Authenticity of Sealed Games ?

[backguard]

Hey everyone - I'm new to the forums.

I've purchased a few sealed NES, SNES and N64 games lately, mainly off eBay. Is there any way to tell if they are authentic (aside from opening them)?

[Damaramu]

Didn't buy 'em off a guy named Vididiots, did you?

[funksoulfather]

Hopefully backguard wasn't scammed by the aptly named vididiots guy. I can see why people are more cautious about buying sealed games.

I know NES games have a horizontal seal about halfway up the back of the box. I'm not too sure about N64 and SNES though.

The plastic should be tight against the box and the seal line should be straight and not amateurish.

Welcome to the Forums! :D

[backguard]

i didn't buy anything off viditiots, but reading that thread made me start to wonder about collecting sealed games.

thanks for the welcome. :)

[Vectorman0]

Vidiots surely isn't the only resealer out there, with sealed games selling for hundreds of dollars.

Use the search function, as there are many topics out there, regarding this. Specifically, one extremely thorough sealed NES "investigation" comes to mind.

[Darth Sensei]

I don't bother with sealed games because it's too easy to fake.

[Mr.Faxanadu]

Hello and welcome to Digital Press !!!!

I’m a huge fan of collecting sealed NES games – although with the recent Vididiot scam my interest has declined a bit :(

If you want to know about sealed games you should search these forums as this topic had been tackled again and again! I once put up an idea of building a database on specific weights of sealed games. The idea is that each sealed game due to different pamphlets and instruction book size should have a unique weight. Anyway, I got heckled by the “why collect games you can’t even play” crowd and by others who thought the idea was ludicrous! As you’ll find out – this sort of topic tend to strike a nerve with some collectors in this group LOL

As for authenticity – I recently bought a SMB2 sealed game for the NES. Directly off the auction I made sure that the picture/description ensured that the horizontal line was present along the back. NOTE – not all sealed NES games has this line! I believe several later released NES games (1992+) did not have it!

Next, I always ask the seller for a HIGH RES and IN FOCUS image of the game (front and back) I then look over the photo very closely to make sure everything is legit. Some areas to look at are the top of the box where the flap is. If the box was opened in the past and the game was resealed you will see some wear in this area. The back seam of the top flap will also show creases if the box was opened. These things are sometimes hard to see in a photo so when I get the game I look for this as well.

One tip for you: All my worst purchases were made in the first two months of collecting sealed NES games. I though the title would never show up again so I would bid heavily. I now tell people to buy NOTHING on eBay for the first two months until you get an idea about the market. Games will come up again and again if you give it time! HELL! I was even bidding on games without the horizontal line as I had no idea about it!.

Good Luck

[backguard]

great advice, thank you :)

my wallet says hold off on buying games and learn more about the market too :)

[Bronty-2]

Yeah, that's definitely good advice. In fact I'm not sure two months is long enough. If you ever have questions on how something is sealed feel free to pm me for help. cheers.

[Mr.Faxanadu]

Yeah, that's definitely good advice. In fact I'm not sure two months is long enough. If you ever have questions on how something is sealed feel free to pm me for help. cheers.

I was going to mention this guy. Talk to him about your sealed NES questions. He's almost got the entire library sealed!!!! @_@

I hear everything in his house is wrapped in cellophane to keep the stuff in mint condition LOL

[Moo Cow]

First off, welcome to the forums!
Don't know much about sealed games, as I only have one, somewhere inside of my room, no doubt becoming a favorite sleeping spot for one of my two cats.
However, if you ever have any suspicions, ask a question to the people on the board if it looks legit.

[derawk]

One way I think to know is if its orginal sealed is if it had one of those retail store price stickers.

[Jumpman Jr.]

One way I think to know is if its orginal sealed is if it had one of those retail store price stickers.

Although this can sometime be true, I'd be weary about using this is a guide to detect whether or not a game is a true seal or not. I remember looking some of vidiots auctions, and remembering him putting 'old looking' price tags over his re-sealed stuff.
Just, be careful, is all.
Buying from reputable sellers in the community never hurt anyone either.

[Mr.Faxanadu]

One way I think to know is if its orginal sealed is if it had one of those retail store price stickers.

All of the fake Vididiot games had store price stickers on them. All you have to do is buy a price gun and print out realistic prices - Like a $59.99 tag with a sale tag of $24.99.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Why Nintendo US hasn't yet adopted the red security strip for their games is anyone's guess. What makes Europe so special that we have a better way of seaing our games? Plus, our cellophane is thicker, giving the game greater protection

Can someone PM me the Vididiots thread please?

[Jumpman Jr.]

Why Nintendo US hasn't yet adopted the red security strip for their games is anyone's guess. What makes Europe so special that we have a better way of seaing our games? Plus, our cellophane is thicker, giving the game greater protection

Can someone PM me the Vididiots thread please?

Ahhh... Here it is:

Link (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=81784)

[EndlessChris]

Collecting sealed games is one of the worst ideas I can think of. You're paying as much as five times the regular price of a regular complete copy for something you'll never be able to actually see the contents of. It's like the old parable of the guy who was so unhappy when his lump of gold was stolen, until someone pointed out to him "Well, here's this rock, it's doing the exact same thing your lump of gold was doing, which is absolutely nothing."

I mean, I won't knock people for it, if it's your thing than whatever. But honestly, I was kind of rooting for vidiots. If there's idiots out there looking to spend a bunch of money just because the game has cellophane wrapping over it, who cares if Nintendo put it there or not?

I mean hell, to me a nice SNES collection of games you can actually see and play is a lot more interesting than a bunch of sealed boxes.

[Darren870]

Collecting sealed games is one of the worst ideas I can think of. You're paying as much as five times the regular price of a regular complete copy for something you'll never be able to actually see the contents of. It's like the old parable of the guy who was so unhappy when his lump of gold was stolen, until someone pointed out to him "Well, here's this rock, it's doing the exact same thing your lump of gold was doing, which is absolutely nothing."

I mean, I won't knock people for it, if it's your thing than whatever. But honestly, I was kind of rooting for vidiots. If there's idiots out there looking to spend a bunch of money just because the game has cellophane wrapping over it, who cares if Nintendo put it there or not?

I mean hell, to me a nice SNES collection of games you can actually see and play is a lot more interesting than a bunch of sealed boxes.

Rooting for a scammer? A thief? Thats a new one.

However, if you are going to put it that way then why not say the same about people that collect games in general? Why not just dl the rom? Its easier and free. (ignore the illegal part)

People can collect what they want, I don't think people are stupid for collecting sealed games, or for people collecting games in general.

HECK! People pay an extra $12,500 for varients! (Neo-geo, NWC)

People earn their money so let me spend it how they want it.

Anyways Bronty is probably the best person to ask about sealed games. However, lets not forget it depends where you got em from aswell. If you got em off ebay then yea maybe be questionable. However if you found them in the wild, I would worry much much less, probably not at all.

[cyberfluxor]

I'm with a lot of others when it comes to sealed games: Don't get them. It is hard to judge on-line bids as to whether you're going to get jacked on the deal or not. If you do have the urge to collect complete and sealed games then stick to local dealers and conventions or trade shows. Make sure you also know what to look for to identify a reseal.

I like to just buy the games and play them but I do prefer complete in best condition possible. Presentation is always great.

[EnzoSangiorgio]

Unlike other posters here, I WILL knock people for collecting sealed games.
You paid HOW much for a game you could have bought for $30?!
And you aren't even SURE if it's really an original seal!?
You can say you're sure, but you never really are.
It's not difficult to fake a seal, as we all know.
It's difficult to justify paying such a premium for it though, and it's one of the stupidest things I can think of when it comes to game collectors.
Play your motherfucking games.

[kentuckyfried]

Unlike other posters here, I WILL knock people for collecting sealed games.
You paid HOW much for a game you could have bought for $30?!
And you aren't even SURE if it's really an original seal!?
You can say you're sure, but you never really are.
It's not difficult to fake a seal, as we all know.
It's difficult to justify paying such a premium for it though, and it's one of the stupidest things I can think of when it comes to game collectors.
Play your motherfucking games.

Christ, more inanity. People can do what they want to do, dude. I'm biased as I just picked up over 700 sealed NES games the other day, but still. You are basically calling all sealed collectors, including me and including the original poster, a bad name. Real noobish.

(Posters before this guy are discluded from this post)

With a little bit of knowledge you can protect yourself from reseals. Though the horizontal line is the bottom line on authenticity for NES games, there are a few NES games that never had them.

One more edit: Welcome to the forums ;) And as Darren870 said before, Bronty is the man when it comes to sealed games.

[soundwave]

wow. After reading this thread I got curious and checked my Ebay history. It turns out I actually bought a game from vididiots too. Too bad I didn't know about DP at the time. But I got a CIB non-sealed game so it doesn't make that big of a deal. But I had no idea this guy had such a bad rep for resealing.

Thanks all for the heads up. :D

[Moo Cow]

I've bought sealed games before, and know I didn't get ripped off.
Simply put: I bought it for a couple bucks from a friend, so it's not like he's going to bullshit me (and, besides, 5 bucks isn't much money to bullshit someone out of)

[Jumpman Jr.]

Unlike other posters here, I WILL knock people for collecting sealed games.
You paid HOW much for a game you could have bought for $30?!
And you aren't even SURE if it's really an original seal!?
You can say you're sure, but you never really are.
It's not difficult to fake a seal, as we all know.
It's difficult to justify paying such a premium for it though, and it's one of the stupidest things I can think of when it comes to game collectors.
Play your motherfucking games.

Most of us are collectors here, and although you have every right to think/say what you want, you might want to think about some of the things you wrote.
Being collectors, we look for items of value. A sealed game is valuable to some people, so there's always going to be people who want to collect sealed games.
As for your last comment "Play your motherfucking games": I have 1,500 games, and would never be able to play them all, especially since I continue to buy more and more of them. Is that stupid? I buy games I know I'm never going to play because I collect games. I do not see the difference when it comes to sealed collectors collecting sealed games.

[Ed Oscuro]

Sealed games aren't actually always a bad idea. Lots of great games that don't have stupidly huge followings (i.e. no Contras/Castlevanias, Final Fantasies, or Mega Man...s) can be found sealed for $10 and up (before shipping) if you keep waiting.

Even for games in high demand, the cellophane has its use - it reduces shelf wear (just so long as you aren't putting them near PVC), which can be handy. Though if you're collecting sealed games you definitely shouldn't be handling things roughly anyhow.

As things stand now, though, I'm pretty wary of dumping money on "sealed" NES games or CD-ROM games (for that matter).

[Kid Ice]

Unlike other posters here, I WILL knock people for collecting sealed games.

Knocking people for their collecting styles is a waste of time, and not conducive to cultivating a discussion community...which are most likely the reasons other posters here don't do that.

[rcgamer]

i wouldnt buy sealed games of the really old systems like nes or master system, but i have had a great deal of luck with dreamcast games that were new and sealed on ebay. of course i opened them because i wanted to play them lol . but i could tell right away that they were honestly brand new. even had the promo coupons and whatnot in them.

[backguard]

the reason why i would buy (legit) sealed games is that i collect games, and having a sealed game is the most collectable form of the game.

i'm also a game player, but there is no way i could ever play all of my games, nor would i want to. if there is something i want to play, i would just buy a used copy and not bother opening a collectable game.

[Mr.Faxanadu]

the reason why i would buy (legit) sealed games is that i collect games, and having a sealed game is the most collectable form of the game.

i'm also a game player, but there is no way i could ever play all of my games, nor would i want to. if there is something i want to play, i would just buy a used copy and not bother opening a collectable game.

EXACTLY ! :rocker:

[rcgamer]

the reason why i would buy (legit) sealed games is that i collect games, and having a sealed game is the most collectable form of the game.

i'm also a game player, but there is no way i could ever play all of my games, nor would i want to. if there is something i want to play, i would just buy a used copy and not bother opening a collectable game.

well definately if i was collecting as an investment . but i just collect new DC games because its fun to open the new game, kind of makes you feel like a kid again for a few minutes. i only say i wouldnt collect older systems sealed games because there are a lot of scammers and the games cost bigtime in some cases.