$1.5 Million Super Mario 64 & Other Game Auction MADNESS

Super Mario 64 was auctioned for $1.5 million, and lots of other games went for insane amounts recently. We analyze what is happening.
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#retrogames #gamecollecting #wata

[@PatTheNESpunk]

Note: This morning on 7/14/21, PSA-grading parent company Collectors Universe just acquired Wata Games. The timing is anything but coincidental after the gigantic Heritage Auctions activities this past weekend. The sleaziness continues to top itself, and it will continue. t.co/jVL70LXkxg?amp=1

[@MasterZebulin]

So I'm going to have to buy THEM out to put a stop to this madness? Greeeaaaaaaat.....

[@leeartlee915]

Wow… that is so friggin’ shady.

[@glycineairman]

And they bought Goldin Auctions too....so many fees to collect from unsuspecting timmys, so little time

[@stephanel6637]

quote from www.obscuregamers.com/threads/video-game-grading-do-you-think-its-a-scam.2683/ Then we have the PAWNSTARS scam in which a rare copy of MARIO was brought in which had been sold to a private group of investors. In comes WATA trying to advertise. Low and behold weeks later it appeared on Heritage Auctions and two weeks after that they started selling WATA graded games. The issue? Jim Halperin, founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auctions is one of the investors of the MARIO cart meaning they're using this to fleece customers into paying for a fancy shiny box. Oh did I mention the investor on TV is involved in WATA? yep the dude on PAWNSTARS trying to sell had WATA come in and he was already working for/with them and then magically the other party that invested happens to own Hertitage Auctions and is staff at WATA. This whole Super Mario Bros sticker seal is the biggest scam in game collecting. It’s a pump and dump hype show. The game was originally sold privately to a group of investors, one of which was Richard Lecce, who I assume is the guy shown here trying to “sell” this game for $1M. Another person in the investor group was Jim Halperin, founder and co-chairman of Heritage Auctions. Wouldn’t you know it, this game was purchased on February 6th, setting the world record for a graded game when it sold for just over $100k. I have no doubt you heard about it because the press was all over it. Whoa, what a coincidence, Jim Halperin’s auction house was also set to start auctioning Wata graded and slabbed video games two weeks later on February 21st! Serendipity, baby! This Deniz Kahn guy, President of Wata Games, has also been closely involved in ensuring the public was aware of this amazing WATA GRADED game. Nearly every article about the game mentions him and here he is, on Pawn Stars, giving his unbiased professional opinion. So what does Deniz Kahn get out of this? I’m glad you asked! His company, Wata, that meticulously graded this hype train video game, was just starting out. VGA has been grading games for quite some time already, but in came Wata as the newcomer and what better way to make a name for yourself than being the company that graded the most valuable video game to date?! Oh, and remember our buddy, Jim Halperin of Heritage Auctions? Well, it just so happens that he’s also a member of the Wata advisory board! Neat! Interestingly, con Kahn knew that if he were involved in the record-breaking transaction, it would raise eyebrows. He even says so in this article: “I would have loved nothing more than to be a part-owner, and even though this game was already certified, I didn't want the remote perception of any conflict of interest due to my position at Wata.” Well you don’t say! So how is this any different than a member of your board of advisors being a part-owner? Oh, and shouldn’t it be made apparent that the original seller was also an advisor to Wata? “Wata had no part of the transaction, Kahn said. The seller, a collector who has occasionally advised Wata in a volunteer capacity...” Ok, Kahn. So you’re telling me that Wata had nothing to do with the private transaction that occurred between a seller, who has been a Wata advisor, and buyers (investors), one of which is listed on the Wata website as a member of the board of advisors. I wouldn’t be surprised if the seller is listed there too, but I can’t tell because their name is being withheld due to “privacy concerns.” Yeah... ok. Wata has everything to gain from this propaganda and it also has Wata’s fingerprints all over it. Kahn seems to think that because he personally didn’t put his personal money into the transaction, it somehow washes his hands of involvement. Yeah, no. So yeah, going back to our boy Richard here... you know, Investor #2. Well, he knew he wasn’t going to get $1M for this game. In fact, Richard was never going to sell this game at all. You see, Pawn Stars is a scripted show (GASP!) and the items brought in have already been selected to be featured and prepped. This was Richard and Deniz going on a publicity/marketing tour... and it worked, at least within the community, because everyone is talking about it. He’s artificially inflating the “value” of the game by talking about it. Unbiased Deniz also achieves the pump by stating he knows of offers as high as $300k that have been turned down. Sorry Deniz, private offers from other advisors to Wata don’t count! How convenient is it that Richard Lecce invested his money into the pot to complete a private transaction between people heavily involved with Wata and now he’s hyping up the value! I wonder if he will eventually try to sell this priceless artifact at a highly inflated price than the pittance he initially put in to purchase it? Man, he might even stand to make money off this dog and pony show!

[@MasterZebulin]

@@stephanel6637 Well, aren't you going to distribute this evidence to anti-scam sites or whoever? Who knows, you could be known as the guy who brought down one of the biggest scams in history.

[@jay_ayala]

Based on this logic, pat is sitting on a billion dollars right now

[@ohmss006]

PatMath 😂

[@chaosdimension6433]

If you think a sealed mario 64 is more valuable than a GOLD NWC, congratulations, you drank the kool aid, the scam worked on you

[@GoobNoob]

@@supyo1 he has some.

[@nerfherder4444]

Funny story, I heard about the sale of this game on the news from a TV at my local gas station. I was filling up my car and thinking, "I can't wait for Pat to cover this!"

[@davestevens3252]

I have respect for the folks that have been enthusiasts in the hobby for a long time, and to their detriment point to the defects in this WATA/HA rush market. This is a fun hobby that is being corrupted. Lots of folks will be left holding the expensive bags to support a few folks that will get rich off this grift.

[@8-BitHero]

Well said.

[@kaynesantor8136]

1.5 million for a modern game makes as much sense as NFT. This is insanity. Dude, you should put your Little Samson up for 1 million and see what happens.

[@kaynesantor8136]

I guess I'm just old. N64 still seems fairly new to me. The 360 is still, like brand new to me. Ya, I guess I'm old.

[@uselessDM]

I mean that's the problem with video games as a collectible in general, even the very old stuff is barely 40 years old (at least if you only consider home consoles and not pong machines for example and even they are only 50 years old), so almost non of what is around is really that rare or special at this point and should never command the prices it did at that auction.

[@XxCreateFlowxX]

​@@uselessDMtime doesn't determine whether something is rare. How many of them there are determines the rarity.

[@jamesgoss1860]

The fact they don't publish population reports shows what a hustle this is. For coin grading, across every reputable grading company, you can find the exact population of every coin graded in total, and every coin at any given grade. Without that, you have no idea what the scarcity is. Is the coin 1 of 10 known, 1 of 100 known, 1 of 1000 known? Scarcity generally sets the price, although demand is also required. There are plenty of rare coins that don't demand a premium because collectors don't care. But there's simply too little information about this game grading to make these prices appear organic. Also, with a coin, you're able to view the entire surface of the coin when grading. Game grading, it's only the box? What if the game inside has a manufacturing defect? It's a literal mystery box. Ridiculous

[@GabMacedoo]

You’re right. There absolutely no way to know if there is even a rock inside the box or something. Especially with shady organizations like Wata.

[@alnilamecrota8147]

Nah, these games are gonna plummet. This is a gnarly bubble and its for sure gonna pop.

[@adamhoffoss5768]

This ain't even a bubble. It's some sort of insiders scheme between Heritage and WATA. Not sure if they're owned by the same people or what?!

[@PaulRockey]

I think for the people that collected before the “sealed craze”, games like Little Samson and Stadium Events will still be expensive, loose or cib. But the common games that are sealed (like Mario 64 and Zelda) will definitely plummet in value. Spider-Man for Atari was a small example of that. Watch it happen hardcore with the Mario’s, Zelda’s, and Final Fantasy’s.

[@pika23]

@@adamhoffoss5768 like insider trading kinda 🤔?

[@BoboBreez]

@@pika23 no not like insider trading. Collusion would be the correct word.

[@pika23]

@@BoboBreez thanks!

[@arjungandhi1242]

This is like the art world. Comes across as elaborate money laundering

[@osurpless]

“So why? He pissed me off. Normally I care more about keeping murderers and rapists off the streets. Not protecting some fancy pictures and things. Things that are only worth a lot to some very silly rich people…” - The Thomas Crown Affair - Detective McCann (paraphrase)

[@PubeStache]

No CTR's are filed for these transactions. As far as I know.

[@jonnconour7418]

Like Hunter Biden selling his artwork. Nevermind politics or which side different PPL are on,his paintings & their prices are total BS 😆.

[@masterbspace]

“Butt fucking nutty! That’s what that is!” Should be a sound board clip

[@Beefusan]

Jokes on them. You can't play the game if it's sealed.

[@Kevinsyel]

They'll never know how few A-presses will be needed to complete this copy!

[@chaosdimension6433]

you can download a rom or buy an copy for 20 any day

[@JaredThaBoi]

But people are able to play whether if it’s digitally downloaded or if you use an emulator to play on your PC which is what many people are doing.

[@adapalis]

WATA and HA pulling BS again. When are they getting hit with fraud? The fact that actual collectors think they are worth that much shows their knowledge of the hobby. I would like to believe people wouldn't buy this at that price, but here we are. I should try to sell my sealed copy, might get about $5k because thats what a sealed mario 64 is actually worth.

[@sharkman265]

Last I checked using a fake bidder (schill) in order to drive up the bidding price of your auction is fraud !!! I hope Heritage Auctions is investigated at the very least !!!

[@bergfruehling]

So where can I cheaply get sealed N64 games to rip off rich people who think it's an investment? Let me guess, they all sold out within 2 hours of the last auction closing.

[@SaintNicholasFan]

These prices are getting so insane so fast that I am legitimately beginning to suspect that there is money laundering at play.

[@OfficialDennisRodman]

It absolutely is laundering.

[@OfficialDennisRodman]

@@supyo1 Person X has $500,000 in dirty money. Person Y works at the auction house and has a personal relationship with Person X. A game (or whatever valuable item) is put up for auction and is artificially inflated to an absurd amount in auction in the name of Person X whether the item exists or not. Person X uses the dirty money to buy a clean collectable and Person Y returns money to Person X. Ipso facto -- dirty money becomes clean money. (I probably described this poorly, but you get the gist. If you still don't get it, look up 'high end art auction money laundering' or something.)

[@mkbcnb]

There is more to this story and I'm sure when the Feds close their investigation and the arrests begin than we will know how the scheme played out when it's plastered all over the nightly news. The sad part is this will cause the value on these games to crash and burn.

[@OfficialDennisRodman]

Haha maybe I could finally get Fire Emblem on Gamecube for a reasonable price.

[@justinzucker]

There is no point in trying to make sense out of this as a natural phenomenon. This is clear manipulation by the auctioneers, the graders and the high end collectors. WATA needs to justify their services, putting a value on putting a game in a plastic shell and ‘rating’ it and they need to establish that value quickly. Their media appearances and these auctions really prove that they are aggressively creating a market for graded games, so they can charge people to grade them. Just ask yourself, who would seriously pay over 1M for a copy of this game, graded or otherwise? It makes no sense because its not real, its manipulation.

[@neverwin2518]

On the next episode of America Greed: Heritage Auctions...

[@thegoodybarn9060]

Yep. Lol

[@tornekotaloon9732]

On that graded Final Fantasy - grading games is already kind of weird in my opinion, but grading and slabbing games with batteries in them is a new level of stupid.

[@deedeeramone34]

These games aren’t meant to be played

[@davidleescreations]

I'm sure theres alot of 10.0 out there but I wouldn't trust them to grade it accurately given there inside interest.

[@Andypandy2010]

I have a hard time believing any of these sales are real. Not to get all conspiracy theory but it just doesn't add up.

[@glycineairman]

They are real sales sadly. High end manipulators selling to other high end manipulators using wata and HA as middlemen

[@glycineairman]

@@__1201 they vet buyers on the high end and reserve the right to sue them for non-payment

[@Mitjitsu]

The sales are real, it's just money being exchanged between friends for the sake boosting up Wata's and Heritage's profile.

[@Mitjitsu]

@@__1201 The auction house will know who the buyers are, and they can sue them for non-payment. It's not like Ebay where people can troll bid to prevent a sale from happening.

[@joemama-cf7sj]

Game isn't even rare theres gotta be plenty of people with this game unopened what's so special about this copy? Absolutely nothing.

[@ReservedInvestments]

Hi Pat and Ian!

[@alnilamecrota8147]

If you cant calculate the % on a calculator then..... Pat math...

[@ParallelUniversity]

Best video I've seen on this topic. It is all just a plot to get people to send in their sealed games for grading. They will of course make sure there is a long wait time to get them back, so they can maximize on profits before prices plummet. Grading companies control the value by assigning these grades based on near microscopic flaws, and they control the amount going to market by holding onto them and trickling them back to the owners slowly over many months.

[@PeteOliva]

You all are the journalists we deserve when we have these jokers at the "real" sites who don't know how to report or investigate or as you all so brilliantly put it, "ask the right questions".

[@kingjaekob]

If wata was to release all that info, now many of what game they grade, they would lose business! The more the game, the less people want to have them graded! They doing this 1.5 Million sale, to increase business! Now everyone wants to send in games to get graded! BIG MONEY FOR WATA!

[@creekandseminole]

This is what the playstation/snes console prototype should have sold for (it actually almost did for 1.2 million but the owners declined it then sold it at auction and only got $300,000 later on...). That console was almost priceless and maybe the rarest piece of gaming history ever and it sold for peanuts. They made tons and tons of copies of Mario 64 and this sucker sold for that much? Covid not only got people sick it also made people more stupid...

[@MasterZebulin]

And made them greedy and also turned them into assholes. You forgot that.

[@sconniecomics7524]

I enjoyed the talk! One thing to add from the comic market perspective: prices tend to be nuts in each market when grading is introduced (in this case when the graded items are 'accepted' in the market). This same thing occurred with comic books when the first grading company, CGC, was put on the scene. Books went for insane prices for the first few years in the early 2000s. When population reports were eventually released and more and more books were graded, the value for these same copies dipped as the public became more aware of what's out there and their FMV. Many of the same books that sold in the early 2000s were later resold over the years (you can see the data on HA), and a large handful of these books sold for nowhere near where they did when they were first put up for sale (and some still don't sell for as much).

[@WillyTung]

You'd think someone with millions of dollars to spend would be smarter with their money...

[@GodfathersGodfathernet]

Pat and Ian really hit it on the head with this. The whole thing is a big, fat scam.

[@shoked99]

And not long ago an Action Comics no 1 CGC 9.0 sold for over $3m. I don’t get why Mario 64 is even this close in value.

[@ConkerHax]

The best selling n64 game for over a million dollars.

[@friedcircuits3577]

If it goes from the right one to the left, money has technically still changed hands.

[@quezcatol]

yeah because the art world isnt known for those scams, lol. Oh this painting suddenly became worth 2 million dollars because of X person bought it and suddenly the artist art work skyrocket in value - because people wanna try and grab everything he has made "just in case" and that painting can now be used for borrow large sum of money or insurance scams (oh no my 2 million dollar painting got stolen) Its well known tons of people do "money laundry" through art.

[@seany84uk]

Its fake bids trapping real bidders.

[@ACBlackJ0ck]

And some thought packaging it with Sunshine and Galaxy for $60 was too much...

[@DijaVlogsGames]

Pat, AMAZING point on why the NWC carts aren’t that expensive. I had not thought about the fact that there simply aren’t enough of them for WATA and Heritage to make money in.

[@archangel844]

I think people are missing the demand for WATA grading. Everyone I know is now sending things to Heritage and Wata thinking they have the next big game but the bigger thing is grading a game like this is $100 +.

[@archangel844]

They arent hyping cause the have a lot of sealed games sitting in a warehouse it's hyping the need to get everything encased in plastic and graded by WATA only

[@ShopkeepMike]

The fact that it was a few "surface level" games like Zelda and Mario all selling for record prices at the same time would help normal people or outsiders get more familiar (or buy into this shit). "Oh, a mario game sold for x?" Wow I've heard of that before! I know mario!"

[@mikekz4489]

If this auction were legit, then the buyer made big mistake, I don’t care how deep their pockets are. It makes no sense just from the standpoint of turning a profit in the future.

[@juannunez5767]

I want to know what exactly is the difference between a 9.8 grade and a 9.4 grade that makes it that much more valuable. I mean besides the difference that 9.8 is a bigger number and they are going to avoid giving that rating to anything else ever again.

[@bergfruehling]

probably some micro scratches on the foil

[@MrX474]

Nothing. All that shit is an absolute joke

[@Krushak8888]

Its probably if the machine fucked the shrink wrap, the sticker seal isn't complete blah blah blah.

[@PubeStache]

@@badfanedits same with comics. I've seen, mainly modern comics, graded a 9.8 I would have passed on at the comic shop.

[@ImmortalInflames]

Ok so bare with me on this one... I play a game called "EVE Online" In this MMO-RPG there are insanely rare spaceships, only 50 each each kind and when they get blown up in battle, there is absolutely no way to replace them. They are given out as prizes for the "alliance tournament" but anyways. I grinded my ass off for months to acquire enough in game funds to purchase one of these ships (I was patient and lucky enough that the one I wanted came up for sale). The "Mimir" I bought it for 27 Billion ISK (in game currency and yes that's a lot!), I was hooked and loved it, so I took bigger risk in grinding more in game currency and eventually got enough for another, a Utu but even though it was a smaller ship, the price was 30 Billion ISK.. To skip forward ALOT of story I eventually sold the Mimir which I had purchased for 27 Billion for 65 Billion ~2 years later... The very next year the price of a Mimir was suddenly 300 Billion.... So though I'm very much a solo piolet, I'm thankful to have many friends and acquaintances and through them I was slowly about to piece together what was going on. Certainly groups (and individuals) were buying up all the "AT ships" (those really rare ones) to control the market - EVE is a sandbox, so basically there are no rules against this - I haven't checked prices recently but I know the prices to be soo far beyond the dreams of even a regular play of EVE to ever afford... I know of a couple ships that have crossed into the 1 Trillion mark which is like that mario game... So just like who has those ships... I ask, who has those crates of Mario 64 games...

[@josealqueres]

People who is spending this kind of money are not victims here.

[@Security848]

they are idiots if they think they can make money on it iin the future

[@josealqueres]

@@Security848 nope.. they are laundering money.. no idiots here

[@haroldmyers2872]

Super excited to see more of Pat and Ian! Hope you guys are well!

[@pd1426]

This is a scam, needs to be investigated

[@ezg2000]

Can't wait until Pat and Ian play that Hot Take on the amico. Tommy trying to plan them for a threat is just Bull.

[@leonardomesquita4374]

Guys, guys, common man... this in a lot of places is called " money laundering " just in case you forgot.

[@mikewhoelse]

Money laundering???? I say it nearly every time you bring this stuff up.

[@devilmikey00]

Nah, listen to the whole thing. Wata's making bank on the fair market value increase in graded games and heritage auctions is making money hand over fist with their auction fee's. The point was to make everything sell for stupid prices which they've now achieved. It's a good old fashioned scam and it's working perfectly.

[@TheGreyBaron]

Pat brought up an excellent point I forgot about: what happens if they don't pay? And how likely are they to report an unpaid auction? This is DIRTY, any way you slice it. Watch out for people touting the honor of grading companies- always skin in the game.

[@justsayin4632]

Pats condescending voice imitation at 15:40 is perfect😂

[@LarryLopez91]

Every copy of SM64 is priceless since every copy is personalized, right?? What a fuckin racket this shit is!

[@emmaseckso1870]

How are we not talking about SWITCH games going for 4-5 figures??

[@mortissssssssss]

Real?

[@PubeStache]

Really? Which ones?

[@Orrimarrko66]

We know who owned the SM64. Pretty sure he owned the Zelda as well...

[@Mitjitsu]

I would imagine there's much more 9.8's of first print OoT's than they are of SM64 out there.

[@TheShachattack13]

I guarantee you the people buying graded mario games for 1.5 million dollars inherited their wealth. No self made person who understands the value of a hard earned dollar would make such a dumb speculative investment

[@veganforever9703]

I disagree, self made people buy art for example and this is the new art It's new and will stay

[@preslove]

Some people are going to federal prison whenever the current economy wide asset bubble pops

[@devilmikey00]

Pretty perfect little scheme: Wata increases market value, which increases their fees and drives hordes of people to grade their games at those inflated fees. Heritage is making money hand over fist because everything under the sun is selling for 10's of thousands now. Early investors involved in the scheme to pump up the market price can now easily flip those purchases for much higher. Assuming they aren't just directly invested and profiting from Heritage/Wata in the first place. It's a win/win/win for every dirty little a-hole involved.

[@dragotobias1939]

You guy the last two years talk almost every time the video games prices just a bubble, a lot of collectors sold the games like the last year Bc of yours advising or expectations.

[@AndrooTheNerd]

This really feels like some kind of RICO case waiting to happen.

[@johndee759]

It must be a group or Something that is buying these. I don’t believe this. Purchasing games for so much money does not make any sense. This is fake.

[@mortissssssssss]

Am I seeing things, or is the bottom right corner seriously scuffed? How is that a 9.8? I will say that I don't know anything about grading (I think it's incredibly dumb personally), but I'd expect such a high grade to be in more pristine condition. What am I missing?

[@Jp-gc6bh]

Was waiting for your comments on this.

[@samcortez420]

I have a sealed Bubsy 3D signed by Randy Jackson

[@veganforever9703]

Give u .99p

[@nuksucow]

Any market that is opaque & unregulated is ripe for manipulation... brother 1 has copy of a game...brother 2 buys game for an insane amount of money with the hopes that some other person will then buy it near or above this new crazy price. If the game sells again to someone else the two brothers split the profits and have created money from nothing. If no one buys it the brothers don't lose b/c they are just passing money back and fourth. Wata has no incentive to look into this b/c they want the game to sell for as much as possible.

[@DanielRivera-on5qh]

As a big Pat fan who never chimes in, damn pat I can see the warranted emotion

[@shane_MK]

What I don't understand is that Mario 64 sold 11 million copies. It's guaranteed there are multiple copies of this grade if not higher. How can it possibly sell for such a high price? To me, unless the plastic is ripped or falling off, they're basically the same grade. It doesn't make sense for anyone to buy these. I'm floored by the lack of knowledge by some of these buyers.

[@phxsisko]

I have a sealed copy of Civ I/IBM big box: willing to take $250K, what a deal! :)

[@pbailed8007]

I saw a copy of Zelda wind Waker for $5000 graded on eBay yesterday, I asked the seller if the disc was made a fucking gold ! It’s more of a rhetorical question because they wouldn’t know because it’s sealed!

[@Kevinsyel]

Can confirm disk is made of gold. Was opened to check and resealed.

[@Noobsaibot21]

@@Kevinsyel Nice of them to check and then factory seal it. Ahhh...... mint.....

[@ScubaDiverPicker]

How come sealed Halos in amazing shape go for $250-$400 on eBay but $30k on Ha? Yeah complete Bullshit. Fake as hell. Nobody is paying for these.

[@josegurrola9021]

Cant wait to see Pat & Ian on The Video Game Years 2020s: The Mario Money Manipulation

[@karl-henrikohlin6267]

seems like money laundring to me. The art market is full of this bs, so I guess its natural to spread onto other auction markets

[@torgeist.]

One word, scam!

[@megamanmixman]

you know what a seal's favorite subject is in school? art! art! art! 'claps'

[@PubeStache]

From what I understand, you don't need to a file a CTR for graded video games, art, etc.. Like you would have to do at a casino where large transactions are tracked by the gaming commission. Which is perfect for money laundering.

[@bwillythekid8249]

It's probably Nintendo buying their own games.

[@themax4677]

Meantime, the bat used to hit Mickey Mantle's 500th HR is still estimated around 500K. Granted it is now the focus of some legal back and forth between the Hall of Fame and the player who owned it at the time, so that might bump the price a bit.

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

Something about this stinks of art collecting. Thousands of paintings (historically significant and artificially inflated modern works) are sitting in freeport warehouses as tax dodges. Perhaps game collecting is heading this direction.

[@quezcatol]

yeah as money laundering, and "insurance scams".

[@seanwilliams4493]

So do they X-Ray the box to check the alignment of the sticker on the cartridge, and the alignment of the staple/pages on the instruction booklet? I’m quite curious if all they are doing is grading a box….

[@TheRetroMess]

I call it "Idiot Money" levels of insane. Just say, "That's idiot money."

[@DriveupLife22]

What did Pat pay for his gold NWC, like 30 grand? (My guess.) He could grade it and sell it at Heritage for 200k. Will he not sell due to principle? Its a lot of money to leave on the table.

[@madjoe8622]

At least the NWC is rare and we know how many there are. They made millions of SM 64 and there's thousands and thousands of sealed one.

[@bassguitari928]

There’s gonna be a crazy documentary about WATA/HA on Netflix one of these days.

[@francoisrousseau2202]

Pat you said many time you like to write and its seen youre one of the most documented and passionated person to adresse this issue. Write a book or an essay about it and sell it. This news was major for the mainstream media (even here in canada). All the traditional medias cover it like a bunch of seagulls without any knowledge.

[@itsmatt517]

How could someone with that kind of money regard that as a good investment? Something very dodgy is going on.

[@hellboundTX333]

The fact that they’re using such common games for their schemes really makes it so obvious that they know nothing about the world of video games.

[@ladynikkie]

Unless it was dipped in solid gold and autographed by shigeru miyamoto and the rest of the staff that worked on Super Mario 64 there's no way in hell it's worth that much something is very shady with this

[@squidracerX]

Im with Ian - I feel Pats being weirdly trivial when he brings up the buyers premium or the Heritage 20% cut or whatever. I say i sold something for $100 on ebay if the person paid $100. Some of that is fees, some is even shipping often. They paid "X amount" to get an item. "Its what they paid" as ian said. The game sold for $870k, cost the guy $870k out of his bank account; dont worry about the buyers fee (except to tell us its included so we know it wasn't actually higher than that).

[@Mitjitsu]

I would have thought games that are genuinely rare and highly sought after would be the most expensive; not common games based off of condition rarity. Even then, there's probably a dozen first print copies of SM64 that are in 9.8 condition.

[@AndyKazama2]

I don't know if it's unrelated, however i've noticed game prices in the UK going up a little. I used to be able to pick up some titles for peanuts. Less and less so. Edit: I've got a Fire Emblem Fates Special edition. New, never opened CIB. Is it worth grading such a thing? Seen copies go for $300

[@0730bcorm]

Who is going to pay 1.5 million for that same game in ten years? With inflation, to break even you’d have to sell for 2 mil

[@agauerm]

Pat you should sell your sealed stuff at heritage auctions while they´re still going for those insane prices...

[@klobberdudegaming]

Hey, suggestion for some merch: Get like 2-3 different designs/slogans for a t-shirt outlining the shittyness that is WATA. One example could be: WATA (In the market manipulation business since 2006). - Or whenever they started. Somewhere around there? Take it and run with it Pat! Keep up the good job as always love the podcast!

[@alnilamecrota8147]

1.5 million today $1.50 in 10 years from now. This fad will for sure die off.

[@Lappelduvideify]

Even game stores will have trouble finding space to store these.

[@veganforever9703]

No it's going to be common place

[@neatuhfajita9128]

I wouldn't be knocking people for going on Pawn Stars since you did it yourself

[@devilmikey00]

Except he didn't do it to help pump sealed games, he went on to show a legitimately rare thing he had. Not quite the same.

[@neatuhfajita9128]

No he went to pump the price of his cart be real

[@PatTheNESpunk]

@@neatuhfajita9128 I asked for the actual value of what they were worth at the time.

[@williamhomel9849]

When I don't understand is how is this not illegal what wata is doing? I mean they manipulated the market in a way that was unheard of a couple of years ago. I remember a couple of years ago the highest selling cartridge for the NES would have been probably World championships or stadium events but now you got certain kinds of Super Mario brother cartridges going for insane amount of money and you've got Mario 64 going for over a million that doesn't make any sense to me especially considering the fact of how popular Mario is how many copies of that game actually exist. How is this not going to lead to a lawsuit some point later on? Because it feels like what they are doing is really slimy and really dirty and should be illegal if what they're doing is not already. Because it seems like wata created a new market name themselves the experts of that market and then have really been throwing insane prices around for something won't hold its value and a lot of people are going to lose a lot of money on. That sounds like at least a civil if not a criminal lawsuit waiting to happen.

[@ShadowNeverDies1990]

Stuff like this is why capitalism has gotten so stupid.

[@hellboundTX333]

I’ve collected vinyl for years and used to be that sealed records weren’t worth any more than an opened copy because you never know what’s really inside. Then when the current idiot generation started collecting vinyl sealed copies went through the roof. SMH

[@azbatslambo]

At least WATA isn't handing out 10's like candy, or are they, and HA is just stashing them for later.

[@nicklong27]

Pat - I think the phrase you're looking for is 'Nuttier than Squirrel shit'.

[@liamboyle6345]

Sad that your nwc cart isn’t the most valuable game anymore.

[@spenserbeckerszs]

As a true lover & collector of video games. To hear shit like this breaks my heart. Games like Double Dragon, Super Mario Bros, Contra, Mario 64, Halo etc are as common as dirt if you know where to look for them (& online sales just make it twice or even three times as more common as they would be in the wild). Games like Nintendo World Championships (grey and gold carts), Gold Cartridge Punch-Out!!, Little Sampson, or really any low print run game or special circumstances release or version of a game would make way more sense to have a price tag so high. Mario 64 is not it & will never be it (at least during my lifetime). This is greed at it it’s finest here. This is taking advantage of the market and the common folks’s uneducated background of the wealth and value of the gaming community. To see this is sickening….

[@markketterer1248]

A 9.6 sold at the same auction for $13k.

[@capcussa]

i can understand having a mint copy of spiderman number 1, from an age where people did not give a shit about keeping things as collectibles, its a truly unique amazing piece. however, the difference between a 9.8 sealed n64 game and an 8 or even a 7, is probably a small tear in the cellophane and is not worth the extra million dollars

[@jonathendoughe2708]

Some very valid points - keep up the good work!! 👍thanks for looking out for the little guy's

[@MrElsmitty]

These prices are crazy. I imagine we will start to see fakes flooding the market. And you can't open it up to even check cause it would ruin the value lol.