WATA Game Grading Sued For Price Manipulation 6 6

[Beyonder123]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:57 AM, Jimmy Linguini said:

The cofounders were caught grading their own games and selling them themselves.

Since the people accused used to work for other companies, like the company that owns this chatboard, I don't see this ending well.

Are you saying that perhaps they learned their tricks from these other companies?

[Cobbledclam]

🤔🤭🤫😵‍💫

[Domo Arigato]

On 5/17/2022 at 12:04 PM, MAR1979 said:

It's still going to cost WATA solid coin to defend themselves, possibly heavily alter the future perception of their firm, and perhaps evidence into the arrangement with Haspel will be brought to light. One can only hope!

WATA is now Collectors Universe/PSA/PCGS.

Good luck with that. 

 

[MAR1979]

On 5/17/2022 at 4:27 PM, Domo Arigato said:

WATA is now Collectors Universe/PSA/PCGS.

Good luck with that.

 

They also now own auction houses. The fix is sooo in.   Not to mention PSA doles out higher grades to their large partners and there are quota's for everyone else- this allows them to maintain census population %'s thus   fooling the submitting rubes.

Edited May 17, 2022 by MAR1979

[Domo Arigato]

On 5/17/2022 at 4:12 PM, MAR1979 said:

They also now own auction houses. The fix is sooo in.   Not to mention PSA doles out higher grades to their large partners and there are quota's for everyone else- this allows them to maintain census population %'s thus   fooling the submitting rubes.

Good luck with that. 

Piggly Wiggly has tinfoil on sale.....just in case you don't believe in luck. 

 

[Domo Arigato]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:20 AM, Qalyar said:

There are a handful of people allegedly out big money, in the thousands of dollars, because they were charged 2% FMV grading fees on games where the FMV was wildly inflated.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this.....because I've learned from experience that many people on this forum (not saying that's you) that participate in these game related threads are more interested in the conspiracy theories than actual information.

"Allegedly"?  Sure.  But who are they?  And do they have any proof other than a wildly fluctuating game collectibles market that is pretty much like many of the other wildly fluctuating collectible markets right now?  I would love to see one person come forward with proof showing this is what took place.

 

On 5/17/2022 at 11:20 AM, Qalyar said:

The TAT thing... ehh. We'll see. The suit claims that the super-long TATs (in some cases way worse than CGC's, on the order of 18 months!) constituted false advertising under California law. Maybe? A lot of stuff is actionable in California. I feel like WATA's defense here is just to say, hey, look, all these people wanted our service and we got busy. We kept believing we could get caught back up, but it never really happened. Sorry. And I can't imagine plaintiffs will be able to show that the class suffered monetary damages from that situation. Individuals, maybe, but the class as a whole? Good luck. So even if the court finds for the plaintiffs, what's the result? An injunction demanding that WATA set more accurate TATs? Be still, my beating heart.

Yeah.....I don't see this going anywhere either.  Their turnaround times are clearly listed as estimates. Pretty much all collectible grading companies suffered massive backlogs from an unexpected flood of submissions during the pandemic.  Plus, it's common knowledge (that felt good) in the sealed gaming world that WATA does not manufacture their own cases.  The delivery of certain size cases from overseas was held up by this same pandemic and the delays at the U.S. ports.  This was the reason for many of the extended delays.  Their TAT complaint is definitely their weakest one.

 

On 5/17/2022 at 11:20 AM, Qalyar said:

I guess the specific claim that WATA knew there would be delays when they moved operations from Colorado to California is a thing, along with their failure to notify customers that the games to be graded were being transported, or how, and that this runs afoul of California business transparency requirements. But again, so what? WATA is forced to say they're very sorry and they'll tell people if they relocate their HQ again? Pffft, whatever.

Based on comments I've read.....including from WATA themselves.......I don't believe games were transported when WATA moved from Colorado to California.  WATA set up a grading and encapsulation team in their new California headquarters.  When it was ready, they then had all new submissions directed there.  At the same time, they maintained a grading and encapsulation team in their original Colorado location, and previously submitted games remained there so that team could focus solely on getting those games graded as quickly as they could, without having to worry about new submissions coming in.

A unique problem did come out of that scenario, though.  The California operation is in a much better facility and is much more efficient (Collectors Universe apparently had a few more dollars to throw at it).  Once it was up and running, they were able to get the flood of new submissions under control and turn around for them is now pretty much running on time.  While the Colorado team was focused on getting the previous backlog under control, they weren't nearly as efficient.  So, some people were understandably upset when those who submitted a game more recently to the California location were getting their graded games back before those who had submitted their games to the Colorado location months earlier.

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Domo Arigato

[Axe Elf]

This would never happen at WATA BURGER.

[Jimmy Linguini]

This video does a nice wrap up of what is currently going on with the lawsuit. In case you're like me and prefer to see a video over reading.
 

 

[Mijael.Levy]

I sent many videogames to Wata last year . They promised me a very atttractive TAT , they made me pay in advance and i had to wait 8 months to finally get my games. I tried to sell them but the market was already overflooded. I wasn`t the only one and during those 8 months Wata only worked for their business associates (Heritage) , people from inside (Mark Haspel) and a few friends who got their games in time and where able to make a lot of money.

Edited July 3, 2022 by Mijael.Levy

[MAR1979]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:07 PM, Domo Arigato said:

Good luck with that. 

Your response does not seem congruent with your forum signature.  Guess you condone WATA and Haspel and their ilk

Edited July 3, 2022 by MAR1979

[COI]

On 7/3/2022 at 12:01 PM, Jimmy Linguini said:

This video does a nice wrap up of what is currently going on with the lawsuit. In case you're like me and prefer to see a video over reading.
 

I think most people prefer videos over reading, which is why videos like this go viral and pass for serious journalism, without being subjected to actual editorial rigor. There's a nice living to be had in the asymmetry of making content calling out others for their lack of ethics, when the content you make isn't itself hamstrung by any pesky code of ethics.

People also clearly prefer schadenfreude and confirmation bias and throwing around words like 'scam' and 'fraud', without clearly defining those lines. Scapegoating is easy and fun! It's also fun when it's not comics or CGC, so we can all consign and/or bid our hearts out at the next Heritage signature auction with a clear conscience. 

[Domo Arigato]

On 7/3/2022 at 2:07 PM, MAR1979 said:

Your response does not seem congruent with your forum signature.  Guess you condone WATA and Haspel and their ilk

What are you talking about?

I'm always doing something to combat evil ignorance and its ilk.

I wonder if the lawsuit has brought them to their knees yet. 

 

On 5/17/2022 at 4:12 PM, MAR1979 said:

Not to mention PSA doles out higher grades to their large partners and there are quota's for everyone else- this allows them to maintain census population %'s thus   fooling the submitting rubes.

I also noticed you forgot to post your proof/source for this nonsense information. 

Please do so.  We'll wait. 

 

[MetalPSI]

On 7/3/2022 at 6:38 PM, Domo Arigato said:

What are you talking about?

I'm always doing something to combat evil ignorance and its ilk.

I wonder if the lawsuit has brought them to their knees yet. 

 

I also noticed you forgot to post your proof/source for this nonsense information. 

Please do so.  We'll wait. 

 

 

[Namtak]

On 7/3/2022 at 9:32 PM, The Meta said:

 

 

[Dark Knight]

The buyer of the $2 million Mario game is revealed.  Would be interesting to see if this changes the whole landscape of video game collecting after the accusations  made by Karl Jobst. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYaySk6bHok&t=686s

 

[Bronty]

Many people who have been saying Jobst doesn't know what he was talking about knew this already.   Its certainly not the only game bought by some of these new whales.   Its also not the business of anyone who does know to speak for someone else who has wished to remain private.    So guys like this get to cast stones with impunity.   At least they embarrass themselves in the process, I suppose.

[Domo Arigato]

On 7/19/2022 at 2:01 PM, Bronty said:

Many people who have been saying Jobst doesn't know what he was talking about knew this already.  

Exactly....people that had actual knowledge about the hobby, or didn't have a vested interest in him being right, knew that he was full of it.

And why do I keep hearing that Jobst has been buying WATA graded games for his collection......some of them from Heritage?

Please tell me that's just people just joking around. 

 

[Bronty]

On 7/19/2022 at 5:04 PM, Domo Arigato said:

Exactly....people that had actual knowledge about the hobby, or didn't have a vested interest in him being right, knew that he was full of it.

And why do I keep hearing that Jobst has been buying WATA graded games for his collection......some of them from Heritage?

Please tell me that's just people just joking around. 

 

He's regularly on the GettheGregGames youtube channel comments.   I wish it was a joke.

He's been collecting sealed PC games.

So, knows nothing about the hobby, posts negative press and then starts buying stuff.   Special dude.

[Domo Arigato]

On 7/19/2022 at 4:57 PM, Bronty said:

So, knows nothing about the hobby, posts negative press and then starts buying stuff.   Special dude.

That figures. 

 

[atomised]

On 7/3/2022 at 9:01 AM, Jimmy Linguini said:

This video does a nice wrap up of what is currently going on with the lawsuit. In case you're like me and prefer to see a video over reading.
 

 

The problem with Jobst is that he has been accused of white supremacy and racism.  Simply google his name and racism and you'll find the threads.  Yes he denies it and nothing seems to be substantiated but that's not something you want to have your name associated with.  If you look at his original video on Wata, it's clearly a hit piece from someone that has a problem with capitalism and American entrepreneurs.  His heavily biased socialism views are all over that video and he clearly enjoys a teardown of an american entrepreneur, in this case the founders of Wata and Heritage.