VGA graded video game sells for $15,000

[B-Smooth]

I'm a curmudgeon as far as this taking apart a game like that. I'd rather have it authenticated in another way. For that kind of money, I'll fly to Japan to have Nintendo authenticate it.

[MisterX]

Sorry to be so clueless here, Bronty, I understand it was the seller's decision, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

 

It seems like the purpose of taking apart the game was to show how well-preserved the interior is?

 

A well-preserved interior would be to make the item more desirable to prospective buyers?

 

Is there a precedent for this?

 

well, I'm not entirely sure what the seller's thinking was either, part of it could be that the authenticity of that item is best checked by looking at the interior, it has a completely different circuit board than what a commercially released game looks like. So displayed opened it lets you see 'all' of it so to speak.

 

That being said, not everyone likes or agrees with it, I'm personally indifferent.

 

Thanks, Bronty.

[MisterX]

I still have some of these Game & Watch games. And there is one I cannot find any infos about, but it seems that it's not a Game & Watch. It's called "Goal Keeper" and only has "Game - Clock" written on it. It looks like the "Game & Watch" games and has a blue border and backside. Any infos what that is and how rare it is would be very appreciated.

 

Black Lantern -- I'm not familiar with the game you're talking about. Theres a ton of non-Nintendo handheld electronic games from the 80s. Imitations, knock-offs, bootlegs, etc.

 

Here's two websites that are very helpful when it comes to collecting G&W.

 

http://www.gameandwatch.ch/en/

 

http://mpanayiotakis.proboards.com/index.cgi

 

Be sure to have a picture of the game to post.

[Underground44]

Bronty is a big swinging Johnson in the video game world.

 

Put your ego in neutral, and you'll probably learn a lot from him.

Agreed. He knows way more about games than I do... And I know A LOT about games. You could learn from him too, "mint." He's well respected here, and if you'd like to garnish any kind of respect, at least know what you are talking about.

 

+1. It's one thing to have an opinion about everything - this makes the forums interesting. It's a completely different thing to always present yourself as the one authority on all things collectible. Maybe you don't mean to be like that Mint, but you do come across as a tad arrogant at times IMO.

[Mephisto]

COI -- do other MOC Joe collectors also view their figures as ticking time bombs? Is there some kind of mass denial going on?

 

I don't know or talk to many MOC Joe collectors, but I know that it's one of the main reasons many loose collectors won't touch MOC figures.

 

I had a nice loose collection for a while, and I would definitely say they're worth collecting. Go after only the mintest of figures and it can actually be a fun (and very real) challenge, and it's way cheaper than MOC. The O-ring is an easy fix on a loose figure, and proper care can protect against other forms of degradation (rust on screws, plastic oxidation, etc...).

 

And when I say mint, I mean perfect paint, tight joints, perfect screws, perfect accessories, etc... Believe it or not, that's actually tough.

 

I sold my MOC Joe's. Made me nervous seeing a FireFly MOC but with his O Ring disintegrated and the toy split in half and never opened. Sold shortly after I found a lot in my closet from child hood were busted in half due to the O-Ring turning so brittle. Sent them off to AFA and away they went.

[Mister Freeze-migration]

Very interesting thread. My interest and expertise begins 80's era and ends Sega 16bit games.

 

Strapped for time right now, but a few years back had a chance to buy a genuine C9.5+ wood grain Atari 2600. Guy wanted $5K for it. Wonder if it ever got slabbed.

 

What is interesting about game slabs is there are some major heavy hitters in this realm. And what makes it even more interesting is the super low float of allot of these higher grade slabs, in many cases a 1 of 1 census.

 

In the last few months or so, there have been several high $$ purchase well in excess of $15K. Here is one auction on eBay with verifiable feedback for $50K.

 

Nintendo NES/Famicom Series 1 Athletic World Brand New VGA 85

[mkman123]

If I'm correct the most expensive ever paid for was a Atari 2600 Air Raid with box. It went for 31k. The stadium events sold for more but from what I heard, it was negotiated much lower than the 41k.

 

 

[mkman123]

I take it back, the above poster showed a 50k game title.....however did it really sell for 50k or did they negotiate after the bin for something different? Can happen sometimes,.

[Random]

Question about VGA. Super Famicom games were not sealed. Error in the listing?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chrono-Trigger-SUPER-FAMICOM-Super-Nintendo-SNES-1995-VGA-85-GOLD-/251078210923?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item3a756d756b

[comicwiz]

Think back to 1999. A lot of people were upset with the idea of comic grading. Can't read the book once slabbed. Now it's accepted.

 

No different here. Games were 'meant to be played'. Comics meant to be read. A certain faction in the hobby just wants to play games and doesn't even like the collector aspect let alone grading. They are also usually the guys that are butthurt when the price of a loose cartridge goes up five bucks. They certainly aren't, generally speaking, the guys spending.

 

OF COURSE there are some copies out there, it would be naive to think there aren't. There's also a ton of demand. Think about the three jillion SA marvels out there.

 

There are a lot of reasons for the resistance to VGA. I regard them as a smokescreen to a much bigger issue within the hobby itself. Like AFA in action figures, a lot of the old school collectors with massive war chests were not as discriminate when acquiring their items and its no surprise that on the higher end stuff that floats around, there is a higher likelihood of tampering/restoration.

 

Of course CGA offered grading services to better assist with the pitfalls presented in the various collectibles fields, and while their grading model is a good one, collectors as a whole felt that CGA was using it as a panacea.

 

The breakdown of resistance is mostly centered around:

 

- authentication

- refusal policy

- "U" (uncirculated) grades

 

The fact that buyers are asking if an item can be VGA or AFA graded has been bad news for the old guard collectors. The reality is that there is way too much resealing, tampering and restoring going on for this to have continued any longer, especially with some of the values being attained.

 

The other is the uncirculated grading, and the way the collecting purists will lose their minds when someone decides to send in a sealed item for u-grading.

 

I would be cautious about buying at a venue that doesn't support certification. If I were told to crack open an AFA grade, 9 out of the 10 times, the person buying is holding a grudge for the wrong reasons and needs to badly get with the times.

[Bronty]

Totally agree with the last paragraph. I think some of therest is painting with a bit of a broad brush though? It's not like there are secret "old guard" meetings and a handshake. We're all individuals and all think and collect a little differently. In my experience the major early collectors in games didn't get saddled with reseals and are warier about reseals. Some were discriminate about grade and some weren't maybe, but in general as to authenticity, the small group of major collectors were pretty wary and the public alarm definitely used to go out when a fraudulent eBay seller arose. A la robojo33.

[comicwiz]

Can't speak on the video game hobby, but in the SW toys hobby, there were a number of significant players with the highest regard/reputation in the hobby that ended-up doing major wrong.

 

Things just couldn't stay the same, and the fallout from a community of collectors being stuck with a good chunk of bad deals leaves a lot of minefields in its wake, with the only viable map found in 3rd-party certification.

[Bronty]

oh ok, thought you were talking about games there. yeah I've heard about some of that in toys.