Half of the "Hub Bubb" about the 8 bit era systems are that as kids, we basically all lusted after NES games. Good ones, bad ones, mediocre ones.... NES was the benchmark for home video gaming quality for many years, a significant number for those of us that were 6 to 10 at the time. There isn't the same dominance now with one of the current systems. There's much more choice of software than ever before, and the attachment isn't going to be to the software delivery methods, as so much of current and previous gen is digital downloads. 30 years from now, no 38 year old is going to want to own all the disc games for the ps4.
Pat the NES Punk yeah, but like, here's the thing... if you are rational, there are literally billions of people in their youth, around the world, and eBay is a thing; so, not to unrealistic to pick up a sealed copy of Kingdom Hearts 3 for $15 and think, eh, in 15-20 years, this may sell for $50, at least. Inflation would just be $3-$7 so you'd have been smart if you were just looking to unload 1 or 2 on ebay; talking 20 years from now mind you. Also, Diamonds are not a scarce item, it's those who hold the diamond reserves and mines who make them such...(this was a question answered by high school students, on cnbc, during an economics bee championship thing) lots of new people being born, at alarming numbers. EBay is international, would expect game collector market to expand, not decline; everybody laughed at nes collectors back in thelate 90s to, mind you. Funcoland dollar bins are legendary today, right? Those games suck in retrospect, despite their nostalgia champions on youtube; we just need those games cause our brains developed on them.
Pat the NES Punk hey Pat! I figured you would be the guy to ask. I came across locally in the wild a Sharp Nes TV, it came from an old novelty store in the 80s and I wondered if you knew much about this? How many sold, price at release, rarity and value? Also, do you have an old video talking about it? I tried to find it. Thanks again man!
@NotAPolarBear People going to Dawson had to carry supplies so they had enough to survive, and when they got there many people made shops instead of becoming miners as the miners would bring the gold to them to spend, since there was not much competition at first and people needed food and such they made a mint.
That was certainly true when I was collecting comics back in the 90s. So many people buying multiple copies of first issues and variant covers and whatnot, thinking they'd sell them and retire in twenty years. Glad I didn't get sucked into that. I just bought them because i was actually interested in reading them.
It makes no sense to see it as being one or the other. This is a medium that is infinitely duplicable. What is being preserved has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the media that surrounds the game. The game is already playable infinitely and will always be.
@@ThatDjinn My problem lies more with assholes who buy up every copy of an out of print game just to pigeon hold the market. For many people the fun of the hobby isn't just about playing the game, its about the ritual of owning said game, popping it in, and using the original hardware/software, possibly even enjoying the nostalgia associated with it. Folks who snatch up everything and trickle out sales of these otherwise sufficiently produced games fuck everyone over. Its nothing illegal or immoral, its just an incredibly shithead thing to do, and anyone who has a favorite hobby whose experienced that can easily relate.
You think your copy is being preserved because it's in a shrinkwrap? JFC. Look up cartridge rot/disc rot. All you're doing is driving up the prices. Fuck I hate collectards.
When my father and I ran our store in the 80’s and 90’s. People see a price guide or auction price and assume theirs is worth that $. No dealers will pay between 15 to 40 percent of market. Folks can not take their graded comic into any comic store and get half of what they investigated in it ever. High end auction houses charge the seller at minimum 25% to 40%. They also will charge photographer fees, and catalog fees. I’ve seen in 40 years folks think they got it figured out and when the gavel hits and a month later get their checks. They learn a hard lesson
I bought sealed copies of games I care a lot about (pretty common; Perfect Dark and Final Fantasy IX) that are damaged in some way (dents in boxes, loose discs inside case, etc.) and opening them up. Not like people will like a sealed game at that state, and I get the satisfaction of opening my favorite games as if I bought them at a clearance bin lol
I play my games, but I still want to buy a good looking copy. Sometimes things get damaged in transit or being manhandled on shelves. I bought a copy of "The Wonderful 101" from Target back in say 2013/14. The one the employee pulled out was crushed in (because Wii U game cases are hollow, perferated pieces of shit), so I asked for one that wasn't crushed. Not because I wanted to keep it sealed, but because I was paying for a "new" game, not a damaged one. Having the plastic on it means nothing if the item is damaged anyway.
@@PatTheNESpunk Hi Pat, My name is Shawn, Shawn Surmick. I actually write for 'Antiques and Auction News' and have been active in the trade of art, antiques, and collectibles since the age of 12. I created the channel as a way to educate collectors on how the collectibles trade really works; with a sound understanding of economics and finance. Thanks for the commentary.
Buying new games (and consoles) and keeping them sealed - But not graded - is a good plan I think, especially if you try to make a complete set PLUS all the collectors editions and consoles bundles variation. That's a good "business" idea and you will definitely see a return on investment but getting all this shit graded ... nah
@@ToiletPlugger lol it will be the way to tell if its genuine! lol You're right I bet most pirates will forget to make their cartridges have that "authentic" gagtastic taste.😂
baseball cards are cardboard, video games require a team of investment, development, marketing, production, etc. and incl. artwork, inserts, manuals and carts are masterpieces in themselves as vintage computing technology and circuit board design will never be made again then when our grandkids go digital only, which won't happen with cards, clearly the art value is higher, the demand base incl. kids, females, INTL, etc. and on the supply side there's just no way to produce CIB ever again like the masterpieces made in the 70s/80s...we've dealt cards for 25 yrs. and believe that games offer a much deeper historical art perspective to much larger, wider and global audience over generations...what other piece of art is richer, deeper more historical than a CIB video game from the Golden Age???
I bought one to open and one to keep mint with figures for myself, never for a resale. I just wanted to have the original aesthetic to love later in life and one i could open and enjoy as well. Never once was a resell a thing in my mind when buying 2.
All these two talk about is how video games are “worthless” and won’t be worth anything in the future along with how this hobby is just a giant bubble about to explode. I’ve heard it all yet lately I’ve noticed how games have continued to go up in value, specifically the rare titles. I was at my local game store the other day and saw generic N64 consoles were selling for $100 each. I believe this spike is because of COVID 19 and because this system has become quite popular to collect for. Some of the rarer titles will definitely continue to go up in value and with WATA picking up steam, people will take more notice and consideration of graded sealed/non sealed games for there collections and hold onto them for years to come. I will agree with Ian that grade is everything regarding a price difference between a 9.4 and a 9.6. People will only want the best grade and will pay the most for the highest grade.
Well, free games are taking the world by storm. Also, most people don't care about original hardware these days. Not those watching this channel of course.
The pressing of comics changes everything... I think it will close the gap in prices paid, a good book made it to Amazon and has sold well; people are informed about pressing, way more than ever before. "It's a 9.4, I want a 9.8" buy this, spend the few bucks it costs to have it pressed or press it yourself, get it regraded." People are doing that with golden and silver age comics because you get 6s turned into 7.5-8's or something absurd...
Collecting is like gambling, if you just expect to lose your money at the start, you can have a lot of fun. Also Shaun's channel is great. I was his 7th or 8th sub. I think a lot of people will appreciate avoiding pifalls and not going into debt because of his tough love. He's there to educate and he does it sincerely.
Most people don't want to sell their collectibles when they're actually worth something. They usually hang on to stuff for too long then try to sell it when its worthless. Even if you have something valuable you have to know when to let go of it before it's too late.
I always thought that grading comics and baseball cards was a way to preserve and also a way to see how many of these comics/cards still existed. Or another way to verify if something was genuine or not. For example Action #1. When did this become a way to increase value of the product?
There are no two ways about this: all of the grading services are a complete rip-off. They have tapped into the insanity that is the retro gaming collectors market. We see sealed and/or graded games listed on eBay for thousands and thousands of dollars, but they do not SELL for that amount. Anyone can list anything on eBay or wherever for whatever price they want. Doesn't mean they are 'worth' that price. People need to stop using these grading services. They are a false commodity, fools gold, whatever you want to call it. It's time to stop! [Ben]
What you are saying makes no sense. You don’t care about grading. Awesome. Neither do I. But they don’t hurt anything by merely existing. As you clearly say, the products and will only sell for what others are willing to pay. Is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY For the graders to influence the market. The only way a person would be willing to pay more for a graded product is if they wanted to. And in that case, the grading actually mean something to them. So what is the problem? All modern games are for sale digitally, so there is no scarcity. So what does it matter to you what people who buy physical games do with their copies?
@@JazGalaxy Visit eBay once in a while. Grading companies are clearly influencing the market. It patently obvious. To compound matters, they are a huge rip-off. To say they don't affect the retro gaming collectors scene in terms of pricing is to be wilfully ignorant. I agree with Pat when he says they are trying to inorganically grow the market. The grading companies are doing this, plain as day. [Ben]
If you’re comparing it to the stock market (it seems that you are), then it is a complete gamble, and not a firm investment. You’re the one making poor comparisons, here. Not me. [Ben]
I'm surprised that the people who found the stash of sealed copies of SMT nocturne flooded the market with them. I would have expected them to keep that secret and sell them off one at a time while the value was high to make a huge profit
@@unstoppableExodia Nobody found a stash of the Nocturne games. Gamequestdirect bought the rights to produce reprints of the game as they did with many games from that era. The sealed reprint copies are easily distinguishable from the original printings due to the lack of security features in PS2 games released after the first quarter of 2005 and as a result those copies have never seen a price spike on the secondary market. The same cannot be said for the original printings.
That's why all my shit comes out of the box so I can enjoy them. I saw the fall of comics in the 80s and 90s and you guys are right. Unless there is a limited run special edition of something the companies over produce them and people collect cause they see it as a physical investment further running the value. Sure I like to believe some of my stuff is worth something but my retirement is not being planned by it. If you want something physical to collect that will be worth something 20 years from now go buy some gold. Just don't expect a high return on investment. lol
Even if its limited Investors dont want everything In the area I invest in I always find it funny how the rarest stuff isnt worth more then the stuff everyone had/wanted as a kid
I would also like to see Pat and Ian further discuss this topic on the collecting of Limited Run Games. You know just about everyone buying those keep them sealed. Remindes me of 90s Upper Deck baseball cards.
the mentality some collectors have they need to take to stocks. what would happen if you fond a rare NES game in your attic you forgot you had? how much would you sell it for? i had wal mart stocks i entirely forgot about. it was one of my first jobs and the HR kinda suckered me into buying stocks with every check. i didn't know anything about stocks. then, 8 years later, i started looking into stocks and an adviser saw that i owned some stocks and he was like, you own all these stocks. I sold them and got 3500. plus i got a few hundred in dividends. pretty sweet.
Preemptive collecting is so silly. Like you guys said just invest in the stock market. $60 at 10% (the average return over the entire history of the US stock market) compounded annually over 30 years is $1000
Even if you know the volume is low it doesn't mean anyone wants it. We know for a fact that there are 300,000 copies of Uniracers for the SNES. But it is a fairly cheap game because no one really wants it.
Look at the big picture, 6$ was worth a lot of money when I began working, that was what I won per hour, now, it almost tripled in 20 years. Money value will decrease or increase who knows?
Even for the games that are genuinely gonna be worth something it will require a minimum of five years for the value to appreciate but more often it's 10-20 years where some serious money could be made from such a game. But of course knowing which game will be worth keeping sealed, knowing the size of the production run at the time when they're most available is difficult
The comic comparison for modern comics is very applicable. I see it in the coin world too. Most modern coins are minted in large numbers, (with some exceptions as in anything). Grading in coins is weird going from 1-70 with 70 being perfect. When sending off a proof coin it usually will come back as a 69, which is a beautiful flawless coin to the naked eye. But it means under magnification graders saw some tiny imperfection and could not give it a perfect 70 grade. So a 69 is average, trash whatever and a 70 is really all that matters to modern collectors and it's where the premium value is on the coin.
Comic books are meant to be read, stamps are meant to be used to send mail, and action figures meant to be played with, why the hell would anyone preserve them in mint condition? Said none of you, ever. Yet, criticizing people collecting video games encased in its condition somehow is different.
I agree. Collecting games for investment purpose is a fools errand. The only reason you should collect is if it makes you happy and enjoy it. Personally, I collect sealed Hardened Editions of Call of Duty. Not because I think they will be worth something....but because I really like the franchise and I get personal satisfaction from them/remembering playing them. And yes, I can pop in the copy of the regular edition anytime I want. Would never consider grading them? No. If I plan to sell them then it’s prolly worth what someone is willing to pay.
*I'm backing all my favorite games by digital roms, because Cartridges and Discs will eventually naturally decompose, as all things do.* *Got two Nes, Snes, NeoGeo Minis, a Sega Mini, and a Hacked Phat PS2 Harddrive to play with for decades to come*
Real Awesome Network I just can’t imagine ever wanting to go back to anything from the PS 2 era. That was the dawn of the franchise era where everything on the market now it’s just a better version of everything that was on the market then. I know people love the PS two but I must have played all the run game is because I hate it. It’s the worst consul I ever purchased.
@@JazGalaxy Spiderman 2 is still playable. RE4 is still good. Gran Turismo 3 and 4 are still good. The original Just Cause, Red Dead Revolver, Tony Hawk, GTA3 era games.... lots of them are definitely best left as memories. The original just cause now feels almost like playing Turok on the n64. Floaty annoying uselessness.
Next up, scumbag seller makes fake labels for your graded games. With enough demand, we'll have plenty of scumbags trying to cheat collectors out of their money. The problem when you flood the market with a million fakes, is people become very uncertain about genuine items, and/or lose interest and go for something else instead.
I also wouldn't forget the time I was at a few Anime and Comic conventions, saw a few sellers were selling graded sealed video games and I was questioning if this was worth buying or not.
This isn't true for everything. Idk about games and comics, but pokemon cards for example, some recent well graded cards have gone up very well lately. Granted something is up with pokemon lately, but we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
iirc with nocturne the “first print” run of the game came with a soundtrack, and they reprinted the game without the soundtracks. I just remember seeing them come back into circulation new on play asia way back in the day.
There are original printings of Nocturne both with and without the soundtrack. Sealed copies of the reprint are identifiable by the missing security strip.
Let me put it to you this way: I just seen a copy of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out sealed, (not even graded sell for 12 thousand+) Who in there right mind would open it and play it now, huh? A fucking idiot who just lost out on 12 G's, that's who kid! Lol.. It's called Money!!! That's why they stay sealed. They majority get passed around for profit, while other copies end up on display shelves in collectors man caves.
I agree with Damage. This is the owners personal property and can do whatever they want, nobody else’s opinion matters. If someone with more disposable cash wants it, they can pony up what they feel it’s worth. It’s always broke mo fo’s who complain it can’t be played or they can’t own a copy. Tough shit. I’d love to have a gold NWC but outside my price range and I have to live with it - and it’s not hard to keep living knowing I don’t have one.
The SECOND people are buying items as an 'investment' means they have missed the boat entirely. Graded comics up to the late 80's in comics are valuable because NO ONE bagged and boarded them. They were read and thrown out. The second people started buying multiple #1's and variables for 'investment' and baseball cars as an investment and not a hobby, each crashed. It is happening with games now. Older ones increase in value because no one was buying them and saving the boxes and keeping them in pristine condition. They were bought to be played, not collected. Now that people are buying games to collect, the ship has sailed.
I love this conversation. I think the new 'find' for game collectors will be finding sealed or great CIB games from the older gen. I definitely agree that buying a new sealed copy to keep isn't the way to go, though I'm guilty of that as well (e.g., Mario Switch Releases).
I work at a casino. It's clear people in general think they are original and smart and deserving and they are gonna score. They generally do not. There is a big reason the Poker Craze ended. Lots of people discovered they weren't the next TV Star.
It's really that Daredevil: Fall From Grace was unreadable crap of no consequence. New Mutants 98 was more or less readable crap that happened to introduce Deadpool.
Speculation is based on the idea that in the future someone is going to pay more for something than you did. Which means that for it to be profitable, it needs to be rare. If large numbers of people are buying the same thing as you, how rare will that thing be? If you want to invest, you are better buying real estate or shares of a business. Something that will actually make money for you passively.
Bank statement loans yo... that is the otherside of this; if everybody buying physical games believes they can retire off bankstatement loans selling retro ps4 games in 2050... that may cause a hilarious market saturation for decades; would be lol; "Games are too expensive in 2040! We hate buying old games on physical media but we have too! They're all $1-$5 at Gamestop vs $40 on the psn store!" Get it, retro ps4 games will be $40 on the psn store because the convenience of downloading ps4 games will beat out having to use a disc based gaming system, to the point Gamestop has to undercut digital download to stay in business. Gamestop future logo, "Keep it retro, chill out with disc based downloads and game data installs like it's 2015. Turtle power" or something
Things that become valuable are the things that most people used & threw away. When they were new, nobody was buying NES & SNES games as a future investment. They were children's playthings. The boxes were opened & discarded, & the games were played. Now that everyone has a "collector" mentality, there's tons of new stuff being saved. It's never going to be as valuable as the old games, just like new comics, cards, & toys will never be as valuable as the vintage stuff. Just ask all the speculators who were buying up 1990's baseball cards & comics if they've been able to retire & build their mansions yet.
I ran into situations like this when I worked in a video game store all the time. One which stands out the most is when Rodea: The Sky Soldier was released for the Wii U. We got some copies in; not a lot, but more that some other games. I bought a copy, but then a few weeks went by and we still had two or three remaining. A guy came into the shop, walked straight to the counter, and asked if we had a copy of it. I was like "Sure. I'm glad to see someone buy a game like this. I got my copy day one." And the guy responded with "Oh I'm not going to play it, I'm buying it because it won't sell a lot and it'll be worth a lot in the future." As he said that I rang the game through the till, and the last thing I said was "If you think this will be worth a fortune in years to come don't be shocked if it isn't, because there will be thousands of other people all thinking and doing the same as you."
I don't even think any serious Wii U collector thinks a game like Rodea will be worth *anything* in the future....that guy's logic is...flawed, to put it nicely.
I never thought of buying games as some sort of investment, but the concept of grading games and companies like limted run convinced me to stop collecting. I buy a game I want and I play it now.
I agree with Pat partially. I disagree with his timeline and would say a lot of gaming stuff in the 90's is very collectible and sees good returns today, but that's because very few people collected games then like they do today. It wasn't seen as an "investment" or even a collectible by most gamers. We tossed our game boxes and cases, beat them up and used them as intended which is why good examples and even complete copies have value today. Same thing as comics...kids read and abused those books in the 40's, 50's and 60's so there's not many great condition books from those eras. Now, they're worth a fortune. That won't happen with comics from the 80's onward because comics were highly collectible by then. We took care of them and now, there's a ton of comics in great shape from those eras. It'll be very interesting to see what the future of this side of game collecting looks like in the next 10 years.
The problem is that when you look at which 8- and 16-bit games are worth big money now, it's generally the ones that nobody gave two shits about at the time - which is precisely why they're scarce now. If every fool is buying two copies and slabbing one, that a lot of copies out there, increasing the eventual second-hand supply. The actual valuable games are the ones that you can't/couldn't find easily or are uninteresting etc. To use the thumbnail as example, imagine a Mario game that will EVER be worth more than its original asking price (not including that purposely-inflated original SMB).
Just some food for thought: While a lot of modern collectibles may not be worth money 30 years on because of the number that were saved by speculators, who can really say that some of it might not be worth something in 60 years once many of those saved copies are ultimately discarded due to being worthless? I'm not saying that will happen, but it certainly seems within the realm of plausibility. That said, if you have serious money to invest, collectibles of any time seem like a terrible investment all the way around.
the presenters are confusing "seal" grades with "box" grades, because a 9.4 v 9.6 v 9.8 is only about the box via WATA, so the correction is that the A v A+ v A++ "seal" grade is what should have been mentioned around 9:30
Well try buy new or even just a copy of the orginal Pokemon Soul Silver game. Im from poland finding any copy here is just rare at itself but buying orginal good condition is like 2x orginal price for new copy back on relase day.
I bought brand new copies of Persona 3 and 4 bundled together for $30 CAD directly from Atlus via Amazon a couple years ago. I was surprised that I could buy new copies of these games so many years after they've come out, but I guess PS2 games are easy to print or something idk
I bought a #1 collectors edition foil cover of Warlock Chronicles thinking it'd be worth a lot. I think it was my first comic? Lost it. Got a replacement in the $0.50 bin a few years ago!
As one of the biggest sealed game collectors (who doesn't grade for various reasons), I would say collecting modern-era games is pointless, primarily because the games are not being released as complete finished games. Games are often broken or incomplete, often requiring multiple patches from day one! Anything from the last two generations is a waste of time grading as you have to consider the potential future functionality of that item (even if it is intended to remain sealed). Likewise, wine collectors may never intend on drinking a vintage bottle of wine will still want that wine to be drinkable if so chosen. Nintendo is often the safest investment, as their quality control is much higher, and those are the titles that future generations are going to want to collect. I have always been against grading as I think it ruined the hobby of collecting sealed mint games, but I also agree that people grading modern games and shovelware are essentially wasting their time and making the service slower for those grading NES / SNES / N64 / PS1 games.
It's horrible in the sense that it's such an unsure investment. The market of people who want to own much less purchase "graded" and sealed games is so small. Having a standard sealed copy of a few of your favorite games is pretty common place/normal for people who are a bit more into collection, I think that's rather widely accepted. But, even so, if you're buying said game for the """value""" the value is extremely unstable because the core value of any game is that you can play it and it's an enjoyable experience. Most people won't want even a regular sealed copy for that very reason. There's also no guarantee of a price for a graded game holding up over time. Pat has said it before in these discussions but grading sealed games isn't as well established and useful as grading comics because there's different standards. Just don't do
It's mind boggling to me that people would have their games graded and sealed away in those containers. I would never want to buy a game that's forever sealed away in a plastic casing...
Also newer games are incomplete without dlc or online updates, or otherwise digitally downloadable. It's not exactly the same as when you could buy a cart and it's the actual playable game. That kinda devalues the games.
The reason why old sealed copies of games are collectible and worth money is kids didn’t buy a game for a investment. You opened and played it. So finding a sealed game is rare. Nowadays everyone sees this trend and thinks I’ll buy these games and 30 years later they’ll be worth so much money. It won’t be the same. That goes with all collectibles. If everyone kept the first Superman it wouldn’t be worth what it is today. Nowadays everyone keeps the comics.
Just found out my copy of job simulator VR for the PS4 is worth a hundred bucks now. I'm sure that's bound to change if I ever decide to sell it ( and who knows if that'll ever happen because that game is so much fun). My two cents is that buying something as popular and prevalent as Luigi's Mansion is obviously silly. I am not aware of any Mario games that are worth exorbitant prices (with 1 or 2 exceptions). Anybody planning on collecting for a value increase should be looking at limited print items that aren't labeled as such. I'm specifically talking about indie games, unusual games, and or games that are not attached to overly popular characters or franchises. I feel that this would at least give you some kind of chance for the item to increase in value. When you get down to the heart of the matter, it still ends up being gambling anyway. Stocks that pay dividends seem like a safer bet at that point. Edit: anything rated a D minus or less seems to increase in value as well. Looks like I need to find a copy of Ride to Hell: Retribution now.
I’ve collected Nintendo Switch systems and have every North American release so far. I figure because of the price of the special edition systems new far less people will be able to collect them helping to protect the value. What do you think?
Grading games in general is a moot point imo A new, sealed copy of a game that isnt graded is still worth a decent amount. And it hasnt been 20 years+ on from modern games for us to make the statement that any game bought sealed will be worthless Super mario bros, one of the most common NES games, is worth money sealed, and not even graded. Who's to say games like BOTW sealed wont be worth anything? We don't know yet
Investing in video games or anything collectible is not really an investment and more of arbitrage, deal in the collectibles market for a quick flip to make a buck, but collectibles are not typically a good buy and hold strategy for a return on investment. Not only is there no guarantee they will be worth more in the future, they create zero cash-flow, or dividend payouts. Use index funds and rental properties for investment vehicles and collect video games or any other collectible because you enjoy having them and you enjoy the thrill of the hunt not for a long term return.
I PARTIALLY agree with you... But imagine buying a game that someone valorates it enough to pay 50k for it. Value of things are - as you well said - arbitrage... Imagine being a christian and paying for a bible signed by the pope... to me, it would still be worthless, to someone chirstian it would be MUCH more valauble and if it happens to have the cash and love it they might buy it.
Wait... You mean my sealed copy of dragon warrior I got for free for subscribing to Nintendo Power isn't worth a hundred bucks yet?! The hell you say! Surf Wisely.
i will still collect games but as always ill be collecting only the games that ill play i wont be buying any graded game if its in a sealed box its worthless because you cant play it.. i may at some point start only buying games with the manual
Investing in those normal case games doesn' t make much sense, but investing in limited edition consoles does. Try to find a brand new sealed Wii 25th Anniversary console somewhere... There are none. Maybe no one wants them or everyone is keeping them, who knows.
with Corona hitting anything like this is a horrible investment. maybe the big games like mario, zelda, final fantasy will be sought after but everything else will be too niche for gamers to care about.
The people that make money on graded stuff crash their market all the time. I buy graded comics off people who make huge returns off a few comics and just are building cash. You can pick up modern comics for way less than it'd cost to ship to cgc to cbcs. Sealed games on black friday is probably a smart buy tho... I'm not holding any significant sealed collection tho, not interested. 9.4 can be cracked and pressed to a 9.8 now.. among modern comics made today
thank you guys for demystifying the collecting of video games cause a lot of people use some very flawed logic to get themselves to start when the reality is investing in this is just not a good idea for all the reasons you guys listed here
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Half of the "Hub Bubb" about the 8 bit era systems are that as kids, we basically all lusted after NES games. Good ones, bad ones, mediocre ones.... NES was the benchmark for home video gaming quality for many years, a significant number for those of us that were 6 to 10 at the time.
There isn't the same dominance now with one of the current systems. There's much more choice of software than ever before, and the attachment isn't going to be to the software delivery methods, as so much of current and previous gen is digital downloads. 30 years from now, no 38 year old is going to want to own all the disc games for the ps4.
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Pat the NES Punk yeah, but like, here's the thing... if you are rational, there are literally billions of people in their youth, around the world, and eBay is a thing; so, not to unrealistic to pick up a sealed copy of Kingdom Hearts 3 for $15 and think, eh, in 15-20 years, this may sell for $50, at least. Inflation would just be $3-$7 so you'd have been smart if you were just looking to unload 1 or 2 on ebay; talking 20 years from now mind you. Also, Diamonds are not a scarce item, it's those who hold the diamond reserves and mines who make them such...(this was a question answered by high school students, on cnbc, during an economics bee championship thing) lots of new people being born, at alarming numbers. EBay is international, would expect game collector market to expand, not decline; everybody laughed at nes collectors back in thelate 90s to, mind you. Funcoland dollar bins are legendary today, right? Those games suck in retrospect, despite their nostalgia champions on youtube; we just need those games cause our brains developed on them.
I think it is a waste of time. Throw your money into the stock market or savings account.
Pat the NES Punk hey Pat! I figured you would be the guy to ask. I came across locally in the wild a Sharp Nes TV, it came from an old novelty store in the 80s and I wondered if you knew much about this? How many sold, price at release, rarity and value? Also, do you have an old video talking about it? I tried to find it. Thanks again man!
During the gold rush prospectors rarely got rich. The retailers selling supplies where the people getting rich. (Fixed typo)
Yeah, those cathouses were loaded
A term that was popular was "The only rich people in Dawson were the people who mined the miners"
@NotAPolarBear Uh dude just go read up on something like the Klondike gold rush....I think you'll understand then.
Great comment. And you can use that analogy anywhere where there are people with addictive personalities and a lot of money.
@NotAPolarBear People going to Dawson had to carry supplies so they had enough to survive, and when they got there many people made shops instead of becoming miners as the miners would bring the gold to them to spend, since there was not much competition at first and people needed food and such they made a mint.
I'm sure in 76 years a factory sealed copy of Fallout 76 will be worth $4
Missed a chance to say $0.76
Since the servers will not be running I assume it will be worth nothing.
I was gifted that game on black friday and still won't install it lol
You're being way too generous.
@El-ahrairah
@ 7600 hours
A good way to look at investing, if everyone’s talking about getting rich, most the big money has probably already been made.
Lenny Wright only people getting rich are the grading companies
That was certainly true when I was collecting comics back in the 90s. So many people buying multiple copies of first issues and variant covers and whatnot, thinking they'd sell them and retire in twenty years. Glad I didn't get sucked into that. I just bought them because i was actually interested in reading them.
Not true bought some sealed games just a few months ago and i am selling them for thousands
Yes. Video games should be played, not sealed and seen as investments. JFC it's this stupid crap that is killing the hobby for me.
It makes no sense to see it as being one or the other. This is a medium that is infinitely duplicable. What is being preserved has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the media that surrounds the game. The game is already playable infinitely and will always be.
Can you explain how does a guy who keeps a sealed copy of a game you play kill the hobby of playing games for you?
@@ThatDjinn My problem lies more with assholes who buy up every copy of an out of print game just to pigeon hold the market.
For many people the fun of the hobby isn't just about playing the game, its about the ritual of owning said game, popping it in, and using the original hardware/software, possibly even enjoying the nostalgia associated with it. Folks who snatch up everything and trickle out sales of these otherwise sufficiently produced games fuck everyone over.
Its nothing illegal or immoral, its just an incredibly shithead thing to do, and anyone who has a favorite hobby whose experienced that can easily relate.
You think your copy is being preserved because it's in a shrinkwrap? JFC. Look up cartridge rot/disc rot. All you're doing is driving up the prices. Fuck I hate collectards.
Yes, but that's true of any collect able and/or consumer product. You can't control what other people buy or what they do with it once they do.
I don’t like when people say “it’s their money, they can do whatever they want with it” sure I agree but I’m still going to criticize you.
That's how I feel about people who spend their money on weed then say they never have any money
When my father and I ran our store in the 80’s and 90’s. People see a price guide or auction price and assume theirs is worth that $. No dealers will pay between 15 to 40 percent of market. Folks can not take their graded comic into any comic store and get half of what they investigated in it ever. High end auction houses charge the seller at minimum 25% to 40%. They also will charge photographer fees, and catalog fees. I’ve seen in 40 years folks think they got it figured out and when the gavel hits and a month later get their checks. They learn a hard lesson
I bought sealed copies of games I care a lot about (pretty common; Perfect Dark and Final Fantasy IX) that are damaged in some way (dents in boxes, loose discs inside case, etc.) and opening them up. Not like people will like a sealed game at that state, and I get the satisfaction of opening my favorite games as if I bought them at a clearance bin lol
"No rush, 6 month backlog", hmm... seems like investing in grading companies may be the answer.
I play my games, but I still want to buy a good looking copy. Sometimes things get damaged in transit or being manhandled on shelves. I bought a copy of "The Wonderful 101" from Target back in say 2013/14. The one the employee pulled out was crushed in (because Wii U game cases are hollow, perferated pieces of shit), so I asked for one that wasn't crushed. Not because I wanted to keep it sealed, but because I was paying for a "new" game, not a damaged one. Having the plastic on it means nothing if the item is damaged anyway.
Im so glad all those internet trolls finally disappeared.....I applaud Pat for ignoring them and moving on till they jumped to the next thing
There is no true rarity anymore. Everything is mass produced and anything that is "rare" is made that way artificially. Stop buying into the meme
I've got a Jaws novel signed by the trio so I disagree ;)
Buy the dip
That's why First Print/Batch of anything is important.
Gee Pat, couldn't you at least have me get you a better pic of myself? That screen shot of me was horrible! LOL... ;)
I thought it represented you well! Btw, what is your actual name?
@@PatTheNESpunk Hi Pat, My name is Shawn, Shawn Surmick. I actually write for 'Antiques and Auction News' and have been active in the trade of art, antiques, and collectibles since the age of 12. I created the channel as a way to educate collectors on how the collectibles trade really works; with a sound understanding of economics and finance. Thanks for the commentary.
Buying new games (and consoles) and keeping them sealed - But not graded - is a good plan I think, especially if you try to make a complete set PLUS all the collectors editions and consoles bundles variation. That's a good "business" idea and you will definitely see a return on investment but getting all this shit graded ... nah
Researching sealed video games, and man this video ended up being a cooooooold take
Seems like it's early game for this stuff I have hope this is the only beginning. And it will get better.
How the hell do you even grade a Switch game? Do they judge it by the quality of the cellophane .
The taste of the cartridge
@@ToiletPlugger lol it will be the way to tell if its genuine! lol You're right I bet most pirates will forget to make their cartridges have that "authentic" gagtastic taste.😂
The AVGN movie sequel will be the nerd teaming up with Pat and Ian finding the rumored burial plot of sealed Luigi's mansion games.
Thanks Pat for teaching me the pavlovian response every time I hear the word limited now.
A copy of god of war ps2 wata rated sold for $10,000 so i am a little confused by the video
If the grading company is backup for 6 months then you know that everyone had the same idea. Its going to be like 90s baseball cards.
Exactly
Danny Lopez it’s not that crazy...they barely have any employees hence the backlog but yeah WATA is a mess
I wonder if the company being backed up isnt part of their business model
baseball cards are cardboard, video games require
a team of investment, development, marketing, production, etc.
and incl. artwork, inserts, manuals and carts are masterpieces in themselves
as vintage computing technology and circuit board design will never be made again
then when our grandkids go digital only, which won't happen with cards, clearly
the art value is higher, the demand base incl. kids, females, INTL, etc. and
on the supply side there's just no way to produce CIB ever again like
the masterpieces made in the 70s/80s...we've dealt cards for 25 yrs.
and believe that games offer a much deeper historical art perspective
to much larger, wider and global audience over generations...what other
piece of art is richer, deeper more historical than a CIB video game from the Golden Age???
Yeah and sports cards are higher than ever now
Thank you for turning me on to "Reserved Investments." I've subscribed, and from what I've gleaned of previous videos, I cannot wait for what is next!
I bought one to open and one to keep mint with figures for myself, never for a resale. I just wanted to have the original aesthetic to love later in life and one i could open and enjoy as well. Never once was a resell a thing in my mind when buying 2.
Good for you. Unfortunately not everyone feels that way. I just open it and go. If I really like something I keep the box to store it in for later.
@@loganholmberg2295 I get that absolutely. My "double buy" games are very very small. Not every game makes that cut.
All these two talk about is how video games are “worthless” and won’t be worth anything in the future along with how this hobby is just a giant bubble about to explode. I’ve heard it all yet lately I’ve noticed how games have continued to go up in value, specifically the rare titles. I was at my local game store the other day and saw generic N64 consoles were selling for $100 each. I believe this spike is because of COVID 19 and because this system has become quite popular to collect for. Some of the rarer titles will definitely continue to go up in value and with WATA picking up steam, people will take more notice and consideration of graded sealed/non sealed games for there collections and hold onto them for years to come. I will agree with Ian that grade is everything regarding a price difference between a 9.4 and a 9.6. People will only want the best grade and will pay the most for the highest grade.
Well, free games are taking the world by storm. Also, most people don't care about original hardware these days. Not those watching this channel of course.
The pressing of comics changes everything... I think it will close the gap in prices paid, a good book made it to Amazon and has sold well; people are informed about pressing, way more than ever before. "It's a 9.4, I want a 9.8" buy this, spend the few bucks it costs to have it pressed or press it yourself, get it regraded." People are doing that with golden and silver age comics because you get 6s turned into 7.5-8's or something absurd...
Even if you buy a $60 game that turns into a $500 a decade later. That's a $44 a year return.. .I spend that on tic-tacs in a year.
Collecting is like gambling, if you just expect to lose your money at the start, you can have a lot of fun.
Also Shaun's channel is great. I was his 7th or 8th sub. I think a lot of people will appreciate avoiding pifalls and not going into debt because of his tough love. He's there to educate and he does it sincerely.
Startyde what’s the name of this other guys channel that talking about investing
Most people don't want to sell their collectibles when they're actually worth something. They usually hang on to stuff for too long then try to sell it when its worthless. Even if you have something valuable you have to know when to let go of it before it's too late.
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
I always thought that grading comics and baseball cards was a way to preserve and also a way to see how many of these comics/cards still existed. Or another way to verify if something was genuine or not. For example Action #1. When did this become a way to increase value of the product?
i have said this before and im saying it again a sealed game could be a total fake. you have no way of knowing unless you open it.
They need to x-ray to confirm
There are no two ways about this: all of the grading services are a complete rip-off. They have tapped into the insanity that is the retro gaming collectors market. We see sealed and/or graded games listed on eBay for thousands and thousands of dollars, but they do not SELL for that amount. Anyone can list anything on eBay or wherever for whatever price they want. Doesn't mean they are 'worth' that price. People need to stop using these grading services. They are a false commodity, fools gold, whatever you want to call it. It's time to stop! [Ben]
@El-ahrairah Making it a complete gamble. May as well just put your life savings on 7 black. [Ben]
What you are saying makes no sense. You don’t care about grading. Awesome. Neither do I. But they don’t hurt anything by merely existing. As you clearly say, the products and will only sell for what others are willing to pay. Is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY For the graders to influence the market. The only way a person would be willing to pay more for a graded product is if they wanted to. And in that case, the grading actually mean something to them. So what is the problem?
All modern games are for sale digitally, so there is no scarcity. So what does it matter to you what people who buy physical games do with their copies?
@@JazGalaxy Visit eBay once in a while. Grading companies are clearly influencing the market. It patently obvious. To compound matters, they are a huge rip-off. To say they don't affect the retro gaming collectors scene in terms of pricing is to be wilfully ignorant. I agree with Pat when he says they are trying to inorganically grow the market. The grading companies are doing this, plain as day. [Ben]
If you’re comparing it to the stock market (it seems that you are), then it is a complete gamble, and not a firm investment. You’re the one making poor comparisons, here. Not me. [Ben]
I’m just saying that graded games isn’t a worthy investment, but thanks for the added entertainment. You’ve been brilliant 😂
I’m so glad those PS2 SMT games didn’t get expensive, I got all of them for like $10-15 each a couple years ago.
I'm surprised that the people who found the stash of sealed copies of SMT nocturne flooded the market with them. I would have expected them to keep that secret and sell them off one at a time while the value was high to make a huge profit
@@unstoppableExodia Nobody found a stash of the Nocturne games. Gamequestdirect bought the rights to produce reprints of the game as they did with many games from that era. The sealed reprint copies are easily distinguishable from the original printings due to the lack of security features in PS2 games released after the first quarter of 2005 and as a result those copies have never seen a price spike on the secondary market. The same cannot be said for the original printings.
Good one. Check out the value today.
That's why all my shit comes out of the box so I can enjoy them. I saw the fall of comics in the 80s and 90s and you guys are right. Unless there is a limited run special edition of something the companies over produce them and people collect cause they see it as a physical investment further running the value. Sure I like to believe some of my stuff is worth something but my retirement is not being planned by it. If you want something physical to collect that will be worth something 20 years from now go buy some gold. Just don't expect a high return on investment. lol
Even if its limited
Investors dont want everything
In the area I invest in I always find it funny how the rarest stuff isnt worth more then the stuff everyone had/wanted as a kid
I would also like to see Pat and Ian further discuss this topic on the collecting of Limited Run Games. You know just about everyone buying those keep them sealed. Remindes me of 90s Upper Deck baseball cards.
i've bought most of the vita games from them and a few ps4/switch games and ive opened and played them all lol
Oh no, now what will I do with my 9.4 WATA graded Wii Fit?
Give it to me
the mentality some collectors have they need to take to stocks. what would happen if you fond a rare NES game in your attic you forgot you had? how much would you sell it for? i had wal mart stocks i entirely forgot about. it was one of my first jobs and the HR kinda suckered me into buying stocks with every check. i didn't know anything about stocks. then, 8 years later, i started looking into stocks and an adviser saw that i owned some stocks and he was like, you own all these stocks. I sold them and got 3500. plus i got a few hundred in dividends. pretty sweet.
Preemptive collecting is so silly. Like you guys said just invest in the stock market. $60 at 10% (the average return over the entire history of the US stock market) compounded annually over 30 years is $1000
Even if you know the volume is low it doesn't mean anyone wants it. We know for a fact that there are 300,000 copies of Uniracers for the SNES. But it is a fairly cheap game because no one really wants it.
Look at the big picture, 6$ was worth a lot of money when I began working, that was what I won per hour, now, it almost tripled in 20 years. Money value will decrease or increase who knows?
Even for the games that are genuinely gonna be worth something it will require a minimum of five years for the value to appreciate but more often it's 10-20 years where some serious money could be made from such a game. But of course knowing which game will be worth keeping sealed, knowing the size of the production run at the time when they're most available is difficult
The comic comparison for modern comics is very applicable. I see it in the coin world too. Most modern coins are minted in large numbers, (with some exceptions as in anything). Grading in coins is weird going from 1-70 with 70 being perfect. When sending off a proof coin it usually will come back as a 69, which is a beautiful flawless coin to the naked eye. But it means under magnification graders saw some tiny imperfection and could not give it a perfect 70 grade. So a 69 is average, trash whatever and a 70 is really all that matters to modern collectors and it's where the premium value is on the coin.
Comic books are meant to be read, stamps are meant to be used to send mail, and action figures meant to be played with, why the hell would anyone preserve them in mint condition? Said none of you, ever. Yet, criticizing people collecting video games encased in its condition somehow is different.
these two women have no idea what there saying this is a useless podcast...
My steam account is sealed, is it worth anything?
I agree. Collecting games for investment purpose is a fools errand. The only reason you should collect is if it makes you happy and enjoy it. Personally, I collect sealed Hardened Editions of Call of Duty. Not because I think they will be worth something....but because I really like the franchise and I get personal satisfaction from them/remembering playing them. And yes, I can pop in the copy of the regular edition anytime I want. Would never consider grading them? No. If I plan to sell them then it’s prolly worth what someone is willing to pay.
As a general rule any sort of collectible that's marketed as an investment is a horrible investment.
*I'm backing all my favorite games by digital roms, because Cartridges and Discs will eventually naturally decompose, as all things do.*
*Got two Nes, Snes, NeoGeo Minis, a Sega Mini, and a Hacked Phat PS2 Harddrive to play with for decades to come*
Real Awesome Network I just can’t imagine ever wanting to go back to anything from the PS 2 era. That was the dawn of the franchise era where everything on the market now it’s just a better version of everything that was on the market then. I know people love the PS two but I must have played all the run game is because I hate it. It’s the worst consul I ever purchased.
@@JazGalaxy Spiderman 2 is still playable. RE4 is still good. Gran Turismo 3 and 4 are still good.
The original Just Cause, Red Dead Revolver, Tony Hawk, GTA3 era games.... lots of them are definitely best left as memories. The original just cause now feels almost like playing Turok on the n64. Floaty annoying uselessness.
Next up, scumbag seller makes fake labels for your graded games. With enough demand, we'll have plenty of scumbags trying to cheat collectors out of their money. The problem when you flood the market with a million fakes, is people become very uncertain about genuine items, and/or lose interest and go for something else instead.
They should just donate those games to a Humble Museum.
Lol, hi Johnny.
I also wouldn't forget the time I was at a few Anime and Comic conventions, saw a few sellers were selling graded sealed video games and I was questioning if this was worth buying or not.
This isn't true for everything. Idk about games and comics, but pokemon cards for example, some recent well graded cards have gone up very well lately. Granted something is up with pokemon lately, but we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
I trip out and all the Switch collectors. A ton of people are collecting for them. Some thinking it will be worth something
iirc with nocturne the “first print” run of the game came with a soundtrack, and they reprinted the game without the soundtracks. I just remember seeing them come back into circulation new on play asia way back in the day.
There are original printings of Nocturne both with and without the soundtrack. Sealed copies of the reprint are identifiable by the missing security strip.
I don’t understand sealed collector’s what’s the use?
Let me put it to you this way: I just seen a copy of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out sealed, (not even graded sell for 12 thousand+) Who in there right mind would open it and play it now, huh? A fucking idiot who just lost out on 12 G's, that's who kid! Lol.. It's called Money!!! That's why they stay sealed. They majority get passed around for profit, while other copies end up on display shelves in collectors man caves.
I agree with Damage. This is the owners personal property and can do whatever they want, nobody else’s opinion matters. If someone with more disposable cash wants it, they can pony up what they feel it’s worth.
It’s always broke mo fo’s who complain it can’t be played or they can’t own a copy. Tough shit. I’d love to have a gold NWC but outside my price range and I have to live with it - and it’s not hard to keep living knowing I don’t have one.
The SECOND people are buying items as an 'investment' means they have missed the boat entirely.
Graded comics up to the late 80's in comics are valuable because NO ONE bagged and boarded them. They were read and thrown out.
The second people started buying multiple #1's and variables for 'investment' and baseball cars as an investment and not a hobby, each crashed.
It is happening with games now. Older ones increase in value because no one was buying them and saving the boxes and keeping them in pristine condition. They were bought to be played, not collected. Now that people are buying games to collect, the ship has sailed.
I love this conversation. I think the new 'find' for game collectors will be finding sealed or great CIB games from the older gen. I definitely agree that buying a new sealed copy to keep isn't the way to go, though I'm guilty of that as well (e.g., Mario Switch Releases).
So your saying I should cancel my bid on a 9.6 graded Madden 07???
I work at a casino. It's clear people in general think they are original and smart and deserving and they are gonna score. They generally do not. There is a big reason the Poker Craze ended. Lots of people discovered they weren't the next TV Star.
It's really that Daredevil: Fall From Grace was unreadable crap of no consequence. New Mutants 98 was more or less readable crap that happened to introduce Deadpool.
Speculation is based on the idea that in the future someone is going to pay more for something than you did. Which means that for it to be profitable, it needs to be rare. If large numbers of people are buying the same thing as you, how rare will that thing be? If you want to invest, you are better buying real estate or shares of a business. Something that will actually make money for you passively.
Bank statement loans yo... that is the otherside of this; if everybody buying physical games believes they can retire off bankstatement loans selling retro ps4 games in 2050... that may cause a hilarious market saturation for decades; would be lol; "Games are too expensive in 2040! We hate buying old games on physical media but we have too! They're all $1-$5 at Gamestop vs $40 on the psn store!" Get it, retro ps4 games will be $40 on the psn store because the convenience of downloading ps4 games will beat out having to use a disc based gaming system, to the point Gamestop has to undercut digital download to stay in business. Gamestop future logo, "Keep it retro, chill out with disc based downloads and game data installs like it's 2015. Turtle power" or something
Things that become valuable are the things that most people used & threw away. When they were new, nobody was buying NES & SNES games as a future investment. They were children's playthings. The boxes were opened & discarded, & the games were played. Now that everyone has a "collector" mentality, there's tons of new stuff being saved. It's never going to be as valuable as the old games, just like new comics, cards, & toys will never be as valuable as the vintage stuff. Just ask all the speculators who were buying up 1990's baseball cards & comics if they've been able to retire & build their mansions yet.
I have a Todd Mcfarlane Spider-Man #1 in the original packaging
I ran into situations like this when I worked in a video game store all the time. One which stands out the most is when Rodea: The Sky Soldier was released for the Wii U.
We got some copies in; not a lot, but more that some other games. I bought a copy, but then a few weeks went by and we still had two or three remaining. A guy came into the shop, walked straight to the counter, and asked if we had a copy of it. I was like "Sure. I'm glad to see someone buy a game like this. I got my copy day one." And the guy responded with "Oh I'm not going to play it, I'm buying it because it won't sell a lot and it'll be worth a lot in the future."
As he said that I rang the game through the till, and the last thing I said was "If you think this will be worth a fortune in years to come don't be shocked if it isn't, because there will be thousands of other people all thinking and doing the same as you."
I don't even think any serious Wii U collector thinks a game like Rodea will be worth *anything* in the future....that guy's logic is...flawed, to put it nicely.
I never thought of buying games as some sort of investment, but the concept of grading games and companies like limted run convinced me to stop collecting. I buy a game I want and I play it now.
"He's not the only one" 13:13 LOL PAT :'D
I agree with Pat partially. I disagree with his timeline and would say a lot of gaming stuff in the 90's is very collectible and sees good returns today, but that's because very few people collected games then like they do today. It wasn't seen as an "investment" or even a collectible by most gamers. We tossed our game boxes and cases, beat them up and used them as intended which is why good examples and even complete copies have value today.
Same thing as comics...kids read and abused those books in the 40's, 50's and 60's so there's not many great condition books from those eras. Now, they're worth a fortune. That won't happen with comics from the 80's onward because comics were highly collectible by then. We took care of them and now, there's a ton of comics in great shape from those eras. It'll be very interesting to see what the future of this side of game collecting looks like in the next 10 years.
The problem is that when you look at which 8- and 16-bit games are worth big money now, it's generally the ones that nobody gave two shits about at the time - which is precisely why they're scarce now. If every fool is buying two copies and slabbing one, that a lot of copies out there, increasing the eventual second-hand supply. The actual valuable games are the ones that you can't/couldn't find easily or are uninteresting etc. To use the thumbnail as example, imagine a Mario game that will EVER be worth more than its original asking price (not including that purposely-inflated original SMB).
Just some food for thought:
While a lot of modern collectibles may not be worth money 30 years on because of the number that were saved by speculators, who can really say that some of it might not be worth something in 60 years once many of those saved copies are ultimately discarded due to being worthless?
I'm not saying that will happen, but it certainly seems within the realm of plausibility.
That said, if you have serious money to invest, collectibles of any time seem like a terrible investment all the way around.
the presenters are confusing "seal" grades with "box" grades,
because a 9.4 v 9.6 v 9.8 is only about the box via WATA,
so the correction is that the A v A+ v A++ "seal" grade
is what should have been mentioned around 9:30
Well try buy new or even just a copy of the orginal Pokemon Soul Silver game.
Im from poland finding any copy here is just rare at itself but buying orginal good condition is like 2x orginal price for new copy back on relase day.
I bought brand new copies of Persona 3 and 4 bundled together for $30 CAD directly from Atlus via Amazon a couple years ago. I was surprised that I could buy new copies of these games so many years after they've come out, but I guess PS2 games are easy to print or something idk
I bought a #1 collectors edition foil cover of Warlock Chronicles thinking it'd be worth a lot. I think it was my first comic?
Lost it.
Got a replacement in the $0.50 bin a few years ago!
Why collect modern games, most of them dont work without an update anyway so will be unplayable in the future when servers are down.
how much does it even cost to get a game graded?
What I don't understand is why they grade sealed games? Why not used old games like they do with comics, figures etc.
As one of the biggest sealed game collectors (who doesn't grade for various reasons), I would say collecting modern-era games is pointless, primarily because the games are not being released as complete finished games. Games are often broken or incomplete, often requiring multiple patches from day one! Anything from the last two generations is a waste of time grading as you have to consider the potential future functionality of that item (even if it is intended to remain sealed). Likewise, wine collectors may never intend on drinking a vintage bottle of wine will still want that wine to be drinkable if so chosen.
Nintendo is often the safest investment, as their quality control is much higher, and those are the titles that future generations are going to want to collect. I have always been against grading as I think it ruined the hobby of collecting sealed mint games, but I also agree that people grading modern games and shovelware are essentially wasting their time and making the service slower for those grading NES / SNES / N64 / PS1 games.
It's horrible in the sense that it's such an unsure investment. The market of people who want to own much less purchase "graded" and sealed games is so small. Having a standard sealed copy of a few of your favorite games is pretty common place/normal for people who are a bit more into collection, I think that's rather widely accepted. But, even so, if you're buying said game for the """value""" the value is extremely unstable because the core value of any game is that you can play it and it's an enjoyable experience. Most people won't want even a regular sealed copy for that very reason. There's also no guarantee of a price for a graded game holding up over time. Pat has said it before in these discussions but grading sealed games isn't as well established and useful as grading comics because there's different standards. Just don't do
grading is only putting the plastic or having it licensed as a really sealed game with a tag they provide?
It's mind boggling to me that people would have their games graded and sealed away in those containers. I would never want to buy a game that's forever sealed away in a plastic casing...
Also newer games are incomplete without dlc or online updates, or otherwise digitally downloadable. It's not exactly the same as when you could buy a cart and it's the actual playable game. That kinda devalues the games.
The reason why old sealed copies of games are collectible and worth money is kids didn’t buy a game for a investment. You opened and played it. So finding a sealed game is rare. Nowadays everyone sees this trend and thinks I’ll buy these games and 30 years later they’ll be worth so much money. It won’t be the same. That goes with all collectibles. If everyone kept the first Superman it wouldn’t be worth what it is today. Nowadays everyone keeps the comics.
Just found out my copy of job simulator VR for the PS4 is worth a hundred bucks now. I'm sure that's bound to change if I ever decide to sell it ( and who knows if that'll ever happen because that game is so much fun).
My two cents is that buying something as popular and prevalent as Luigi's Mansion is obviously silly. I am not aware of any Mario games that are worth exorbitant prices (with 1 or 2 exceptions). Anybody planning on collecting for a value increase should be looking at limited print items that aren't labeled as such. I'm specifically talking about indie games, unusual games, and or games that are not attached to overly popular characters or franchises. I feel that this would at least give you some kind of chance for the item to increase in value. When you get down to the heart of the matter, it still ends up being gambling anyway. Stocks that pay dividends seem like a safer bet at that point.
Edit: anything rated a D minus or less seems to increase in value as well. Looks like I need to find a copy of Ride to Hell: Retribution now.
I’ve collected Nintendo Switch systems and have every North American release so far. I figure because of the price of the special edition systems new far less people will be able to collect them helping to protect the value. What do you think?
it is now 2021. wanna revisit this topic a bit? :)
lol yeah I was thinking the same thing, everything they said will never happen happened
Grading games in general is a moot point imo
A new, sealed copy of a game that isnt graded is still worth a decent amount. And it hasnt been 20 years+ on from modern games for us to make the statement that any game bought sealed will be worthless
Super mario bros, one of the most common NES games, is worth money sealed, and not even graded. Who's to say games like BOTW sealed wont be worth anything? We don't know yet
I got my incredble hulk 181 signed by Stan Lee like vultures they swooped at me want it graded that will be $250.00 just to get it graded.
Investing in video games or anything collectible is not really an investment and more of arbitrage, deal in the collectibles market for a quick flip to make a buck, but collectibles are not typically a good buy and hold strategy for a return on investment. Not only is there no guarantee they will be worth more in the future, they create zero cash-flow, or dividend payouts. Use index funds and rental properties for investment vehicles and collect video games or any other collectible because you enjoy having them and you enjoy the thrill of the hunt not for a long term return.
I PARTIALLY agree with you... But imagine buying a game that someone valorates it enough to pay 50k for it. Value of things are - as you well said - arbitrage... Imagine being a christian and paying for a bible signed by the pope... to me, it would still be worthless, to someone chirstian it would be MUCH more valauble and if it happens to have the cash and love it they might buy it.
Wait, they can still produce PS2 games??
DVDs? Yes. Those can still be produced.
Wait... You mean my sealed copy of dragon warrior I got for free for subscribing to Nintendo Power isn't worth a hundred bucks yet?! The hell you say!
Surf Wisely.
i will still collect games but as always ill be collecting only the games that ill play i wont be buying any graded game if its in a sealed box its worthless because you cant play it.. i may at some point start only buying games with the manual
You just want to get your grubby hands on my second copy of WWE 2k18. Well it's not happening... Unless you have 99.99 :)
Investing in those normal case games doesn' t make much sense, but investing in limited edition consoles does. Try to find a brand new sealed Wii 25th Anniversary console somewhere... There are none. Maybe no one wants them or everyone is keeping them, who knows.
Reserved Investments on RUclips is pretty awesome.
Some day the USD won't be worth anything. At least you can always play your games.
HD Remakes tank the used/loose market. Buying vintage sealed is the way to go!
this vid summarize how i feel about people trying to sell strategy guides for insane prices
with Corona hitting anything like this is a horrible investment. maybe the big games like mario, zelda, final fantasy will be sought after but everything else will be too niche for gamers to care about.
The people that make money on graded stuff crash their market all the time. I buy graded comics off people who make huge returns off a few comics and just are building cash. You can pick up modern comics for way less than it'd cost to ship to cgc to cbcs. Sealed games on black friday is probably a smart buy tho... I'm not holding any significant sealed collection tho, not interested. 9.4 can be cracked and pressed to a 9.8 now.. among modern comics made today
It's kinda like Disney VHS tapes there worthless because Disney has them on DVD and Blu-ray and now Disney+
thank you guys for demystifying the collecting of video games cause a lot of people use some very flawed logic to get themselves to start when the reality is investing in this is just not a good idea for all the reasons you guys listed here