A Question About Authenticity of Sealed Games

[drumguy79]

I know I've seen this answered before, but I can't find it. How do you tell if a game is factory sealed, or resealed by a gaming shop? Especially SNES games if it matters.
The one I'm looking at has a tight seal with a seam on the 2 long ends, as well as one running top to bottom across the back of the box (attatching the other 2 seams). That last seam makes me think it might be resealed, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[maxlords]

the "H" seam you described (one long seam on each long side, and one seam bisecting the back vertically, is the original shrink wrap. As far as I know, that's the only way SNES carts were wrapped, as I think Nintendo had all the same type of shrinkwrapping machines. If it's not wrapped like that, it's not original. It's also a fairly hard shrinkwrapping job to duplicate well. Also, the consistency of the plastic is different on the original shrinkwrap than it is on the newer rewraps (usually). the Nintendo shrinkwrap was not TOO shiny, and dulled easily with time, as well as being pretty thin, but not flimsy. If you have thick, very shiny, or VERY thin plastic, it's probably not original. If I'm wrong on any of those points, let me know people!

[Anonymous]

Here's another shrinkwrap question. When did Nintendo institute the H shrink wrap? Did the original package games (Black with the game pic pixelized from the game) have the line across the back? I have yet to see one that does.

[buttasuperb]

i have a sealed mario bros that im almost positive has a line across the back.

[Sothy]

not to be used solely by itself to determining a seal but a good tip is to inspect the cardboard behind the plastic. nicks or scrapes on the cardboard where the shrinkwar is intact would indicate its been resealed.

[Sega Hitman]

Where did you find all these sealed games by the way? If you got them from a Gamestop or Funcoland, they could very well be resealed. They're starting to shrinkwrap the older games if they come in with a box.

Another good way to test if these are for real is take one of the more common games, a sports one if you've got it, and open it up. If the contents all look new, and the games in that plastic bag that I believe all SNES games came in, the rest of the games are probably the real deal.

For some reason I'm under the impression you found a bunch of sealed games. You must have said this in another post or something. If I'm wrong, than ya, I'm a retard.

-Hitman-

[maxlords]

Not all the SNES games came in the plastic bag, only some of them.

[Sega Hitman]

I thought about that after I posted it, and ya, not all games have the bag. But having a perfectly flat manual and documentation is a dead giveaway that a game is brand new.

Most of the time, when you find a bunch of sealed stuff in the wild all of the sudden, it usually came from the same source. If one game is new, and not re-sealed or something, than in general, I'd say that the rest are sealed too.

Would anybody like to estimate how many of the "sealed" games on eBay are fake? The way sealed Chrono Trigger's and Final Fantasy games pop up on there, it isn't possible that every single one is the real deal. I'd probably never buy a sealed game off of there, just due to the fact that there could be some freak in their basement who can reproduce that "line" on the shrinkwrap from NES games.

-Hitman-

[portnoyd]

You have to be careful. Old price tags (like ghetto typewriteresque price tags with retail-back-then-prices) are good indicators of the real deal. Very hard to simulate 10 years of aging on a price label.

ALso, just because the shrink is loose or battered doesn't mean it's a reseal. I had a sealed Dudes with Tudes for NES that I opened (bc the shrink looked not real), and everything inside was untouched and positioned as new. And, if I remember correctly, the seller didn't even advertise it as a sealed game!

Just use your judgement. If you see anything online sealed that you have a question about, post the link (or just the pic) and we'll examine it.

Finally, watch out for anyone who answers to Alex Badalamenti. He makes fake seals and has ripped off a lot of people.

dave

[Jorpho]

I'm surprised that there don't seem to be any problems yet with outright counterfitting. (Would it really be so difficult for someone with some old cartridges and an EPROM burner to crank out a few "rarities"?)
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[maxlords]

Actually, it'd be a piece of cake. The only hard part would be making nice, believable labels...and putting batteries in non-battery cases for the "rare" RPGs.... :)

[Raedon]

the only cart that is worth counterfitting right now would be Metal Slug for the Neo Geo home system.. I'm sure you will start to see bootlegs of that cart on ebay as $2100.00 is enough to make it worth it. counterfiting a $400 NES cart really isn't worth it.

[maxlords]

Since when is the home system version of Metal Slug worth that?!?!?!? Last time I checked, they sell for about $300-400 each! Someone must have had a bug up their ass for it to pay that much. It's DEFINITELY not THAT rare, and certainly not that expensive.

[Tritoch]

Finally, watch out for anyone who answers to Alex Badalamenti. He makes fake seals and has ripped off a lot of people.

Isn't that the guy that used to have the eBay name Kakrotto or something like that? Hate rising...

[Achika]

@Maxlords: you sure it wasn't a Coverted home cart? That's the reason it wouldn't sell for more than a couple hundred. But if it is the real deal, real original and the US version (I think that's the rarest one) it WILL go for thousands of dollars. Someone over at neo-geo.com got ripped off a few months ago by someone claiming that his convert was authentic, the case & manual almost fooled the experts there too.