Possibility of resealed games being resealed - then graded

[c0op3r | 63]

Let me start with a story, I worked at Electronic Boutique many many moons ago, back before it was even called EB.

It was common practice for use to open games and reseal them for whatever reason.  Back in those days NES games were sealed with a line seamed right across the rear of the shrink wrap.  I am sure this was some kind of basic or cheap tamper attempt.  One of the other guys I worked with and I got to talking and I said I could easily reproduce that, and proceeded to do so by creating a multi-piece wrap and re-shrinking a game.

So with that being said, and myself having recently having sent a game to WATA (that is 'factory' sealed) to have it graded, I am a little disturbed by the sealed and graded offering. 

Personally I am not to worried about the game I sent as it was one to have cased for display personally.  But knowing what we did on a 'lets see if I can do this' back in the day and seeing that a paper-label sealed Super Mario Bros, was purchased for 100k$, I have to wonder what is really in the 'sealed' boxes.

When I sent my sealed game I was on the fence about actually requesting that WATA actually open the game upon receipt and grade it as CIB, to me that would actually be safer and then 100% known that it really is what it says it is.  

I look forward to hearing peoples input and opinions on this, I am not trying to start a problem or fight I am actually interested.  i have never seen a discussion on it before.

 

[RH | 4,895]

I remember EB (or whomever) opening and resealing games and, man, that would piss me off.  Can you recall any reason why they did that?

Anyway, there are a lot of people that like to open sealed titles, and there are others who I'm sure have studied old sealed games with everything but a microscope.  Plastic ages, so resealed titles can likely be discerned based of the brittleness of the plastic, which you can kind of feel (IMHO.)  But what you are talking about is an old reseal, where your cellophane would have been marginally as old as the original.  But, with that said, I would think that WATA could still tell the difference, even if you could replicate an h-seam.  If you have an old example of a game you held onto where you guys "perfectly" mimicked the reseal, I think a team like WATA would love to have a chance to analyze the piece.

[c0op3r | 63]

53 minutes ago, RH said:

I remember EB (or whomever) opening and resealing games and, man, that would piss me off.  Can you recall any reason why they did that?

Anyway, there are a lot of people that like to open sealed titles, and there are others who I'm sure have studied old sealed games with everything but a microscope.  Plastic ages, so resealed titles can likely be discerned based of the brittleness of the plastic, which you can kind of feel (IMHO.)  But what you are talking about is an old reseal, where your cellophane would have been marginally as old as the original.  But, with that said, I would think that WATA could still tell the difference, even if you could replicate an h-seam.  If you have an old example of a game you held onto where you guys "perfectly" mimicked the reseal, I think a team like WATA would love to have a chance to analyze the piece.

We use to reseal returns or if someone wanted to open a game to see the contents,  we would also demo games in to the store.  It was company policy, not a good one in my opinion but it was what was done.  No I do not have any of the games myself anymore, and I would guess I would of literally open a poor seller and resealed it with what you called an H-seam right away just to prove I could do it.

I would love to have a shrink wrap machine again (or access to one) so I could try it out, and let WATA (or VGA for that matter) see what they though, I am not trying to get anything over on anyone, I am really more worried that these 'sealed' games that are graded could actually not be that great inside.

[jonebone | 1,307]

When you open a sealed game you cause damage that is easily detectable. Wata and VGA both would refuse to grade a game that had been opened.

In terms of brand new and never opened but resealed, they would grade that as sealed NS (no seal).

[Bronty | 187]

The short answer is what you remember as being a perfect job would not hold up today.

Reseals with the line are nothing new, i first saw those over 15 years ago.    At a glance or in crappy pics they look perfect.    But they don’t hold up to close inspection.   

Edited December 17, 2019 by Bronty

[oops | 85]

Not saying it can’t be done but there are so many collectibles that say they are easily faked and yet nobody can do it.

 

first for a perfect reseal opportunity you need a perfect box which means faking a perfect box, and then you have weight issues and other tells. I mean its not like its impossible but people are just not as good as delivering as they claim (trust me i work in the trades, people always promise perfect results)

[c0op3r | 63]

4 hours ago, oops said:

Not saying it can’t be done but there are so many collectibles that say they are easily faked and yet nobody can do it.

 

first for a perfect reseal opportunity you need a perfect box which means faking a perfect box, and then you have weight issues and other tells. I mean its not like its impossible but people are just not as good as delivering as they claim (trust me i work in the trades, people always promise perfect results)

I am not sure why everyone says you need a perfect box, do you think that all games that are sealed for grading are in perfect boxes?  Have you ever heard the term New Old Stock (NOS).

I also find it really interesting that no one thinks that if the price of graded games goes up that fakes and other trickery wont happen and/or will be detected.

When the Micheal Jordan rookie card started getting hot there was some very good fakes produced, so good in fact that all the major grading guides had to dedicate 10 pages to that card alone.

This all goes back to what got me thinking about his in the first place and that is that 100k$ Super Mario Bros cart that was graded as Sealed.  There is no way I would pay 1/100 of that without knowing exactly how that got to this point (providence).

An example of this is the Beatles Yesterday and Today 'Butcher Block' cover, the head of Capital Records at the time it was produced knew it was going to be something collectible and desirable, so he put away a case of the records.  That case was split up to his kids and they have been selling some for that last few years, so those have providence. 

[oops | 85]

Because a box that is used gets wear on the flaps that will show through the cellophane also dirt and stains get trapped underneath the wrap.

trust me a not perfect box would be the FIRST tell of a reseal. 

 

Like i said that you ignored, The fakes are detectable. People promise perfection and rarely deliver. There will always be tells. Fakes already exist, fakes may get better but im not worried about perfect fakes anytime soon this doom and gloom topic has been beaten to death since I’ve been on forums its not something new. They were making fakes the same year the games were released and yet 30+ years are yet to match it.

 

Even comics are found in walls/basements/garage sales with no providence and people can examine and determine if counterfeit. I wouldn’t be able to tell a real from fake comic but someone can. Same goes for video games.

[1upped | 152]

I have seen some very “well done” fakes in the past 15 or so years....and yes, they may look good on eBay or forum sites, but in hand, it is quite simple to be able to spot  a game that is “faked”.  There are way too many variables to get right, many of which seasoned collectors don’t really share with the collector community.  I don’t think it can be done....and yes, I’m quite aware of counterfeit cards, comic books that have been restored and even coins.....games are just that difficult.....at least when it comes to the older NES/SNES/64 games.  

[Estil | 1,261]

Luckily some of the fakes are easy to spot; in order from most obvious on down:

1. The label looks nothing like the real one

2. The "Nintondo" logo is spelled wrong (on either side)

3. The ESRB rating looks wrong (most often seen in fake GBA Pokemons)

3. For GBA games (seemingly the most faked) not having a clear white" "(C)2001 Nintendo right above the contacts (I bet that's among the hardest parts to get right when making a fake)

4. Any kind of wires in the cartridge (real cartridges never have them...as least as far as I know)

5. The label's letters are blurry when it should look crisp and clean

 

Of course the most dangerous kind of counterfeits of any kind are the ones that are so well made it's really hard to tell any difference.

[Bronty | 187]

 Well we are talking sealed here so labels wires etc etc all don’t matter?

[OptOut | 8,881]

On 12/23/2019 at 1:15 AM, Bronty said:

 Well we are talking sealed here so labels wires etc etc all don’t matter?

If you can see loose wires under the seal, something is DEFINITELY fishy! 

[Bronty | 187]

Lol yes!!

[T-Pac | 7,513]

On 12/22/2019 at 12:15 PM, Bronty said:

 Well we are talking sealed here so labels wires etc etc all don’t matter?

 

[Bronty | 187]

Lol nice!

[GPX | 1,369]

On 12/25/2019 at 4:38 PM, OptOut said:

If you can see loose wires under the seal, something is DEFINITELY fishy! 

Or...

it could be a legit factory sealed with factory error. One of a kind factory fault with wires poking through the seal!

[Caliboy24 | 47]

Had an experience with what I had a strong feeling was a resealed game.  Bought a Super Mario Bros 3 on ebay and was described as factory sealed.  When I took a good look at it, I saw at the top right corner back there is a small tear on the box, but the it was perfectly sealed top to bottom even showing the H-seam. Also, noticed that the contents seemed really loose that something inside the box was shaking and to me, it was missing something.  So because of those things, I returned it to get my money back.  A few days later, I was checking out the seller's feedback and saw a negative from a buyer saying that the game he bought was resealed...  He then was selling the same Super Mario 3 but under a different ebay user ID, this time the feedback is in private.  I would not trust buying anything from that seller.

Now my question is, how can a re-seal like that be practically perfect?  I couldn't believe it was possible!  Was thinking as long as it has the H or V seam, then you're good...

[oops | 85]

18 hours ago, Caliboy24 said:

Had an experience with what I had a strong feeling was a resealed game.  Bought a Super Mario Bros 3 on ebay and was described as factory sealed.  When I took a good look at it, I saw at the top right corner back there is a small tear on the box, but the it was perfectly sealed top to bottom even showing the H-seam. Also, noticed that the contents seemed really loose that something inside the box was shaking and to me, it was missing something.  So because of those things, I returned it to get my money back.  A few days later, I was checking out the seller's feedback and saw a negative from a buyer saying that the game he bought was resealed...  He then was selling the same Super Mario 3 but under a different ebay user ID, this time the feedback is in private.  I would not trust buying anything from that seller.

Now my question is, how can a re-seal like that be practically perfect?  I couldn't believe it was possible!  Was thinking as long as it has the H or V seam, then you're good...

at the end of the day a plastic seam isnt the guarantee its legit, its part of it. Alot of the tells come from the box. Many factors come into play determining a reseal.

 

Could you post detailed photos vs a claim of a “perfect H-seam”?

[GetTheGreg | 105]

This is just one of those things that comes down to experience.  Yes, if you don't handle factory sealed games often and have not spent 10 years studying them, fakes will look "near perfect".  They are not, and in hand it is VERY obvious.

 

It's just like fake labels on games.  "They look identical to real ones".  No, they don't.