Buying sealed games...rediculous

[crumbaker]

I realise the idea of having something new is great and all. But buying sealed video games is beyond rediculous.

For one it's a video game, it's meant to be played not look pretty on some shelf. But whatever I can understand a collectors mind, and have a sealed copy of the comic where superman dies, I can understand.

The main reason why you should never buy one is you're not actually buying a sealed game. Honestly how hard is it to buy a shrink wrap gun...not very. We got to the point where we wouldn't accept sealed games at my work anymore due to the amount of constant fraud. When people were rebuying the games there were no games in them. Not to mention anyone with a nice printing press can easily make boxes.

I guarantee half of those sealed games you're all buying aren't true seals, and half of those don't have any games at all in them. Open your eyes people use some common sense. :shameful:

[NinjaJoey23]

Collecting sealed video games is no different than collecting anything else that is going to displayed rather than used. Sure, video games may be meant to be played, but coins are meant to be spent, right? Coin collecting is probably up there as being one of the most popular area to collect in. What about sealed action figures? They're not going to be played with, but are still legitmate to collect.


Honestly how hard is it to buy a shrink wrap gun...not very.

Maybe not hard to buy the gun, but to create a believable seal that a trained eye wouldn't notice? Pretty tough.


Not to mention anyone with a nice printing press can easily make boxes.

I'm scratching my head here...

Seriously, though, to each his own, eh?

[NintenDk]

Interesting post and welcome crumbaker,
however It is spelled like this... "RIDiculous", and be it ridiculous or not, I'm not. And what your saying is it worthy of inciting "RIDicule" over, because fakes are fakes and if you are serious and patient you may find a reliable source and if your detecting skills are on par your fine to proceed in the hobby.

I'd be more convinced something is original old new stock if I could find someone with an original receipt. Given that isn't proof in itself but it has some valuable substantial feel to it. I can see the standpoint of wanting a sealed game and keeping it that way, if your going after just one or two or even a whole category of games, say from your favorite game company. Going for a whole collection is a bit far (and expensive) but a whole collection turns out to be another "kind" of category in a different context so there you go before you know it you've begun collecting sealed games going for a set of Japanese dreamcast or NES titles minus Sachen (if you were ambitious you could seal your own unlicensed games that never had factory seals just for that complete sense of things so you could call it a day) :D

[jcrosby]

I realize the idea of having something new is great and all. But buying sealed video games is beyond rediculous.
Then I guess it is good that you aren’t buying sealed games … seriously, how other people chose or don’t chose to spend their money is entirely relative to what they feel is a worthy investment.


For one it's a video game, it's meant to be played not look pretty on some shelf. But whatever I can understand a collectors mind, and have a sealed copy of the comic where superman dies, I can understand.
Last I checked the primary purpose of any book, comic or not, was to be read … so I’m finding it difficult to take your viewpoint of the game’s higher purpose seriously as your logic is flawed from my perspective.

To sum it all up … if you want to play games then play games dude, if you want to collect them then collect them. Whatever you do just do what brings you the most enjoyment for your dollar, and have fun. :cheers:

[ryborg]

The serious sealed game collectors (there are several here) can tell if a seal is legit or not at an alarmingly high rate of accuracy. There are many threads about sealed games in the forums about this very topic.

[PSXferrari]

I realise the idea of having something new is great and all. But buying sealed video games is beyond rediculous.

You know, as much as all the other collectors here are definitely going to bash crumbaker, I think he at least makes a valid point here. By my collecting philosophies I never want to buy sealed games. There's a reason I can't buy sealed games (besides the price): one sealed game I did purchase recently was Shinobi Legions for Sega Saturn (fairly common game worth close to $20). Got it off eBay, and the only one available was sealed. Despite its minimal value, working up the nerve to unseal that 12 year old game was a tough task. Trauma I'd prefer not to experience on a regular basis.

Now, I can condone this practice for collectors in many circumstances. Some people collect sealed games from certain genres, systems, series, etc. This is all fine and well; it's your money to spend as you like. However, if you own a sealed version of a game, AND you have never played that game in some form then you ARE "rediculous", as crumbaker would say. Why the hell are you collecting games like they are a relic to be placed on a shelf and not to be played?? That's not what real gamers do-- personally I'll take the title gamer over collector any day. Now like I said, completely different story if you also own an unsealed copy, played it to death when you were a kid and rebought it sealed, etc..... No excuse for owning a sealed game you've never played though.

And honestly, crumbaker really does have a point about the shrinkwrap too. How many shrinkwrapped games do you really think are left from 10+ years ago? Some, yes, but not as many "shrink-wrapped" games as there are floating around the internet. With the right equipment, sealing games that are in mint condition to look new is not really that difficult. Sure, your magical "trained eye" will notice the idiots who do a half-ass job, but professional equipment is not hard to come by or use.


Video games are the only thing I collect, but even I don't put them on a pedestal with more traditional collectibles like comic books, action figures, and coins. The video game media is more closely related to movies. And sure, plenty of people have VHS and DVD collections and there's nothing wrong with that. But if you saw a guy with a ton of movies he had sealed and had never seen because he didn't want to ruin their "collectibility", wouldn't you think he was "rediculous"? I love my hobby, but sometimes I think some people want to make it out to be way more important than it really is. Sure, you're sealed copy of Chrono Trigger is neat, but you're not any better of a person for having it.

[Scream And Fly]

I only really collect sealed hardware - but it's more the fun of actually finding rare items that makes it fun for me.

[ShenmueFan]

I only really collect sealed hardware - but it's more the fun of actually finding rare items that makes it fun for me.

Sealed hardware is a good idea since you know if you ever had to open it up, it should work like new. I'd buy shrinkwrapped games but its way too expensive and certain titles for certain systems are hard enough to find just with the box/case and instructions!

[eday_2010]

I only have a handful of sealed games. The ones with the clear plastic tabs on the back that can fold up to hang on a peg are on all of them that I can think of. They seem pretty legit to me.

There could have been plenty of people who were buying new games back when systems were fading away for the sole purpose of reselling them later on.

[GillianSeed]

I only have a handful of sealed games. The ones with the clear plastic tabs on the back that can fold up to hang on a peg are on all of them that I can think of. They seem pretty legit to me.


You can buy those. :)

[Vectorman0]

I'm locking this because it has been discussed way too much already.

Welcome to the forums. Most stuff has been talked about here in the past, so I implore you to learn to use the search feature.


http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12182
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78123
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76736