Re-sealed GBA games?

[norkusa]

I just received a GBA game today in a trade that suspiciously looks like it could have been re-sealed. There is a light crease across the top flap and the shrink is especially loose around the corners. I rarely buy new GBA games though, so maybe I'm just being paranoid. Are there any tell-tale signs to look for to see if a GBA game has it's original shrinkwrap (like seams and whatnot)?

[Bratwurst]

The seams will be on the 'sides' of the box, that is, left and right to the face of the box, where there are no flaps.

All of my GBA games I've picked up new, and a few of the boxes had slight dings and dents. My Metroid Fusion manual was even bent inside the box from where it had settled and I was pissed about that, since you can't see that sort of thing before purchase.

[norkusa]

Hmm, the cart in question also has a seam along the bottom side of the box (as well as the left and right sides). Is that seam supposed to be there too?

[Bratwurst]

I took a closer look and out of all my boxes only one has a faintly visible (and I mean faint) seam on the bottom that matches up with the seams on the side. On the rest of my games there is no seam on the bottom.

[kai123]

There should be a seam across the back like the snes and N64. I have noticed some games do not have them though. My Best Buy seems to have more without the seam. :hmm:

[Ed Oscuro]

The seams will be on the 'sides' of the box, that is, left and right to the face of the box, where there are no flaps.

All of my GBA games I've picked up new, and a few of the boxes had slight dings and dents. My Metroid Fusion manual was even bent inside the box from where it had settled and I was pissed about that, since you can't see that sort of thing before purchase.

I also bought a slightly less than new copy of MF; all I can say is that I'm happy it wasn't full price. My copy of Zelda Four Swords (from Babbage's) was completely new, which is a good thing, and Super GnG also seems to have been unopened...but if they get any better with their repackaging techniques, we'll never know in the future.

So yep, once again, resealing games is evil. I'm just happy that I've got an unopened first run copy of Metroid 2...that's about all I can ask out of the system without completely breaking my budget.

[Bratwurst]

There should be a seam across the back like the snes and N64.

Where did you get these games sealed like that? I've gotten mine from Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and Media Play, none of them have seams on the back.

And Ed, that's the thing. I'm about 95% sure these are all new, non-returned stock. My beef is that the packing process can be a little sloppy, which results in bent insert cards and manuals, so on. And who hasn't opened a brand new game and seen the cartridge label misaligned at least once? Drives me nuts.

[norkusa]

I dunno. The game is Tactics Ogre, so maybe Atlus shrinks theirs differently? Or are they all wrapped the same? I compared it with the only other sealed GB game I have, Deja VU I & II, and it looks almost exactly the same with the exception of the seam across the back. Another thing that bugs me about it is that there is a little black flake of something floating around inside the shrinkwrap. I think I'm going to go to the store tomorrow just so I can look at how all the other GBA games are wrapped. Yeah, that my sound a bit neurotic, but I really gotta know if I was ripped off.

[kai123]

Most of my new games I got at Ebgames. I was looking at the best buy gameboy section and noticed that most do not have the seam in the back. Maybe they changed it recently. My Mario and Luigi didn't have a seam from Circuit City.