adamchevy Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I just bought a CIB copy of Super Mario Bros for $30 in near mint condition. I think I'm going to vag grade it and sell it for big monies. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) VGA only grades sealed items, unless said item did not originally come with a seal. Homebrews typically are not eligible since they are considered "hand made" items, although they have also been known to grade rare official unsealed items like giveaways, prototypes, competition carts, etc... http://www.vggrader.com/grading_eligible.aspx Atari stuff is cheap. I can buy a sealed MS Pacman right now on eBay for $25, less than the $40 or so it sold new during the pre crash era, and that's not adjusted for inflation which would make the decrease even more significant. Many Atari games were over produced and there are still whole pallets of unsold games sitting in warehouses to this day waiting to be discovered. Many of those games are turds from a gameplay sense. Nintendo had very strict standards and ruled their consoles with an iron fist, tramping out unlicensed games and limiting stock to stimulate demand. As a result, sealed NES era games are exceedingly rare whereas there is still gluts of NOS Atari products. Combine this with rabid resellers and rich wannabes who collect retro Nintendo with no intention of actually playing the games simply because it's the latest collection "fad", and you get the hundreds to thousands of dollars markup even on common games. So let the collectors go berserk. 90% of games are still affordable as cheap loose players copies with varying cosmetic issues. The other 10% of "rares" are hyper-inflated due to the latest trend of collecting "everything". There is such a huge emphasis on "complete sets" that NintendoAge have special icons for them, such as "100% US licensed NES" etc; it's bull crap. Seriously, people out there squandering their life savings just to get those last dozen or so games so they came have a shiny new icon on an internet forum. I like NintendoAge and was a member there first, but I don't understand everyone racking themselves in the balls trying to complete their collections to get a useless icon as a status symbol. There's not enough rare games for everyone to have a copy! People at AtariAge understand this, and simply collect what they want to play. Ditto with me as a loose games collector. So the box is 4x exensive, 10x if it's mint, and 100x for shrinkwrap? Did some kid care about that when he tore through the packaging Christmas morning? Heck no; he just wanted to play the freakking game! So what if the label is torn or Jonnie's name is written on the back with Sharpie pen? It's cheap and plays fine with a bit of cleaning and TLC; what retro gamer could ask for more? Edited February 17, 2014 by stardust4ever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) Also noteworthy that you can neither mail nor visit their facilities since their location is a "secret" for "security reasons". . . No, that's not suspicious at all http://www.vggrader.com/faq.aspx#visitafa Sorry but Mom's basement is not a "facility" Edited February 17, 2014 by AtariLeaf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bald_Bull_jr Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 "Hazing Ritual"..... Or, we could simply conduct ourselves as mature adults. The 'clique bashing' of anything/one NEW to the community is really unflattering and is a stain on an otherwise fantastic community, and there is (sadly) a STRONG element of it here. Shame, that. Having the urge to protect the community and acting like a mean-spirited jackass are two very different things. This mindset only serves to REinforce the stereotype of the xenophobic, snarky, basement-dwelling nerd. The 'Frankensteins villagers' mentality hurts us all, at the end of the day. As far as the 'VGA/AFA' is concerned, I believe them to be utter bullshit. I feel that these "grading services" will only continue to aide in the corruption of the hobbies until things finally boil over. Much like with the 90s comic book boom/glut, I predict we will see vast landfills overflowing with those ever-so-quaint acrylic cases, rotting away with the rest of the plastic waste. (Or NOT rotting, as it were.) TRUE collectors/fans will always rise above this sort of nonsense. The birth of these 'services' went something like this: VGA: "This game is now worth $4000! And just LOOK at this handy Chinese acrylic case - SNAPPY!" Ralph, video game fan and collector: "Huh....really? Says who?" VGA: "Says ME, the MIGHTY MIGHTY VGA!!" Ralph: "Hmmm..ok....and WHO are you, again?" VGA: "How DARE you question me! I am a 48-year-old socially maladjusted virgin that operates a massive ACRYLIC EMPIRE out of the Midwestern United States! When I tell you what something is worth, its set IN STONE, dammit!!" Ralph: "Huh." <walks away casually> As always though - 'to each their own!' (<<< That should be emblazoned up there, right underneath Atari Age. ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 "Hazing Ritual"..... Or, we could simply conduct ourselves as mature adults. The 'clique bashing' of anything/one NEW to the community is really unflattering and is a stain on an otherwise fantastic community, and there is (sadly) a STRONG element of it here. Shame, that. Having the urge to protect the community and acting like a mean-spirited jackass are two very different things. This mindset only serves to REinforce the stereotype of the xenophobic, snarky, basement-dwelling nerd. The 'Frankensteins villagers' mentality hurts us all, at the end of the day. Someone new, once again, signed up here with the express purpose of trying to simply hawk their wares - to sell a $20 game in a $300 sneeze guard AND who is now trying to get a $1000 on ebay. All things considered, I think the members here were downright "Emily Post" 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojay1997 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Someone new, once again, signed up here with the express purpose of trying to simply hawk their wares - to sell a $20 game in a $300 sneeze guard AND who is now trying to get a $1000 on ebay. All things considered, I think the members here were downright "Emily Post" Agree strongly. The only time the AtariAge community reacts in a negative way to newcomers is when someone is either looking to scam users here or looking solely to profit to the significant detriment of the community. I have never seen anyone here act inappropriately to anyone asking for help or asking questions or even someone showing up to sell something as long as they aren't looking to scam and aren't looking to price gouge. If the conduct in this thread and others scares scammers and gougers away, it is no loss at all to AtariAge or the world at large and should in fact be applauded. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Agree strongly. The only time the AtariAge community reacts in a negative way to newcomers is when someone is either looking to scam users here or looking solely to profit to the significant detriment of the community. I have never seen anyone here act inappropriately to anyone asking for help or asking questions or even someone showing up to sell something as long as they aren't looking to scam and aren't looking to price gouge. If the conduct in this thread and others scares scammers and gougers away, it is no loss at all to AtariAge or the world at large and should in fact be applauded. Very true, I find AA to be a very welcoming place. For proof of that, all anyone has to do is scan through the "Introductions" thread where we see thread after thread of new people introducing themselves, talking about their new found love of retro gaming and the warm welcomes they get in response. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bald_Bull_jr Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Very true, I find AA to be a very welcoming place. For proof of that, all anyone has to do is scan through the "Introductions" thread where we see thread after thread of new people introducing themselves, talking about their new found love of retro gaming and the warm welcomes they get in response. I couldn't agree more - hence why I am here. I used the term 'element', not 'general populous'. I have met some really decent, cool folks here. Many helpful and kindly sorts, as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Collectively and individually the most knowledgeable and genuinely kind people I have ever come across on the interweb! Thanks for being so awesome AA forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Collectively and individually the most knowledgeable and genuinely kind people I have ever come across on the interweb! Thanks for being so awesome AA forums! You should: 1. print out a copy of your above post 2. send it to VGA 3. have it sealed and graded ...then you could sell it on eBay for $1,000,000,000!!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwackery Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 "Hazing Ritual"..... Or, we could simply conduct ourselves as mature adults. The 'clique bashing' of anything/one NEW to the community is really unflattering and is a stain on an otherwise fantastic community, and there is (sadly) a STRONG element of it here. Shame, that. Having the urge to protect the community and acting like a mean-spirited jackass are two very different things. This mindset only serves to REinforce the stereotype of the xenophobic, snarky, basement-dwelling nerd. The 'Frankensteins villagers' mentality hurts us all, at the end of the day. As far as the 'VGA/AFA' is concerned, I believe them to be utter bullshit. I feel that these "grading services" will only continue to aide in the corruption of the hobbies until things finally boil over. Much like with the 90s comic book boom/glut, I predict we will see vast landfills overflowing with those ever-so-quaint acrylic cases, rotting away with the rest of the plastic waste. (Or NOT rotting, as it were.) TRUE collectors/fans will always rise above this sort of nonsense. The birth of these 'services' went something like this: VGA: "This game is now worth $4000! And just LOOK at this handy Chinese acrylic case - SNAPPY!" Ralph, video game fan and collector: "Huh....really? Says who?" VGA: "Says ME, the MIGHTY MIGHTY VGA!!" Ralph: "Hmmm..ok....and WHO are you, again?" VGA: "How DARE you question me! I am a 48-year-old socially maladjusted virgin that operates a massive ACRYLIC EMPIRE out of the Midwestern United States! When I tell you what something is worth, its set IN STONE, dammit!!" Ralph: "Huh." <walks away casually> As always though - 'to each their own!' (<<< That should be emblazoned up there, right underneath Atari Age. ) I'm confused. You deride the immature and juvenile behavior as something that is the product of a "xenophobic, snarky, basement-dwelling nerd" mentality and then proceed to make your quip regarding VGA's domestic situation (with perhaps a touch of age discrimination) and sexual status, essentially seeing the organization also as a "xenophobic, snarky, basement-dwelling nerd". Aren't you enacting the same behavior you are condemning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Don't be too hard on the guy. He thought he got a deal on some gold but instead got stuck with a lemon. He might have been led to believe that we were trying to lowball him even though we were really being generous. Not surpising especially with all the sarcastic remarks posted in this thread that IMO aren't worth repeating. Let it sit and rot on eBay with a $1000 BIN. Quite frankly the ~$20 game is worth less than the VGA fees, but who cares? Believe it or not there's still a market for expensive paper weights, especially if it has "Mario" stamped all over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Quite frankly the ~$20 game is worth less than the VGA fees, but who cares? Believe it or not there's still a market for expensive paper weights, especially if it has "Mario" stamped all over it. IMHO, the game is worth less (get it...worthless) than $20 with that silly VGA box. What the heck good is a common game if you can't play it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxyzptlk Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 IMHO, the game is worth less (get it...worthless) than $20 with that silly VGA box. What the heck good is a common game if you can't play it. Hey Benny or anyone else, do you know how much it costs to grade a 2600 game? Until this thread I had no idea that it was happening. I would guess that the grading would cost more than most SIB 2600 games are even worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Hey Benny or anyone else, do you know how much it costs to grade a 2600 game? Until this thread I had no idea that it was happening. I would guess that the grading would cost more than most SIB 2600 games are even worth. Approximately an additional $30. It all depends on how many games you send in to get graded at one time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxyzptlk Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Approximately an additional $30. It all depends on how many games you send in to get graded at one time. Gracias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) Believe it or not there's still a market for expensive paper weights, especially if it has "Mario" stamped all over it. Here's a couple of my "nicer" paperweights: My sealed Princess Rescue remains heavily guarded by an army of Bowsers. Anyone attempting to open it will get burned by Koopa fire! Edited February 18, 2014 by stardust4ever 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega_SHARK Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) I don't really understand the hate on VGA. VGA is basically an offshoot of AFA which is the Action Figure Authority. Action figure collecting somehow morphed into the "buy two" mentality. You buy one to open and one to keep in the packaging. This mentality existed before AFA came around. I'm sure some of you are thinking: "Why would I keep it in the package?" Because a lot of times the packaging has fun stuff on it like checklists, file cards, comic strips, etc... Action figures in the packaging are a pain in the butt to store so the AFA case makes sense to me, and you get a condition grade. For action figures on the card you get three grades. You get a grade on the cardboard backer card, based on how beat up the cardboard is. You get a grade on the clear plastic bubble that holds the figure. Is it dented? Has the plastic deteriorated and started to yellow? You get a grade on the sealed figure itself. WAIT A SECOND! Why would you grade a sealed figure? It's sealed! It's in mint condition! Most of the time that's true, but there is a chance for factory errors. AFA figures make pretty cool paperweights and I even have the highest graded Wolverine figure on record. They have a census report on everything they grade, so you can look that up too. Now look at that. I've completely rationalized sending action figures into AFA. That being said. I don't get VGA or CGC. CGC are a different company that put comic books in carbonite. And once a comic is sealed… well you can't read it. I have some signed comics sealed by CGC, but that's mainly to authenticate an artists signature on it. Again, comic book collectors were also at a "buy two" mentality before CGC came along. I never got to that level of crazy with my level of comic collecting. AFA must have had enough requests to justify creating another arm of their business with VGA. For those of you saying "Who made them the experts?" By the time VGA was created, they already had experience grading sealed toys. All they are doing with VGA is looking at shrink-wrap and cardboard boxes. That seems pretty similar to grading toys. I haven't personally bought in to the whole VGA thing, but that doesn't mean I can't understand the mentality behind people that do. It sort of reminds me of the saying: Everyone on the highway driving faster than you is a MANIAC, and everyone driving slower is an IDOIT. People collect what they collect, and they collect stuff how they want to collect it. If some MANIAC wants to pay $30,000 for a sealed copy of Castlevania, then by all means let them. My personal favorite is when some IDIOT pays more to encase something in plastic then what the actual item's market value is. So that's the long answer to VGA grading. The short answer is: I'm not interested in your Mario Brothers paperweight. Edited February 18, 2014 by sega_SHARK 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 For me the hate comes from inflating already inflated prices. The recent video by gamester81 and the response from oldskoolbrian are examples of what has happened with nes prices recently. I'm sure Atari games and colecovision games have gone through this trend as well. Not only are prices on eBay extremely inflated, but craigslist seems to be the same way now days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Everyone on the highway driving faster than you is a MANIAC, and everyone driving slower is an IDOIT. Best type-o ever! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega_SHARK Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Foiled by CAPS LOCK yet again... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega_SHARK Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 and For me the hate comes from inflating already inflated prices. The recent video by gamester81 and the response from oldskoolbrian are examples of what has happened with nes prices recently. I'm sure Atari games and colecovision games have gone through this trend as well. Not only are prices on eBay extremely inflated, but craigslist seems to be the same way now days. Both make good points. Is anybody biting on stuff like this though? http://www.ebay.com/itm/DONKEY-KONG-JUNIOR-COLECOVISION-BRAND-NEW-SEALED-VGA-70-DK-JR-COLECO-VISION-/271404259803?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item3f30f459db The NES market is sitting atop a huge bubble right now. With or without VGA. I had mentioned that I had a few comic books graded. The problem with comic book collecting before CGC was that everyone looked through price guides and saw the "near mint" price listed and the sellers expected that price for the same comic book in any condition. The market was inflated even before a third party grading company came along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamchevy Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I saw a post on Nintendo age from a Google search on little samson that mentioned it was selling for under 200$ in the fall of 2011. I wonder if that's about when the jump in prices in nes games really started to happen? These games can't be that rare? Obviously the demand is up, but you can't inflate rarity. There are a certain number of games produced and that were bought by consumers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Just getting round to seeing the VGA video (Thanks for posting it AtariLeaf) and many great points being made in this thread. ~$120 to have VGA perform all their 'services' to the game...Wow. Sure you can skimp on some of them, but I would sure hate for a genuine decent/honest person with good intensions to have their stuff 'completely' preserved with 'complete' protection and grading to pay $120 for that scam. Some people must have no conscience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 "Is anybody biting on this stuff?" The only graded Atari game I could find selling for a high price on Ebay had two distinct bidders with more than 30% of their bids with the same seller. I think Ben mentioned it earlier in the thread. Basically - no Edit: I found only one graded sale for "Colecovision" and it was a complete Super Action Controller pack and hadn't been done by VGA as far as I could tell. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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