DeuceGamer

On 5/5/2022 at 3:57 PM, MiamiSlice said:

No, sorry. If you still have codes you should reach out to customer service and see if they will refund them for you. The points would go back to your balance. 

Any idea what’s the best way to contact them?

Really hate that the reward I’m going to miss is the LEGO Keychains

Is there a way to enter codes still? I used points but didn’t check out so I could stack multiple items in one package. It worked forever but I no longer see where to enter the codes in the cart.

Heard rumors there may be one more. Not sure but I read that a cart manufacturer mentioned there may potentially be one more.

9 hours ago, MinusWorlds said:

I have nothing but love for all of you. Truly. I miss the community that a lot of us built together. 
 

I was very disheartened to see my name dragged into the Wata/HA market manipulation article. 
 

Those of you who know me personally know I always do my best to act with integrity and have built my reputation over 20+ years in this hobby. I hope my contributions speak for themselves. 
 

The only thing I’ll say on the matter is this.  At no time did I try to manipulate the market, never, I wrote an article that Wata published about the state of the sealed and graded video game market. It was my opinion and at no time did Wata try to direct me in any one place. I simply shared my collecting journey and gave an update as to how things have changed and where we are. Now those words are being used against me to try and paint a picture of me being one of the manipulators. It’s sad to be honest with you all. 
 

I dedicated thousands of hours of my life into this hobby. Thousands. I’ve always tried to help others. I created the sealed collecting guide. I did my best to always act with integrity and professionalism and help others with their collecting journeys. I’ve worked with many of you on projects and had the absolute pleasure of calling some of you friends. 
 

Seth tried to sell sales data, and while 100% valuable information, and quite honestly well worth the $5, it wasn’t what he marketed it as, a population report. Historical sales data is just that, a record of past sales, it is nothing like a population report.

 

I confronted him and told him to stop calling it that. For whatever reason he refused and that digressed to me being accused of “bilking” buyers because I sell video games. I said I welcome a true pop report because it will confirm what WE know. In relation to all other collectibles sealed video games are far and away rarer. In turn with the pop reports my games would increase in value, meaning my collection. He took that as me saying I’m making tons of money and labeled me a money grubber. 
 

He continued to peddle his data as a pop report. I again asked him to stop. He blocked me. Then two days ago included me in his article. 

I can’t really explain how disheartened I was, and still am. It seems all the work I’ve done in the hobby was for nothing. I’d like to think I had a part in bringing sealed and graded collecting to where it is today. I’m not talking about the money,  I’m talking about it being recognized as a legitimate collectible hobby. I poured over 2 decades into this. 
 

I just wanted you all to hear this directly from me. Again, I love you all, and hope you all see the truth

It was always for the love of the hobby.  

 

Peace ✌ 

MinusWorlds

 

 

Usually don’t post a lot, and probably doesn’t mean much but just want to say that MinusWorlds recently helped me out and I offered to pay him a little for putting me in touch with someone and he refused any money. He offered some good (and free) advice and was genuinely eager to help someone he didn’t know and really had no reason to help.

We all need to keep in mind that a lot of genuinely good people are involved in this hobby. Anyway, I saw this response and felt I should reply....carry on.

edit: BTW, thanks MinusWorlds!

17 hours ago, Tanooki said:

My feeling on it pretty much matches, why bother getting hot, wasn't going to stop 10 years ago whether it was copies or the NA trust fund of illegally selling numbers reproductions, still flooding fake stolen crap to the masses.

At least now it's to where despite people needing to still do their own research, a closer (far closer) eye is needed since much of it is externally 1:1 now.  Buy a couple dollar kit, or stop bitchin' because you choose to get into the now profit hungry first world of gaming with real period carts, so it's on the buyer to wise up, tool up, and use returns/bank extractions where needed from scum.

They could do a lot to slow it, or even stop it. They could easily remove those that are reported even and simply go through and ban those that continue to break the rules. A time or two of that would make a point and we wouldn’t see so many posted.

With all that said, there is good that can come out of it. When unknowing sellers search eBay to see how much to sell their legitimate games, it can sometimes result in grabbing a game for cheap if you are quick enough. Not often, but I have definitely benefited from it a few times.

It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but isn’t that the serial number and barcode on a label attached to the system that shows through the hole in the box? 

Perfect! I saw LED’s seemed to be pretty safe in other threads on this topic, but wasn’t sure if the type of light would change anything. 
 

Appreciate the replies!

I’m concerned about my games being faded and wanted to see if there is more I need to be doing to protect my games long term. I found some threads on here but I’m not sure if they cover my scenario.

I display my games in my basement where there is no direct sunlight. The basement has a drop ceiling though with light fixtures built in the drop ceiling like those in a department store. I do work from home so the lights are on frequently. Do those lights present a bigger risk of fading/damaging my boxes and games? 

If I make sure all of the lights are LED’s is that normally enough that they won’t be damaged, or do I need to consider some type of dimmer, alternate light source, or storing them somewhere else?

10 minutes ago, nrslam said:

Maybe if the courts started holding executives criminally responsible for turning a blind eye to counterfeiting on thier sites....

There are plenty of raids for counterfeit goods at places like Flea Markets, but eBay gets a pass?

We have even seen Nintendo aggressively fo after people hacking and selling devices loaded with ROMS, but again eBay gets a pass?

Is Nintendo just not worried about the counterfeit cartridges and don’t see them as affecting their business includinf digital sales, future Virtual Console, mini consoles, etc... or is it a matter of time before they start pushing back against them?

14 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Let's be honest what I said the other day is about the only recourse anymore unless you're a buyer and therefore a victim of that fraud.

They don't care.

Why should they?

All they see is money, and they're about the buyer, not the seller, so until a bunch of active completed buyers complain about an individual, they won't do a thing.  It costs them money to do so, if they remove every seller with some sketchy item to downright illegal one, short of having some IP issue with a legal team making a threat, they won't stop it.

 

Right now I'm attempting to screw with a scammer on ebay right now, if you read the ebay shenanigans thread in the everything else board towards the bottom you know what I mean.  I haven't decided to far to rub the salt into this sucker, depends if what I'm attempting works out.

Exactly. They don’t want to do anything because in the end they make a decent amount off these items. If a handful of people are the only ones complaining then it’s still wildly profitable for them to allow these sellers. That’s why eBay is complicit in this issue. They know it’s occurring and they want them to continue selling so they can make money on these items. 

20 hours ago, Bonanza125 said:

At this point it starts and ends with Ebay. People have reported this guy and Ebay has done nothing. We see all these China fakes on Ebay which clearly it states reproduction or works "Like New" yet Ebay hasn't removed the ads. Priority are set elsewhere. 

Not only does eBay not care, they are actively complicit in these scams IMO. The fact that reporting them means eBay has a good idea they are fake and still doesn’t protect they buyers means they WANT these sales to occur so they can collect more fees.

Seems crazy, but the only way anything will change is if they are forced to do something. Either by losing business or through the Gov forcing them. Sadly I don’t see either occurring.

1 hour ago, jonebone said:

Cases are certainly more durable yes.  But finding a nice condition cart is way easier than a mint disc with no scratching at all.  Under the Wata CIB grading method the box is 50% while the cart / disc is only 30%, but still finding true 9.4 and up CIBs on any platform will not be as easy as you may think.  

Yea, I think a lot of the modern stuff is more condition sensitive than people realize. Not sure what the best term is, but the artwork forms around the grooves in the plastic cases. The manuals are sometimes damaged as soon as you open the game from sliding around inside the case during shipping. Of course discs have their own issues and scratches.  Blu Rays have more protection, but it’s still an issue.

Obviously not on the scale of cardboard, which had large amounts tossed day one, but modern stuff presents its own challenges as well.

Maybe not the right thread, but is there a site that tracks graded games specifically? I know Pricecharting snd Gamevaluenow have a section, but they don’t seem to track much. Any other resources?

Sorry for the bump but I’ve gotten a few sealed PS3 games recently and instead of the normal hole punch, they have a cut in the barcode that goes all the way through to the artwork. Are these also promo copies, giveaways, etc... or something else? I don’t believe it’s normal damage.

I see mentioned above that those with hole punches are noted when graded and doesn’t harm the grade. I assume that games where they are cut like this would affect the grade since it’s damaged, even if it was intentionally done by the Publisher, retailer, etc...

Speaking of strange GBA games, anyone know if a Mega Man Battle Network GBA game that came with a DVD attached to the back of the box? I saw one on eBay a year or so ago but don’t have the picture and can’t seem to find anything on it now.

On 11/9/2020 at 3:57 AM, OptOut said:

Well... THAT was underwhelming, lol! 

What was underwhelming? I must be missing something.

1 hour ago, The Strangest said:

Did he delete this post/account?

What did it say?

I may not agree with everything he says, but I do find there is some useful information in some of the Podcasts. Having a rundown of the Heritage Auctions in an easily digestible format is nice. I know this information is readily available, but I find it helpful to be able to get the information in a podcast so I can listen while doing other things.

I know a lot of us collectors hate investors coming in, but it’s inevitable at this point. Since it’s inevitable, I like to know what that segment of the market is doing and what they are looking at, even if some of it seems absurd to me.

21 hours ago, austin532 said:

Right but I'm not sure if there was some carry over. I remember Uncharted 2 was one of the first games to have the new change. Even the mock up box art still had the old style so it was changed at the very last minute.

May be better in a new topic, but speaking of PS3, how do you and everyone else view the GOTY releases?

Some of the GOTY releases had a small black label print run before they release the majority as red case Greatest Hits. Some also include the DLC and patches on disc making them attractive. Further some even have things like slipcovers that interest collectors.

With that said, will first prints still be the most sought after overall even with the benefits some of the black label GOTY releases have?

44 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

That's what I do. It takes the guesswork out of the equation. 

I keep going back and forth so I think the best option may be just to sit tight on Chrono for now until I make up my mind on the best way to proceed.

In the meantime I could send in a few of the games that I feel would score higher, like the Majora’s Mask and some sealed titles. That will allow me to get experience with grading and something could always fall in my lap during that time frame.

Thanks everyone for the replies and feel free to keep discussing different grades and pieces as I still find it helpful.

12 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

I thought the same thing, but the scuffing really detracted from it. I thought the box would score higher. Buying graded is pricier and you'll get what you want, but it's not as exciting

May be worth having mine graded and then if it doesn’t score at least an 8.0 overall going the route of buying one already graded.

13 hours ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

I don't know if these images will help, but Wata always keeps pre graded pics. Decent resolution. 

SMB:

C=9.8   I=9.0  B=7.5. 

Zelda 2:

C= 9.0  I= 8.0   B=8.0

Zelda had two paint specks on the box and a decent nick on the side. That killed it. 

SMB was more just minor scuffing. Enough to crush the grade

 

I have to be honest that Super Mario Box looks like it’s in better shape, though I get it’s not covered from every angle. 

Wondering if I should just bite the bullet and look for a copy already graded at this point.

17 hours ago, austin532 said:

They changed the cases around the same time they changed the Playstation 3 logo to PS3.

Thanks! So the old style artwork should have the old style cases with Playstation 3 at the top? Is that only first print runs, or all sealed copies?

On 9/30/2020 at 7:44 PM, matt17_52 said:

It’s a rewrap with a swapped case.  

How do we know which games came in the Playstation branded case?

Today I just happened to get a GBA box and manual in and found out it was new old stock. I guess there is a scenario that may make it technically possible for a CIB game to be a 10 if the box was never opened, right? I realize this is getting into some really specific scenarios, but it may be something that gives a 10 box a theoretical possibility, even if it’s extremely unlikely still.