A New York Times article looks at graded video games selling for lots of money. ✅FULL podcast available @cupodcast.podbean.com ✅More info @www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/bu...
Pat and Ian, this was a good, rational discussion by two people who are uniquely positioned in the video game business. Are you sure your content is appropriate for RU-vid? :)
DaVinci's Mona Lisa is a one of a kind piece. You can play an official copy of Zelda on the NES, GBA, GameCube, NES Classic. Also digitally on Wii, 3DS, Wii U and Switch. All of these sold in the millions.
Lol I sold a sealed cowboy bebop vhs on eBay recently, apparently the buyer was so happy with it that sent me a message to thank me lol I guess people like their sealed things
@@RevanMartinez I'll but sealed VHS if the opportunity presents itself, but not really for a premium. The main reason I like them is I know the tape is going to be in good shape when (not if) I open it and play it. You'd be surprised how many sealed tapes I come across at thrift stores and half price books for .50-1.00
Hey Pat I heard that you sold your copy of Danny Sullivan’s Indy Heat for 2 million dollars. Not that I possibly have one and I’m trying to validate a selling price or value calc.
Its really and extra 4,000 for vacuum sealed plastic around a game. That in all reality could be broken when actually opened. I collect comics too. But i dont buy a comic never read it vaccume seal it and say its worth anything more then the comics i have in my collection right now.
@This is going to make me sound like a bitch but No I have a few from the 70's. But I love my comics. Been in the comic game sense I was about 8. I have a Starwars number 1 mint condition. A daredevil vs. Punisher. And a few rate Dr. Strange comics. Not to mention The infinity war and infinity gauntlet series. All 6 comics doubles of each. And nah you didn't sound like a bitch. Every ones opinion is valid. Unless there truly ignorant.
On that tip, you only have one life...a shelf full of complete collections or sealed games will outlive you. There's no logical endgame to collecting, since our lives are (Pat voice) LIMITED. Buy the games you'll play and enjoy. Massive collections are just something your families are gonna dump in the trash when you get hit by a bus. :)
@@PacDork The point is, if you are happy spending your life collecting games, then hey, nothing wrong with that, as long as it makes you happy. There's not supposed to be a logical endgame to everything.
When I was a young adult buying comics I recall many a discussion about collectors versus investors for comics. What's in a name? Collectors enjoy their comics because they read them, and investors just bag and board and store until they can make money, graded or not. Even though this article talks about sealed games, it's the same thing. All these people are buying is sealed games.
I don’t like what they’re doing but in reality, this won’t affect most people in their pursuit to collect and actually play unsealed games. Plenty of loose LJN games for everyone to enjoy 😄
I just wish sealed game collecting goes away. Who pays hundreds for a shitty game like Contra Force ? There's no cultural significance behind this game that makes it worth owning.
For real man some games are skyrocketing right now. Even game cube games. Like metal gear solid twin snakes was like 45 bucks a few months ago now I see it going for 80 90 not sealed or anything
There's a really thorough video done by the channel Reserved Investments that directly tackles this whole grading craze for old video games. It's pretty much insane and it's generally not wise to invest in this aspect of collecting.
Well, not thousands but anyway, I was peer pressured by a once good friend to kickstart Mighty number 9 Worst 50$ I've ever spent Only played the game ONCE!
So excited to see you at MGC! Have a great book, maybe you heard of it... Ultimate Guide To the Nes Library. Maybe I can get you to sign mine? Anyways, great content. Keep up the solid work!
Wow, the quote and comments during last 40 sec or so speaks volumes. The middlemen hyping the market have no risk. They make money if the market goes up or down. The buyers and sellers are the ones taking the risk. Wadda and co make money grading and auctioning games. And to think, they are hyping something that most people (besides collectors) threw-out about 15 years ago. Their scheme is genius. Make lots of money over something that had little value to begin with. (Except when it was new years prior.)
Just like what Richard Pryor did in Brewsters Millions, buying the multi million dollar stamp and then using it to mail a letter. Someone should buy these games and then open then up and play them. 😀
The best thing about video games is that you can completely ignore collector grade items if you want now, through loose carts/discs/non-sealed or emulation. Let collectors have that market honestly. As long as it doesn’t mess with the general prices.
I love when you guys bring these topics up. You actually sound like pros when it comes to this specific subject. Love the debate the conversation and the reality of the conversation. I love being a low level collector. I started with a collection of games that already had high values. My most expensive games starting out where, Metal storm, double dragon battle toads (NES) secret of mana, shatter hand, and vice project doom. I look at yhe value of those and if ivreally like like actully want to play the game on my natural hardware, Ill pay about 25 to 55 more then those are worth....... and it sucks cause theres a lot of games i want in my collection that i want to play but the price is Wtf out there. Twinkle tale i really wanna play like really wanna play. But the 500 or more for it im shit out of uck. But then i can buy a English translation for 39 to 40. ... yea that's a good deal to me. My collection loses value and respect. But at least im playing something interesting and i have an interest in but not the wallet too feed the elite collector that wants to sell of his games for strict profite. Or loss of interest but loss of interest with a high price point. $$$
We as gamers and collectors can decide if we add value to games. I don’t care about sealed games. But i like to have my games CIB for the art and it looks good on the shelf’s. And as a gamer and game designer myself, i have to admit that value makes collecting games more fun. Value makes it exiting to collect and own. Be real, it’s fun and we all like money
Video games are different from other collectibles because the market is largely made a group of people who are a very small and limited group of a specific type of person (mostly nerds), and of a generation that also existed only during a very small time period. These games will only appeal to this generation (1980s-early 2000's), and when these people have satisfied their nostalgia and get older into their late 40's and beyond, they will lose interest and not want to buy or most likely play games anymore. I am not projecting here being in my late thirties, I hope I play games until I am 99 years old, but for the most part for the majority of people it's sadly just a part of growing up. There will be a major drop in price for most games within the next 5-10 years because of this. If you want to spend ludicrous amounts of money to scratch your nostalgia itch, then go for it, but most people would agree that this is throwing money away and will not be a solid investment since it is such a niche market of people interested in spending that much money. Video games are just unfortunately not a universal and timeless collectible that appeals to a broader group of people (like music or even coin collecting), and most video games will not stand the test of time. Also, games are meant to be played much like vinyl records are meant to be listened to on a record player, not kept on a shelf to show off or to make money. Disgusting.
I have a pretty strict rule of not paying more than the original retail for a game. I don't buy sealed (unless it happens to be a negligible price difference between it and unsealed, which you'll run into on rare occasion) and I curate every system I collect for. I've got about 1500 games in my collection, some of which are worth $150+, and some of those were purchased within the last couple years - again, for at or less than original retail. You just have to be patient and vigilant, something I don't think describes the people in question here. It is (or certainly can be) an expensive hobby for sure, but it's only as expensive as you allow it to be for yourself. People just need to learn to set rules and boundaries for themselves. Saying something like "You can't pay too much" is beyond irresponsible. It's bad for the hobby and it's bad for the financial well-being of collectors that aren't good at controlling themselves. In the event that the bubble bursts, I'll still be in good shape (granted, I'm never selling any of this stuff anyway so it's kindof irrelevant, but I didn't overpay to begin with), but a lot of people won't; but hey, at that point I guess I might be able to get some good deals on stuff I've been holding out on for a while so uh... go for it I guess. Full disclosure I've broken my own rule literally _once_ for a game that was especially important to me - I paid a total of $100 for Suikoden II over the course of about 10 years: $60 for a disc-only copy when I was in college and then $40 a couple years ago for the case and manual to complete it. That's been my single exception over many years of collecting though and I still have a pretty substantial collection. Just be patient.
I never understood the point of shelf collectors. Why spend all your money on games you’ll never play? 95% of people don’t care about your collection, and of the people that care you probably care the most. Buy games you wanna play, why not just spend money on a poster that looks like all the games. They’re not going to go up that much in value to be worth it
Holy shit was Ian making a home movies reference in the beginning ? Ns York times, New York time you think you’re better than us? U S.. USA - coach mcguirk
In 2013 , I det my self a goal to try to play true every game i own/buy. And it makes collecting much more fun than just letting the games collect dust after they are bought
Just a side note, nobody cared about the Mona Lisa until someone stole it, it was the cheapest least cared about davinci for most of its life, now it’s the most famous painting in the world.
I'm getting N64 games loose even though the average price of the games are 25 dollars. The only reason is because emulation of N64 is still crap. For every other retro game I use my retropie system. Save states for the win.
@Marc Caselle Yeah it is rather amusing to think that in the year 2020, emulation on the N64 is still quite flawed. Suffice it to say, I’ve been hanging on to my original N64 that I received one Christmas in the 90’s plus all the games.
I’ve come to the point where I don’t want to buy a cartridge game unless I really want to play it. I’m finding that disc-based games are more interesting overall, especially if it’s something I’ve never heard about, like some obscure FMV game which is one of my favorite genres. But I’m well past spending a big amount of money on older games and I’d rather spend that money on some new collector’s edition coming out soon with a whole bunch of goodies and bonuses. If the market calms down, maybe I’ll be more inclined to pick up some more retro games but it’s pretty erratic now with things going hot and cold within months and certain older systems being listed at crazy prices for what’s been years on end now on auction or even on the shelf at some of my local game stores. Local conventions and even San Diego Comic-Con have terrible deals for the most part as the sellers often list games at the highest eBay pricing, so it’s pretty challenging if not impossible to find any deals anymore.
Are these crazy prices also for CIB games or just sealed ones? Have a small collection of some early big name CIB NES titles that are quite literally like new.
So my friend just found a factory sealed Pokemon Black, and we were discussing selling it online as is or trying to get it graded. We decided to just post as is given all the difficulties with video game grading right now.
Graded vintage games from 80s and 90s makes sense...classics like Pit Fall, Contra, Dragon Warrior, Super Mario Bro, and Secret of Mana are like framed art masterpieces, with historical significance from the gaming golden age, before the internet and broadband.
When I hear the quotes from these speculators it sounds completely divorced from what anyone in the actual retro gaming scene thinks. I remember when Super Mario Bros sold for some big amount of money. I heard it on the radio and it was a combination of nonsense in the quote itself, and then nonsense from the DJs who obviously know nothing about games (they thought Super Mario Bros was that kart racing game). My first thought was "that game isn't worth shit. You can buy it for a buck loose." It's very weird when you're part of a sub-culture and then you hear outsiders spouting stuff related to it that you can immediately spot as bullshit.
This can certainly affect loose boxed collectors. Good luck getting Super Mario Bros, Kid Icarus, etc. boxed for reasonable prices now that the graded sales are out there.
Every game I own, I have opened and played. A video game is meant to be played. I own one sealed board game: Beatles Monopoly. Only reason it's sealed still is due to board game pieces get damaged or lost so easily.
It's no different than people who buy books they'll never read, cars they'll never drive, or even houses they'll never live in. If they're not hurting anyone else, let people buy/sell whatever the hell they want.
The bottom of the MegaDrive/Genesis market has totally dropped out. eBay sellers desperately pinning their games at prices from 2015, but nobody is buying.
Hamblin at Side Quest is a great self promoter who talks up value so he can max his own profits. Typical businessman tactics. Unfortunately, his knowledge is not that great about history of games and he makes things up on the fly. Seen him do it online and in person. I initially liked the dude but he’s slowly turning into a thorn in the hobby’s side in the Portland area. He’s a nice guy tho;)
I think the true jumping of the shark will occur when people start grading loose games (aside from the obvious NWCs and what have you). I don't know that we'd ever really get to that point, but I feel like it's already not too unreasonable of a prospect. Once I see a slabbed loose copy of Mario 3, may god have mercy on our souls...
I've seen graded loose carts. People already are doing it. That damn Pawn Stars shop had a graded Final Fight Guy loose SNES cart for sale. I think it was graded a 7.5 or something like that. Absolutely ridiculous. I can't stand that shit.
A speculative bubble eh? So then if I overextend myself to buy a massively overpriced graded game off heritage auctions from one of those rich comic book collectors looking for a new type of wealth container paying up to 100 000 dollarydoos each I'll be able to flip it for over a million in no time. That's just preposterous enough to be guaranteed. I'M IN 😎
The most I ever spent on one game was Castlevania Dracula X SNES Complete. $200. Sold it a few years later for the same price. But never thousands. Not on something I'd never or even rarely play, let alone touch.
I collect games and a small part of collecting to me is seeing rows of games I like the way it looks so yes I deff get games that I'll never play I know that, too me there called fillers aka sports games ex...
I quit seriously collecting video games a few years ago. If i buy a game these days its a few of the latest and greatest games when i can i get the games on sale. I quit buying retro video games since prices have really sky rocketed in the past few years. Now i buy more digital games even though i would rather have physical since ill always be able to play it. People that spend fifty thousand a year on retro video games wow that is quite a bit of money, there were times in the past i wish i had more income to set aside for the video game collecting hobby, but these days i have every retro game i had as as kid and more so im satisfied with what ive got when it comes to retro.
6:15 There is also a difference between value and price. I don't think it can be helped that there is a perceived value to games that are priced higher, especially when a lot of them are bangers like Little Samson, Mega Man, Contra, etc... That being said, it is a shame that sometimes the rarity of a title is directly related to how shitty it is. Either way, I'm very hesitant to spend more on a game than it was priced at when it came out (inflation considered.)
I got a buddy who just found a sealed dragon warrior 3 and asked me if I was interested and when I asked him how much he said it looks like they sell for about $700. He is a good dude but I can buy a cib one for like $200ish. To me it makes no sense to spent $500 more just because it has shrink wrap around it.
Sealed games are pointless to me personally, encapsulated or not. I have more than a few games I'll never play on my shelf, as I'm going for a full GameCube set, but I could if I wanted to
