IDEA for sealed game verification – Weight Comparison

[Mr.Faxanadu]

I have several sealed games in my collection and I’m always wondering if they are truly factory sealed. Since people are beginning to see how much a sealed copy of NES Zelda is making I’m sure they can find innovative ways to fake the horizontal line. I have also heard stories of people getting fake resealed games with some dummy cart inside.

An idea I thought of is to have everyone weigh their sealed games (the more valuable ones for those of you with a crap load of them LOL ) and post their results here.

I know that not everyone out there has access to a detailed scale but I would assume that some of you out there do. Myself, I have access to a scale that reads up to 4 decimals of a gram.

If we can get enough accurate measurements for a game we should be able to detect even the slightest variation (for instance if the box contains a different instruction book i.e. less pages! or none at all !!)

I am thinking that after some time we would have the luxury of being able to say that by looking at 50? sealed NES Zelda’s the average weight is 154.675 g +/- 0.456 g. If someone weighs theirs and gets 140 g there is obviously a problem!

Does this idea make any sense ??? are there other ways to determine if the factory sealed game is legit (besides opening it) ??

[Mr.Faxanadu]

Just thought of this… we can weigh games that we have 100% complete in box and use it as a reference. Hmmmm….. what do you think ??

[izret101]

I don't know why people buy sealed things and open them in the first place.
But the idea makes sense I guess.
Love to help but i have no way to get a measurement of my games.

[TRM]

I can weigh mine, though I only have a few sealed titles. I would be glad to record the results on my website, if people actually respond and we get a nice amount of responses.

[neuropolitique]

Ahh, but what if the crook places a stone of the same weight as the cart in the box?

An X-ray could work. Detect the shape of the cart inside the box. But then, they could just put a cart shaped rock in it, too. In the end, I think there is really only one way to know for sure.

[tholly]

Ahh, but what if the crook places a stone of the same weight as the cart in the box?

An X-ray could work. Detect the shape of the cart inside the box. But then, they could just put a cart shaped rock in it, too. In the end, I think there is really only one way to know for sure.


exactly, which is why almost every single thing that i received sealed gets opened up....

isnt that what games are about anyway...opening them up, playing them, and enjoying them?

[sisko]

You will also have to assume that ALL scales are PERFECTLY calibrated equally.

The same copy could weigh .75lbs on one scale and .71 on another. 10 pages in manual don't weigh that much (hundredths of a pound). How do you know if you've gotten the right weight?

[Cauterize]

sealed sealed games....

just some opinions from me...

sure, these have value, but why would people want these really..
games are made to be played,
i can understand getting these if you already own it and want it as a shelf unit,
but at the end of the day "the value" these games hold arent fun IMO, sure you have about £100+ value on a game but its just gonna collect dust really and you cant play it!

okay i talk crap.... sealed games just arent my thing i guess...

[Spartacus]

If you were to ever sell them, it will probably be sold to someone who values them in thier sealed condition as well, so there's really no sense in worrying about it all that much. The poor thing's were still born, and never even knew it.

[Predatorxs]

I make sure i have 2 copies of certain games, and i keep one sealed! LOL so i have the nice sealed item to add to my collection, and i have an opened copy for all it's gaming goodness! :P

I have to say, i always pick up the sealed copy, after i already have the "opened" version ;)

http://www.xs.dsl.pipex.com/avator/ms_ufo.gif..XS

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Why do people open sealed games? To play them. Collecting has little point if you don't have fun with what you have. Seems kind of pointless, don't you think?

[kainemaxwell]

Weight comparisons and people complaining if the seal isn't "exactly" right? That's being way too anal and picky about a hobby...

[tholly]

I make sure i have 2 copies of certain games, and i keep one sealed! LOL so i have the nice sealed item to add to my collection, and i have an opened copy for all it's gaming goodness! :P

I have to say, i always pick up the sealed copy, after i already have the "opened" version ;)

http://www.xs.dsl.pipex.com/avator/ms_ufo.gif..XS


i would love to be able to do that, but that would get ridiculously costly if i bought a sealed and unsealed version of every game that i thought was worthy of being left sealed

[Promophile]

Why do people open sealed games? To play them. Collecting has little point if you don't have fun with what you have. Seems kind of pointless, don't you think?

Why not buy a.... UNSEALED game then. Leave the sealed games to collectors. people don't open sealed games to keep the VALUE! Why do collectors not open up the plastic packages action figures come in? VALUE.

[Sylentwulf]

Posts like this want my brain to explode.
Posts like this make game collectors look like a bunch of friggin geeks.
Posts like this really piss me off.
Posts like this REALLY need to be on a specialized nintendo message forum for collectors only.

Maybe we could average 50 sealed zelda carts to one one thousanth of a gram? Are you on crack?

Posts like this are borderline to a +1.

[izret101]

Why do people open sealed games? To play them. Collecting has little point if you don't have fun with what you have. Seems kind of pointless, don't you think?

Why not buy a.... UNSEALED game then. Leave the sealed games to collectors. people don't open sealed games to keep the VALUE! Why do collectors not open up the plastic packages action figures come in? VALUE.

Thank god there are other people who realize this.
Whenever i hear about people opening a sealed game (not new only old) and then never playing it or when i hear about people throwing away boxes and manuals it drives my crazy.
That just means that is one less box/manual/sealed copy of a game that i could possibly own.
Throwing away boxes and manuals makes me so much angrier than somone opening a sealed game though.

[Nesmaster]

i have 2 sealed games in my collection. vegas stakes (which i already have loose) and battleclash for snes. i have no intention of opening either, because i already have one of them, and the other costs like 50 cents loose. i used to have lost vikings 2 sealed also, but as it sat on the shelf, i started to think " im not a sealed collector, why am i just leting it sit there?" on that notion, i opened it up and started to play it. i have no regrets whatsoever, games are made to be played. vegas stakes and battleclash are treated different for reasons stated. they will be 2 of 3 sealed games to ever be in my collection(as i want one nes game sealed, to say i have one)

[Wavelflack]

I would suggest using a very small syringe, inserting it into the box (in an inconspicuous place...halloween is coming up, so practice with candy bars and Drano), and withdrawing a small sample of the air in the package. You'll have to do this in an evacuated environment, so as not to corrupt your results. Then use radioisotope dating to determine the relative age of the air in the box.

Hopefully your game was sealed airtight in the first place.


If that doesn't work, you could melt the game and packaging, and analyze the fumes with a mass spectrometer. You would need a control to compare it to, of course. This might work well, as the composition of professional cellophane in undoubtedly different from amateur cellophane.

Let me know how it works out!

[kainemaxwell]

I would suggest using a very small syringe, inserting it into the box (in an inconspicuous place...halloween is coming up, so practice with candy bars and Drano), and withdrawing a small sample of the air in the package. You'll have to do this in an evacuated environment, so as not to corrupt your results. Then use radioisotope dating to determine the relative age of the air in the box.

Hopefully your game was sealed airtight in the first place.


If that doesn't work, you could melt the game and packaging, and analyze the fumes with a mass spectrometer. You would need a control to compare it to, of course. This might work well, as the composition of professional cellophane in undoubtedly different from amateur cellophane.

Let me know how it works out!

LOL!

[Mr.Faxanadu]

Whoa !! I think I touched a nerve with this sealed game talk. LOL As for everyone who says it’s stupid to collect them as you cannot play them - For most sealed games that I have I also have a cheap cart with no box instructions or sleeve ! for playing. I normally get these for $2-3.

As for people thinking that weighing the games is crazy or that I am on crack !! :evil: I’m simply trying to generate a discussion about how to verify that authenticity of sealed games. Let’s face it these things sell for BIG money !!!! and they are highly desirable (high bid numbers) I just think it’s one of the easiest ways to do a quick check for authenticity.

Oh well if's fun to hear your guys ideas :)

[tholly]

I would suggest using a very small syringe, inserting it into the box (in an inconspicuous place...halloween is coming up, so practice with candy bars and Drano), and withdrawing a small sample of the air in the package. You'll have to do this in an evacuated environment, so as not to corrupt your results. Then use radioisotope dating to determine the relative age of the air in the box.

Hopefully your game was sealed airtight in the first place.


If that doesn't work, you could melt the game and packaging, and analyze the fumes with a mass spectrometer. You would need a control to compare it to, of course. This might work well, as the composition of professional cellophane in undoubtedly different from amateur cellophane.

Let me know how it works out!


that small needle hole would still take away from the value LOL

[Sylentwulf]

Did anyone else open up all 25 of their O'Shea 7800 games? :)

One thing I love to watch over the decades, is the shrinkwrap getting smaller, and smaller, till the box starts to crush, then a small tear opens up, and then it's downhill from there :)

I had a seald wall street and quest for rings odyssey 2 set, and they were both getting MANGLED from the shrinkwrap, so I sliced the sides, now it's still technically seald, but at least it's not getting crushed anymore, heh.

[goatdan]

I've weighed more games than I care to talk about, but not for the reason that you mention -- I have weighed a TON of the GOAT Store's inventory to make the shipping calculator as accurate as possible. I've got bad news:

Almost all of the same system's games are within a 1/100th of a pound of each other. In fact, with very rare exceptions (Genesis Star Flight, SNES Earthbound, etc.) the games are nearly identical to one another. Doing this will not get you to find out much of anything. We use weights now based on what type of cartridge it is and whether it has box / instructions or not. Mine won't be exactly what you're looking for, as we have to compensate for packing material, but you wouldn't be able to figure out the difference between a new sealed Zelda and a repackaged, sealed Super Mario Brothers with instructions.

It's the risk you take. I mostly agree that keeping things sealed is goofy, although I'll admit part of my Dreamcast collection is that way. I have probably 50 sealed games still for it -- but I just haven't got around to them.

And I do understand the appeal of purchasing a sealed item, but only for the fact that then I can unwrap it and get that same feeling of purchasing something totally new and exciting. It isn't like action figures, where I can understand that the packaging is cool (and it makes it easier to display). That just isn't the case in gaming.

[kainemaxwell]

So today's lesson: Unwrap them games and play them!

[TRM]

Well something that we need to keep in mind is that the different games used different types of circuit boards, some which are heavier then others. Anyway, still not much of a difference, weight wise.

[bargora]

I like your mass spec idea, wavelflack. I might also suggest calorimetric analysis.

[kainemaxwell]

Hell, this point just send it to MIT or NASA and ask them to compare the weight of it on Earth and the moon.

[tholly]

Hell, this point just send it to MIT or NASA and ask them to compare the weight of it on Earth and the moon.


excellent idea.....good thing someone thought of it....

anyone have the NASA phone #....im sure they could help us out

[izret101]

Did anyone else open up all 25 of their O'Shea 7800 games? :)

One thing I love to watch over the decades, is the shrinkwrap getting smaller, and smaller, till the box starts to crush, then a small tear opens up, and then it's downhill from there :)

I had a seald wall street and quest for rings odyssey 2 set, and they were both getting MANGLED from the shrinkwrap, so I sliced the sides, now it's still technically seald, but at least it's not getting crushed anymore, heh.

Well thats pretty shitty news. I have a few sealed games that i also have duplicates. But that is still some dissapointing information. It on the other hand much better than in 10 more years to notice all of me games are being destroyed by there protective sheath

[kainemaxwell]

OMG my the seam on my NES box isn't perfect, it's defective and worth noting!!!1111