WATA re-grading

[FooFghtrs33 | 16]

I just received my first Wata CIB games back and have a question about the future going forward.  I sent in a sticker Super Mario ,and it received 7.5.   Breakdown of Cart 8.5, Box 6.5, and manual 9.4.   This rounds out to be 7.68 , thus rounding down to a 7.5 .    

In the future for CIB games, do you think wata would allow people to upgrade the cartridge?   Like If I bought a Graded same game that was Cart 9, box 6.5, manual 8.5 (random).   Could I mail them both, pay for whatever they charge, and they swap over? the cartridge making a better and worse graded game?  

Or maybe easier.  If I buy a Super Mario Bros on Ebay, send them in to grade the loose cartridge.  Comes back a 9, tell them to swap them out.   

Would this also ruin their population report? 

Feels like this is going to be an obvious future request from many people trying to piece together a pristine copy of a CIB game, especially key games.

[jonebone | 1,307]

I haven't done it specifically but yes, if I owned two graded CIB Wata games of the same title, I would definitely send them in to marry the best parts and sell the downgrade. 

As to the logistics of how that works, no idea.  Population reports always get complicated when multiple grading companies are in the scene.  Take cards, you have BGS / PSA and SGC as the 3 main ones.  There are all sorts of cards that get crossed over and you have no idea of knowing which are unique cards or which ones show up 2 (or 3) times because they were crossed over.  Also, I'm not sure if you'd be charged just 2 recase fees or regrading fees or how it would work.  

Finding a loose cart that would grade above a 9.0 (as bought raw from eBay) would be a needle in a haystack type effort I'd imagine.  At the 9.0 level or higher you'd almost have to buy another CIB with a lightly handled cart.  Carts that are sold and traded loose always have wear in my experiences. 

[DefaultGen | 5,387]

Population reports are only so useful anyway. If you have a 9/9/9.5/9.5 Black Lotus you could crack it and resubmit it a dozen times fishing for the 9.5 jackpot. When the price difference is $1,000s for that .5 bump, I have no doubt there are many resubbed cards on population reports. Video games will probably be worse over time because of all the upgrade potential, either to complete CIB games or upgrade mediocre components.

[Startyde | 175]

The only grades worth noting in a pop report are the highest for any given item, everything below is subject to wild inaccuracies for the reasons mentioned. 

[Bronty | 187]

2 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Population reports are only so useful anyway. If you have a 9/9/9.5/9.5 Black Lotus you could crack it and resubmit it a dozen times fishing for the 9.5 jackpot. When the price difference is $1,000s for that .5 bump, I have no doubt there are many resubbed cards on population reports. Video games will probably be worse over time because of all the upgrade potential, either to complete CIB games or upgrade mediocre components.

Got my first one the other day 

[Domuhnator | 31]

As far as im aware you cant send in a graded CIB with say, A higher grade cart and have them "swap" I believe any CIB submission can ONLY be, Box, cart, manual. I Don't believe they would allow a box, cart and two manuals in a submission. When a graded game is sent in its cracked out of its holder and completely regraded. The grader does not know if it is a game that was previously graded. Unless they remember the exact game but theres no way to be sure. 

As far as the census, if a game is cracked out you should let then know the certification number so they can adjust the census. If you send in a CIB in an intact holder I think they would adjust the census themselves. 

[jonebone | 1,307]

59 minutes ago, Domuhnator said:

As far as im aware you cant send in a graded CIB with say, A higher grade cart and have them "swap" I believe any CIB submission can ONLY be, Box, cart, manual. I Don't believe they would allow a box, cart and two manuals in a submission. When a graded game is sent in its cracked out of its holder and completely regraded. The grader does not know if it is a game that was previously graded. Unless they remember the exact game but theres no way to be sure. 

As far as the census, if a game is cracked out you should let then know the certification number so they can adjust the census. If you send in a CIB in an intact holder I think they would adjust the census themselves. 

Well the Wata cases are designed to be tamper proof. I assume if they get it back and the anti tamper locks are in place, then they know that the grades are as on the case and no need for regrade. Hence why the recase fee is cheaper than grading.

CIB does have to be cart, box and manual but Wata still grades loose carts. They arent grading loose boxes or manuals though. In this case if you had a graded cart only and a graded CIB with matching cart variations, then I don't see anything preventing someone from requesting the swap.

[GPX | 1,368]

I think this issue won’t be much of an issue in the long run. I think people in time will just hold onto their CIBs before grading until a mint cart/manual comes along first. To grade and then regrade just adds to the costs and the time wastage, and seems like an inefficient (and costly) manner if the overall aim is to get the highest grade possible.

[Domuhnator | 31]

23 hours ago, jonebone said:

Well the Wata cases are designed to be tamper proof. I assume if they get it back and the anti tamper locks are in place, then they know that the grades are as on the case and no need for regrade. Hence why the recase fee is cheaper than grading.

CIB does have to be cart, box and manual but Wata still grades loose carts. They arent grading loose boxes or manuals though. In this case if you had a graded cart only and a graded CIB with matching cart variations, then I don't see anything preventing someone from requesting the swap.

Thats true, I guess it just comes down to Wata's willingness to accommodate. But they probably dont have anything in there online system to handle a situation like this. Not to mention it wouldn't benefit them in any way to provide a service like this. From a business standpoint it makes more sense to make the submitter just go through the full cib submission process again. It would be a pain in the ass for them if every other order had special instructions to swap parts. But maybe down the road.