Video game grading - collecter's dream or nightmare?

[spadgy]

Video game grading... interesting issue!

http://www.gamesniped.com/2008/04/09/fi ... -hit-ebay/

Will it make collecting more expensive? Will it make getting rare games not in mint condition cheaper? Is it just another tool for making game collecting easier from profit chasers?

[Ed Oscuro]

Probably just as well. Soak anybody who's silly enough to buy a sealed (OMG RARE) game.

[MX7]

This kind of thing makes me so angry. If a game is sealed away so it cannot be played, then it ceases to be a ~game, it is just a ~thing. Therefore, to anyone who actually likes games, its monetary value should be Zero.

I doubt this scheme will take off. Common sense will prevail.

[Frederik]

Putting things in boxes in other boxes. FUN!

[spadgy]

This kind of thing makes me so angry. If a game is sealed away so it cannot be played, then it ceases to be a ~game, it is just a ~thing. Therefore, to anyone who actually likes games, its monetary value should be Zero.

I doubt this scheme will take off. Common sense will prevail.

But... if the sealed box brigade get into this and it does take off (has with comics, stamps, coins, toys etc. etc.) it could mean that perfectly playable, desirably rare but not exactly mint games become cheaper for those of us who want to actually just get hold of and play the more ellusive shmups.

I'm all for that.

EDIT: Spelling

[MX7]

I guess that would be a good side effect. It'd need to take off considerably first though.

[Ceph]

I hate it when sellers on ebay claim that their games are "mint" when they are really beat up.

However, that is pure nonsense. For instance, I would never ship my mint Recca to some company to grade it for me, pay them money for this and in addition risk the game being damaged/lost during transport.

NB, in Japan neither Famicom, Super Famicom nor Mega Drive games were ever factory sealed. Oh no!

And since most of us probably don't collect US/Euro releases (and sealed games), this probably doesn't concern us anyway.

[charlie chong]

from now on i'm only going to play games in sealed or better condition

[Herr Schatten]

Putting things in boxes in other boxes. FUN!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

NB, in Japan neither Famicom, Super Famicom nor Mega Drive games were ever factory sealed. Oh no!

You can say the same above statement applies to Japanese N64 games as well... ^_~

Of course, the Japanese have different prefered packaging methods than that of the USA for their consumer goods, hence the need for factory sealed stuff such as games, etc. and put under "lock & key" for security purposes...

There was a time back in the early 1980's during the Great Video Game Crash of 1983-84', that it was possible to pick up such factory sealed game boxes (without shrinkwrap, of course) for the Atari 2600, Colecovision, Vectrex, and many other classic gaming consoles without having to resort to the "lock & key" method used by USA retailers today. Times have changed since then...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[system11]

Buy sealed. Open. Play.

That's how to fight the madness.

[Skykid]

Sealed game's collecting is a mugs game, for sure.

Totally retarded.

[Udderdude]

Plastic and cellophane fetish. Woohoo!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Plastic and cellophane fetish. Woohoo!

Yeah, some folks take their plastic and cellophane fetish to extremes... ^_~

But what good is it to have a sealed up game and not be able to play it?

There are other ways to score more bang for the buck these days -- whatever floats one's boat.

[undamned]

I hate it when sellers on ebay claim that their games are "mint" when they are really beat up.

Dude, I've had to buy multiples of the same game where the auction said "MINT!!!!" trying to complete my megaman stuff. People don't realize that "mint" is not subjective. By definition, not even a sealed game is necessarily mint if the it has a bumped edge or some other booboo.

I saw a sealed Megaman 1 NES game go for $500 and it had at least one fuzzy corner. Dumb.

However, that is pure nonsense. For instance, I would never ship my mint Recca to some company to grade it for me, pay them money for this and in addition risk the game being damaged/lost during transport.

Talk about a scam waiting to happen. Some bogus company gets many collectors to send them minty fresh games and they just keep them! GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!
-ud

[Ganelon]

Anyone want to bet this thing goes kaput in no time?

[antron]

I bought a new game as a gift for someone from Gamestop. When I realised that the disc had been handled, kept in a slip, and that the case had a NEW sticker placed right on it I aksed for my money back and went to Target.

[grovsnus]

Buy sealed. Open. Play.

That's how to fight the madness.

I have done this a number of times. The seal-crowd hates my guts.

[sven666]

Plastic and cellophane fetish. Woohoo!

its absoluteley ridiculous, ill stick to my cardboard fetish thank you very much!

i honestly cant see thiskind of service ever taking off tho, being this anal in your collecting is just not fun.

[system11]

Buy sealed. Open. Play.

That's how to fight the madness.

I have done this a number of times. The seal-crowd hates my guts.

I did a Taromaru just last week. Bought sealed on ebay, played that all evening when it arrived.

[Udderdude]

Buy sealed. Open. Play.

That's how to fight the madness.

I have done this a number of times. The seal-crowd hates my guts.

I did a Taromaru just last week. Bought sealed on ebay, played that all evening when it arrived.

You .. sick .. BASTARD. >:O

brb, calling the NHCPA (National Hotline for Cellophane and Plastic Abuse)

[Frederik]

I wonder if there are book collectors that actually seal books, too.

However, while sealing games instead of playing them seems absurd to me, locking aways Star Wars toys still has the most bitter connotation about it. There always seems to be a crying kid in the background that just wants to play with it instead of seeing it locked away in a cabinet. I´d much rather see a grown man playing with a plastic Luke Skywalker making noises with his mouth than using it for this pseudo-serious business of collecting - the former at least wouldn´t pretend to be anything else than a big kid, while the collector taints such a natural and pure thing like playing with toys with a sterile feeling of having just for the sake of owning it, enjoying the beauty of these things only in a cold, alienated, anal-retentive way.

It´s basically all just a variation of the old "pinned butterflies" motif. I mean, would you wrap your girlfriend up in cellophane just so she "stays fresh for decades", too? (Although certain people obviously have a big interest in women that are still, erm, "sealed". Oh dear.)

[system11]

I wonder if there are book collectors that actually seal books, too.

However, while sealing games instead of playing them seems absurd to me, locking aways Star Wars toys still has the most bitter connotation about it. There always seems to be a crying kid in the background that just wants to play with it instead of seing it locked away in a cabinet. It´s basically all just a variation of the old "pinned butterflies" motif.

I think you might have misread what we mean - we're talking about things that have been sealed since new - never opened, never used. Not quite the same thing as sealing books or games later down the line.

[iatneH]

I should find a nice condition box, put something heavy in it (or just some crappy common game to get the absolute correct weight), reseal it and send it off for grading. A sealed collector's never going to look at what is inside, right?

edit: LOL at one of the comments about sealed coins, getting full appreciation of a coin when it is sealed. I get full appreciation of a coin by trading it for a box of Tic-tacs.