freewheel Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Personally I'd prefer if people didn't regularly sell repro boxes without really big bold lettering stating such. I fear that in a decade, no one except experts will bother checking out the difference, and half the market will be flooded with phonies. I love the idea of repros for personal display, but given the insane markup people are willing to pay for cardboard, it just distorts the market. I'd like to think that eventually it would dilute the value of the original boxes, but sadly I don't see that happening. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojotv67 Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Personally I'd prefer if people didn't regularly sell repro boxes without really big bold lettering stating such. I fear that in a decade, no one except experts will bother checking out the difference, and half the market will be flooded with phonies. I love the idea of repros for personal display, but given the insane markup people are willing to pay for cardboard, it just distorts the market. I'd like to think that eventually it would dilute the value of the original boxes, but sadly I don't see that happening. I'm not convinced that in a decade the market will be flooded with phonies... in my collecting experience, the Repro boxes I've seen listed are from the sets sold by Oliver through Intellivision.us or homemade by someone to store their game. I don't think there are enough collectors to buy so many Repro boxes to create a market saturation. Of course there are those unscrupulous sellers that will sell the games in Repro boxes and not identify them as such. As a buyer I would check with the seller to confirm whether the box is original. Finding a Diner game with an original box in good shape is tough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_Bill Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 When someone slabs a console I'll know we're doomed... Like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Brand-New-Mattel-Aquarius-Computer-Video-Game-System-VGA-Graded-75-NM-/300919003045?pt=Video_Games&hash=item46102b97a5 You'll notice the same douche as the seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_Bill Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Personally I'd prefer if people didn't regularly sell repro boxes without really big bold lettering stating such. I fear that in a decade, no one except experts will bother checking out the difference, and half the market will be flooded with phonies. I love the idea of repros for personal display, but given the insane markup people are willing to pay for cardboard, it just distorts the market. I'd like to think that eventually it would dilute the value of the original boxes, but sadly I don't see that happening. I agree. There are plenty of dishonest people out there looking for the easiest way to make a buck without working for it. This offers a nice option to do just that. I would rather have a beat to death original box (or no box at all) than to display a repro box with my stuff. Never bought one, never will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Repros can be good for some and bad for others, but either way they are inevitable. The burden falls on the buyer to be aware of their existence, to be able to identify them, and to pay (or not) accordingly. Most of the repros are easily identifiable if you know what you're looking for. The eBay ecosystem doesn't reward blatantly dishonest sellers, but some are skimpy on details, lazy, our just ignorant. If not obvious from pics, ask for more info or don't buy....especially for rare and/or expensive items. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 All I can say about repro boxes is that most eBay sellers are good about labeling and showing that a box is a repro box. Sellers that don't risk a getting a bad rating. I've sold a repro box with cartridge once or twice. In those cases, I put "repro box" in the title, in the description text, and include a close up picture of the repro box stamp on the bottom tab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBWW Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Brand-New-Mattel-Aquarius-Computer-Video-Game-System-VGA-Graded-75-NM-/300919003045?pt=Video_Games&hash=item46102b97a5 You'll notice the same douche as the seller. No wonder this the "happiest seller" LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojotv67 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Like this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Brand-New-Mattel-Aquarius-Computer-Video-Game-System-VGA-Graded-75-NM-/300919003045?pt=Video_Games&hash=item46102b97a5 You'll notice the same douche as the seller. Why this guy is allowed to to this is beyond me... If you notice the pictures don't even show the box very well. In fact in the first pic you can see damage to the top left corner. He's also selling a "VGA graded" Sears Baseball and you can see that there is a crease running along the left side on the front. This would invalidate any so called "VGA" authority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Why this guy is allowed to to this is beyond me... If you notice the pictures don't even show the box very well. In fact in the first pic you can see damage to the top left corner. He's also selling a "VGA graded" Sears Baseball and you can see that there is a crease running along the left side on the front. This would invalidate any so called "VGA" authority. Not defending it by any means (especially the price tag), but VGA 75+ NM (near mint) actually allows for some significant wear, despite its high quality sounding title. 'Excellent' actually ranks below 'Near Mint'. Here's a link to the grading definitions. It's surprising how much wear/damage they allow for some of the higher grades. 90% of my sealed games would easily fall in the 75 to 90 range and qualify as Excellent to NM+. http://www.vggrader.com/grading_scales.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Not defending it by any means (especially the price tag), but VGA 75+ NM (near mint) actually allows for some significant wear, despite its high quality sounding title. 'Excellent' actually ranks below 'Near Mint'. Here's a link to the grading definitions. It's surprising how much wear/damage they allow for some of the higher grades. 90% of my sealed games would easily fall in the 75 to 90 range and qualify as Excellent to NM+. http://www.vggrader.com/grading_scales.aspx Also notice that it is only "qualified", which means open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Yeah, buyers should know that merely having a VGA rating doesn't mean a game is in good condition. Any rating below 85+ seems pointless. Also, rating mint sealed games that are extremely common and that typically run $5-15 without the rating also seems pointless and definitely doesn't justify a price hike. Common is common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Slabbed grading, in my opinion, cannot ever justify a price hike. Because in order to retain the 'grade', by definition you're never allowed to inspect, touch, or god forbid actually use the item in question. You might as well encase a photograph of the object in a lucite box, for all the good it serves. Why yes, I do have a bit of an extreme opinion on this thanks to how it's entirely perverted the comic book trade, why do you ask? Edited November 24, 2014 by freeweed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Agreed. I'd rather have a mint open copy (that I can verify) than an overpriced sealed copy any day. I only pick up sealed copies that are cheap and nice, but never VGA graded ones. My primary 125 (actually 124) copies are all unsealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_Bill Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Slabbed grading, in my opinion, cannot ever justify a price hike. Because in order to retain the 'grade', by definition you're never allowed to inspect, touch, or god forbid actually use the item in question. You might as well encase a photograph of the object in a lucite box, for all the good it serves. Why yes, I do have a bit of an extreme opinion on this thanks to how it's entirely perverted the comic book trade, why do you ask? Agreed. Comic collecting was a early love for me as well. I bailed on it as soon as these "grading" services started taking over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojotv67 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Yeah, buyers should know that merely having a VGA rating doesn't mean a game is in good condition. Any rating below 85+ seems pointless. Also, rating mint sealed games that are extremely common and that typically run $5-15 without the rating also seems pointless and definitely doesn't justify a price hike. Common is common. Yes, exactly this. If we had our better quality sealed games have that VGA rating slapped on it, then we would have the "authority" to ask a ridiculous price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 At best, only factory sealed games should be slabbed and VGA rated since a buyer is unlikely to play the game anyways. Even in that case, it feels like a stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBWW Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I like collecting sealed games. We've had our 125 for a year now. So we have been working on Sealed games. One have one graded, a sealed Super Cobra. We are likely to remove from the Lucite case and just leave in the basic plastic sleeve packaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 eBay Auction -- Item Number: 301410155060 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojotv67 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 eBay Auction -- Item Number: 301410155060 Three of my four Mind Strike variants are sealed and in excellent shape. Didn't pay more than $25 for any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Three of my four Mind Strike variants are sealed and in excellent shape. Didn't pay more than $25 for any of them. Four variants? Do tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Hmmm...Mattel, Intellivision Inc, gatefold Mattel, and......Unicorn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojotv67 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Four variants? Do tell. I'm sure you have multiples of these... -Gatefold, Mattel -L001 (Mattel version, Made in Korea, Singapore, HK or USA) -L003 (Mattel version, Made in Singapore) -No addt'l part number, Intellivision, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I'm sure you have multiples of these... -Gatefold, Mattel -L001 (Mattel version, Made in Korea, Singapore, HK or USA) -L003 (Mattel version, Made in Singapore) -No addt'l part number, Intellivision, Inc. Hmmm, now I must go look. Jason, Unicorn went out of business before this game was released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Off to the pile after work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I'm sure you have multiples of these... -L003 (Mattel version, Made in Singapore) Only the Mattel gatefold and the Intellivision Inc. variation says "Made in Singapur". AFAIK there is no Mattel variation in a standard box that says "Made in Singapur". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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