ExplodedHamster

Looking more, it looks like the artwork was actually cut, so I lean fake over re-seal. It looks like the fakes that dude in Georgia was selling a couple years ago on Ebay.

I'm late to the party here, but I believe this is a re-seal or fake. Most Sonic 3 I have seen are overlaps seals on the back and there appears to be some fraying along the edges of the artwork. How's the cut? Is it straight along the edges, or are there any points where it looks like someone actually cut the artwork?

Well, it's definitely been a crazy ass month in collectibles. So much has happened it's hard to keep up tbh lol

Well, doesn't the fact that WATA sold to Heritage's competition kind of make clear there was no large undue influence by Heritage over WATA? At least in terms of major company decision-making? I will say it is going to be an issue that one company legitimately owns and controls a number of major grading companies as well as a major auction house. That is going to be a very difficult needle to thread from a PR perspective.

Well, a few things: 1. If three big time collectors are offering 150k plus privately, it probably woulda hit at least 250k at open auction just between those three alone at that point in time. That’s just how it goes lol. And I had like 400 followers on IG at the time, not like the general public knew much about it, so who really knows where it could have gone then, though no way it woulda hit 1.5 mil in February. 2. There was the massive SMB sale for the 700k or so three months ago that attracted a lot of attention and very likely brought in a lot of new money and “legitimacy” to some of the whales in the medium. 3. This auction was the most stacked ever and also the first ever Video Game only auction Heritage has run. There was a lot of momentum going into it. I’m not saying any of this means I expected to get anywhere near this, but I did truly believe it had potential to break a million. After the Zelda sale Friday, I def thought it had a real shot. But I also would not have been surprised had both finished under half a million. When you get to this level, it usually just comes down to how badly 2-3 people want something, and you really just never know. I think there is a very real chance none of those 2-3 people who bid owned a single graded video game back in February. The rapid snowball effect in collectibles is very real, and that Mario sale in April is probably what caused the dam to break this auction.

There are still some being floated around, for example that Mario 64 isn’t the greatest game ever. That’s the true grocery checkout magazine shelf crazy talk right there

VGA N64 games below 90+ generally do not cross over well to WATA (many N64 games have manufacturer’s flaws near the opening flap that VGA does not dock but WATA does), so I would not assume too much. A bunch of those probably already have been crossed, as well. In the end, you MIGHT get 10-12 9.8/A++ total. That is far from common in the collectibles world, and anyone describing that as common is not putting it in proper context imo. I’m sure you won’t believe me, but I got 3 150k plus offers in February on this game from well known collectors within probably 10-15 minutes of posting it on IG. I made it known clearly I wasn’t gonna sell it outside of auction. Did I envision anything remotely like this at that time? Hell no. But I did get those offers and turn them down.

I don’t keep much of anything nice in my house and am pretty well known in the sealed community anyway, so not much hiding I could do if I wanted to. I honestly don’t even think I can personally do much to change that many minds, it will take the buyer coming forth or other buyers in the future.

Please do not apologize, what is happening right now in collectibles is objectively insane lol. Trust me, I pinch myself and I don’t understand the extent of my good fortune either. I will say, given how crazy collectibles have gotten, I am glad to see video games putting up a fight. They are probably more culturally significant than almost all of the others. (I also understand collectors not liking the attention for games, but I fall on the side I appreciate it from a collector’s standpoint)

Ah ok, I misjudged how you were making the points lol. My answers content-wise remain the same. I understand the skepticism and wish I could do more to address it, but there’s really not much I can. Like I said, I truly hope the buyer reveals himself at some point. I have no clue who it is.

I understand, but there are people accusing me of some serious shit. I should ignore it, I know, but find it difficult at times to do so.

Oh , no way is it more important than the test market Mario or, say, a TM Zelda. But if either of those sold at auction now, I think they’d go Mike Trout-level bonkers.

Nothing against me, you are just accusing me of multiple felonies lol. I got no issues with people questioning the sales, but there’s not much I can do to combat these baseless claims, so all I can do is say believe what you will. You realize there are massive buyer and seller fees on Heritage, right? So I’m paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to shill auctions that garner crazy media attention and make me a target? Well, again, I’m sorry you believe that, but it is what it is. There were also plenty of other games that went nuts that were not mine, but again that won’t prove anything to you or anyone else. My hope is that the buyer, whoever it is, comes out and says something, but I cannot control that. I’ve been a member here a decade and member of forums other places for a long time as well and generally tried my best to treat people with respect and courtesy. The pervasive negativity and speculation has made it difficult to continue, but I have made a number of good friends along the way and enjoyed the ride nonetheless. I am sorry you think I have set up some underground shill bidding cabal with Heritage or whomever, but I hope very much you have a pleasant day.

Barely culturally significant? Boy, would I disagree. It’s the first mainstream 3d game of all time, and some consider it the best Mario game ever. It’s a very popular Twitch game for speed runs, as well, so it stays fresh in the mind of many. It’s very, very popular in the bitcoin generation. Anyway, I can’t control what you or others think, and trust me I understand your skepticism, but I only know what I know from my end. I have been told the buyer is iron clad, was vetted, and payment is incoming. If that changes, obviously I will say something. It would really suck lol.

Part of the reason I stopped coming to NA and here is so many threads devolved into class warfare crap. The first six years I was a member of NA, I did not collect sealed games, but I never ever understood why so many people who did not went out of their way to shit on people who did. I mean who cares? Focus on the positivity of doing what you love, not the negativity of bashing others who do it differently. Thanks very much for your kind words btw!

Feel free to look me up on IG, same name. The game, amongst others, is on my page. I’ve also been a member here a decade, dating back to NA, and have not really been known to weave tales about selling games for millions of dollars, but I understand your skepticism.

In terms of HA being As I recall, they were sued for it by someone who owed Heritage over half a million dollars from a joint venture gone wrong and the court threw out the guy’s lawsuit because he had no actual evidence. Leaving that information out of the video and letting the “Heritage was sued” hang out there is kinda gross.

Some fun…theories in this thread, but the sale is real and being paid for. How do I know? I am the seller. No, I did not shill it up or have anyone else do so. The Zelda was also mine and is being paid for. I didn’t shill that either. Given where collectibles are, and have been, for the past 24 months, I don’t think it’s terribly shocking Mario 64 could hit a million, though I admit the Mario still went beyond all expectations hitting 1.5. I thought it COULD be the first million dollar game if two people wanted it enough, but 1.5 was beyond my wildest dreams. In terms of price, just for perspective, PSA 10 Charizards and Jordan rookies go for between 200k and 300k at the moment. There are I believe 122 PSA 10 Charizards and like 325 PSA 10 Jordans. Right now, there are only a few WATA graded 9.8/A++ Mario 64s and maybe you could hit another 6-8 from VGA crosses if they hit perfectly (WATA is harsher on N64 boxes than VGA). So maybe you could get to 10ish with known commodities? That’s nothing in the world of collectibles. Mario 64 is also arguably the greatest game ever and hits the nostalgia period perfectly for bitcoin-aged folks and many celebs. Given timing on the market (where it is in growth) and these factors, I am not surprised it was the one to break the million barrier, though again I did not at all think it was a certainty and I never would have anticipated 1.5. Happy to answer any questions I can :).

N64 is the perfect age group for the bitcoin generation, which is driving a lot of the surge in collectibles. I am hardly surprised it was an N64 game, though obviously the speed at which it has happened is incredible and I would not have predicted topping 1.5. N64 library as a whole is blah, but man the top 5 games on the system can compete with any ever.

Wow, amazing! Rev or no rev?

Random other stuff:

Part 1 of the runthrough is up! I'll be uploading them as I go along. For anyone interested, you can Subscribe and get notifications when I put up each corresponding part. Thanks!

Hi All! Been a bit as I've been slammed with a million different things, but as many of you recall my most absolute favoritest thing to collect are prototypes and my favorite game series ever is Shining Force, with the second installment being my favorite. Many years ago, DreamTR put one up for sale in the old NA sales forum and I was fortunate enough to grab it, but alas it was a final version even though it had some quirks, namely that the save file was corrupted and the physical version was glitched to hell and crashed when it started up, though the rom was complete and playable just fine. As I recall, the main character turned into a boat after the first step and then couldn't move anymore lol. I was contented with owning any SF II proto and considered myself fortunate, but then last year, across my IG feed the following beauty appeared and changed my everything. What we have here is not just a giant tank of a proto, but the earliest known (very, very early) prototype of the game. In fact, I think it's the only other physical copy known. All I did was start up the game and run the approximately 8 minute opening cut scene and, well...I'll let the results speak for themselves. Anyone familiar with this game will understand things even more (the rat's name in the released US version is "Slade," not "Jippo"), but on its face some stuff is pretty obvious lol... This particular proto has been held by various collectors throughout the years and never released, but I'm doing so. If you are interested, please just send me a message and it's yours. I never plan to move or sell it anyway, and to me the value is always in the physical copy and I'd like everyone to have the chance to experience it. As I have chunks of time, I'll be recording my playthrough via a framemeister and Gato and uploading the videos to YouTube on the same account as above. How long this will take I do not know, but hopefully not terribly long... Any questions, please do let me know! I'd love to see comments for anyone familiar with the game who notices stuff that isn't completely obvious (of which there is quite a bit). Thanks!