HERITAGE ADDS VINTAGE GRADED VIDEO GAMES TO ITS SIGNATURE AND WEEKLY AUCITONS 2 2

[Bronty]

14 hours ago, www.alexgross.com said:

have you seen prices go up strongly in the time that you have been collecting these games? i've heard folks talk about this hobby for a few years now but this is the first time i've seen heritage taking the plunge. it seems very logical that the younger age demographic of 20-40 year olds with disposable income would be into this, just as 30-70 year olds are into the old comics they either had or coveted as kids. 

I started in 2002 and many of the things I was buying and selling under 500 (and usually 250 or less) at that time are now 5k-25k.    There's no doubt there's been a lot of appreciation on nice items.  

One real example that involves these boards is a late edition Super Mario Bros I sold here for $75 in 2004 and bought back from the person I sold it to for $1500 last year. 

Like anything some things have done better than others but the things that have done well have done really well.   There's stuff worth 100x what it was then but 10-20x is more typical on nice items.

Some items have fallen out of favor though too and are 1-2x.     On average, on no matter what you bought sealed game wise?    Maybe 5-6x.    If you tended to buy quality, your multiple would be better.

Ultimately the scarcity on sealed vintage stuff is way beyond anything you'd see from a comparable date in comics.     If you have some demand, things can really shoot up.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[Bronty]

1 hour ago, www.alexgross.com said:

disagree. video game box or package art is just as valid as comic book cover art. it might not be very good in many cases, but it's still an actual piece of art.  just like classic collectible toy boxes themselves are also art. 

video game package art?   If only someone had thought of that! 

If anybody wants to read about / discuss / look at the original artwork, I started a facebook group some time back.   Come join the fun here https://www.facebook.com/groups/502536466816380/

Real live originals to games you grew up with are posted there all the time.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[kHAoS]

2 hours ago, october said:

I can't speak to high end sealed/slabbed stuff, but "normal" ($20-300) vintage video game prices have stagnated for awhile. I collected CIB NES/SNES/Genesis/PS1/Gamecube/Dreamcast actively several years ago and prices now seem at the same level, or lower, than they were then. That said, scarcer niche systems like Neo Geo and TG16 seem to have gone up. I recently sold my Neo Geo AES collection and I was happy with the prices I got and shocked by the speed at which they disappeared. The $50 loose Contra days though? They are done. 

I think the collector market for videogames is starting to mature and people are starting to identify the rare and coveted items. Videogames is on the same trajectory similar to Star Wars figs and Transformers before it. Popular franchises like Zelda, Mega-Man, and Mario related games in mint or sealed condition from earlier systems will always be in demand. Less popular systems like the Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast had quality titles and those games were produced in lower numbers, so there is a ton of growth potential if you can track down those games in mint condition. Certain sealed items can fetch a ton due to the fact that most games retailed for $40-$60 back in the 80's and 90's, so the chances of some kid stashing a new game in a closet is virtually nil. I'd wager most surviving copies of sealed games were deadstock from a store that went under.

[Bronty]

10 minutes ago, kHAoS said:

 I'd wager most surviving copies of sealed games were deadstock from a store that went under.

100% correct.   I used to try and track down closed out stores.   The number of sealed copies that come from collectors/individuals instead of stores is less than 1%.    

As a result, virtually all the sealed stock is unsold copies.

What copies went unsold?  Typically the last copies the store bought.    So what's rare?   The early copies sealed because those sold through 100%(and were therefore opened by those eager kids, and are therefore unavailable sealed today).    For many years we didn't have a good understanding of what the early copies were.   There are even now things we are still learning.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[Karl Liebl]

I wonder how much Ultima 1, 2 and 3 are worth....

[Bronty]

55 minutes ago, Karl Liebl said:

I wonder how much Ultima 1, 2 and 3 are worth....

The PC collecting community generally aren't the ones laying down bucks, its more niche than you'd think (low four figures) and the mainstream collecting community is all about console (nintendo etc).

That being said, there's a few interesting items from Al Lowe (who created the Leisure Suit Larry games) on sale atm here https://www.ebay.com/sch/al_lowe/m.html?item=183561117878&hash=item2abd1860b6%3Ag%3AiLsAAOSwVP5cAPu7&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&fbclid=IwAR2dv2OAsGK83Awj99xZPv5FmLzxBujrrYRF-NnfEF3W3KfhU0yibdWXZx4

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[Mmehdy]

3 hours ago, www.alexgross.com said:

disagree. video game box or package art is just as valid as comic book cover art. it might not be very good in many cases, but it's still an actual piece of art.  just like classic collectible toy boxes themselves are also art. 

I agree on that one, they are really cool, and it brings me back to the time I bought them, cover art is just that...comic book, magazine, video game...its fair game to grade and sell and this major acknowledgement by the biggest auction house in the world is a major, major  positive step for that market.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Mmehdy

[Karl Liebl]

1 minute ago, Bronty said:

The PC collecting community generally aren't the ones laying down bucks, its more niche than you'd think and the mainstream collecting community is all about console (nintendo etc).

That being said, there's a few interesting items from Al Lowe (who created the Leisure Suit Larry games) on sale atm here https://www.ebay.com/sch/al_lowe/m.html?item=183561117878&hash=item2abd1860b6%3Ag%3AiLsAAOSwVP5cAPu7&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&fbclid=IwAR2dv2OAsGK83Awj99xZPv5FmLzxBujrrYRF-NnfEF3W3KfhU0yibdWXZx4

 

I loved Larry lol.  For me, I don't think you can go back in computer games.  I tried it a couple times and it didn't work, I am going to agree with TwoPiece on this one and say newer games are better...

[Mmehdy]

What is considered the "Action 1" of video games and what is the highest price paid on record for a video game?...Ha mentioned it could be 100K???

[Bronty]

Such a simple question yet such a complicated answer.   

I think the best answer is that the market is still sorting that out somewhat, but it seems to be heading down the same road as comics - the starting points for major franchises in top condition. 

Highest sales I'm aware of are 125k and 100k, but I'm not sure you could repeat either sale.    50k and down there are many, many examples with price points all through all parts of that range, but above 50k and scratching into the six figures its a handful of sales at this point.  

Trying to compare to Action 1 is a little tricky because any comparison of a 1930s mass produced item to a 1980s mass produced item starts at a disadvantage.    Action 1 has two things going for it:

• Foundational to the industry 
• Rare in any grade

With video games, you've got your items that are one, or the other, but not both.

The closest thing you have to having both is probably mint sealed first versions of Super Mario Bros.     Its the single most foundational game to the industry, and as common as it is, even sealed, its only the final, late versions that can be found sealed.   

So you have:

• Foundational
• Rare as a high grade first (or even just early) edition

The very first versions sold through 100% to eager kids who ripped them open, and this is when the install base was still small.   The box and contents went through many small changes every few months and as a result finding an actual Dec 1985 sealed copy - no one has been able to yet.     (The 1985s are especially hard unopened as distribution was limited to a few cities).   A sealed 1986 copy in beautiful condition does exist.    A sealed 1987 copy in beautiful condition sold for $30,000 maybe a year ago.   The 1987s are scarce, but much more available than the 1985 or 1986s.    The typical sealed copies are 1990's and later.

The owner of the 1986 turned down 50k without having to think about it.

True first edition sealed zeldas in mint condition would likely get almost as much.

There are so incredibly few unopened launch edition copies of these major games that there isn't a constant stream of data points like with something like action 1.

 

But, if we back away from what item is the single most desirable, and just ask what is generally desirable in sealed games, its easier to talk in those terms.

Its usually the classic/favorite games in top condition.  Nintendo NES leads the pack with SNES very solid and genesis and so on having their good base of fans as well.    Atari isn't really collected as sealed merchandise because they are either non-existent sealed (the early stuff) or exist in mass quantities (Atari went bankrupt suddenly).    Its all feast or famine and combined with Fawcett-itis (no longer relevant publisher/system), its not a dynamic scene for unopened atari material.

For NES stuff its early releases and classics that typically get the attention.    There are about 775 games released on the system and about 100 to the end of 1987.   For SNES its often the role playing games as the advancement in the hardware took those games to a new level.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[dhgladiator]

Hmmm, maybe I should dig out my old Sega 8 bit system and the 20 or 30 games I have for it and see if anyone wants them...none of them are sealed though 

Are there Canadian versions of video games like there are Price variants of comics or are they standard issue from both sides of the border?

[Bronty]

10 minutes ago, dhgladiator said:

Hmmm, maybe I should dig out my old Sega 8 bit system and the 20 or 30 games I have for it and see if anyone wants them...none of them are sealed though 

Are there Canadian versions of video games like there are Price variants of comics or are they standard issue from both sides of the border?

check ebay first before digging stuff up. 

This is a little bit like comics at a garage sale.   The games you have lying around from when you were a kid are probably worth squat - like the comics you'll find at garage sales.   Its the ones you don't have (sealed stuff, rare releases) that are worth money.    The reason the unopened ones are worth money is because, like you, everyone opened them.   So finding untouched ones is hard.   (Read:  much more likely you have Ninjak #2 at home than Hulk 181).   That being said, if its the 8 bit sega (master system) you might be able to sell the lot for a few bucks or a few hundred, depending on what you have.

There are a limited number of Canadian variants, yes.   First party nintendo stuff tended to be done as bilingual packaging on the cdn side of the border.   Other publishers typically just put out a single version for north america.   

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[Timely]

I have 2 games for N64 that I never opened, Glover and a Star Wars game (can't remember the title off-hand). So, not all still sealed games are store stock overstock. I just never got around to playing them. 

[Bronty]

Yes.   It happens.   But it’s relatively rare.   And when it does happen, it’s a game or two, just like your situation.    It’s not the 3000 sealed games a store might be .  In 16 years years I’ve really only ever heard of two collections that came from individuals that were worth talking about and both of those people bought everything that came out for a while, as adults , and didn’t play them.   They both passed away leading the collections to market.   Very rare situation at least so far

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bronty

[Mmehdy]

I need to keep an eye out at garage sales......

[Westy Steve]

Hey guys,

A friend PMed me this thread, because he knows I collect video games.  I've had the good fortune to pick Bronty's brain a couple times in another part of the internet regarding these games.

One thing that needs to be brought up here is WATA game's pedigree.  It's not a coincidence that they use a 10-point grading system like CGC's because there are some comic book people helping to guide WATA.  I want WATA to succeed, but I have mixed feelings about this thread because....dammit...I'm not done buying up all the good games yet.  And it sucks being into both games and comics because they compete for your collecting dollars.  Anyway, WATA has a reputation for approaching the hobby "correctly" and the respect of some dubious big players.  It's going to get interesting.

Another interesting tidbit about WATA is they routinely grade games that are NOT sealed.  It's a fertile field in the collecting genre because (until now), they were just an odd duck to the other grading company.  I think we'll see a greater acceptance of them.  It also creates another dynamic of collecting because the completeness of the games are evaluated and the condition of the manual is considered in the final grade.

Now, let's drop this topic so I can continue accumulating all the cool stuff before it gets too popular.  

(check out this cover art:)

 

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Westy Steve

[Bronty]

I've heard this kind of stuff many times over the years.

Comics people will never read, coins people will never spend, stamps people will never mail, cards people will never put through the spokes of their bike.    Its all the same.    A certain percentage of people who like the material will want the best copies they can find.    

Besides, I'm not sure if you caught it in the thread above, but they grade opened material as well.   Its just that its generally not valuable enough to bother with except for better stuff.

1 hour ago, TwoPiece said:

I have sealed products of both black-label Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Final Fantasy VII. I bought them at a K-Mart when they thought they were going out of business and had a clearance sale. I knew that sealed copies were valuable.

I would never get them graded because I stand-by my previous statements that it's ridiculously stupid. I may as well start grading unopened iPhones in-box.

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Bronty

[theCapraAegagrus]

3 minutes ago, Bronty said:

I've heard this kind of stuff many times over the years.

Comics people will never read, coins people will never spend, stamps people will never mail, cards people will never put through the spokes of their bike.    Its all the same.    A certain percentage of people who like the material will want the best copies they can find.    

I can crack a slab and read a comic, though. If I crack an encapsulated video game, all I have to look at is some plastic with circuitry (or a disc, etc)...

Edited December 6, 2018 by TwoPiece

[Bronty]

5 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

I can crack a slab and read a comic, though. If I crack an encapsulated video game, all I have to look at is some plastic with circuitry (or a disc, etc)...

that you can then...... put into a system and play, if you really want to.   How is that different exactly?

And exactly what can anyone with a graded trading card or coin do with it?   Flip for heads or tails? 

Its easy to bag on things we don't collect but the motivation for collecting is pretty similar across different hobbies.   I don't collect star wars figures, or star wars in general, but I kinda get the thinking behind it for other people.

And clearly, so do you if you picked up those ps1 games to keep sealed.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Bronty

[theCapraAegagrus]

6 minutes ago, Bronty said:

that you can then...... put into a system and play, if you really want to.   How is that different exactly?

Hold my beer while I try to figure out how to hook my vintage N64 into my 4KTV that has no aux input for those red/yellow/white cables...

You can enjoy a comic book with 0 prerequisites other than your eyes being able to see.

Edited December 6, 2018 by TwoPiece
Edit: Let's not insert strawmen into this discussion. We're talking about comic books and videos games; not trading cards and currency (which can both be appreciated by your own mother-given eyes if they so work correctly).