VGA Gamers and Collectors have gone mad look at ebay !

[APE]

I can't wait for people to realize that sealing video game consoles inside an acrylic case will yield leaked capacitors that completely destroy the value of what is inside their "investment". You end up with a fancifully graded cardboard box with a dead console inside. Might be nice to a historian in 100-1000 years to have it sealed up so they can reverse engineer the thing and build a replica but IMO if what you have is a cardboard box with a dead PS1 inside the hell is the point?

With cartridges and CDs I can see the point - to an extent. But with consoles it is beyond ridiculous.

[Reptile072]

With cartridges and CDs I can see the point - to an extent. But with consoles it is beyond ridiculous.

Yes, I totally agree. Personally, I am OK with only getting very hard to find/limited games graded.

[Jamtex]

Yes, there is an obscene additional fee for UV protection.

Fixed... Working with UV acrylic does not cost any more then working with normal acrylic and the price they charge is well over double to triple the price of the raw materials....

In my opinion, since VGA is the first grading service (correct me if I am wrong) for video games, they will enjoy good standing with many collectors worldwide. There is always a big advantage in being the "first" in providing a particular service.

My problem with them is that they have nothing to show that they have any qualifications or experience to grade or even handle anything. The only thing on their website that has anything mentioning to experience is the 20 years experience master acrylic workman... Basically you are paying them to put it in an acrylic box and for them to give you a grade based on what they think going on a list that they drew up. You do mention coin collectors and there are lots of services for them including various non profit organisations like Anacs with fairly reasonable prices.

I have had a 20 year career in working in various video game shops selling imports and retro games and worked at two of the largest retro game shops in the UK during the late 90s and 2000s (which did include writing cover letters for insurance companies for a few collectors who wanted their collection insured and needed a specialist to grade and give replacement insurance values). I now work for an art gallery (and have worked in art galleries and musuems around the world) and have taken courses in art and object handling, a course in museum displays and one in basic preservation. So if I set up a similar service but would happily show my certificates and stuck up my CV on the website (like most graders would do for most things...) would you still basically trust a bunch of people that give quite an expensive service with nothing really to back up what they do?

Also do the games really have to be encased in acrylic? Wouldn't a UV filtered archival acid free polybag sealed with custom tamper proof tape do the job just as well and be a hell of a lot cheaper? If you need to protect it then off the shelf acrylic boxes would do the job just as well...

[Reptile072]

My problem with them is that they have nothing to show that they have any qualifications or experience to grade or even handle anything.

Actually, VGA is a rather new off-shoot of the parent company, CGA, which has years of experience grading things like action figures. This is speculation on my part, but it would not be a surprise to me if the folks that started the company and those that came up with the grading scale have a love for video game collecting. It is possible they have passed on their skills and shared their experience with those that do the day-to-day grading. I really don't know. However, as it stands, VGA is the first, and most well-known grading service for video games and that is good enough for some collectors, including myself. I think when it comes to grading/putting value on items, a certain amount of faith/trust has to be put on the service. Maybe I am a bit too willing to trust them more than others? What works is what sells - I think I can safely state that VGA graded games for the truly rare/limited games sell for much more than merely sealed versions. This is appealing to many collectors and traders which is why they are willing to invest in this service.

CGA/VGA will have a presence at this year's San Diego Comic Con, so I would be happy to try to get answers from them in person (regarding grading experience, behind the scenes info) to satisfy the curiosity of the forum members here as well as myself :)

I have had a 20 year career in working in various video game shops selling imports and retro games and worked at two of the largest retro game shops in the UK during the late 90s and 2000s (which did include writing cover letters for insurance companies for a few collectors who wanted their collection insured and needed a specialist to grade and give replacement insurance values). I now work for an art gallery (and have worked in art galleries and musuems around the world) and have taken courses in art and object handling, a course in museum displays and one in basic preservation. So if I set up a similar service but would happily show my certificates and stuck up my CV on the website (like most graders would do for most things...) would you still basically trust a bunch of people that give quite an expensive service with nothing really to back up what they do?

That is very cool, and, of course, the skills you acquired would lend very well to something like video game grading. If you had some sort of grading service, and managed to get exposure and positive feedback from collectors, then of course, you would be another source for grading. I suppose it's all about building up that reputation over the years. And, more importantly, for collectors and traders, if your graded items were recognized to the point where they added value to their items (i.e. monetarily or trade value) then you might see some success. However, since VGA got there first, it will not be easy to be competitive.

Also do the games really have to be encased in acrylic? Wouldn't a UV filtered archival acid free polybag sealed with custom tamper proof tape do the job just as well and be a hell of a lot cheaper? If you need to protect it then off the shelf acrylic boxes would do the job just as well...

A polybag might be cheaper, but it cannot protect the game from dents/tears if it were to take a fall. Acrylic boxes themselves would address the protection issue, but the lion's share of the value (again, for some collectors) is added by the VGA grade. That is just the way things are currently. :)

[Yakumo]

Grading is all fine and well but it's the stupid prices that piss me off. The prices that these games are "worth" is a joke. Ultra common games selling for stupid money is mad.

Yakumo

[Reptile072]

Grading is all fine and well but it's the stupid prices that piss me off. The prices that these games are "worth" is a joke. Ultra common games selling for stupid money is mad.

Yakumo

I agree that the "stupid" prices can get annoying. However, an item is worth as much as someone is willing to pay. I paid $150 for my sealed Dead Space Ultra Ltd Edition, but I would not want anything less than $1,000 for it, for example. This would explain why some sellers have extremely high asking prices and have the "best offer" option. The price is just psychological - it is a way of getting as high an offer as reasonably possible in order to maximize profit. Although a majority of these VGA graded games are listed for high asking prices, they almost always only sell when the buyer and seller work out a reasonable price that makes both parties happy (whether it is a private deal or via eBay).

[Yakumo]

I agree that the "stupid" prices can get annoying. However, an item is worth as much as someone is willing to pay.

I see what you are getting at but I don't agree about the "worth" aspect because the people paying completely insigne amounts are the stupidly rich. These people have more money than sense. So it doesn't matter to them what they pay. That doesn't make a game worth that value though. If I dropped 1 million on a used copy of Super Mario that doesn't mean all used Super Mario games are now worth 1 million. By the way, I do have the money to drop 1 million on a Mario game, in yen that is :p But would I? No way.

[brendand]

I will Laugh my ass off at anyone who pays 15000 for a VGA game when you most likely can get the same game sealed for a fraction of the cost

[Bad_Ad84]

I see what you are getting at but I don't agree about the "worth" aspect because the people paying completely insigne amounts are the stupidly rich. These people have more money than sense. So it doesn't matter to them what they pay. That doesn't make a game worth that value though. If I dropped 1 million on a used copy of Super Mario that doesn't mean all used Super Mario games are now worth 1 million. By the way, I do have the money to drop 1 million on a Mario game, in yen that is :p But would I? No way.

No one is saying all copies would be worth X.

But if someone buys it, it was worth it to someone. If no one buys, the prices would drop.

As the guy said, its worth what someone is willing to pay. If someones not willing to pay it, you wont sell it and need to drop the price.

[brendand]

here is a article that made me laugh ! http://kotaku.com/384217/ebay-smart-...grading-system

[HEX1GON]

Kotaku are retards... Just had to say that again.

[xdaniel]

Battery-powered Nintendo hardware comes with batteries, right? Wiimotes bundled with games do, too, right? And batteries leak over time, correct?

If all three questions can be answered with "yes", then this was probably not that great of an idea?: http://www.ebay.de/itm/221013422582

[brendand]

Battery-powered Nintendo hardware comes with batteries, right? Wiimotes bundled with games do, too, right? And batteries leak over time, correct?

If all three questions can be answered with "yes", then this was probably not that great of an idea?: http://www.ebay.de/itm/221013422582

You would have to be Dumb as hell to buy that ! as you can get a unopened copy significantly cheaper !

[ASSEMbler]

Unless that case is inert filled with nitrogen, the plastic will accelerate the cardboard destruction by not allowing it to breathe.

[MoonTar]

Unless that case is inert filled with nitrogen, the plastic will accelerate the cardboard destruction by not allowing it to breathe.

The first thing that popped into my head after reading that was "It would be cool to watch a time lapse of that." Haha.

[ave]

Unless that case is inert filled with nitrogen, the plastic will accelerate the cardboard destruction by not allowing it to breathe.

One corner of these cases is always left open so air can get in and out. Otherwise those games would sweat and, consequently, rot in no time.

[graciano1337]

Kotaku are retards... Just had to say that again.

lol, i think that's been pretty well established here on the boards. hahaha

[Flash]

Unless that case is inert filled with nitrogen, the plastic will accelerate the cardboard destruction by not allowing it to breathe.

Even worse, plastic can release some chemicals when heated, also if these boxes are stored at open place like shelf plastic can be a lens for sunlight. And if you'll take your precious box with you to show it to someone for or when you move somewhere temperature difference can kill it, again, just because it's sealed. Warm room, cold street, warm room - epic fail.

[ave]

As I said before, unless they are different from graded comics (which I would doubt), these boxes are not entirely sealed.

[ServiceGames]

Reptile,

What you're missing here is that there are hundreds of other collectors who will keep their items sealed and in minty fresh condition of their own accord and with no association with VGA. Even in 20 years why would I pay more for a copy of a game given an arbitrary rating number by a bunch of opportunists and sold by another shameless opportunist when I could buy a copy that is in equal condition and in the hands of a real and trusted collector? The videogame community is filled with collectors that take great pride in their collections and go to great lengths to keep their catalog fresh.

There was never a need for grading before. People just described the items. If it was completely new it was listed as such and if it was like new but had a dent or ding or scratch then it was listed as such. There's a copy of Dead Space Ultra rare whatever edition on ebay now and it's listed clearly with decent photos. Why should it be necessary for him to have it sealed in acrylic with a grading number when I can clearly look at the images and see that it is in fine shape?

My last point here is that it is absurd for some moron to have an ultra common game graded and then think that it is now worth 100 times more.. or even 10% more.. Why wouldn't an interested buyer simply purchase a non graded sealed copy of said common game and then just have it graded himself, cutting out the middle man and saving thousands!!!