I notice that none of these games have the plastic hang tab on the back. Is this going to be a common feature, where they would remove it (if present) before entombing it in the acrylic casing?
I hope not, that's a sure way to ruin it. When they're this old and brittle you don't want to even remove original price stickers. I like 'em, adds to the whole effect. But I assume since they have different size boxes, that they'll have some that can accommodate the tabs?
That's cool. I don't think it harms the game in any way by removing it, but like dangevin says, I like the hang tags and even the price tags. Basically, I like them "as they were on the shelf" if you were to buy it in the store.
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome. Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome. Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
While I dislike the idea, I'm with the camp that sees this only having an effect on near mint SEALED games.
Some of you guys collect those...I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
You see them as dead and lifeless, other people see them as beautiful and perfect.
IMO, sealed games are art. Like paintings and sculptures. You also don't use them. You have them because they look nice. For me, that's the same with sealed games.
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome. Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome. Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
While I dislike the idea, I'm with the camp that sees this only having an effect on near mint SEALED games.
Some of you guys collect those...I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
If the gamers really mean what they say then even if this takes off it will be a good thing for you people who just want the games to play them.
In theory, if this grading takes off the price on sealed game will go up but loose games will also go down. So for you gamers who say you want to buy the games cheap this is a good thing for you as well.
In the early days of comics a coverless comic was worth 1/2 or 1/4 of one with a cover. Many ever argued that it was better to have more and traded all covered comics for uncovered comics. Today coverless comics are worth a small percentage of covered comics. It will be the same for loose games. Expect the prices not to rise much (with few rare exceptions) and in perhaps even drop in price.
^ Well my only worry is that it will hurt CIB prices by extension. Of course it's not going to affect the price of loose carts and whatnot, but what will happen when a graded title gets major bucks? Will CIB's of that title increase in value in response to the graded game's sale?
I like the idea of grading for sealed rare games but it seems like a waste for opened not so rare games. People have a price in mind what they will pay for an item regardless of what # has been associated with it. A common $20 CIB is still a $20 CIB even though they assign a number to it and put it in a fancy box. . And personally if I am paying thousands for a rare sealed CIB why not have it graded ? I think it adds a neatness factor of the item.
^ Well my only worry is that it will hurt CIB prices by extension. Of course it's not going to affect the price of loose carts and whatnot, but what will happen when a graded title gets major bucks? Will CIB's of that title increase in value in response to the graded game's sale?
I can't see the average condition CIB being affected. You have to remember you're going to start seeing different price points at each grade. Not so mint factory sealed won't go up much, heck might go down, so if you extend that thinking I can't see any but the most perfect CIBs going up at all as a result of a sealed sale. Its like now - they are two different if related markets.
I might agree that the average or below average condition CIB won't be affected, but I totally disagree that mint or near mint CIB copies won't be affected.
Prices on these rise because you're paying a premium for the condition (I should know, unfortunately). By extension, the seller's argument will be, "This is as close to brand new as you can get, that's why it costs XXX...". The item will sell, regardless if you buy it or someone else does. That new price becomes relevant in the next sale of a minty CIB copy of the same title.
Not much different than now, but it will just be augmented - watch.
^ Well my only worry is that it will hurt CIB prices by extension. Of course it's not going to affect the price of loose carts and whatnot, but what will happen when a graded title gets major bucks? Will CIB's of that title increase in value in response to the graded game's sale?
Right now game X sealed is worth say $80-$100 if the grading has the same effect as it did in other hobbies that same game might sell for $30-$500 depending on the grade. Poor copies will sell for less than ever before. Complete copies will generally sell for less than poor sealed copies. So complete games just might not be good enough for some collectors and that would cause the price to drop.
Its hard to predict these things but I'm guessing what will happen is that a collector looking to invest will only spend his money on the finest of examples. Those will be sealed copies with high grades.
They also have a track record (good or bad, I don't know) so it isn't just one random guy in his garage. They will know what works and what doesn't, how to deal with shipping claims, customer complaints, and far more problems we can't think of without doing it first.
First mover will also set the standard ratings. If you wait a month there may already be more than 100 of their games out there. Then its up to you to come up with a conversion between VGA and SGH ratings.
To be second you will have to either be significantly better (cheaper, faster, don't know what else there is) or wait until they make a mistake and then you correct it. The auctions seem to show they have a financial interest in selling their own games, so they are unlikely to just fail and go away easy.
Guys, when a service like this is this early in its infancy, it really is anybodies market. A year from now might be a different story, but it's definitely open right now for someone to swoop in out of the blue (highly unlikely, but possible). Remember, Betamax didn't seem like that bad of a bet back in the 70's
alright, Tom just called me.. just wants to set a couple things straight..
- anyone can submit games for grading right now. The toy people have been doing it by calling customer service, but anyone can. Plus, for those of us new to the process, the info will be up on the site by this monday per Tom.
- bighed toys or whatever that dealer's name was - they have no connection to vga per Tom other than being a good customer. The long wording in the ebay auction is just taken from AFA's website with 'VGA' replacing 'AFA' and 'videogame' replacing 'action figure'... its just a generic copy and paste.
Thanks Dan that answers a lot of questions. I will be sending a couple in this Monday after the info is posted to test the waters and see what I get back. Fingers crossed.
Guys, when a service like this is this early in its infancy, it really is anybodies market.
I'm not sure I would say this is infancy, its only new for video games. The toy/coin/card/comic stuff has been around for long enough that the problems have mostly been identified. Grading the condition of a toy box won't be significantly different from a video game box. What is inside the box is pretty much meaningless. A competitor would have to start at nothing, while AFA already has experience making the plastic cases, sealing everything, getting stickers and holograms, etc.
Comments
this game grading is not my cup of tea. lol
lmao
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome.
Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome.
Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
While I dislike the idea, I'm with the camp that sees this only having an effect on near mint SEALED games.
Some of you guys collect those...I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
You see them as dead and lifeless, other people see them as beautiful and perfect.
IMO, sealed games are art. Like paintings and sculptures. You also don't use them. You have them because they look nice. For me, that's the same with sealed games.
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome.
Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
The gum was always stale anyways!!!!
Any action that leads this hobby to be regarded as "more legitimate" is welcome.
Any action that detracts from the legitamacy of this hobby is unwelcome.
My own opinion is completely the opposite of this. What do you have to gain from this hobby being "legitimate" besides money? I wish my entire collection was worth $1/game and that every game I still needed was $1/game, but I guess I'm just different from the rest of you folk
The "need for a 3rd party estimate of condition" argument is a legitimate one, in theory, but in reality, we all know that the true purpose of grading games is to turn this hobby into a stock market. Oh well, come what may, C'est la vie, etc, etc.....
I agree . Its prue and simple about money. The hobby of playing and collecting video games from what I can see is made up of just regular people who over time hunt flea markets, yard sales thrifts buy and trade on sites like this. Probally 90 percent don't or will never have some of the really rare items because they dont have that kind of income to throw money around like it was nothing. Most people get back into picking up a few games and systems because of their memories when they were a kid. And when they see they can get a bunch of the old games pretty cheap the buy some. Then they end up finding sites like this to share with others who enjoy the hobby. But just like everything else if people see there is money to be made it wont be long before everything will end up being graded and people who have no interest in video gaming as a fun hobby will be snatching up everything to turn a dollar. Look at baseball cards when I was a kid the packs were a nickle with gum now a pack runs 5 dollars and you dont even get the gum because instead of a kid having fun buying the cards its all about old men making money. But this is america and everyone is free to do what they want and are entitled to their opinion. Myself I hate to see this happen to the hobby but thats my opinion
While I dislike the idea, I'm with the camp that sees this only having an effect on near mint SEALED games.
Some of you guys collect those...I'm a gamer that likes to PLAY his games and so fail to see the point in retaining a sealed copy of anything. It's fun to buy a sealed copy and open it...feels like Christmas as a kid again, but to just keep it that way is so dead and lifeless.
If the gamers really mean what they say then even if this takes off it will be a good thing for you people who just want the games to play them.
In theory, if this grading takes off the price on sealed game will go up but loose games will also go down. So for you gamers who say you want to buy the games cheap this is a good thing for you as well.
In the early days of comics a coverless comic was worth 1/2 or 1/4 of one with a cover. Many ever argued that it was better to have more and traded all covered comics for uncovered comics. Today coverless comics are worth a small percentage of covered comics. It will be the same for loose games. Expect the prices not to rise much (with few rare exceptions) and in perhaps even drop in price.
But I doubt it will have the impact it has had with comics or action figures.
Both of those collectables are covered with official price guides and have been for decades.
Video games haven't had an official system like that, and probably don't need it.
The market is so much smaller for that kind of thing.
As far as the sealed slabbed game being a piece of art...
A sealed comic could fall into this category because you can easily put it into a standard frame.
I guess you could shadow-box the NES cart...but then you can't see the back of the box.
Then again, you could always buy 2!
^ Well my only worry is that it will hurt CIB prices by extension. Of course it's not going to affect the price of loose carts and whatnot, but what will happen when a graded title gets major bucks? Will CIB's of that title increase in value in response to the graded game's sale?
I can't see the average condition CIB being affected. You have to remember you're going to start seeing different price points at each grade. Not so mint factory sealed won't go up much, heck might go down, so if you extend that thinking I can't see any but the most perfect CIBs going up at all as a result of a sealed sale. Its like now - they are two different if related markets.
Prices on these rise because you're paying a premium for the condition (I should know, unfortunately). By extension, the seller's argument will be, "This is as close to brand new as you can get, that's why it costs XXX...". The item will sell, regardless if you buy it or someone else does. That new price becomes relevant in the next sale of a minty CIB copy of the same title.
Not much different than now, but it will just be augmented - watch.
^ Well my only worry is that it will hurt CIB prices by extension. Of course it's not going to affect the price of loose carts and whatnot, but what will happen when a graded title gets major bucks? Will CIB's of that title increase in value in response to the graded game's sale?
Right now game X sealed is worth say $80-$100 if the grading has the same effect as it did in other hobbies that same game might sell for $30-$500 depending on the grade. Poor copies will sell for less than ever before. Complete copies will generally sell for less than poor sealed copies. So complete games just might not be good enough for some collectors and that would cause the price to drop.
Its hard to predict these things but I'm guessing what will happen is that a collector looking to invest will only spend his money on the finest of examples. Those will be sealed copies with high grades.
I want only add that http://www.sealedgameheaven.com will also creat a own SGH grading system. More infos are coming soon.
Really only room for one grading service for videogames. The first one to show up wins.
A bit late to the game.
Too bad too sad.
First mover will also set the standard ratings. If you wait a month there may already be more than 100 of their games out there. Then its up to you to come up with a conversion between VGA and SGH ratings.
To be second you will have to either be significantly better (cheaper, faster, don't know what else there is) or wait until they make a mistake and then you correct it. The auctions seem to show they have a financial interest in selling their own games, so they are unlikely to just fail and go away easy.
Remember, Betamax didn't seem like that bad of a bet back in the 70's
Or HDDVD not too long ago!
- anyone can submit games for grading right now. The toy people have been doing it by calling customer service, but anyone can. Plus, for those of us new to the process, the info will be up on the site by this monday per Tom.
- bighed toys or whatever that dealer's name was - they have no connection to vga per Tom other than being a good customer. The long wording in the ebay auction is just taken from AFA's website with 'VGA' replacing 'AFA' and 'videogame' replacing 'action figure'... its just a generic copy and paste.
Guys, when a service like this is this early in its infancy, it really is anybodies market.
I'm not sure I would say this is infancy, its only new for video games. The toy/coin/card/comic stuff has been around for long enough that the problems have mostly been identified. Grading the condition of a toy box won't be significantly different from a video game box. What is inside the box is pretty much meaningless. A competitor would have to start at nothing, while AFA already has experience making the plastic cases, sealing everything, getting stickers and holograms, etc.
Most toys/action figure have blister packs making the contents visible, and making tampering much more evident.
But you're absolutely right that they have a huge leg up on the infrastructure required to do this.
I agree that there isn't a whole lot of room for competition. Anybody else that does it now will just seem like the wannabe amateur.