My Beginner Experience With Wata

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

2 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Today I got an email from them with a FedEx tracking number and my games are on their way back. Wow, 18 days after grading completed, they ship back. That means it takes them almost as long to put your games into a box as it does to grade them.

well to be fair they dont claim to be pro shippers

[a3quit4s | 4,091]

4 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

To be fair, I just got back my first grade and the packing was the most intense shit I've ever seen. No one has ever shipped something to me that securely. 

I’ve gotten $10 carts fucking wrapped with like an entire roll of duct tape from eBay lol

[Redrobin57 | 1]

They actually told me they would partially refund me for any month(s) gone over service. I paid for 1 month and they are almost 4 months with my order. I would suggest reaching out to them 

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

I checked the tracking on my games last night before going to bed and they were in Great Falls, Montana with a delivery date of Monday which is weird because Monday is a provincial holiday here in Alberta, everything is closed.

This morning at 9am I get woken up by my doorbell and at first I try to ignore it but then the guy rings again and knocks really loudly so I jump out of bed thinking it might be my games. When I got to the door, he had left them on my step even though Wata had required a signature.......that's weird but maybe it's because of Covid. I know Canada Post isn't doing signatures on anything right now because of Covid.

Anyway, here they are!

December 16 - February 13 on the 15 business day tier.

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

After letting them warm up a bit so I can actually see inside, here is what I think.

The cases are pretty nice and display well but their quality control seems to really be lacking. First of all the paper inside the top part doesn't seem to be level, all of them are at a slight slant. This isn't so bad on most of them but one of them has the grade itself on even more of a slant, it's not straight at all. Check out this photo with the 5.0 and 7.0, see how the 7.0 is relatively straight but the 5.0 appears to be rotated about 5 degrees? That's weird. That's not the worst part, both of these are the exact same variant of Super Mario Bros. 3 but the details written on the top are different. One is labelled as 3 screw while the other isn't, but they're both exactly the same. One also has a typo with USA Code USA instead of just USA Code.

Now check this out, the reverse side gives you some interesting facts about the game and both have the same facts but for some reason one of them has the line break in a different place. What's up with that? Look at the second bullet point on the right side.

So that's my entire writeup from submission to receipt for anyone interested, and this is specifically for the 15 day submission selection, there is a faster 3 day selection which costs more.

[Gloves | 11,759]

@Code Monkey This might also smack your OCD in the face, as it did mine:

 

The "1990" on the 7 isn't centered, but is on the 5.

[GPX | 1,369]

1 hour ago, Gloves said:

@Code Monkey This might also smack your OCD in the face, as it did mine:

 

The "1990" on the 7 isn't centered, but is on the 5.

That’s a very keen eye you got! 

As for the differences, that’s quite a lot of subtle changes when comparing the 2 game case labels. Wonder how common is this issue overall? 

[Gloves | 11,759]

5 minutes ago, GPX said:

That’s a very keen eye you got! 

As for the differences, that’s quite a lot of subtle changes when comparing the 2 game case labels. Wonder how common is this issue overall? 

"USA" is also not centered, but not as noticeably so. 

[GPX | 1,369]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

"USA" is also not centered, but not as noticeably so. 

You either have a gift for spotting these things, or you may indeed have OCD! 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

I encountered some encapsulation issues as well. The inside of a few of the cases I received had scuff marks and they also encapsulated the game with what looks like flakes of styrofoam. I'm sure I could send it back to them to have it fixed but why should I have to do that? It should've been done correctly the first time. I've been calling them my "wata snowglobes".

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

On 2/13/2021 at 1:42 PM, Code Monkey said:

I checked the tracking on my games last night before going to bed and they were in Great Falls, Montana with a delivery date of Monday which is weird because Monday is a provincial holiday here in Alberta, everything is closed.

This morning at 9am I get woken up by my doorbell and at first I try to ignore it but then the guy rings again and knocks really loudly so I jump out of bed thinking it might be my games. When I got to the door, he had left them on my step even though Wata had required a signature.......that's weird but maybe it's because of Covid. I know Canada Post isn't doing signatures on anything right now because of Covid.

Anyway, here they are!

December 16 - February 13 on the 15 business day tier.

9.4 Mortal Kombat 3 niceeeeeeeeeeeee

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:13 AM, Gulag Joe said:

I encountered some encapsulation issues as well. The inside of a few of the cases I received had scuff marks and they also encapsulated the game with what looks like flakes of styrofoam. I'm sure I could send it back to them to have it fixed but why should I have to do that? It should've been done correctly the first time. I've been calling them my "wata snowglobes".

I have found at least one review (on CGC's forum of all places) that talked about this. In their case they said that the inner well had scratches. And even said the replacement also had them but those were not as bad. However, their review was in 2019 and I do not know if your situation around the same time or later.

But I hear ya on that issue, BTW. It was one of those OCD-inducing issues that made me quit collecting graded comic books. And not those who treated a "potential MCU" comic book as the next "hangtab" Super Mario Bros. find. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

After seeing those photos I would definitely go with the 2D (flat) label if I choose to submit my "top 5" qualified games to them. Presuming their cases are QC free, I know that I would still find myself disputing their final grade. 

[Gulag Joe | 582]

7 hours ago, FenrirZero said:

I have found at least one review (on CGC's forum of all places) that talked about this. In their case they said that the inner well had scratches. And even said the replacement also had them but those were not as bad. However, their review was in 2019 and I do not know if your situation around the same time or later.

But I hear ya on that issue, BTW. It was one of those OCD-inducing issues that made me quit collecting graded comic books. And not those who treated a "potential MCU" comic book as the next "hangtab" Super Mario Bros. find. 

It was recent- December 2020

The scuffs are likely to do with their supplier because all of their cases are prefabricated. But the styrofoam flakes are simply off-putting. Coincidentally, this is also an issue with card grading as well, they sometimes get encapsulated with tiny styrofoam flakes.

STOP USING PACKING PEANUTS!

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

12 hours ago, Gulag Joe said:

It was recent- December 2020

The scuffs are likely to do with their supplier because all of their cases are prefabricated. But the styrofoam flakes are simply off-putting. Coincidentally, this is also an issue with card grading as well, they sometimes get encapsulated with tiny styrofoam flakes.

STOP USING PACKING PEANUTS!

My OCD feels for ya! 

Right now I am debating between taking a chance with them and finally using CAS when it comes to my first submission with either one. The difference is that CAS custom make their cases in-house which negates the risk of having me telling others hat my game has dandruff. But their standard is 30-40 days, they reside in Florida, and they put their labels on the inside. Ugh... Decisions, decisions. I now wish Wata would grade my rare-ish PSP demo just to end this debate. 

[cromag27 | 46]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:42 AM, Code Monkey said:

I checked the tracking on my games last night before going to bed and they were in Great Falls, Montana with a delivery date of Monday which is weird because Monday is a provincial holiday here in Alberta, everything is closed.

This morning at 9am I get woken up by my doorbell and at first I try to ignore it but then the guy rings again and knocks really loudly so I jump out of bed thinking it might be my games. When I got to the door, he had left them on my step even though Wata had required a signature.......that's weird but maybe it's because of Covid. I know Canada Post isn't doing signatures on anything right now because of Covid.

Anyway, here they are!

December 16 - February 13 on the 15 business day tier.

 

thoghts as to why the smbs were graded so low?  obviously box damage, but would you be willing to provide some details?  dreading sending in my sealed lefty. 

Edited February 20, 2021 by cromag27
spelling

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

43 minutes ago, cromag27 said:

 

thoghts as to why the smbs were graded so low?  obviously box damage, but would you be willing to provide some details?  dreading sending in my sealed lefty. 

The one box got a 8.0 which is pretty good, I quickly found out it's extremely hard to get above a 9 because they go over them with a magnifying glass. Any scuffing on the box will lose you points so to get above a 9 without a cellophane seal is very hard.

After saying that, my particular cartridge was discoloured which seems odd because I have 3 of these same cartridges (2 of these boxed and another spare) and have laid them next to each other without noticing. I also thought the manual was pretty perfect but apparently it only graded a 6 which is also very strange but maybe I missed some damage on it.

The strangest thing of all is I had both sets laid out on my bed before submitting and I picked the best box, manual and cartridge from both sets to get the best grade and somehow the manual from the worse set graded a 6.5 while the manual from the good set graded a 6 so I don't know how that happened.

Either way, I'm not the expert so I just trust their judgement and it's more likely I missed something, I didn't go through each page of the manual.

[cromag27 | 46]

2 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

The one box got a 8.0 which is pretty good, I quickly found out it's extremely hard to get above a 9 because they go over them with a magnifying glass. Any scuffing on the box will lose you points so to get above a 9 without a cellophane seal is very hard.

After saying that, my particular cartridge was discoloured which seems odd because I have 3 of these same cartridges (2 of these boxed and another spare) and have laid them next to each other without noticing. I also thought the manual was pretty perfect but apparently it only graded a 6 which is also very strange but maybe I missed some damage on it.

The strangest thing of all is I had both sets laid out on my bed before submitting and I picked the best box, manual and cartridge from both sets to get the best grade and somehow the manual from the worse set graded a 6.5 while the manual from the good set graded a 6 so I don't know how that happened.

Either way, I'm not the expert so I just trust their judgement and it's more likely I missed something, I didn't go through each page of the manual.

same boat... not an expert. thanks for the info. my cello should be an A judging by the photos on their website. my corners are aren’t perfect. so we’ll see!

[Divingninja | 47]

20 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

The one box got a 8.0 which is pretty good, I quickly found out it's extremely hard to get above a 9 because they go over them with a magnifying glass. Any scuffing on the box will lose you points so to get above a 9 without a cellophane seal is very hard.

After saying that, my particular cartridge was discoloured which seems odd because I have 3 of these same cartridges (2 of these boxed and another spare) and have laid them next to each other without noticing. I also thought the manual was pretty perfect but apparently it only graded a 6 which is also very strange but maybe I missed some damage on it.

The strangest thing of all is I had both sets laid out on my bed before submitting and I picked the best box, manual and cartridge from both sets to get the best grade and somehow the manual from the worse set graded a 6.5 while the manual from the good set graded a 6 so I don't know how that happened.

Either way, I'm not the expert so I just trust their judgement and it's more likely I missed something, I didn't go through each page of the manual.

Interesting. I wonder if eventually they will have an option for you to submit multiple copies at the same time and allow them to piece it together with the highest grades and lowest grades. 

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

1 hour ago, Divingninja said:

Interesting. I wonder if eventually they will have an option for you to submit multiple copies at the same time and allow them to piece it together with the highest grades and lowest grades. 

They specifically state on their website that they will not do this. I would theoretically need to resubmit both but they do say that the grades will carry over, they don't open and regrade.

[Divingninja | 47]

4 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

They specifically state on their website that they will not do this. I would theoretically need to resubmit both but they do say that the grades will carry over, they don't open and regrade.

Oh, so you could take your two graded copies afterwards and send those two back to them encased and then they will open and mix and match for you and put them back? 

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

16 hours ago, Divingninja said:

Oh, so you could take your two graded copies afterwards and send those two back to them encased and then they will open and mix and match for you and put them back? 

They sure will. I'm looking at a Duck Hunt box now to combine with my manual / cartridge.

[Divingninja | 47]

7 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

They sure will. I'm looking at a Duck Hunt box now to combine with my manual / cartridge.

How much extra is it to open/combine the better grades? Not saying they did this, but seems like if you send in two of the same thing it would almost benefit them to grade different pieces in different cibs higher to make you want to send them back and combine and spend more money.

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

3 hours ago, Divingninja said:

How much extra is it to open/combine the better grades? Not saying they did this, but seems like if you send in two of the same thing it would almost benefit them to grade different pieces in different cibs higher to make you want to send them back and combine and spend more money.

It's the same price to grade each time. The price doesn't change.

[Divingninja | 47]

23 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

It's the same price to grade each time. The price doesn't change.

Even if they don’t have to “regrade.”

I guess it makes sense since they still have to update everything in their system.
thanks for all the cliff notes to all your wata research.