Nothing so fun as spending hundreds of dollars on an unopened video game system sealed in plastic so I can look at it in the box while in a box while in my home which is like a box wtf we are all in boxes dude...
+Hoosier High Way That's what Lukemorse1 thinks as well. He has an impressive collection of video game systems/games. He always buys the game, unboxes it, plays it even though it could be as old as 30 years old.
These giant ebay auctions are always baffling to me. They clearly spent decades finding and collecting these gems and then just say "Hey, can I just pawn this all off for thousands of dollars online?!"
+DreamcastGuy There's a subset of collectors that are all about the hunt. They reach a peak - dump the stuff they bought (for a profit) and start the process over again.
CUZC0M I sometimes wonder why some people consider TH-cam's comment section to be a vapid cesspool. And then I read posts like yours. Thanks for the refresher course.
***** I'm generalizing here - but a typical 'reseller' picks up games at good prices just to flip. Usually immediately. These collectors on the other hand build sets. They enjoy the act of collecting more than the ownership of any particular item. Once they have their collections built they reach a moment of "Well... what now?" And dump it all just to start the process over again.
People that collect cars can still interact with the car Personally, I see no extra value in a old boxed retro-system Since it status as operational is up in the air, and they look better unbox for display
I would really like to get that brand new NES. I would theme an entire weekend based on my Christmas morning from 1988. No phones, no Google, just me and Mario at mommas house. Oh, and the meatloaf! lol
+SeattleSundown That's why hearing the rare story of how this one NES complete system...unused...made it's way to a thrift store is so grand. Seems that once upon a time in the mid '80s, some grand mother bought this new time waster when her gran children were coming for a visit up in the mountains. Only, the kids couldn't make it. The system and all it's games went right to the attic and remained there in mint condition until (...erm...was this in 2013? 2014?) the time came for some spring cleaning. (Let's just say 'Spring cleaning'...just in case how this happened wasn't so cheery.) No garage sales. Everything went right to the thrift store. And a smart person picked up the mint lot...at thrift store prices. (The story's somewhere deep inside TH-cam.) So, moral of the story is 'never stop hunting'. Just never know what might pop out from some musty storage corner. Several months back, my local gaming store conned some grand parent out of their gems of some Intellivision rarities. Talking Turbo and Donkey Kong and a few others, near mint in box. Bet whomever sold that walked away with a crisp five dollars. Because, in box Turbo was something even e-Bay wasn't pulling up a price for and the store said 'no sale', regardless my offer.
+manixpc HOLY SHIT! Service Merchandise was the pinnacle of Toys R Us timeframe too! Such an odd setup/ display in that place. I loved it. Good call, man. Good call.
+SeattleSundown It was so damn weird how that place worked lol. Remember how you basically walked around the showroom jotting down catalog numbers, which you then paid for at the cashier, and then had to wait for the guys in the stock room to retrieve it? (Is it just me or did the stuff come out on a conveyor belt?!)
+manixpc Not just you man. That happened! All the displays were clear or crystal colored and partitioned down corridors so traffic flowed nicely. This is when you jotted down catalogue digits for sweet delivery. I still remember seeing a rotary phone (creme colored) in its own special display case. Man... we are getting old lol So rad you remembered that.
At 4:30, it's the reason why there's a gamestop. Reselling is a lot harder than you think. A lot of people think it's easy but it's not. That's the reason why gamestop offers you very little in return when you go back to resell your games to them because having to resell a used game is a lot harder.
I collect boxed Sega items exclusively (because it's easy to collect for here), anything else is just loose consoles and cartridges in most cases, because I also like to enjoy using them. The boxed Sega items I do have are not in their boxes, I just keep the boxes stored away for a later date.
I still have an old master system in the box that I never really touched, it's in storage... how much am I looking at if I sell it? no games, and it comes with a zapper... I don't remember seeing any chords though, it's been awhile, i'll have to dig it out
There is something similar to this at a flea market in .... I'm not telling. Because I have my mind in getting it, not sure how. But it's inside of the glass stand. In box, never used, the Odyssey Magnovox, etc... Gold mine. Everytime I go their, I see it, just standing their, and nobody ever seems to notice much, or even care for that matter. And I just look in amazement. If I buy that, I don't care for the money, I want that experience of opening it up and playing it. Or... I might not, who knows...
Personally I want stuff I can use, not going to pay 100K for sealed/slabbed systems that I put on a shelve just to look at, if I want to look at boxes I'll go google some images which cost nothing.
The crazy part is that Westbury NY is pretty close to where I live . Its crazy that all of these gems are actually in my state ! All we have here is football for nes for 15 bucks in some random thrifts
The vga grading for all of these seems like it would make this collection better for a gaming museum more than anything. Though I wouldent Mind a slabed NES to display on a shelf
Question pat you seem to be an expert on NES carts lol. Will sealed games with battery saves still be good or would it depend on storage of the game. How long will batteries last before ruining carts.
Him asking people to come and see it before they make an offer or buy it is an easy way to get around eBay. If the person that comes to see it and is interested they can just work everything out without eBay.
the only benefit I see in a VGA garaded game or console is knowing its the legitimate product and not a bootleg. beyond that I don't really care bc if I'm buying something I want to play it, not look at it. I wouldn't every buy anything that's VGA rated bc the seller always wants to pass the cost of the grading to the consumer. the way i see it is you chose to do get your product graded, so the cost of that is on you. its not the responsibility of whoever is buying it to recoup your costs.
sounds look like someone went into doc's delorean and went back to the 80's and 90's, took some games and game units came back here to 2016 and slapped them onto ebay for 100k!
The seller is pretty smart, making people visit before they can bid. I'm guessing what he wants to have happen is to have someone make him an offer in cash once they see it, to avoid all the ebay fees. Also, I see he's got it listed again, this time for $84K.
+eli10ny75 psn you could break the thing, but there would be very little point because you pay a premium for that box. it's just a clear plastic case with a number on it
I would absolutely 100% adore to have all those systems boxed (the vga grade thing is meh). But honestly, if I had put all that time/effort/money into setting that collection up I would consider making my own or at least renting out my collection to a museum. Strange to put so much effort/time/money into something you're just willing to sell off imo, but that's probably just because I would cherish the shit out of it personally lol.
Ian, opening a mint in box console and using it is sacrelidge. I don’t care if you want to use it. If you can afford a brand new one you can afford a ten dollar extra console to play on.
He ended the auction early, and the reason is the same as to why he insisted that potential buyers come see it before bidding - he listed on Ebay to advertise the collection, not to sell it. Somebody probably walked out of there with everything for 40-50k and everybody was happy. Except for Ebay of course...
Guys I don't like the VGA system either, it's just pointless. If something is factory sealed that's the maximum there is nothing above that. Why even let it grade by someone that can be as right or wrong as us? But I do have to ask you guys, what do you have with comic books? Personally I think that games are way more popular and have more important place in history compared to comic books. If the argument is that games are just a cart with data, you can also just copy every single comic book page and digitalize it. That's an easier way of preserving it than actually preservering the original thing. Collecting though is not only (or not at all) about preserving, it's more about having the original thing + being able to actually play the original thing. That last part isn't even that important because we can also just use emulators. But in my opinion gaming is way more popular than comics have ever been, it's also still going strong with newer generations that eventually also will look back at older gens. Btw I understand the values behind comic books too, just like with every kind of collectible you have people wanting to collect it and there are editions that are rarer or more wanted than others. Just like with every other kind of collectible.
Even if I had the money and space for this I would not touch it because I like to buy a few games or 1 console at a time to learn more about it, not to be overwhelmed with a huge lot at once.
+Kyle Gardner It might be a case of it's worth asking, ask a crazy price, if it sells all good if not nothing lost. or sometimes people just wake up and realise they have hoarded a load of stuff that they don't really care about. I've got amiga 1200,ps2, gamecube gameboy,gameboy advance and atari 2600 all in the basement because i got them new or work mates offered me them and i couldnt say no. i'll stick them on ebay to one day
Actually, CGC standards are STILL quite arbitrary even after 15 years. The issue with pro grading services is that different collectors give more or less weight to different standards.
Hey, I may not play any of my 5000+ VGA 99.99 Platinum games and systems, but I just don't only "look" at them... uhh, I like to smell them too. Btw, who the hell plays games nowadays when amazingly talented people on TH-cam play it for you.
Pat's booking his flight to Westbury New York as we speak ;) If you're slabbing a console, petty sure your ultimate goal is to make money off it. Nothing wrong with that i guess, but it's not why I got into collecting. I don't sell any of my "crap". - I just hope that when i die, my family will "do the right thing" and cherish their new boxed mint copy of "Beat em and Eat em".. and not sell it at a yard sale for $3. :)
If this guy would allow to break up this collection i would buy a few VGA graded systems from him. 100k way out of my price range. Still an interesting story.
The guy that put this on eBay doesn't intend to sell it. He's just bragging and showing off his collection. People do it all the time. There's this one guy on Nintendoage that puts up all his doubles of sealed rare n64 games to show off. These people don't have any friends irl to show off to, so they show off to collectors online
This is why I hate buying sealed new consoles that are never going to be opened I buy systems that I want to play like the dreamcast I bought cause I actually want to play it and I still do.
I've always scratched my head at this shit. I don't get it, I've always owned consoles and games because I love playing them. I would never buy an NES (for example) to look at the box, I'd buy an NES because I want to play the games, maybe I would buy it new, because being able to use a brand new NES in 2016 would be pretty awesome. To me having it brand new, sealed in an acrylic box so it can never be played, and so I can just look at it and say "I have a brand new unopened NES" seems like a massive waste. Lets rip that shit open and play some Mario! It would be like Christmas 1987 all over again! It's the same for me with buying games just for their rarity, a game that was notoriously awful should never sell for $1000. Think of all the good games you can buy with $1000, games that you might, I don't know..play!? Why would you pay that? Just so you can say you have it? Maybe you do, but it still sucks. Yeah you can say you need to preserve a few examples, but that's surely what museums are for? Now if your going to buy it and donate to it to a museum so everyone can look at it fair enough. I don't mean to offend anyone here, I just don't understand peoples thinking with this. If you can explain this to me go for it. Then again, I'm one of those heathens that generally just use emulators for a lot of older systems because its easier, and a lot of the time don't have the patience or space for crusty 20+ year old electronics. So what do I know?
I dont think ill ever understand HOW this old gaming stuff is somehow worth 1000's of dollars. people obsessed with retro gaming must be very bad with money to buy ans sell this stuff as if its the holy grail of gaming.
Pat, Ian, I am with you on VGA being bullshit, I have a question though, maybe you can bring it up, if it hasn't been tried or discussed. I know you would be wasting a bit of cash to do it, but has anyone ever had a game "rated" , then removed it from it case, and had a friend mail in the EXACT SAME GAME, and see what "rating" comes back the second time? ESP if the first guy somehow hinted at being a one time thing, and the second time, the person mentioning wanting to rate a few other items. I would try, but the only thing I have NIB, is Famicom KLAX (It was included when I bought my AV Famicom from auction in Japan, and I don't really have interest in playing it, and I assume they wouldn't rate a Famicom game - and that would probably be a crappy experiment, as I doubt they get many Famicom games - so getting a worthless one twice would be a red flag for them).
Can someone explain to me what VGA is? So the console/game comes with plastic around it? What stops someone from using a console then putting it back in the box, and putting the "plastic" around it?
I love reading all the poor people's comments lol!!! they can't understand buying and owning sealed games, it makes me feel good to know what I own an most others don't.
Grading in general seems dumb to me. I want to read/play my games/comics and enjoy myself. Cards are the only thing I could understand grading, but I would never do it.
I doubt anyone dumb enough to fall for this has an affinity with retro consoles. The people who do collect stuff like this are also knowledgeable enough on the subject to know 90% of the collection will be overpriced. So it would be cheaper to buy each item separately which is the polar opposite purpose of buying in bulk. /rant
The thing with the VGA is that they know literal JACK SHIT about video games and base their grades simply on pulling a number out of the air and slapping it on there. The other thing that truly sucks about VGA is that when a collector sends it out for the 'grade' and casing (which I admit, the VGA do that well) is that the collector automatically assumes that jacks up the price. Wrong. It would be different if the VGA knew what they were doing and could certify the game or console with expertise. When a gamer/collector does this and puts it on Ebay and people are dumb enough to buy it, it inflates the pricing of games unnecessarily and makes it harder for a regular gamer to collect and buy. No, when I buy a game, I'm buying it to play and to add to my collection, not so it sits there and collects dust. Ian and Pat are absolutely correct in saying that this is a very niche thing and only the most discretionary of people will actually buy these. It's sad that that is what will happen to those consoles, unless the buyer uses them to open a museum of some kind, that could be a way to recoup that loss, otherwise, to me, it's a waste.
so i never do these stupid town garage sale sites but my ex downloaded a couple on my phone.. i told her to always look out for game stuff. i saw one time but it already sold a original nes system in box for 15 freaking dollars... i got so mad at her we talk anymore... lol lesson learned.. and this was last month so im gonna keep an eye out.. seems treasures are still out there ...
I'd never buy a video game system or game I'd never play. I love playing video games too much not to want to play what I own. I'm not knocking those who collect and don't play their games, I'm just too in love with video games to let them sit there on a shelf unplayed.
A lot of cool stuff but i don't see the point in having a console if you're not going to use it. You can pick up an NES with games right now on Ebay for less than £50 so who gives a shit about a sealed one?
If you can spend 100k on game systems... you can also afford to buy extra systems to play. So, a rather silly point to harp on for so much time. This type of auction would seem to be for a rich fanboy whom would want it just as a collectible with an eye on perhaps it does grow in value over the years. Comics were not worth much for a very long time, but as they grew in popularity then issues became worth something to some people. As video games continue to grow and supply of these older systems fade, perhaps they could become the next "Action Comics"... afterall, comics are just images printed on paper.
Who's collection is this? It's amazing. And why aren't they making TH-cam videos? I love this. Please don't be sour grapes. It's fascinating! This is so delicious it's difficult to believe it is real.
Hmm I think I may know this guy. I live close to that area and if it's the guy I'm thinking he collected everything videogame related. He used to come into my job and look for pristine boxesof games and systems and when I'd ask him if he enjoyed the games he bought he would tell me he just collects and very rarely opens anything.
He may have put it up to try and value it. See what offers he gets. The 98000 just makes it seem that he is somewhat reasonable and could accept reasonable offers. If he had asked for a million somebody who is interested might think him a nutjob and not bother with an offer.
Feels more like a museum wing collection. I mean outside of that one or two random obsessive collectors or someone with more money then sense, who is going to be able to buy this or even want this sort of collection... its massive and not even useable... I love gaming and the history behind it but... yeah just too niche.
Who will buy this: The son/daughter, of rich parents, who has just got into video game collecting and is one of those people who gets whatever they've ever wanted and has to have it right now! Then in 1-3 years they will get bored and move on to the next thing in their spoilt life and, seeing as they don't care about the value of a $, will throw the whole collection in the trash!!!
This is the first time I've heard of VGA grading myself. It seems to me like these guys pretty much just threw together a website to profit off of a niche market.
I don't get these sorts of collectors. To get game systems or games, but not be able to play them? What's the point? The only reason I could see ever buying a new-in-box anything is for the chance to open it for the first time, like back in the day. Even for complete-in-box stuff, there's still the possibility to take it out of the box and play it. But to just have it, never to use it? I just can't understand those people.
Nothing so fun as spending hundreds of dollars on an unopened video game system sealed in plastic so I can look at it in the box while in a box while in my home which is like a box wtf we are all in boxes dude...
+Hoosier High Way its boxception
+Hoosier High Way Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky...
+Hoosier High Way That's what Lukemorse1 thinks as well. He has an impressive collection of video game systems/games. He always buys the game, unboxes it, plays it even though it could be as old as 30 years old.
+Hoosier High Way
Are you high? (not trying to be offensive, just curious)
"I'm just a box in a cage"
These giant ebay auctions are always baffling to me. They clearly spent decades finding and collecting these gems and then just say "Hey, can I just pawn this all off for thousands of dollars online?!"
+DreamcastGuy There's a subset of collectors that are all about the hunt. They reach a peak - dump the stuff they bought (for a profit) and start the process over again.
+Isac Williams (PWNERX) A lot of collectors only collect for the hunting process. They get everything they want and then they sale it and start over.
CUZC0M I sometimes wonder why some people consider TH-cam's comment section to be a vapid cesspool. And then I read posts like yours. Thanks for the refresher course.
***** I'm generalizing here - but a typical 'reseller' picks up games at good prices just to flip. Usually immediately. These collectors on the other hand build sets. They enjoy the act of collecting more than the ownership of any particular item. Once they have their collections built they reach a moment of "Well... what now?" And dump it all just to start the process over again.
+DariaPlays Yep, at some point, space for storing the stuff becomes a problem, so it's either get rid of some of it, or stop collecting.
What worse is the person that actually buys them finds out 30 years from now when he decides to celebrate and open one...it was packaged with rocks.
Guessing this is the perfect gift to someone that loves boxes but not Gaming
+B Mc Exactly! Like people who collect cars but never drive them! Why not just donate it to a museum?
Cats?
that was almost funny
+B Mc or it could go to a collector that already has an open and playable version of all the systems.
People that collect cars can still interact with the car
Personally, I see no extra value in a old boxed retro-system
Since it status as operational is up in the air, and they look better unbox for display
I would really like to get that brand new NES. I would theme an entire weekend based on my Christmas morning from 1988. No phones, no Google, just me and Mario at mommas house. Oh, and the meatloaf! lol
+SeattleSundown That's why hearing the rare story of how this one NES complete system...unused...made it's way to a thrift store is so grand. Seems that once upon a time in the mid '80s, some grand mother bought this new time waster when her gran children were coming for a visit up in the mountains. Only, the kids couldn't make it. The system and all it's games went right to the attic and remained there in mint condition until (...erm...was this in 2013? 2014?) the time came for some spring cleaning. (Let's just say 'Spring cleaning'...just in case how this happened wasn't so cheery.) No garage sales. Everything went right to the thrift store. And a smart person picked up the mint lot...at thrift store prices. (The story's somewhere deep inside TH-cam.) So, moral of the story is 'never stop hunting'. Just never know what might pop out from some musty storage corner.
Several months back, my local gaming store conned some grand parent out of their gems of some Intellivision rarities. Talking Turbo and Donkey Kong and a few others, near mint in box. Bet whomever sold that walked away with a crisp five dollars. Because, in box Turbo was something even e-Bay wasn't pulling up a price for and the store said 'no sale', regardless my offer.
Just made me recall the NES I got from Service Merchandise when I was a kid. The smell of that foam when you first open a brand new box...mmmmm.
+manixpc HOLY SHIT! Service Merchandise was the pinnacle of Toys R Us timeframe too! Such an odd setup/ display in that place. I loved it. Good call, man. Good call.
+SeattleSundown It was so damn weird how that place worked lol. Remember how you basically walked around the showroom jotting down catalog numbers, which you then paid for at the cashier, and then had to wait for the guys in the stock room to retrieve it? (Is it just me or did the stuff come out on a conveyor belt?!)
+manixpc Not just you man. That happened! All the displays were clear or crystal colored and partitioned down corridors so traffic flowed nicely. This is when you jotted down catalogue digits for sweet delivery. I still remember seeing a rotary phone (creme colored) in its own special display case. Man... we are getting old lol So rad you remembered that.
At 4:30, it's the reason why there's a gamestop. Reselling is a lot harder than you think. A lot of people think it's easy but it's not. That's the reason why gamestop offers you very little in return when you go back to resell your games to them because having to resell a used game is a lot harder.
Podcast as described. Fast delivery. Would watch again. A++++++++++++++++++
I love how every new console is talked about in the podcast and oat has to chime in and say " I have that"
Perfect for making your brand new box home once you go broke buying this. #ThatBoxLife
watch ian's face when pat says "i have one probably, in the garage"
IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!
Sit down Doctor Jones!!!
To quote Harrison Ford,
"It belongs in a museum!"
I collect boxed Sega items exclusively (because it's easy to collect for here), anything else is just loose consoles and cartridges in most cases, because I also like to enjoy using them. The boxed Sega items I do have are not in their boxes, I just keep the boxes stored away for a later date.
Have they talked about the 3,133 game collection being sold for 175k? Only one picture for the listing they're talking about is a turn off.
If you got 100k to waste on video games I'm sure the buyer has the space.
I did get some ungraded VGA cases with a slide door at the bottom for some of my more expensive NES and MSX2 games.
I still have an old master system in the box that I never really touched, it's in storage... how much am I looking at if I sell it? no games, and it comes with a zapper... I don't remember seeing any chords though, it's been awhile, i'll have to dig it out
There is something similar to this at a flea market in ....
I'm not telling. Because I have my mind in getting it, not sure how. But it's inside of the glass stand. In box, never used, the Odyssey Magnovox, etc... Gold mine. Everytime I go their, I see it, just standing their, and nobody ever seems to notice much, or even care for that matter. And I just look in amazement. If I buy that, I don't care for the money, I want that experience of opening it up and playing it. Or... I might not, who knows...
This is high end collectible grade stuff & it doesn't get any more high end than VGA. Very Nice.
I got a steal on a near mint VGA graded PS Classic mini for only $10k
Personally I want stuff I can use, not going to pay 100K for sealed/slabbed systems that I put on a shelve just to look at, if I want to look at boxes I'll go google some images which cost nothing.
This collection belongs in a museum or something.
What is the type of vga-grading, that they are talking about? Is it impossible to break the cases and use a specific console?
The crazy part is that Westbury NY is pretty close to where I live . Its crazy that all of these gems are actually in my state ! All we have here is football for nes for 15 bucks in some random thrifts
Someone doing that much grading almost certainly had one of those reseller/volume discount accounts with the VGA.
The vga grading for all of these seems like it would make this collection better for a gaming museum more than anything. Though I wouldent Mind a slabed NES to display on a shelf
Question pat you seem to be an expert on NES carts lol. Will sealed games with battery saves still be good or would it depend on storage of the game. How long will batteries last before ruining carts.
Him asking people to come and see it before they make an offer or buy it is an easy way to get around eBay. If the person that comes to see it and is interested they can just work everything out without eBay.
Very good point especially given how much the eBay final value fee would be on this.
+Aaron Haas yep, probably a huge reason
listing says temporarily sold out...
the only benefit I see in a VGA garaded game or console is knowing its the legitimate product and not a bootleg. beyond that I don't really care bc if I'm buying something I want to play it, not look at it. I wouldn't every buy anything that's VGA rated bc the seller always wants to pass the cost of the grading to the consumer. the way i see it is you chose to do get your product graded, so the cost of that is on you. its not the responsibility of whoever is buying it to recoup your costs.
sounds look like someone went into doc's delorean and went back to the 80's and 90's, took some games and game units came back here to 2016 and slapped them onto ebay for 100k!
I've had it on my wAtch list for a couple months. I think it was 70,000 something before. Or maybe was another similar listing
This would have been a shrewd investment with 20/20 hindsight.
The seller is pretty smart, making people visit before they can bid. I'm guessing what he wants to have happen is to have someone make him an offer in cash once they see it, to avoid all the ebay fees. Also, I see he's got it listed again, this time for $84K.
I wonder if that auction will sell.
Is there no way to open a game that's gets graded and put into an acrylic box?
+eli10ny75 psn you could break the thing, but there would be very little point because you pay a premium for that box. it's just a clear plastic case with a number on it
Ian rocks for saying "supposedly" and not "supposibly."
I would absolutely 100% adore to have all those systems boxed (the vga grade thing is meh). But honestly, if I had put all that time/effort/money into setting that collection up I would consider making my own or at least renting out my collection to a museum.
Strange to put so much effort/time/money into something you're just willing to sell off imo, but that's probably just because I would cherish the shit out of it personally lol.
This is my favourite negative shopping channel
Ian, opening a mint in box console and using it is sacrelidge. I don’t care if you want to use it. If you can afford a brand new one you can afford a ten dollar extra console to play on.
He ended the auction early, and the reason is the same as to why he insisted that potential buyers come see it before bidding - he listed on Ebay to advertise the collection, not to sell it. Somebody probably walked out of there with everything for 40-50k and everybody was happy. Except for Ebay of course...
Guys I don't like the VGA system either, it's just pointless. If something is factory sealed that's the maximum there is nothing above that. Why even let it grade by someone that can be as right or wrong as us? But I do have to ask you guys, what do you have with comic books? Personally I think that games are way more popular and have more important place in history compared to comic books. If the argument is that games are just a cart with data, you can also just copy every single comic book page and digitalize it. That's an easier way of preserving it than actually preservering the original thing.
Collecting though is not only (or not at all) about preserving, it's more about having the original thing + being able to actually play the original thing. That last part isn't even that important because we can also just use emulators. But in my opinion gaming is way more popular than comics have ever been, it's also still going strong with newer generations that eventually also will look back at older gens. Btw I understand the values behind comic books too, just like with every kind of collectible you have people wanting to collect it and there are editions that are rarer or more wanted than others. Just like with every other kind of collectible.
how do you not know if you have a odyssey 500 or not
does "slabbed" basically mean factory sealed? not a term i'm familiar with.
Pat the podcast link is down on itunes. Help!
A transaction between wealthy collectors... Basically an impulse buy for them.
Even if I had the money and space for this I would not touch it because I like to buy a few games or 1 console at a time to learn more about it, not to be overwhelmed with a huge lot at once.
I think this guy was just bragging/showing off. No one is going to spend 100k at one time on a video game collection.
You would be surprised what people will spend money on
jordan fulton I wouldn't blame you it's still a nice collection regardless and sometimes you just got to say fuck it and go for it .
+Kyle Gardner It might be a case of it's worth asking, ask a crazy price, if it sells all good if not nothing lost. or sometimes people just wake up and realise they have hoarded a load of stuff that they don't really care about.
I've got amiga 1200,ps2, gamecube gameboy,gameboy advance and atari 2600 all in the basement because i got them new or work mates offered me them and i couldnt say no.
i'll stick them on ebay to one day
Can't see many individuals being interested in something like this but maybe a business or museum of sorts could have some interest to showcase it all
god damn that would be so cool to open some of them
Apparently it didn't sell last time because it's been relisted for $84,000
Actually, CGC standards are STILL quite arbitrary even after 15 years. The issue with pro grading services is that different collectors give more or less weight to different standards.
A museum could easily buy these VGA consoles and get their money back in the ticket sales , sadly only someone like that can buy it .
Hey, I may not play any of my 5000+ VGA 99.99 Platinum games and systems, but I just don't only "look" at them... uhh, I like to smell them too.
Btw, who the hell plays games nowadays when amazingly talented people on TH-cam play it for you.
Pat's booking his flight to Westbury New York as we speak ;)
If you're slabbing a console, petty sure your ultimate goal is to make money off it. Nothing wrong with that i guess, but it's not why I got into collecting. I don't sell any of my "crap". - I just hope that when i die, my family will "do the right thing" and cherish their new boxed mint copy of "Beat em and Eat em".. and not sell it at a yard sale for $3. :)
I'm gonna get my boxed copy of Gimmick! VGA graded and then destroy the slab to get my game back on video.
can someone quickly explain to me what "VGA" means?
If this guy would allow to break up this collection i would buy a few VGA graded systems from him. 100k way out of my price range. Still an interesting story.
The guy that put this on eBay doesn't intend to sell it. He's just bragging and showing off his collection. People do it all the time.
There's this one guy on Nintendoage that puts up all his doubles of sealed rare n64 games to show off. These people don't have any friends irl to show off to, so they show off to collectors online
This is why I hate buying sealed new consoles that are never going to be opened I buy systems that I want to play like the dreamcast I bought cause I actually want to play it and I still do.
I've always scratched my head at this shit. I don't get it, I've always owned consoles and games because I love playing them. I would never buy an NES (for example) to look at the box, I'd buy an NES because I want to play the games, maybe I would buy it new, because being able to use a brand new NES in 2016 would be pretty awesome. To me having it brand new, sealed in an acrylic box so it can never be played, and so I can just look at it and say "I have a brand new unopened NES" seems like a massive waste. Lets rip that shit open and play some Mario! It would be like Christmas 1987 all over again!
It's the same for me with buying games just for their rarity, a game that was notoriously awful should never sell for $1000. Think of all the good games you can buy with $1000, games that you might, I don't know..play!? Why would you pay that? Just so you can say you have it? Maybe you do, but it still sucks.
Yeah you can say you need to preserve a few examples, but that's surely what museums are for? Now if your going to buy it and donate to it to a museum so everyone can look at it fair enough.
I don't mean to offend anyone here, I just don't understand peoples thinking with this. If you can explain this to me go for it. Then again, I'm one of those heathens that generally just use emulators for a lot of older systems because its easier, and a lot of the time don't have the patience or space for crusty 20+ year old electronics. So what do I know?
I dont think ill ever understand HOW this old gaming stuff is somehow worth 1000's of dollars. people obsessed with retro gaming must be very bad with money to buy ans sell this stuff as if its the holy grail of gaming.
what does "slabbing" mean?
Pat, Ian, I am with you on VGA being bullshit, I have a question though, maybe you can bring it up, if it hasn't been tried or discussed. I know you would be wasting a bit of cash to do it, but has anyone ever had a game "rated" , then removed it from it case, and had a friend mail in the EXACT SAME GAME, and see what "rating" comes back the second time? ESP if the first guy somehow hinted at being a one time thing, and the second time, the person mentioning wanting to rate a few other items.
I would try, but the only thing I have NIB, is Famicom KLAX (It was included when I bought my AV Famicom from auction in Japan, and I don't really have interest in playing it, and I assume they wouldn't rate a Famicom game - and that would probably be a crappy experiment, as I doubt they get many Famicom games - so getting a worthless one twice would be a red flag for them).
The Gamecoms bring the value of this collection down by $99,000.
Can someone explain to me what VGA is? So the console/game comes with plastic around it? What stops someone from using a console then putting it back in the box, and putting the "plastic" around it?
+N i c k They're in a sealed plastic case with a 'rating' based on the condition of the item. If you open it, the rating will be invalidated.
it's a scam
mirabilis
I wouldn't say it's a scam because it's fairly honest about what it is. Just a massive waste of money.
I love reading all the poor people's comments lol!!! they can't understand buying and owning sealed games, it makes me feel good to know what I own an most others don't.
Grading in general seems dumb to me. I want to read/play my games/comics and enjoy myself. Cards are the only thing I could understand grading, but I would never do it.
Dustman B action figures too definitely helps to preserve them with archival cases
it is still on eBay at the same price and hasnt been sold yet. lol the seller really wants to sell this in that price. he is optimstic...
at this very moment it is down to $84,000...now I'm ready to put in my $100 offer....
what does VGA graded mean?
I doubt anyone dumb enough to fall for this has an affinity with retro consoles. The people who do collect stuff like this are also knowledgeable enough on the subject to know 90% of the collection will be overpriced. So it would be cheaper to buy each item separately which is the polar opposite purpose of buying in bulk. /rant
so what I got from this is, basically some asshole ruined 100+ classic consoles and is now selling them for 100k
The thing with the VGA is that they know literal JACK SHIT about video games and base their grades simply on pulling a number out of the air and slapping it on there. The other thing that truly sucks about VGA is that when a collector sends it out for the 'grade' and casing (which I admit, the VGA do that well) is that the collector automatically assumes that jacks up the price. Wrong. It would be different if the VGA knew what they were doing and could certify the game or console with expertise. When a gamer/collector does this and puts it on Ebay and people are dumb enough to buy it, it inflates the pricing of games unnecessarily and makes it harder for a regular gamer to collect and buy. No, when I buy a game, I'm buying it to play and to add to my collection, not so it sits there and collects dust.
Ian and Pat are absolutely correct in saying that this is a very niche thing and only the most discretionary of people will actually buy these. It's sad that that is what will happen to those consoles, unless the buyer uses them to open a museum of some kind, that could be a way to recoup that loss, otherwise, to me, it's a waste.
Awesome podcast.
so i never do these stupid town garage sale sites but my ex downloaded a couple on my phone.. i told her to always look out for game stuff. i saw one time but it already sold a original nes system in box for 15 freaking dollars... i got so mad at her we talk anymore... lol lesson learned.. and this was last month so im gonna keep an eye out..
seems treasures are still out there ...
I'd never buy a video game system or game I'd never play. I love playing video games too much not to want to play what I own. I'm not knocking those who collect and don't play their games, I'm just too in love with video games to let them sit there on a shelf unplayed.
at this price, if there is no flip potential it will never sell.
A lot of cool stuff but i don't see the point in having a console if you're not going to use it.
You can pick up an NES with games right now on Ebay for less than £50 so who gives a shit about a sealed one?
Top of the bubble.Calling it.
Ian's camera has been out of focus for the last few podcasts.
Minor complaint :)
Well it's a steal at the lowered $98K now.
I only see 1 picture. Also, there is a 30k Little Samson on ebay now lol
wtf, what's so special about it?
+TnVGaming Why does that not surprise me
If you can spend 100k on game systems... you can also afford to buy extra systems to play. So, a rather silly point to harp on for so much time. This type of auction would seem to be for a rich fanboy whom would want it just as a collectible with an eye on perhaps it does grow in value over the years. Comics were not worth much for a very long time, but as they grew in popularity then issues became worth something to some people. As video games continue to grow and supply of these older systems fade, perhaps they could become the next "Action Comics"... afterall, comics are just images printed on paper.
Who's collection is this? It's amazing. And why aren't they making TH-cam videos? I love this. Please don't be sour grapes. It's fascinating! This is so delicious it's difficult to believe it is real.
Pat is already in negotiations...
Hmm I think I may know this guy. I live close to that area and if it's the guy I'm thinking he collected everything videogame related. He used to come into my job and look for pristine boxesof games and systems and when I'd ask him if he enjoyed the games he bought he would tell me he just collects and very rarely opens anything.
wow. i live 20mins from westbury long island
Rich neighborhood
He may have put it up to try and value it. See what offers he gets. The 98000 just makes it seem that he is somewhat reasonable and could accept reasonable offers. If he had asked for a million somebody who is interested might think him a nutjob and not bother with an offer.
I suppose if someone was looking to get a jump start on a pay-to-visit museum of everything video gaming...
You should buy it Pat! haha
Feels more like a museum wing collection.
I mean outside of that one or two random obsessive collectors or someone with more money then sense, who is going to be able to buy this or even want this sort of collection... its massive and not even useable... I love gaming and the history behind it but... yeah just too niche.
i want to buy this just to open all the consoles
Who will buy this:
The son/daughter, of rich parents, who has just got into video game collecting and is one of those people who gets whatever they've ever wanted and has to have it right now!
Then in 1-3 years they will get bored and move on to the next thing in their spoilt life and, seeing as they don't care about the value of a $, will throw the whole collection in the trash!!!
This is the first time I've heard of VGA grading myself. It seems to me like these guys pretty much just threw together a website to profit off of a niche market.
No Texas Instruments? :D
But they're not all sealed. SEEEEEEEALED!
He ended his auction. Looks like he began to sell individual systems now. His vga Sega Saturn sold.
Looks like the listing ended. Looks like he is parting out and selling individually. His prices are still a bit much too
I don't get these sorts of collectors. To get game systems or games, but not be able to play them? What's the point? The only reason I could see ever buying a new-in-box anything is for the chance to open it for the first time, like back in the day. Even for complete-in-box stuff, there's still the possibility to take it out of the box and play it. But to just have it, never to use it? I just can't understand those people.