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Blaster Master (NES, sealed) + Rule of Rose (PS2, unsealed, excellent condition)


fahbs

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Rule of Rose had been sitting in my basement for 14 years. Had no clue it was the most sought after PS2 game, which I learned from reading this site.

I'm reading that the estimated seal value is $900. Opened copies are going for $160-$250 on Ebay, even with missing manual. Unsealed, excellent condition /w manual currently at $455 with 10 bids.

Mine includes the manual /w registration card. Both it and the disc are excellent condition (zero marks on disc). The only damage is a slight hairline cut on the outer plastic of the box's back (can barely see it in the photo). The actual rear cover is intact.

 

Ror.jpg

RoR2.jpg

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And then a sealed copy of Blaster Master for NES. Recently discovered it in the basement during quarantine spring cleaning at my folks'. Apparently my dad got it as a gift around 1990, hid it for my birthday months away, then just forgot about it.

No damage or marks that I can see. Seal has folds, but no visible holes. Still has hang tag. Also pricetag from defunct retail chain Benny's!

I did see this recent Heritage Auction where a sealed copy rated 9.6 by WATA went for $1500. For the oval Seal of Quality version too, not the original run circle.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/video-games/blaster-master-rev-a-oval-soq-tm-carolina-collection-wata-96-a-sealed-nes-sunsoft-1988-usa/a/7212-93007.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-Thumbnail-022817&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417&fbclid=IwAR1VlTKKEfLI4-E7xL6vUwzYg5EzpGzlV7EYHAvYF5iUwfTGLiRb18dwLy0

 

Really hard to tell what WATA grade this would get going by the scale photos on their site. Definitely higher than a C.

 

BM.jpg

BM2.jpg

Edited by fahbs
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5 hours ago, fahbs said:

Rule of Rose had been sitting in my basement for 14 years. Had no clue it was the most sought after PS2 game, which I learned from reading this site.

I'm reading that the estimated seal value is $900. Opened copies are going for $160-$250 on Ebay, even with missing manual. Unsealed, excellent condition /w manual currently at $455 with 10 bids.

Mine includes the manual /w registration card. Both it and the disc are excellent condition (zero marks on disc). The only damage is a slight hairline cut on the outer plastic of the box's back (can barely see it in the photo). The actual rear cover is intact.

 

Ror.jpg

RoR2.jpg

It’s ambiguous if yours is sealed or not from the post, I see the new sticker on it so I am going to assume it’s sealed. This is one very rare case where I would get this game graded and then sell it. People are throwing around crazy money for stuff right now for sealed and graded games. I may even think about Heritage depending on their cut. If the price tag affects value I’d get it off before sending in. Even with that slight cut this should grade pretty high. 
 

I wouldn’t even pay for expedited service, the bubble may burst eventually but it shows no signs of slowing down yet. 

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6 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

It’s ambiguous if yours is sealed or not from the post, I see the new sticker on it so I am going to assume it’s sealed. This is one very rare case where I would get this game graded and then sell it. People are throwing around crazy money for stuff right now for sealed and graded games. I may even think about Heritage depending on their cut. If the price tag affects value I’d get it off before sending in. Even with that slight cut this should grade pretty high. 
 

I wouldn’t even pay for expedited service, the bubble may burst eventually but it shows no signs of slowing down yet. 

Does WATA offer a cleaning service?  Will they remove stickers?  I mean, I can, but if they have licenses to get solvents better than bestine, I'd just pay them to clean it off.  I know Game Stop stickers from that era are notoriously difficult to remove (and so ugly.  There's no character with that thing) so I'd want it gone before I got it graded.  Still, I'd have to take my time so I wouldn't scrub it to hard and micro-scratch the plastic wrap.

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17 minutes ago, RH said:

Does WATA offer a cleaning service?  Will they remove stickers?  I mean, I can, but if they have licenses to get solvents better than bestine, I'd just pay them to clean it off.  I know Game Stop stickers from that era are notoriously difficult to remove (and so ugly.  There's no character with that thing) so I'd want it gone before I got it graded.  Still, I'd have to take my time so I wouldn't scrub it to hard and micro-scratch the plastic wrap.

Yea its their "Deep Cleaning" option. They determine if it will hurt the game or not before they do it.

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I don't know what OP meant  and I'd like some clarification but I can guess what "unsealed" means.  I know that Game Stop had this stupid policy/thing they use to do where they would remove the shrink wrap off of some titles that were new and then slap their label on it.  I'm not kidding.  My best friend who never cared an ounce about collecting things never minded getting a "new" game from GameStop which they had partially opened and slapped their price tag on it.  My hunch was these were used for display and I guess they felt they looked better, but I don't know. Another alternative could be that if they dropped the price, they may have removed the shrink wrap to remove the original price tag, and then slapped it on the box.  That way, the game would look shiny and new, and you wouldn't know it'd been setting on the shelf for 2 months.  

Anyway, they would leave the top sticker seal on the PS1 and PS2 titles and remove the shrink wrap. Considering that ugly GameStop label on OPs game, I'm guessing this is possibly one of those instances where some manager decided to remove the shrink wrap, not break the sticker seal and then slap the price tag on it.  Technically, this is a new game but it definitely isn't sealed. 

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1 hour ago, RH said:

Does WATA offer a cleaning service?  Will they remove stickers?  I mean, I can, but if they have licenses to get solvents better than bestine, I'd just pay them to clean it off.  I know Game Stop stickers from that era are notoriously difficult to remove (and so ugly.  There's no character with that thing) so I'd want it gone before I got it graded.  Still, I'd have to take my time so I wouldn't scrub it to hard and micro-scratch the plastic wrap.

I'm willing to be proven wrong but I don't think there's a better solvent than heptane (Bestine). I bet whoever is doing the cleaning at Wata has a big can of it on their desk. The best restorers I know swear by it. 

Also for real the GameStop stickers from that era are difficult to remove. Even with a lot of Bestine I end up having to use force. And don't get me started on those round circle stickers in the OP's photos... gah. So much adhesive!!!

42 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Up charging to goo-gone? Genius!

Bestine is not Goo-gone! STOP USING GOO GONE!

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1 minute ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Looks like it was a gutted Gamestop special judging from their circle "seal" on it.

But yeah, since that was opened, it's opened.

Oh, I didn't even see that.  That might be new for me regarding Game Stop.  I eventually stopped going there and just bought straight from eBay.  If there removed the top-sticker that's worse... or did Sony stop doing that later in the PS2 life span?  I can't remember.

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5 minutes ago, RH said:

I don't know what OP meant  and I'd like some clarification but I can guess what "unsealed" means.  I know that Game Stop had this stupid policy/thing they use to do where they would remove the shrink wrap off of some titles that were new and then slap their label on it.  I'm not kidding.  My best friend who never cared an ounce about collecting things never minded getting a "new" game from GameStop which they had partially opened and slapped their price tag on it.  My hunch was these were used for display and I guess they felt they looked better, but I don't know. Another alternative could be that if they dropped the price, they may have removed the shrink wrap to remove the original price tag, and then slapped it on the box.  That way, the game would look shiny and new, and you wouldn't know it'd been setting on the shelf for 2 months.  

Anyway, they would leave the top sticker seal on the PS1 and PS2 titles and remove the shrink wrap. Considering that ugly GameStop label on OPs game, I'm guessing this is possibly one of those instances where some manager decided to remove the shrink wrap, not break the sticker seal and then slap the price tag on it.  Technically, this is a new game but it definitely isn't sealed. 

The policy is called gutting. They use the game cases as display cases on their shelves. They take out the disc and any booklets and put it out on the sales floor. When you want to buy the game you bring it to the counter and if they don't have any sealed copies left, they take the contents, put them back in the case you gave them, put a sticker on the edge to make it "sealed" and sell that to you. More recently they started doing this thing where the game disc or cart is in a sealed CD paper case and they just stick that in the box instead of using the circle seal. Depends on the store, some still use older practices. Either way, there's a "seal" that when broken means you can't return it as new anymore. 

I've seen some employees explain that the alternative would be to have glass cases like Walmart / Target and no one would want that. GameStop is not equipped for loss prevention (theft) so this is their approach. 

Edit: very recently with all the COVID-19 mania and understaffing, I've been getting some games from GameStop that are gutted and the cart / disc isn't secured in any way nor is the box stickered closed. They've been accepting returns on these too. Madness. 

Edited by MiamiSlice
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1 minute ago, RH said:

Oh, I didn't even see that.  That might be new for me regarding Game Stop.  I eventually stopped going there and just bought straight from eBay.  If there removed the top-sticker that's worse... or did Sony stop doing that later in the PS2 life span?  I can't remember.

Yes later in the PS2 lifespan they stopped using the top security strip. I assumed it was cost cutting. 

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Administrator · Posted
1 minute ago, RH said:

Oh, I didn't even see that.  That might be new for me regarding Game Stop.  I eventually stopped going there and just bought straight from eBay.  If there removed the top-sticker that's worse... or did Sony stop doing that later in the PS2 life span?  I can't remember.

Sony stopped doing that at some point.   If the sticker date codes are similar to now, Gamestop printed that price tag on 12/13/2006.

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5 hours ago, RH said:

I don't know what OP meant  and I'd like some clarification but I can guess what "unsealed" means.  I know that Game Stop had this stupid policy/thing they use to do where they would remove the shrink wrap off of some titles that were new and then slap their label on it.  I'm not kidding.  My best friend who never cared an ounce about collecting things never minded getting a "new" game from GameStop which they had partially opened and slapped their price tag on it.  My hunch was these were used for display and I guess they felt they looked better, but I don't know. Another alternative could be that if they dropped the price, they may have removed the shrink wrap to remove the original price tag, and then slapped it on the box.  That way, the game would look shiny and new, and you wouldn't know it'd been setting on the shelf for 2 months.  

Anyway, they would leave the top sticker seal on the PS1 and PS2 titles and remove the shrink wrap. Considering that ugly GameStop label on OPs game, I'm guessing this is possibly one of those instances where some manager decided to remove the shrink wrap, not break the sticker seal and then slap the price tag on it.  Technically, this is a new game but it definitely isn't sealed. 

Sorry. The box is most definitely opened. Manual and disc are both in near new condition. Box just has the slight cut in the outer plastic on the back (can see it start on the dog's face and run up and to the left). And yes, it was purchased "new" from Gamestop. Good eye!

 

An opened copy with the manual just went for $455 on ebay. It's hard to tell the price from there. Most are without the manual and the "Buy it Now" prices are all over the place. This is the highest one with actual bids.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rule-of-Rose-Sony-PlayStation-2-US-Canada-version-in-Very-Good-Condition/133462918271?epid=53830379&hash=item1f1302847f:g:ws4AAOSw44FfCflA

 

I'm definitely in the mind to sell it. Wondering if just ebaying it up is the best option since it's not sealed.

 

 

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Administrator · Posted
11 minutes ago, fahbs said:

So would plain 'ol Ebay be the best bet for Rule of Rose?

You could post it on here as well, but ebay will be the best place to get "market value". If it were Kuon instead of RoR I'd buy it myself, but I already have RoR. T_T

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