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Thread: AFA to start grading Videogames?!

  1. #21
    Cherry (Level 1) dlopez9069's Avatar
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    It's a bad idea. The only graded sealed games I think will be bought is by the collectors who need those few more for a comjplete sealed collection. Other then that it will won't work.

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    The thing I hate about grading, such as sports cards, is the guidelines are way out of wack. They make it so impossible for cards to get 9's or 10's. For instance I have a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card that is graded 8. The card is PERFECT. I see no flaws at all. It's worth only about $25 now. If it were graded 10, it would be worth $100. Even though the cards look no different in quality to most anybody except someone with a microscope. So stupid...

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    Pear (Level 6) mb7241's Avatar
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    Well...when (not if) that grading moves to complete copies, and then to loose carts, discs, boxes, and manuals...that'll most likely be the darkest day in video game collecting history.
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  4. #24
    Alex (Level 15) boatofcar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevincal View Post
    The thing I hate about grading, such as sports cards, is the guidelines are way out of wack. They make it so impossible for cards to get 9's or 10's. For instance I have a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card that is graded 8. The card is PERFECT. I see no flaws at all. It's worth only about $25 now. If it were graded 10, it would be worth $100. Even though the cards look no different in quality to most anybody except someone with a microscope. So stupid...
    It's not stupid at all. There's a whole subset of collectors in Numinastics devoted to this phenomena.

    1. Buyer sees a coin in a shop graded MS65. Buyer suspects it could be graded higher.
    2. Buyer buys the coin, breaks the slab open, and resubmits it for grading.
    3. Coin comes back (hopefully) with a higher rating. Instant profit.

    Of course, plenty of people try to do this and very few actually have the skill and patience to make money doing it. Entire books have been written on the subject.

    Bottom line: if you like baseball cards, why do you care that your card isn't a 10? If you bought it and had it graded as an investment, you can always break the slab and resubmit it.

  5. #25
    Pac-Man (Level 10) FantasiaWHT's Avatar
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    IF it would result in higher prices for graded items and lower for ungraded, I see that as a good thing.

    1- Gamers will be able to get playable copies cheaper.
    2- Those interested in improving the value of their games can do so.
    3- Collectors may have to work harder, but theoretically should be able to find mint and ungraded games cheaper than they were previously.

  6. #26
    Banana (Level 7) kaedesdisciple's Avatar
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    I would honestly love to know who they hired for this and where they are getting their grading scale.

    Oh noes, I so do not want to see that guy that tried to sell me super-de-duper minty Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards on TV now trying to sell a AAA+++ mint sealed 99% graded Super Mario Bros. 2 for the low low price of $499.99 with stretch-pay available.

    That Marvel retrospective is pretty scary. I can see a couple of smaller publishers getting crushed or "saved" by the likes of EA as a result of something like that.

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    ServBot (Level 11) Rob2600's Avatar
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    The ghost of Neogamer lives on! This topic was discussed at length three months ago in this thread:

    http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107263

    It's an interesting read.

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    /me buys a shrinkwrapper

  9. #29
    ServBot (Level 11) roushimsx's Avatar
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    Time to get my case of uncirculated Madden 08s professionally graded!

  10. #30
    Strawberry (Level 2)
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    It does result in lower prices. You can look at some ebay auctions for comic books to get an idea. I've seen a loose book going for 2$ with no bids, followed by that same book AFA Graded going for 65$. The problem is one of pricing. It costs roughly 25$+ just to get it graded. I've also noticed that there really isn't much of a demand for AFA Grading beyond certain 70's and older books. Lots of the "graded" ones seem to be selling for a loss. (I recently sold a bunch of old comics i had as a kid, so I brought myself up to speed on price trends)

    I tend to see this as a good thing. Not a good thing for the hobby, but a good thing for me personally. I could give a shit less about an arbitrary grading system. All i really do care about, is picking up a couple pieces for my collection. Pieces which will eventually drop in price, and thus put them into my price range. Emulation, Virtual Consoles, and now AFA Grading. If you are just someone who wants to own games, and don't approach this hobby as an investor or speculator - This is a good day.

  11. #31
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    yeah pretty much. PS its cgc that grades comics not afa.

    in the same way that many comics aren't worth getting graded, lots of sealed games won't be worth grading either. I'm not sure that there is a ton for them to grade, really. There aren't a ton of expensive sealed games on ebay at any one time so I don't see how there will be too many afa graded games on ebay at any one time.

    If they wanted to expand their market a bit they could look at completes, but for now they are only grading sealed stuff so... I can't see too much of this being available on the market in the short term.
    Last edited by Bronty-2; 01-09-2008 at 03:01 PM.

  12. #32
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    I don't know that we should all be encouraging this by even giving it credibility or discussing it, but I don't even get how this could work at all. A comic book or action figure that has been "slabbed" as I think they call it is pretty easy to grade. They are supposed to carefully leaf through the comic and make sure every page is truly mint and complete. Similarly, you can look at an action figure through the plastic bubble it comes in on the card. A sealed game can never really be "graded" in the same way. The outer box and shrinkwrap could be, but who knows if the game inside works or if the label is in good condition or if the manual is mint or got damaged upon insertion or is defective. I realize as a sealed collector I take this risk everyday, but I'm not asking anyone to pay me to certify that a game I own is really "mint". Why would anyone pay for this service or pay extra for a game that had this service performed on it. I can look at a good quality photo of a game and shrinkwrap and come to the same conclusion. This is just dumb.

  13. #33
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    Aye - CGC, sorry. I also sold a good deal of old action figures, and so AFA was on my mind.

    Why would anyone pay for this service
    Well as they say: Theres a sucker born every minute. I would never buy anything graded. Be it a videogame, comic, or action figure. However, if i were looking to sell say... a rare comic book, or boxed 1977 Darth Vader 12in figure - Having it graded could drive up the price 500%+. This is not an exaggeration, and thats why people do end up doing it. In 3-4 years when the same holds true for that rare Atari 2600 game, or a boxed Web of Fire for the 32x. You can bet that people looking to unload a collection, will check their morales at the door, have it graded, and pocket a considerable amount more then they would have otherwise.

    The only way to combat this is to simpy refuse to ever buy a graded anything. But again: For every one person with enough sense to not pay extra for an item thats slabbed, theres at least one or two morons that will. The real problem with grading and making videogame collectibles, is that you will see more "Limited Editions" and manufactured chase collectibles. Sort of like what happened with action figures. (For those not aware: Certain action figures which are sold to stores have for example 24 pieces to a case. In that case ONE figure is sometimes a variant, which people chase, and sells for considerably more then it's retail cost.)

    But again: For the guy like me who can care less about label variations, artificial collectibles, and has no desire to own a game he can't personally open and play - This is all irrelevant.

  14. #34
    Avoiding OT Vectorman0's Avatar
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    I don't see how this is going to work with the inherent difficulty that often arises when determining the legitimacy of the sealed game. They would need to hire some extremely well versed experts from a place like here, and even then, there are times when little is known about how a certain item was sealed, or may just be hard to tell. Maybe they will deny items that are too hard to tell, but what is the point of sending it in if you only have a certain chance of it actually being graded. And what about games that never came with anything sealing the box/case closed?


    The time will come when a reseal will be approved, and all respect for and trust in the graders will be lost.


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