Is the Video Game Museum going to use graded games?

[theclaw]

Graded maybe not. Protective cases is a necessity. Many games would never survive that amount of public handling for long.

[98PaceCar]

Graded maybe not. Protective cases is a necessity. Many games would never survive that amount of public handling for long.

There's a vast difference between protecting a game and grading a game.

[skaar]

About the only thing good is the plastic protective case. The rest of the service (and branding) is inappropriate in a museum.... unless that's a sponsored museum.

[theclaw]

There's a vast difference between protecting a game and grading a game.

Hmm. Yeah sorry if I'm on edge. Tired...

[mrmark0673]

Love the pic Port! Honestly though, I wasn't trolling...

Very short quick example of where I don't think it would be wise to not display a piece JUST because it was graded:

My sealed Flintstones 2 that I just sold is the only one with photographs to confirm that it exists (though there is word of another out there). Would a serious museum curator rather:

A) Display what is likely a one of a kind piece in their museum
B) Not include it purely because it is in an acrylic case

I'm not in any way saying that it would be BETTER to have graded games displayed in the museum, but rather it would seem silly to not include them just because they were slabbed. Just my 2 cents.

Bojay: Not that I ever assumed that sealed games would be at the forefront of the museum, but you'd certainly think they'd have a place in a video game museum, no?

[Bojay1997]

Love the pic Port! Honestly though, I wasn't trolling...

Very short quick example of where I don't think it would be wise to not display a piece JUST because it was graded:

My sealed Flintstones 2 that I just sold is the only one with photographs to confirm that it exists (though there is word of another out there). Would a serious museum curator rather:

A) Display what is likely a one of a kind piece in their museum
B) Not include it purely because it is in an acrylic case

I'm not in any way saying that it would be BETTER to have graded games displayed in the museum, but rather it would seem silly to not include them just because they were slabbed. Just my 2 cents.

Bojay: Not that I ever assumed that sealed games would be at the forefront of the museum, but you'd certainly think they'd have a place in a video game museum, no?

Actually, for archival purposes, sealed games should not be kept in any museum. While I personally collect sealed games, I am also painfully aware that over time, the acidic wrap on many games begins to react with the paper, cardboard, adhesives on labels and ink which also have acids in them. That's why comics, books and paper money are not sealed in regular commercial grade plastic, but rather stored in acid free materials like mylar, etc... If not very carefully climate controlled, all shrinkwrap gets tighter and more brittle or even sticky over time. That's why you'll find other museums including the collection at Stanford removing the wrap on their sealed items. Sealed games just won't last long term, so while you might not have a problem with a game that is 20-30 years old, in 20 years from now when that game is 50 years old and has been exposed to airborne pollutants, heat and cold, UV and other lighting, etc...it will start to degrade.

Grading and sealing are fine for a very small number of collectors with a fairly short term outlook, but for most collectors and for museums, it is a complete waste of money and prevents long-term preservation.

[TonyTheTiger]

Actually, for archival purposes, sealed games should not be kept in any museum. While I personally collect sealed games, I am also painfully aware that over time, the acidic wrap on many games begins to react with the paper, cardboard, adhesives on labels and ink which also have acids in them. That's why comics, books and paper money are not sealed in regular commercial grade plastic, but rather stored in acid free materials like mylar, etc... If not very carefully climate controlled, all shrinkwrap gets tighter and more brittle or even sticky over time. That's why you'll find other museums including the collection at Stanford removing the wrap on their sealed items. Sealed games just won't last long term, so while you might not have a problem with a game that is 20-30 years old, in 20 years from now when that game is 50 years old and has been exposed to airborne pollutants, heat and cold, UV and other lighting, etc...it will start to degrade.

Grading and sealing are fine for a very small number of collectors with a fairly short term outlook, but for most collectors and for museums, it is a complete waste of money and prevents long-term preservation.

Interesting assessment. The youth of our hobby sometimes blinds us to these things. It's common knowledge what happens to comics, newspapers, etc. over long periods of time because they're decades upon decades old and we've seen the results often enough. But even the oldest video games are still new by comparison so we haven't seen many examples of what age does to the rudimentary retail packaging.

[Gameguy]

That's why comics, books and paper money are not sealed in regular commercial grade plastic, but rather stored in acid free materials like mylar, etc... If not very carefully climate controlled, all shrinkwrap gets tighter and more brittle or even sticky over time. That's why you'll find other museums including the collection at Stanford removing the wrap on their sealed items. Sealed games just won't last long term, so while you might not have a problem with a game that is 20-30 years old, in 20 years from now when that game is 50 years old and has been exposed to airborne pollutants, heat and cold, UV and other lighting, etc...it will start to degrade.

For really rare or valuable documents the paper can be treated to remove the acid, but it's extremely expensive to do so only really valuable items are usually treated. Most other books and documents will be left to rot, but they will still be scanned so the information and look of the pages won't be lost. I watched some documentary on the history of books which talked a bit about preservation and this is what one archive was doing.

Plus when rare documents are sealed in a case, that case is usually filled with Argon gas to help preserve it. The Declaration of Independence is now stored like that, and the exhibit also blocks out UV light to prevent other damage. I doubt the graded cases for games are filled with Argon, eventually the games will still deteriorate and the grading will be useless anyway. Unless the video game museum will seal everything in Argon filled cases, which I doubt will happen.

I doubt all this game stuff will last over 100 years from now, the closest thing to preservation will be collecting ROMs of every game to prevent them from becoming lost. The physical material just won't hold up, just scan pictures of everything and back those up for future displays 100+ years from now.

[Ze_ro]

Please do NOT do this... including VGA graded games in a museum would only bring them legitimacy that they really don't deserve.

--Zero

[portnoyd]

I'm not in any way saying that it would be BETTER to have graded games displayed in the museum, but rather it would seem silly to not include them just because they were slabbed. Just my 2 cents.

Bojay: Not that I ever assumed that sealed games would be at the forefront of the museum, but you'd certainly think they'd have a place in a video game museum, no?

VGA slabbed games are totally irrelevant to a museum. They just imply an association where there isn't one and most people entering the museum would have no clue what's going on and balk at the case. They don't remember SMB as a VGA85, they remember it as SMB. Those that do know would either love it or hate it so you'd have half (being generous here) of a small subset of visitors actually wanting to see them. Doesn't make sense especially in a climate of a museum starting off, looking to gain mainstream acceptance.

I can't say one way or another but if the Smithsonian has comics inside its walls, do you really think they are CGC slabbed? Do you think it would be appropriate?

Another problem is slabbing itself, which is all about protecting value and enhancing value. Two things completely irrelevant to a museum.

The validity of the seal is also irrelevant. The only thing VGA proves is that the plastic is real or fake. The box is most definitely real by the naked eye and if the title's sealed, that's all anyone sees. Done deal. Don't need VGA to come and take a dump on it to certify it brown gold authentic.

[cityside75]

VGA slabbed games are totally irrelevant to a museum. They just imply an association where there isn't one and most people entering the museum would have no clue what's going on and balk at the case. They don't remember SMB as a VGA85, they remember it as SMB. Those that do know would either love it or hate it so you'd have half (being generous here) of a small subset of visitors actually wanting to see them. Doesn't make sense especially in a climate of a museum starting off, looking to gain mainstream acceptance.

I can't say one way or another but if the Smithsonian has comics inside its walls, do you really think they are CGC slabbed? Do you think it would be appropriate?

Another problem is slabbing itself, which is all about protecting value and enhancing value. Two things completely irrelevant to a museum.

The validity of the seal is also irrelevant. The only thing VGA proves is that the plastic is real or fake. The box is most definitely real by the naked eye and if the title's sealed, that's all anyone sees. Done deal. Don't need VGA to come and take a dump on it to certify it brown gold authentic.

What he said.

[mrmark0673]

VGA slabbed games are totally irrelevant to a museum. They just imply an association where there isn't one and most people entering the museum would have no clue what's going on and balk at the case. They don't remember SMB as a VGA85, they remember it as SMB. Those that do know would either love it or hate it so you'd have half (being generous here) of a small subset of visitors actually wanting to see them. Doesn't make sense especially in a climate of a museum starting off, looking to gain mainstream acceptance.

I can't say one way or another but if the Smithsonian has comics inside its walls, do you really think they are CGC slabbed? Do you think it would be appropriate?

Another problem is slabbing itself, which is all about protecting value and enhancing value. Two things completely irrelevant to a museum.

The validity of the seal is also irrelevant. The only thing VGA proves is that the plastic is real or fake. The box is most definitely real by the naked eye and if the title's sealed, that's all anyone sees. Done deal. Don't need VGA to come and take a dump on it to certify it brown gold authentic.

It's funny, I really didn't think much of a VGA game in a museum, but it really does seem silly when I actually sit and think about it. I wasn't looking at a VGA game being superior to a non-VGA game in a museum setting, that I can totally understand. I had thought however that there wasn't much reason to shy away from a graded game's inclusion in the museum, but they really don't seem to have any place in that sort of setting.

Bojay: The whole degrading of materials seems a bit over dramatic. Anything made out of plastics has a pretty limited shelf life, I was just reading an article a few months ago about some early space suit starting to "melt" due to the break down of the plastic materials. Video games in any setting, sealed or otherwise, have a limited shelf life.

[Bojay1997]

It's funny, I really didn't think much of a VGA game in a museum, but it really does seem silly when I actually sit and think about it. I wasn't looking at a VGA game being superior to a non-VGA game in a museum setting, that I can totally understand. I had thought however that there wasn't much reason to shy away from a graded game's inclusion in the museum, but they really don't seem to have any place in that sort of setting.

Bojay: The whole degrading of materials seems a bit over dramatic. Anything made out of plastics has a pretty limited shelf life, I was just reading an article a few months ago about some early space suit starting to "melt" due to the break down of the plastic materials. Video games in any setting, sealed or otherwise, have a limited shelf life.

It's not over dramatic, it's a reality. People are paying literally insane amounts of money for sealed games, graded or not and I would assume they are doing so as some type of "investment". Given that I personally know people in my own family who have been collecting stamps, coins, records and paper goods for 50+ years, I don't think it's unreasonable to think about what you're buying and its lifespan, especially given that many of us have 50-70+ more years of life ahead of us given modern medicine.