saying I don't think courts as a matter of public policy will want to side with customers during these situations in the context of covid. They'll say it's up to the customers to decide moving forward if they want to harm these companies by finding someone better to do the work. 

27 minutes ago, Californication said:

It's not a supply chain issue when you accept work beyond your capacity.

Tough to judge capacity when supply chain issues keep the uncertainty going, and mire importantly demand in collectibles spiked exponentially in a short time across the board during covid. Every company got flooded with demand beyond capacity and got way behind. You either shut down business or keep working and accept customers will be pissed off and try to work through it. I’ve had late service after late service because of supply chain issues the past two years. My windows were 6 months late as an example. PSA has been a year late, VGA many months, CGC months behind, windows, lumber, copper, cars, it goes on and on and on. 
 

Seems more like a “stop using the business if the service does not meet your standards” than a class action lawsuit type thing.  A successful suit here would open Pandora’s Box, and I think a judge would recognize that. 

Punitive damages require actual malice. Given the problem has largely been supply chain related and waits are in line with very many other companies (both in their field and out) during covid, the most likely scenario seems to be this lawyer ends up paying the exorbitant legal fees Collector’s Universe will be incurring. 

Given a founder of Reddit has now publicly come out stating he’s purchased numerous high end games on Heritage AND has posted an IG pic of him holding a 9.8/A++ Mario 64, I’m trying to imagine the hilarity that could ensue if he, a founder of Reddit of all places, has been purchasing some of these higher end games people have cited in their theories. 

8 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

This blew my mind, right after Ocarina Of Time sold for $4000 less and it was the same grade. Who would want this over Ocarina Of Time?

Well, there are over 200 copies of Ocarina on the pop report and only 13 Mario Tennis, and this is a top 3 condition. Makes sense to me.

2 minutes ago, OptOut said:

It makes sense, I would assume he's like a hundred millionaire at least.

It also makes sense that the purchaser of the biggest financial belly flop in video game history has an NFT ape profile picture... Apparently this guy is addicted to poor purchasing decisions, lol! 

He’s a founder of Reddit and married to Serena Williams lol.

The irony of him being a founder of Reddit is really off the charts.