Thank you very much for the video you did a few days ago, that must've been quite a lot of work. You recommended and linked this channel in your video description and even though I didn't really expect to enjoy it I ended up watching quite a few videos of his. Keep making LEGENDARY content like this!!!!
@@goatretrogamer Why does he need to do "better research"? Was anything factually incorrect? I'm also a little bit surprised not to see a single emoji in your reply considering your name...
Fantastic video. You’ve been trying to tell everyone to be very cautious about the graded video game market for as long as I’ve been watching. I’m glad a large content creator like Karl put out such a great video and included some of your work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and keep putting out these awesome videos
Something isn't right when a graded video game sells for as much or more than the world's most expensive supercar, especially in such a short span of time. These aren't just some rich guys with money to burn who simply want a brand new Super Mario Brothers cart.
I'm happy to see the "larger conversation" finally being had regarding all of this. Regardless of the outcome, now all of the information is out there for people to make their own decisions about. Also, congrats on the growth since your feature on Karl's video! You'll have to do a cosplay or something for the 10K q&a ahah
Sadly, most people who have sealed games are going to greedily send them to WATA for grading, and probably pay the exorbitant prices for a faster turn around time, hoping to cash out before it becomes apparent just how many of them are out there. WATA is going to make as much as possible this year, and take as long as possible to get people's games back to them, because they know it is only a matter of time before people realize
At this point you couldn’t pay me to grade with WATA. They are basically just the grading arm of heritage auctions. the lack of transparency shows how crooked they are
the purpose of the video was only educate people on certain facts relative to the market. not to convict people or companies. boycotting wont do anything. seems like a pretty silly solution. what would be better is more people conrinue to investigate this, which i believe was the purpose of karls video. he worded his information very carefully
Heritage Auctions has recently deleted all comments that were critical or negative or even just questioning why a Mario 64 sold for more than a million on their video of that auction. They only kept speculator comments active.
@@binkysphinx I didn't take any screen shots, but weeks ago there were dozens and dozens of comments that were skeptical. I had a comment that had a lot of likes which called it out as a manipulated market. All of these comments are now gone, and all that's left are 26 "gee whiz" and positive comments
It makes me wonder about the Promise Collection of comic books being peddled hard by HA with a sentimental story attached to it. How long has this collection been held back and only released at peak pricing?
Great video. Loved the Jobst piece. Anyone who was collecting games before the wata boom has been saying these things for years now and he took all the information and put it together in a very digestible, easy to understand video. Loved every second of it... while also being sad that it came to that.
I think you're spot on in that the values of some of these games will not change. Especially on the lower end (three or four figures). But the higher end may see a significant retraction if HA and WATA are forced to retract their presence significantly if the FTC takes action. I hope for everyone's sake, there is an investigation, and all of the blurry areas in these businesses are exposed and dealt with appropriately.
Was interesting to watch Carl's video the other day and see him connect alot of dots you've mentioned in videos over the years ... also your cameo in it ;) Appreciate the content you put out 👍
Hi Shawn, I have been watching your channel since you started, and I have been watching Pat and Karl for years. These reason why I watch all three of these channels is because of the honest assessments you guys give, no matter what you're discussing. Thank you, and keep up the good work.
I’ve been following you for awhile now, I couldn’t be happier that your methodology and input on this topic has proved to be 100% accurate. Awesome stuff, don’t ever stop man
Thank you as always. You have much more background than i have but i assure you i was paying very very attention noticing starting from 2-3 years ago, the prices were skyrocket (even was muuuch less than now) and that was weird and absolutely manipulated. Was absolutely obvious that. Then i saw your videos, start to have a good knowloedge from a person who really knows and i had all the confirmation. I believed myself, then i believed 100 percent you and this is the result. It's absolutely crazy that an old collectors (with passion) like myself (or other guys i know) are not buying anything since like 3 years because of this... I can confirm anyway in the various wata and blabla fb groups people are all colluding with these people who scams all the market (that video was absolutely clear and brilliant). You can really see people that if someone post something just to investigate, ora to discuss more and more about these facts they only laugh and make fun of him. This is completely a sxxit if you allow me to say. I am going to support you over and over, sharing your videos. Thanks!
Once again...you hit the nail on the head! Love the quote about the "alleged players" in the game not giving a damn about the collector or the category. They just care about the money they will make off unsuspecting buyers who think the manipulation is innocent markets of supply and demand. This isn't just happening in video games. It's been rampant with the comic industry since grading companies were introduced. Don't even get me started on the sports card market.
It’s funny seeing small time sealed collectors getting bent out of shape about Karl’s video. But I get it. It’s tough to admit when you’ve been had. All that money dumped into WATA grading with no hopes of recouping.
Great summary... keep up the great work. There was a BRIAN N(octle sold a game).... mentioned ... he's well known in the high end mtg community. I've been calling our the issue there for yrs now
Hi Shawn! Great content as always. Have you ever considered doing videos commenting on more macro-economic related events, such as Powell recently announcing to taper their quantitative easing program. I think you are very well-spoken so Im very curious to know your opinion on more macro-finance related events. However, I do understand if you would like this channel's focus to stay in the antiques & collectibles trade (since that is also your expertise, I assume).
Great video. I have a question, possibly a good video topic. Do you think there is a similar speculation fueled surge in the overall equities market right now? I haven’t been contributing to any s&p 500 index funds past few months. I have no Desire to unload any of my stock position, but don’t feel comfortable putting money into them either at this point.
The stock market is a little different. Today’s new high is tomorrow’s low. I would advise dollar cost averaging, so even investing during all time market highs is recommended. Just my two cents…
I want to thank you Shawn, once again. Before discovering your channel, I was thinking about grading some of my new and sealed games. I took the decision to not take grade any of my games (at least for now and probably for a very long time). I always have been a smart buyer, I am even more conservative now. Social medias allow anybody to share his/her opinion, and that part is very good. But people forgot that we have experts. When an expert speaks, we should listen and understand that even an expert's opinion weight more than a non-expert's opinion, no matter how you want to spin things.
Don’t ever doubt your own judgement, instead…apply critical thought to it and act from logic and not always emotion. Remember, all an expert is, is someone who knows more and more about less and less. Experts do get things wrong from time to time.
@@ReservedInvestments Absolutely. We are all humans and we are all far from being perfect. Even an expert can be corrupted by greed, which is the poison of choice for humanity. No doubt, you always have to be careful with anything anybody says. The only thing I am saying, is that when you are speaking or listening to an expert, your first attitude can't be: "he/she is wrong, he/she doesn't know anything; I know better".
Wow you absolutely right Shawn thats one thing I appreciate about you because you give truthful advice im gonna be a patreon supporter starting next week. Thanks again Shawm
Sean, one thing I struggle to discern is where we draw the line on clear bias that someone may have as a passionate collector or investor in a collectible category and when it goes too far to warrant labeling as “market manipulation”. A good example is Alpha Investments, where he owns sizeable positions in MTG and FaB and also sells those products, and makes forecast statements about certain products reaching certain price milestones (eg Monarch booster boxes to 1k; Alpha lands to $100). He clearly stands to benefit from those products appreciating, and also has some degree of influence over those markets (how much is certainly debatable). Your thoughts?
I found this channel thanks to Karl Jobst, I'm not really into investing into these risky markets were you obviously need a lot of knowledge to succeed in the long run, but I've watched around 10 videos since Karl recommended this channel and I found it really interesting and it surely doesn't hurt to learn a thing or two about these things... Great Channel!
Ok serious question. You mentioned the rare coin bubble, but you also mention many times that you collect and invest in currency etc. Is it then safe to say that when a bubble bursts, then the market can remain healthy and even grow (though at a slower pace obviously)
I have heard that the Jobst video has drawn some media attention, and may bring further investigations. As a layman, I’m wondering what is the best case scenario we could hope for if all of these allegations turn out to be true? Is there the possibility of legal ramifications for those at fault? Or is wide spread education the best result we could hope for?
I imagine we’ll see some fraud convictions where pursued, if appropriate. If you’re “invested” on apps such as Rally Rd, one can only hope to either buy shares on an extreme dip or hold out for a long term increase in value. I mention this because allegations could create distrust and less participation in the market. As for the legal ramifications themselves, they’re likely not to impact the structures of these companies as their regulatory system is sound. The exception being if the current open commentary period with SEC has any impact on the space, which is to be determined.
I think it's leaning on widespread education being the best we can hope for. I don't think it'll go that far unless some really important people got duped and are mad enough. IMO, Crypto should be going first in terms of starting a crusade against it. Then cards.
How can this stop when someone found guilty of manipulating the coin market is fined less than 2 mil and allowed to be involved in the collectible market? 2 mil is no consequence to these people.
Punishment for crimes isn't just how much money you made from swindling people. If you profit $10m from a scam, it's not such a big deal if that's spread amongst 100k people, but if you rob 50 people out of their retirement for the same amount of money, then you'll likely be doing some serious jail time.
I still think there is a demand and the appropriate price point for slabbed sealed games is in the sub-10k price range, the norm being in the hundreds. Playing in that field won't have much comparative harm if the bottom falls out completely. But the slabbing service needs transparency and quality control, not what we have ever seen from wata.
With the release of VGA Population Reports around the corner, if you have not already, it may be helpful to explain the clear differences between Population Reports of Popular/Unpopular items and relative Market Availability/Saturation.
Hey Shawn. Love your channel. Thank you so much for your awesome, educational videos. I've learned a lot from watching your channel. I really appreciate Karl Jobst's video. @Shawn, if the allegations against Wata and Heritage are true, what happens next? Would Wata Games, Heritage Auctions, and the individuals involved in the market manipulation/collusion face fines or penalties like what happened to the coin grading companies in the 1980s? I'm trying to understand how current market manipulation, shill bidding and other unethical behavior gets penalized and removed from the collectible marketplace?
Do you think that in addition to grading companies releasing population reports, should auction houses like Heritage Auctions disclose the buyer identities as well? I know that might be crossing a line, but I'm more in favor of this than I have been in the past.
Got that right, video game sage is not a fan of this garbage and we're digging and digging on this just like you, Karl, and others are. It's speculative nonsense we've been calling out in a thread just about those 2 companies for a good stretch now (shenanigans assumed since late 2019 in that space.)
Going forward, I think the scrutiny of graded collectibles will much higher and the cultural significance of newer graded collectibles will produce a much lower value. A graded Wi or Switch game just doesn’t have the cultural significance of a NES Mario.
@@DanielRivera-on5qh Cool man. Don’t know what you’re trying to argue with me about. I don’t think I said anything controversial. Value is what people are willing to pay.
@@JoshPitts530 the original Mario is not that culturally significant neither is the 64 one. That's a $5 game and a $30 game. It's all fabricated baloney.
I love when good TH-camrs collaborate (even organically) get together, and call bullshit. If you’re a newer viewer of Reserved Investments, do yourself a favor and subscribe cuz Sean has been calling this out for years! Come on Timmy’s and poindexters, wake up 🙂
The WATA Facebook group is very upset right now😂or don't care at all. I think graded games is potentially going to go up But what angers me is the high prices in too little of time. It takes many years to build a market guys.
Don't like to toot my own horn but I was right from the beginning about Wata & how all this high prices out of nowhere came to be lol, Liked how VGA is about to start releasing pop reports now, I believe Wata will go out of business due to this huge backlash. I can't wait to tune in for the next scam bubble 🤣🔎📈
I’m glad I bought and sold for profit all the classic games I had or found, got out at right time. Buying Silent Hill for $20 playing then flipping for $100 etc
To be clear, those that remain in the market I would hope are doing it because they love the games regardless of the games. I’ll probably remain a collector, but I don’t own any graded games.
I have 2 sealed nes games I want to grade to make a profit. I got them for $20 each recently and want to make the best profit. Should I go with VGA or WATA? I don’t care about the ethic’s of supporting a scummy company, I just want to make some money.
X-MEN #1 1963 CGC 4.0 looks like a comic that might be manipulated. A CGC 4.0 went for about $4000 a year ago,while now it goes for over $14,000 plus. In fact it looks like all graded X-Men 1 comics from 1963 have tripled in price in all grades in the last year. Something might be going on with certain comic books as well
I think the escalation of comic keys was everybody in Covid quarantine pulling out their collections and all wanting the same thing at the same time. I think Heritage & WATA collapse and MyComicShop, CGC & CBCS go to the moon.
@@williamedwards5704 I see most vintage comics having a market correction. I wonder if it be as bad as basketball, baseball and football cards were most of them are down 40 to 50 percent since their market peak in February. We got to remember the sports cards started their run about 3 months before the comic book run. It should be an interesting Q4 for these Marvel silver age keys.
But you say you know about these market bubbles from the 80s, didn't you just buy some, or get some games graded recently? Like right before all of this big scam opened on WATA? Just wondering if that was before all this evidence? Even though you knew about these markets doing this forever.
What is the advice I have been giving all of you since literally DAY ONE of this channel? SELL INTO THE HYPE. This is a finance channel geared towards the collectibles markets.
Bravo. Karl should win a youtube pulitzer and tip o' the hat to you as well, as you most certainly have been calling it. I don't think it stops at the WATA games though. While the folks who may have been hosed out of huge amounts of money will likely have some clout to force an investigation, someone at the FTC should stop and consider the scope of the psychological effect this sort of activity has on jor bidder/consignor. They're not just manipulating auctions, they're manipulating the psychological weaknesses of the unseasosed and the gullible out there, and they really over did it, rippling through all the collectibles markets. Speculation time: I'm putting 10 bucks down right now on the "promise collection" being nothing more than a marketing fairy tale and it's just stuff that was pulled out of Jimmy Twinkles massive personal collection. If they can pull this sort of crap with WATA, then that's an even easier fake-out to pull off.
When the evidence of manipulation is so obvious, and the rubes come out with such force insisting it is organic, is it a sign of a great market for quick flips?
It's always a great time for quick flips - it all depends on your skill to figure out the true value of the item you are flipping. Right now, things are slowing down based on the things I'm looking at. IMO, we're a little past the "no-brainer stage" wherein everything you buy will be easy to resell.
I love your videos. You see all my comments! I am going to disagree with most of these comments and the narrative that sealed video games won’t continue to increase in price. I am going against most people in this comment section and WATA has a great end product.
fair enough but frankly, welcome to America. From main street to wall street, when there's smoke there's also some fire. There's market manipulators on cnbc every morning, except they are called analysts. I'm not condoning it but also, there's some good, ethical people buying and selling Wata games - just as there are bad actors. Tesla stock has outperformed the video game business over the last four years, and if you look hard enough, you can find manipulators there too. It's everywhere - we don't need to throw out the hobby for a few bad apples.
I dropped some troll bait for the WATA apologists on Greg’s channel after Karl’s video…..crickets. Let’s see if we can flush them out here😂 “But is anything they did iLlEgAL?” “They never contacted them” “He’s not an employee, he’s a dIrEcToR” #cryharder
c'mon man. No troll baiting. Keep the conversation authentic. Hopefully by the end of this, we will have more transparency and a "healthier" hobby overall. and yes, you did flush me out. Damn.
@@GetTheGreg I know you’re bout that graded game life, it’s obvious from your vids😂 But you get a pass since you’re willing to be objective in the face of evidence. Same as Shawn lol. I just like how loud-mouths are now crickets when Karl brought receipts. The really dumb ones have pivoted to tissue-thin arguments like “he was a director not an employee” as if that isn’t WORSE. They were even lighting up Shawn’s prior vids when he cautioned about potential conflicts of interest and blatant manipulation in game grading/auctions (BEFORE Karl’s bombshell). Just nice to see the honest guys be vindicated and the apologists have to eat their feet.
Meh, crypto is cyclical boom/bust. People been saying what your saying for years, and in fact, a big bubble did happen in 2018, and if I am being honest, I thought it was going to happen again this year, and it still may. The difference between crypto and a collectable is crypto is a liquid asset, so it's really not the same at all though.
@@panthar1 No man, Tether is going to destroy crypto, it's the reason for the 2018 pump as well. We've been following this very closely for years, finally the media and government is starting to pay attention to the massive fraud and it won't go on much longer I suspect. Just like with the collectibles market, there is a bunch of very shady things going on behind the scenes that the general public seems to not care about at all, but they will, but then it will be too late.
@@asswhole4195 I highly doubt tether is going to destroy crypto. But, if your not happy with their financial disclosures/compliance so far, don't use them, that's free market. They are not a monopoly at this point either, although I agree their influential at the moment, but their power is waning as it stands, because other stable coins are out there. The point is, a illiquid and liquid markets are completely different. Yes, there is market makers and market manipulators, just like there is in wall st. But it's just not the same as a illiquid collectable. You can sell your crypto at any time, and know you have a buyer at that market price, the same can not be said for a collectable.
@@asswhole4195 Besides, if your so convinced it's going to crash imminently, you can short it, and make a lot of money. Hope your at least putting your money where your mouth is :)
@Kyle Reese Subhuman Incel That's not actually true that someone has to lose for you to make money. There is two upward pressures (owning, and longing), and one downward pressure (shorting), not to mentioning the derivatives. Shawn gives good advise on buying ETF's, although I disagree with him on having crypto as *part* of your portfolio, to each their own, crypto is certainly somewhere high-medium risk at this point in time, invest at risk you see fit.
![[TH] VCT Pacific Stage 2 - Playoffs Day 3 // DRX vs GEN | PRX vs TLN](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CWM1Q-2-o3M/mqdefault.jpg)
Legend
Thank you very much for the video you did a few days ago, that must've been quite a lot of work. You recommended and linked this channel in your video description and even though I didn't really expect to enjoy it I ended up watching quite a few videos of his. Keep making LEGENDARY content like this!!!!
Man you are doing Gods work with that video. Thank you, YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND
You are both legends
@@goatretrogamer Why does he need to do "better research"? Was anything factually incorrect? I'm also a little bit surprised not to see a single emoji in your reply considering your name...
Truth
Thanks for being one of the few with a voice willing to stand up for truth and transparency the last few years.
Thanks, Pat. I could say the same about you too! 👍🙏
Fantastic video. You’ve been trying to tell everyone to be very cautious about the graded video game market for as long as I’ve been watching. I’m glad a large content creator like Karl put out such a great video and included some of your work. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and keep putting out these awesome videos
Something isn't right when a graded video game sells for as much or more than the world's most expensive supercar, especially in such a short span of time. These aren't just some rich guys with money to burn who simply want a brand new Super Mario Brothers cart.
arent you the founder of Otis who sells shares to these games purchased from wata?
I'm happy to see the "larger conversation" finally being had regarding all of this. Regardless of the outcome, now all of the information is out there for people to make their own decisions about.
Also, congrats on the growth since your feature on Karl's video! You'll have to do a cosplay or something for the 10K q&a ahah
The chances of me ever being in cosplay are actually less than 0%…
@@ReservedInvestments So there is still a chance.
@@JonnyRoboto lol
People need to boycott WATA until everyone involved is brought to justice.
Disgusting manipulation going on.
WHERE IS THE POPULATION REPORT???
Preach.
Sadly, most people who have sealed games are going to greedily send them to WATA for grading, and probably pay the exorbitant prices for a faster turn around time, hoping to cash out before it becomes apparent just how many of them are out there. WATA is going to make as much as possible this year, and take as long as possible to get people's games back to them, because they know it is only a matter of time before people realize
At this point you couldn’t pay me to grade with WATA. They are basically just the grading arm of heritage auctions.
the lack of transparency shows how crooked they are
the purpose of the video was only educate people on certain facts relative to the market. not to convict people or companies. boycotting wont do anything. seems like a pretty silly solution. what would be better is more people conrinue to investigate this, which i believe was the purpose of karls video. he worded his information very carefully
@@blitzkrieg1174 population report after 20 years + very trusted company.
Heritage Auctions has recently deleted all comments that were critical or negative or even just questioning why a Mario 64 sold for more than a million on their video of that auction. They only kept speculator comments active.
Wow, really? Where are they deleting comments? Screen shots?
@@binkysphinx I didn't take any screen shots, but weeks ago there were dozens and dozens of comments that were skeptical. I had a comment that had a lot of likes which called it out as a manipulated market. All of these comments are now gone, and all that's left are 26 "gee whiz" and positive comments
bump!
@@blitzkrieg1174 The original video is still live and and still getting comments.
It makes me wonder about the Promise Collection of comic books being peddled hard by HA with a sentimental story attached to it. How long has this collection been held back and only released at peak pricing?
And you told me there's no market for 90s Star Wars toys. I just have to MAKE the market for them.
Great video. Loved the Jobst piece. Anyone who was collecting games before the wata boom has been saying these things for years now and he took all the information and put it together in a very digestible, easy to understand video. Loved every second of it... while also being sad that it came to that.
I heard a kid crying in the alley the other day. I walked up to him and I asked hey whats wrong? He said my name is Timmy.
I think you're spot on in that the values of some of these games will not change. Especially on the lower end (three or four figures).
But the higher end may see a significant retraction if HA and WATA are forced to retract their presence significantly if the FTC takes action. I hope for everyone's sake, there is an investigation, and all of the blurry areas in these businesses are exposed and dealt with appropriately.
You know you’ve hit it big when your subscribers can’t wait to hear your take on this. Awesome video.
Nice work Shawn! Nice to see you, Karl, and Pat collaborating on this subject.
Beautiful closing Shawn! So glad to see one of the really good guys on here getting their deserved recognition as you close in on 10k.
Thank you!
Was interesting to watch Carl's video the other day and see him connect alot of dots you've mentioned in videos over the years ... also your cameo in it ;) Appreciate the content you put out 👍
Excellent points all around again-hopefully you’re getting through to more people with your great channel. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
I found your channel and subscribed after Karl's video. And I am so glad I did. You are the kind of guy of which we need more.
Hi Shawn, I have been watching your channel since you started, and I have been watching Pat and Karl for years. These reason why I watch all three of these channels is because of the honest assessments you guys give, no matter what you're discussing. Thank you, and keep up the good work.
Hey Shawn, so how much longer do we have to wait for these sealed game prices to fall so we can swoop in?
It’s not going to crash…
I’ve been following you for awhile now, I couldn’t be happier that your methodology and input on this topic has proved to be 100% accurate. Awesome stuff, don’t ever stop man
Thank you as always. You have much more background than i have but i assure you i was paying very very attention noticing starting from 2-3 years ago, the prices were skyrocket (even was muuuch less than now) and that was weird and absolutely manipulated. Was absolutely obvious that. Then i saw your videos, start to have a good knowloedge from a person who really knows and i had all the confirmation. I believed myself, then i believed 100 percent you and this is the result. It's absolutely crazy that an old collectors (with passion) like myself (or other guys i know) are not buying anything since like 3 years because of this...
I can confirm anyway in the various wata and blabla fb groups people are all colluding with these people who scams all the market (that video was absolutely clear and brilliant). You can really see people that if someone post something just to investigate, ora to discuss more and more about these facts they only laugh and make fun of him. This is completely a sxxit if you allow me to say. I am going to support you over and over, sharing your videos. Thanks!
His video is how I found your channel. Thank you both.
Once again...you hit the nail on the head! Love the quote about the "alleged players" in the game not giving a damn about the collector or the category. They just care about the money they will make off unsuspecting buyers who think the manipulation is innocent markets of supply and demand. This isn't just happening in video games. It's been rampant with the comic industry since grading companies were introduced. Don't even get me started on the sports card market.
100% correct! Thank you!
It’s funny seeing small time sealed collectors getting bent out of shape about Karl’s video. But I get it. It’s tough to admit when you’ve been had. All that money dumped into WATA grading with no hopes of recouping.
Great summary... keep up the great work. There was a BRIAN N(octle sold a game).... mentioned ... he's well known in the high end mtg community. I've been calling our the issue there for yrs now
i am so glad i found your channel! you are so intelligent and your right on the money!
Hi Shawn! Great content as always. Have you ever considered doing videos commenting on more macro-economic related events, such as Powell recently announcing to taper their quantitative easing program. I think you are very well-spoken so Im very curious to know your opinion on more macro-finance related events. However, I do understand if you would like this channel's focus to stay in the antiques & collectibles trade (since that is also your expertise, I assume).
I would love to, but no one would watch…
Great video. I have a question, possibly a good video topic. Do you think there is a similar speculation fueled surge in the overall equities market right now? I haven’t been contributing to any s&p 500 index funds past few months. I have no Desire to unload any of my stock position, but don’t feel comfortable putting money into them either at this point.
The stock market is a little different. Today’s new high is tomorrow’s low. I would advise dollar cost averaging, so even investing during all time market highs is recommended. Just my two cents…
I want to thank you Shawn, once again. Before discovering your channel, I was thinking about grading some of my new and sealed games. I took the decision to not take grade any of my games (at least for now and probably for a very long time). I always have been a smart buyer, I am even more conservative now. Social medias allow anybody to share his/her opinion, and that part is very good. But people forgot that we have experts. When an expert speaks, we should listen and understand that even an expert's opinion weight more than a non-expert's opinion, no matter how you want to spin things.
Don’t ever doubt your own judgement, instead…apply critical thought to it and act from logic and not always emotion. Remember, all an expert is, is someone who knows more and more about less and less. Experts do get things wrong from time to time.
@@ReservedInvestments Absolutely. We are all humans and we are all far from being perfect. Even an expert can be corrupted by greed, which is the poison of choice for humanity. No doubt, you always have to be careful with anything anybody says. The only thing I am saying, is that when you are speaking or listening to an expert, your first attitude can't be: "he/she is wrong, he/she doesn't know anything; I know better".
Its funny how everyone defending wata just so happens to have a large position in the market or has a ton of sealed games graded by them
I found your channel thanks to Karl jobst. I love it! Keep it up!
Wow you absolutely right Shawn thats one thing I appreciate about you because you give truthful advice im gonna be a patreon supporter starting next week. Thanks again Shawm
I would love you, Karl, and Pat to do a discussion podcast or video.
Sean, one thing I struggle to discern is where we draw the line on clear bias that someone may have as a passionate collector or investor in a collectible category and when it goes too far to warrant labeling as “market manipulation”. A good example is Alpha Investments, where he owns sizeable positions in MTG and FaB and also sells those products, and makes forecast statements about certain products reaching certain price milestones (eg Monarch booster boxes to 1k; Alpha lands to $100). He clearly stands to benefit from those products appreciating, and also has some degree of influence over those markets (how much is certainly debatable). Your thoughts?
I found this channel thanks to Karl Jobst, I'm not really into investing into these risky markets were you obviously need a lot of knowledge to succeed in the long run, but I've watched around 10 videos since Karl recommended this channel and I found it really interesting and it surely doesn't hurt to learn a thing or two about these things...
Great Channel!
Been waiting for this video!
After watching Jobst’s video do you still recommend Heritage Auctions?
For certain collectible items, yes. For graded video games? I never have. I advised my viewers to sell into the market.
@@ReservedInvestments Thanks
Oh boy have I been waiting for this
hope someone has the guts to sue them!
Grats on all the new subs. WELL earned!!!
Us believers of this channel since start feels good now, Shawn tell us this from the 1s day, and now the true is just coming. Thank You Shawn!
Ok serious question. You mentioned the rare coin bubble, but you also mention many times that you collect and invest in currency etc.
Is it then safe to say that when a bubble bursts, then the market can remain healthy and even grow (though at a slower pace obviously)
Yup!
@@ReservedInvestments This goves me hope for antique China i love and own, but is currently in the dumps after a huge rally lol
of course lol
I have heard that the Jobst video has drawn some media attention, and may bring further investigations. As a layman, I’m wondering what is the best case scenario we could hope for if all of these allegations turn out to be true? Is there the possibility of legal ramifications for those at fault? Or is wide spread education the best result we could hope for?
I imagine we’ll see some fraud convictions where pursued, if appropriate. If you’re “invested” on apps such as Rally Rd, one can only hope to either buy shares on an extreme dip or hold out for a long term increase in value. I mention this because allegations could create distrust and less participation in the market. As for the legal ramifications themselves, they’re likely not to impact the structures of these companies as their regulatory system is sound. The exception being if the current open commentary period with SEC has any impact on the space, which is to be determined.
@@JoshPitts530 The FTC is gonna step in again and prevent them from dealing in certain items.
I think it's leaning on widespread education being the best we can hope for. I don't think it'll go that far unless some really important people got duped and are mad enough.
IMO, Crypto should be going first in terms of starting a crusade against it. Then cards.
both would be inevitable. and hope scare any others from attempting to manipulate the market
Thank you for saying what needs to be said.
Awesome video and i probably will watch Karl's video again
Amazing video. You are absolutely correct about everything here
How can this stop when someone found guilty of manipulating the coin market is fined less than 2 mil and allowed to be involved in the collectible market? 2 mil is no consequence to these people.
Punishment for crimes isn't just how much money you made from swindling people. If you profit $10m from a scam, it's not such a big deal if that's spread amongst 100k people, but if you rob 50 people out of their retirement for the same amount of money, then you'll likely be doing some serious jail time.
I still think there is a demand and the appropriate price point for slabbed sealed games is in the sub-10k price range, the norm being in the hundreds. Playing in that field won't have much comparative harm if the bottom falls out completely. But the slabbing service needs transparency and quality control, not what we have ever seen from wata.
This is going to be great... Here we go!
Great video
6:00 - Sometimes there can be severe catalysts as well.
I wouldn’t hold your breath about the media covering this differently in the future. Especially the video game media. They’re garbage.
You've been trying to tell them!
With the release of VGA Population Reports around the corner, if you have not already, it may be helpful to explain the clear differences between Population Reports of Popular/Unpopular items and relative Market Availability/Saturation.
I got goosebumps...
Hey Shawn. Love your channel. Thank you so much for your awesome, educational videos. I've learned a lot from watching your channel. I really appreciate Karl Jobst's video. @Shawn, if the allegations against Wata and Heritage are true, what happens next? Would Wata Games, Heritage Auctions, and the individuals involved in the market manipulation/collusion face fines or penalties like what happened to the coin grading companies in the 1980s? I'm trying to understand how current market manipulation, shill bidding and other unethical behavior gets penalized and removed from the collectible marketplace?
Ask me this in an upcoming Q & A and I’ll answer…
@@ReservedInvestments Ok will do. I'm look forward to your upcoming Q&A. Thanks Shawn.
Do you think that in addition to grading companies releasing population reports, should auction houses like Heritage Auctions disclose the buyer identities as well? I know that might be crossing a line, but I'm more in favor of this than I have been in the past.
No, that would be a step too far. More to come on that…
Great to see you vindicated , Shawn. Never doubted it for a second !
That was an outstanding video. I don't know why anybody is investing in these corrupt and manipulated market. It's a scam.
Got that right, video game sage is not a fan of this garbage and we're digging and digging on this just like you, Karl, and others are. It's speculative nonsense we've been calling out in a thread just about those 2 companies for a good stretch now (shenanigans assumed since late 2019 in that space.)
Going forward, I think the scrutiny of graded collectibles will much higher and the cultural significance of newer graded collectibles will produce a much lower value. A graded Wi or Switch game just doesn’t have the cultural significance of a NES Mario.
All hype bro. No one gave a shit about old games until recently. Lots of fake pretend love for the items.
@@DanielRivera-on5qh No doubt, I agree.
@@JoshPitts530 no one cared until it became a fad. All this stuff was given away. Lots of fake nostalgia
@@DanielRivera-on5qh Cool man. Don’t know what you’re trying to argue with me about. I don’t think I said anything controversial. Value is what people are willing to pay.
@@JoshPitts530 the original Mario is not that culturally significant neither is the 64 one. That's a $5 game and a $30 game. It's all fabricated baloney.
I love when good TH-camrs collaborate (even organically) get together, and call bullshit. If you’re a newer viewer of Reserved Investments, do yourself a favor and subscribe cuz Sean has been calling this out for years! Come on Timmy’s and poindexters, wake up 🙂
I only paid a "mere" $2k for a WATA graded game on HA and I'm STILL asking "What did I exactly buy?"
Karl's video has almost eight hundred thousand views already
👏👏👏 nuf said. Kudos !
The WATA Facebook group is very upset right now😂or don't care at all. I think graded games is potentially going to go up
But what angers me is the high prices in too little of time. It takes many years to build a market guys.
So, what are the legal ramifications for these wrongdoings? I mean, how do we bring these companies and people to justice?
The answer that most people don’t want to hear: government regulation.
respect
Just watched Karl's video. It is very sobering how easily big money can manipulate the market. Buyer beware.
Don't like to toot my own horn but I was right from the beginning about Wata & how all this high prices out of nowhere came to be lol, Liked how VGA is about to start releasing pop reports now, I believe Wata will go out of business due to this huge backlash. I can't wait to tune in for the next scam bubble 🤣🔎📈
Just watched Karl's video and had to run over here instantly. I wanted to bask in the "I told you so."
I’m glad I bought and sold for profit all the classic games I had or found, got out at right time. Buying Silent Hill for $20 playing then flipping for $100 etc
He has helped me clean up my bad habit. I write down everything I buy now because of him.
Reserved investments 🚀
Shawn the truthsayer spitting more straight facts
Thank god this is getting attention! This is not acceptable.
To be clear, those that remain in the market I would hope are doing it because they love the games regardless of the games. I’ll probably remain a collector, but I don’t own any graded games.
You have been saying that these prices were sketchy for some time now.
I have 2 sealed nes games I want to grade to make a profit. I got them for $20 each recently and want to make the best profit. Should I go with VGA or WATA? I don’t care about the ethic’s of supporting a scummy company, I just want to make some money.
27th! To the moon!
Me: debating between watching Karl’s video first or after Shawn’s vid haha
he's the fitter rudy
(no offence rudy)
Always felt Heritage Auctions was a shady company.
X-MEN #1 1963 CGC 4.0 looks like a comic that might be manipulated. A CGC 4.0 went for about $4000 a year ago,while now it goes for over $14,000 plus. In fact it looks like all graded X-Men 1 comics from 1963 have tripled in price in all grades in the last year. Something might be going on with certain comic books as well
It's not just X-Men books. Lots of others have skyrocketed.
@@binkysphinx Something seems to being going on with the comic book market than.
I think the escalation of comic keys was everybody in Covid quarantine pulling out their collections and all wanting the same thing at the same time. I think Heritage & WATA collapse and MyComicShop, CGC & CBCS go to the moon.
@@williamedwards5704
I see most vintage comics having a market correction. I wonder if it be as bad as basketball, baseball and football cards were most of them are down 40 to 50 percent since their market peak in February. We got to remember the sports cards started their run about 3 months before the comic book run. It should be an interesting Q4 for these Marvel silver age keys.
They say: videogames for kids, grow up
Me: sending this videos url
But you say you know about these market bubbles from the 80s, didn't you just buy some, or get some games graded recently? Like right before all of this big scam opened on WATA? Just wondering if that was before all this evidence? Even though you knew about these markets doing this forever.
What is the advice I have been giving all of you since literally DAY ONE of this channel? SELL INTO THE HYPE. This is a finance channel geared towards the collectibles markets.
Bravo. Karl should win a youtube pulitzer and tip o' the hat to you as well, as you most certainly have been calling it. I don't think it stops at the WATA games though. While the folks who may have been hosed out of huge amounts of money will likely have some clout to force an investigation, someone at the FTC should stop and consider the scope of the psychological effect this sort of activity has on jor bidder/consignor. They're not just manipulating auctions, they're manipulating the psychological weaknesses of the unseasosed and the gullible out there, and they really over did it, rippling through all the collectibles markets. Speculation time: I'm putting 10 bucks down right now on the "promise collection" being nothing more than a marketing fairy tale and it's just stuff that was pulled out of Jimmy Twinkles massive personal collection. If they can pull this sort of crap with WATA, then that's an even easier fake-out to pull off.
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." Is that what Jobst did or is that what WATA did ?
I love you man
But i love you more with your glasses 😜 mr Clark Kent
Lol! 😂
now all the timmys and kimmys are starting to listen to you and sub finally lol
Don't forget about Poindexter.
You warned everyone who would listen way back at the beginning, who’s crazy now eh
When the evidence of manipulation is so obvious, and the rubes come out with such force insisting it is organic, is it a sign of a great market for quick flips?
That depends on the strength of your morals.
It's always a great time for quick flips - it all depends on your skill to figure out the true value of the item you are flipping.
Right now, things are slowing down based on the things I'm looking at. IMO, we're a little past the "no-brainer stage" wherein everything you buy will be easy to resell.
Just wait and see - Halperin will be forced to pay a $2mill fine for his $100mill mess lol. Totally worth it! How could people fall for this 🤦♂️
I love your videos. You see all my comments! I am going to disagree with most of these comments and the narrative that sealed video games won’t continue to increase in price. I am going against most people in this comment section and WATA has a great end product.
fair enough but frankly, welcome to America. From main street to wall street, when there's smoke there's also some fire. There's market manipulators on cnbc every morning, except they are called analysts. I'm not condoning it but also, there's some good, ethical people buying and selling Wata games - just as there are bad actors. Tesla stock has outperformed the video game business over the last four years, and if you look hard enough, you can find manipulators there too. It's everywhere - we don't need to throw out the hobby for a few bad apples.
no ones saying throw out the hobby lol
I dropped some troll bait for the WATA apologists on Greg’s channel after Karl’s video…..crickets. Let’s see if we can flush them out here😂
“But is anything they did iLlEgAL?”
“They never contacted them”
“He’s not an employee, he’s a dIrEcToR”
#cryharder
c'mon man. No troll baiting. Keep the conversation authentic. Hopefully by the end of this, we will have more transparency and a "healthier" hobby overall.
and yes, you did flush me out. Damn.
@@GetTheGreg
I know you’re bout that graded game life, it’s obvious from your vids😂
But you get a pass since you’re willing to be objective in the face of evidence. Same as Shawn lol.
I just like how loud-mouths are now crickets when Karl brought receipts.
The really dumb ones have pivoted to tissue-thin arguments like “he was a director not an employee” as if that isn’t WORSE.
They were even lighting up Shawn’s prior vids when he cautioned about potential conflicts of interest and blatant manipulation in game grading/auctions (BEFORE Karl’s bombshell).
Just nice to see the honest guys be vindicated and the apologists have to eat their feet.
This has a lot of parallels with what is going on in crypto currency, it's going to be ugly when the bubble bursts.
Meh, crypto is cyclical boom/bust. People been saying what your saying for years, and in fact, a big bubble did happen in 2018, and if I am being honest, I thought it was going to happen again this year, and it still may. The difference between crypto and a collectable is crypto is a liquid asset, so it's really not the same at all though.
@@panthar1 No man, Tether is going to destroy crypto, it's the reason for the 2018 pump as well. We've been following this very closely for years, finally the media and government is starting to pay attention to the massive fraud and it won't go on much longer I suspect. Just like with the collectibles market, there is a bunch of very shady things going on behind the scenes that the general public seems to not care about at all, but they will, but then it will be too late.
@@asswhole4195 I highly doubt tether is going to destroy crypto. But, if your not happy with their financial disclosures/compliance so far, don't use them, that's free market. They are not a monopoly at this point either, although I agree their influential at the moment, but their power is waning as it stands, because other stable coins are out there.
The point is, a illiquid and liquid markets are completely different. Yes, there is market makers and market manipulators, just like there is in wall st. But it's just not the same as a illiquid collectable. You can sell your crypto at any time, and know you have a buyer at that market price, the same can not be said for a collectable.
@@asswhole4195 Besides, if your so convinced it's going to crash imminently, you can short it, and make a lot of money. Hope your at least putting your money where your mouth is :)
@Kyle Reese Subhuman Incel That's not actually true that someone has to lose for you to make money. There is two upward pressures (owning, and longing), and one downward pressure (shorting), not to mentioning the derivatives. Shawn gives good advise on buying ETF's, although I disagree with him on having crypto as *part* of your portfolio, to each their own, crypto is certainly somewhere high-medium risk at this point in time, invest at risk you see fit.