Exposing Fraud In The Retro Video Game Market | MoistCr1Tikal

A surprising exposé video claims that Heritage Auctions and Wata Games have been artificially inflating the value of old gaming cartridges.
A recent surge in the value of retro Nintendo video game cartridges is allegedly the result of fraud by grading company Wata Games and collectibles auction company Heritage Auctions, according to one journalist’s exposé. All year long, mint copies of vintage games like The Legend Of Zelda and the original Super Mario Bros. have been selling at auctions for millions of dollars, shattering world records almost as soon as a new one was set.
This retro gaming price boom began back in March when an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. was sold for over $310,000. After that, a sealed early NES R copy of The Legend Of Zelda broke the record for the Most Expensive Game with a final price tag of $870,000 in July. Both of these games were sold at Heritage Auctions, which has auctioned off other priceless relics of gaming history like a prototype of the unproduced Nintendo PlayStation console.
As reported by VGC, journalist Karl Jobst recently posted a bombshell KZbin video claiming that Heritage Auctions has been part of a scheme to inflate the prices of old video game cartridges for an increased profit. He claims that Heritage co-founder Jim Halper and Wata Games president and CEO Deniz Kahn were the ones leading this fraud operation, as Wata directors artificially raised the value of games they’ve graded. Furthermore, very few of the games being sold off at Heritage Auctions were actually purchased by game collectors. Heritage Auctions has since denied these accusations, with a spokesperson claiming that Jobst’s video contains “many misstatements.” A company spokesperson from Wata Games gave the following statement to Screen Rant.
Heritage Auctions isn’t the only auction house that has been making headlines by selling high-profile copies of retro video games. Earlier this month, yet another copy of the original Super Mario Bros shattered records with a final price of $2 million after a bidding war at rival collectibles site Rally - not too long after Heritage's Legend Of Zelda auction. Shortly before that, eBay set the record asking price for a game cartridge with a $1 million gold copy of the Nintendo World Championships.
The recent surge in final auction prices for old-school games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend Of Zelda has surprised a lot of people. If Karl Jobst's allegations are true, then it looks like some of the craziest stories to come out of the gaming auction circuit, such as that record-breaking Legend Of Zelda cartridge, could be the result of fraud.
Original Video | • Exposing FRAUD And DEC...
Karl Jobst Channel | / @karljobst
Source - screenrant.com/retro-video-ga...
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[@MoistMoments]

As always Thanks For Watching! Feel free to Like, Comment and SUBSCRIBE! 😀

[@lordfarquar9215]

Is this charlies channel

[@MoistMoments]

@@lordfarquar9215 It's not, I archive, edit and upload his videos for future watching.

[@lordfarquar9215]

@@MoistMoments nice thanks for keeping the culture alive that's awesome

[@horrorking1000]

Thanks for the uploads bro I never have time to catch him live so this is kinda great much appreciated

[@MoistMoments]

@@horrorking1000 You're welcome, I'm glad you like them, that's what they're for. :)

[@crazyd4ve875]

I saw a copy of silent hill 1 for $500 at my local store I went home and emulated the whole thing for free

[@p.r.1308]

For some people it is more to oen an actual copy thou.

[@youhaveayds8975]

@P.R. you can burn your own PS1 disc and it will run

[@marlex3073]

I got a copy of that game around 6-8 years ago at a game shop for 40$. Nowadays, that same shop sells a copy for 144$...

[@josecerrud1079]

A collector is completely different then just playing it. XD

[@motherfucking_demoncore8185]

I got a copy of the first xenogear for 130$ and online it went 200$ near mint but I got my in perfect condition

[@defiantxkalo]

People who don’t love video games ruin it for the real people who love them

[@theerealatm]

That's most markets.

[@rayvenskye3274]

@@theerealatm Yes, however it wasn't video games until recently. It really sucks

[@theerealatm]

@@rayvenskye3274 you don't rememberor heard of the video game crash back when games were becoming more mainstreamed?

[@rohmatkholis7384]

@@theerealatm bruh even that age its not the game that overvalue, its the company that make the game getting overvalue then breakdown. Now i feels good that digital game is there so even id there a sumbang like this again we will not care because we have pirate website.

[@charleybarley7148]

Lmao you mean the "real" collectors who buy tens of thousands of games that are never played but instead sit on a shelf to be admired by like two people?

[@The_Phoenix_Saga]

And this my friends is why emulation and piracy will NEVER go away...

[@Manigeitora]

What? This has nothing to do with emulation and/or piracy. Not a single person buying these million-dollar games is EVER removing them from that box to actually put it in a console. None of this is even remotely related to the pricing, marketing, or distribution of games that people will actually *play.* That Mario cart didn't go for a million dollars because it's the last functional playable copy on Earth. It's all a bunch of arbitrary nonsense made up to scam people, and Jobst's video makes that very clear. I am 100% in support of emulation, especially in cases of abandonware and older titles that are simply impossible to play on modern hardware, but let's not pretend this whole grading scam is in any way related to the ethics of piracy and emulation.

[@m.h-ar124la7]

Yeah this kind of price manipulation of physical copy, if left alone will force people to play the digital version. If it was retro game with no digital version. Emulation and pirated iso will be the only option left. Armored core 6 just got announced recently most physical copy price has rise to unrealistic one. And even the community recommend people to emulate the game.

[@flapjackpancake5486]

as dumb as this whole thing is it never was about playing the game, we can say the same thing about pokemon cards nowadays I guarantee more than half of the people buying it doesn't even know how to play it

[@RedEarth20XDX]

@@Manigeitora I'm amazed at how much you wrote without actually saying anything.

[@ImmaLittlePip]

@@Manigeitora it's amazing everything you said is wrong or it has nothing to do with Ops comment

[@agent56100]

It’s incredible to see how many times NFT-lite shit happens yet people still fall for it

[@codiecola3636]

You know what they say, a sucker is born every minute.

[@HopeyDiamond]

*Insert Nigerian Prince scam, here*

[@BlxxdLeaf]

@@HopeyDiamond "just need you to send me the code for a 500$ iTunes card and I'll be able to wire the 100k to your bank. First I need your banking and routing number. Thank you for calling tech support."

[@warhammerfaction]

All on supply and demand I like grading it makes sense

[@MyPlaylistWillSaveAmerica]

@@warhammerfaction yea I seen attempts on figures but they settle back down. A $20 figure of a beloved franchise can only go so far….I guess as far as it’s beloved. Even then A new $60 transformers is more appealing. The neca dead space figure for 150 makes sense because you can’t find any others. Not even a funko.

[@INTRUZIVE]

As someone actually passionate about collecting and preserving games, this is absolutely infuriating to watch. Video games NEED to be preserved and enjoyed, and watching rich people manipulate and bet on something I’ve been doing for nearly a decade is just enraging.

[@JonathanJuan]

Okay, but here’s a counterpoint: for most of these games, they HAVE been preserved. Like if it’s a famous sale, such as the Super Mario Bros. cartridge - there’s plenty of ways to play that, legally and illegally. If it’s an experience that hasn’t been preserved, then I’m definitely with you. But a lot of these games that sell are already incredibly famous titles that can be emulated. So what if a multi-millionaire pays 10x more for something? They can afford it, and I can still play it for free. No real skin off anyone’s back if the ultra-rich fight for bragging rights over that.

[@DoomKid]

I agree that games should be preserved, though I don’t think that’s too much of an issue here. This is just bad because people who care about owning carts are going to have a harder and harder time getting them..

[@nexus2624]

@@JonathanJuan Regardless of whether or not these NFT losers are "preserving" the games, they're doing it in a selfish and greedy way that renders legitimate collectors nearly incapable of pursuing their passion anymore because it's no longer "OH I got this copy of (x) for 20 bucks! What a find!" and then becomes "Oh, I can't add (x) to my collection because some nimrod mongoloid decided it was worth 20,000 bucks because reasons." Price gouging makes me sick and this is why the rich need to be eaten.

[@JackTheripper911]

​@Jonathan Juan the problem is that just because its online *now* doesnt mean it cant be removed eventually. As long as something is fully digital it has a chance of being removed, and with no physical copies its impossible to get back.

[@Geezgio]

@@JonathanJuan missing the point. What they’re doing is literally just the gentrification of the retro video game market.

[@Michael2344]

"We'll at least watch some of it" *proceeds to watch the whole thing*

[@dudenintendo605]

In the stock market this would be an insider-deal and illegal!

[@55B5]

i was thinking isnt this insider trading

[@fraseyhorse]

Lol imagine that happening on the stock market 🙄

[@robbiefryer3645]

@@fraseyhorse For real lol like they dont!

[@clintoncronin2504]

It 100% is

[@enokrad6306]

This is some Pelosi level shit lol

[@MrH4nds]

The grading system is clearly a scam when one of the Paul brothers can take a card in and get a perfect grade on it when the DUDE WHO SOLD IT TO HIM couldn't get the same grade when he sent it in.

[@kamb8s]

Doesn't mean it's a scam - means there are humans grading the items and not infallible robots.

[@colonelpeacock]

@@kamb8s Doesn't mean it's not a scam either.

[@kamb8s]

@@colonelpeacock if someone eats a ham & Swiss sandwich you could say they’re a murderer. Doesn’t mean you’re right.

[@nexus2624]

@@kamb8s Assigning value to an item based on a human's opinion of the item/person owning it, is definitely worthy of being called a scam. Don't justify shitty practices by basically saying "Humans aren't robots so it isn't their fault xoxo thoughts and prayers..."

[@kamb8s]

@@nexus2624 The person grading it isn't the person owning it lmao. What are you even talking about

[@TheCarpenterUnion]

I recently got into GB-GBA game collecting from themes I liked in my childhood. Realized very quickly how dumb it would be to spend $100+ on just being able to have an original box to go with it, let alone shrink wrap and a sealed acrylic box around said box. I want to play video games. It'd be like buying artwork and keeping it in a safe.

[@TheCreepyArchives]

I disagree. To me it represents my childhood, so it's well worth the price.

[@tinkerer3399]

The GB and GBA market is insane on packaging and manuals. In fact for any portable system intact packaging (not even sealed, just the packaging) will drive up the price 4 to 10 times.

[@Masami_Salami]

For some people, the sealed games are basically pieces of artwork. Shockingly, we can also just print out JPEGs of the boxes.

[@naliboi93]

You've taken a sensible approach. A fool and their money are easily parted, nostalgia isn't a great excuse for these kinds of "luxury" purchases. You ever stop to think why Nintendo kept selling their games in flimsy, bulky cardboard boxes all these years? Of course they were destined for the bin! Sadly it meant your instruction manuals would need to be kept safe (they often got lost to time). Half the time, resellers wouldn't care enough to pack your item properly so the packaging ends up destroyed anyway. Sega had the right idea with VHS-style plastic cases for most of their cartridge based console titles. There are better collectors' investments out there than videogames, surely. Can't the speculator NFT cryptobros just stay in their own lane.

[@PatrickThomasBrady]

Yea I’ll never understand collecting sealed and graded games, I could see wanting a pristine copy of your favorite game or games but why overpay for shrink wrap and then overpay even more for a company to assign a grade and seal it in a clear box, save money and buy your own protective boxes

[@_rx7224]

Was listening to this while cleaning my work van without watching the video. Kept thinking they were saying porn stars😂

[@urgae9125]

Fr though, when I originally watched Karl’s video, I kept forgetting he had an accent, and having a minor panic of “WHAT STARS?” Like here I am wondering what prawn stars gotta do with graded video games, and if this was some sort of new niche fetish that the mainstream was ridiculing

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

i think that "Pawn Stars" wordplay was chosen deliberately by the shows creators to be edgy. So don't worry, your ears got played by these jerks xD

[@Anon-lu6ct]

I wish Elsa Jean would rate my copy of ClayFighter 63 1/3: Sculptor's Cut 😔

[@armitx9]

he was 😳

[@Ruintheus]

I for sure heard porn stars. Took a look to the the fat bald guy from the history Channel lul

[@shawnvofficial]

As a former classic video game collector, and as a former dealer of such items, a can say that the original NES Mario brothers is one of the most worthless games ever produced. They made more copies of that game, than their were consoles that could play it. Even graded a solid 10, it's value should never have raised over a hundred dollars, let alone a million. It reminds me of some cartoon I seen back in the day, where the villain bought every copy of the cheapest baseball card ever made, and burned all but one, making it extremely rare. It's all bullshit

[@boofpeanuts6960]

what cartoon was it i wanna watch haha

[@shawnvofficial]

@@boofpeanuts6960 I don't remember lol. Possibly "code name kids next door," but I feel like it was something from the 90s

[@wtfc9835]

@@shawnvofficial The cartoon you're thinking of is likely the Batman: The Animated Series episode titled "Make 'Em Laugh." Condiment King is manipulated by the Joker to steal the "Condiment King #1" baseball card. The Joker's plan involves buying up all the copies of a worthless baseball card and destroying all but one, making the remaining card extremely valuable. Darkwing Duck also had an episode about comics, and manipulating value.

[@shawnvofficial]

I'm probably thinking of darkwing duck

[@bradm6287]

Wait until you find out how the people in charge of housing policy are also landlords and investors

[@decker528]

That's a good point

[@jeremykothe2847]

Pfft. Next you'll be saying lawmakers are allowed to buy and sell stocks in companies they're about to vote to affect the price of, or that CEOs award contracts to companies that they own. Pure fantasy.

[@wolfhrt21]

This the same thing happening with TCG (Pokemon) and it absolutely makes me mad. As a kid, I loved buying packs when I could and now that I am able to get back into it as an adult, it's suddenly that much harder because people will buy everything out and resell at insanely high prices. It just kills the hobby honestly.

[@voteZDLR]

It's hard to police such a thing. It's basically scalping, but if they passed any sort of law or whatever restricting it suddenly it's not "capitalism" anymore. In theory you should be able to buy what you want, whenever you want, in whatever quantities you want, but then you run into supply issues and suddenly the old customers become the new stores and THAT is where it's a problem. And when it comes to things like TCG's, you can't even denote something as "not for resale" because that goes against the very grain of what makes it a TRADING card game in the first place. Nobody in their right minds will believe them, but in their minds they're just trading the trading cards. Now, when it applies to other things like concert tickets or brand new GPU's (not used, sealed in the box and sold directly on eBay) I wouldn't be opposed to some sort of limiting factor when it comes to stuff like that.

[@The_Phoenix_Saga]

@@voteZDLR completely agreed. It's a complete mess that can't be fixed.

[@charleybarley7148]

Nothing is off limits when it comes to a capitalist political economy. Time to wake up and smell the reality.

[@ashinigamirises]

Good thing emulation exists for games cards is a little harder

[@xaq343]

This isn’t 2020 or 2021 anymore. Packs are very easy to find if you actually want to, with most big box stores having stock that just sits on shelves, sometimes even put on clearance. Stop it.

[@javabird4168]

Wow this explains so much my bewilderment at prices of old games in antique stores and vg stores. Seeing wii stuff being overpriced is especially hilarious as there's probably enough wii stuff out there to fill a million landfills its barely worth anything in actuality

[@vree_]

Im just so happy the emulator scene exists and everybody can enjoy arcade games without having to worry about any of this scam going on.

[@lynpendergrass3744]

even if they were to release pop reports, there's no way that should have any credibility. if they're okay with manipulating the market, they're probably okay with manipulating the numbers in reports, too.

[@nathangardner4084]

Pop reports already don't matter because in the Pokemon card market for example, people will crack slabs of graded cards constantly and just re submit them to see if they get a better grade. Almost like grading is fucking stupid. Arbitrary bs

[@Gnourt0n]

it sounds like he says pornstars every time he says pawnstars

[@2oqh]

Thinking the same thing, lol.

[@belgianstuff]

And he legit says Water instead of wata xd

[@addictedtoRS]

The captions show porn stars 😆

[@jeefsquaa]

@@belgianstuff he says it the way tate says it

[@BaldMancTwat]

In British English, they are pronounced the same.

[@Icepick614]

This is exactly how NFTS blew up. A bunch of people making the NFTS buying them from each other for enormous amounts of money to promote the perceived value of them

[@StallionStudios1234]

Yean the goal is just to find a bigger sucker than you.

[@TheMightyWumbo]

Years back I loved going to goodwill and other thrift stores, found a lot of retro games for very cheap now they are super expensive

[@ganymedehedgehog371]

I bought an n64 for $20 at a goodwill years back. I can’t imagine one ever being at a goodwill again.

[@BlxxdLeaf]

I'm gonna make a grading system for rocks and scam people into spending 100million on a rock. Oh nevermind, the diamond industry already exists.

[@crow2989]

Pretty much lol. Like diamonds do have great real world uses but if you just want to wear it, get lab grown gem, way cheaper and better for the environment. The only issue with lab grown is that it doesn’t have the same resale value as natural, but unless you are specifically planning on getting into the complicated world of gem reseller, lab grown is the way to go

[@nxxynx5039]

@@crow2989 diamonds used for stuff are cheap and called industrial diamonds. Just the jewellery cut ones with insane markup

[@Annathroy]

The most bizzare thing is just how common diamonds are (natural or not).

[@GustavoLeaoValente]

​@@Annathroy it's really not that surprising when you really stop to think about it. Carbon is easily one of the most common elements, we and basically every living thing in the world are made of it. So why the hell would diamonds, both lab grown and natural gems, be hard to find when they are just another configuration of carbon lmfao

[@Annathroy]

@@GustavoLeaoValente No, I meant that. Expensive as f even though it is extremely common.

[@belgrifex]

always fun to see original nintendo DS games on sale for like 60-80 bucks

[@cristiankroell6994]

As a person who was a raised on the ds it hurts but at least I manage to get the Pokémon games for cheap

[@ericarenas2660]

Gen 4 & 5 Pokémon are like 100+ :(

[@demyxix1273]

@@ericarenas2660try to buy Yo-kai watch 3 or Radiant historia perfect chronology or Solatorobo the red hunter. Its a pain in the a**

[@skylar5257]

I like how Eric’s logic is “if it isn’t worth millions it’s not appreciated.”

[@TheBonkleFox]

The bionicle fandom would beat this guy's ass.

[@pickledblowfish6178]

@@TheBonkleFox yeah I'm sure they're both pissed.

[@Thor-Orion]

@@pickledblowfish6178 we are.

[@ThisPageIntentionallyLeftBlank]

This is literally how the art-show-loophole works. You have multiple pieces of work made on consignment. You keep one, send two to auction, then donate the one you kept to a 501(c) or museum and write off the taxable amount of the donation. Similarly, there is an artist tax loop hole in the tax code that treats auction sales as “casual assets” allowing an artist to significantly reduce tax liabilities.

[@dwatts64]

All this talk about how the bubble is bound to burst has got me eyeballing my original copy of Clayfighter Sculptor's Cut and thinking maybe it's time I let her go... Right next to Sculptor's Cut is an original Splinter Cell Sam Fisher statuette that I won in a GamePro contest. I've never taken it out of the box but for one time, and I know it's a very limited run. I should make some calls to WATA and have them punch up the value on my stuff so I can cash out before this collapses.

[@alexlestat]

Sculptor's cut is the blockbuster exclusive right?

[@dwatts64]

@@alexlestat yeah, it's also the single rarest N64 game out there (not including odd error carts/misprints/signed copies, that sort of thing.) I bought it back in like 2002 or something when my local blockbuster was selling off their old N64 games to make space for the GameCube stuff. I bought it when I was like 13 for about 15 bucks or so because I used to rent it all the time and knew I wouldn't be able to get it in any other store. Absolutely no thought was put toward its future value, which is why it's kind of hard to bring myself to sell it. The more I think about it though, I ask myself why I should be keeping it. If I'm keeping it to play it, I should just sell it. We live in the age where I can just emulate it and it will play better than it ever did on N64. It's not original hardware, sure, but it's still playable and enjoyable. So I think if I keep it to collect it, I should start collecting more stuff and really get into that sort of thing. Unfortunately, I don't really have the money or time for that right now. So if I keep it, I feel like I'm just Gollum hanging on to the ring or something. I feel like I should just sell it, but there's some nostalgia attached there. Plugging the old N64 into the big console style CRT in the gaming room, blowing in a cartridge, pushing the kids and/or the dogs back so they don't trip over the cords; it all takes me back to those days of renting something from Blockbuster and playing with my brothers. That's a strong feeling to get over to bring myself to sell it, you know?

[@dariangoodness3037]

@@dwatts64 You should honestly just keep it, like if you need the money then I’d sell it but if not I mean it was a game you’d rent as a kid and it just happen to get value ,and collecting can be hard but if you really enjoy the n64 that much you could always have a small collection and only buy games when you have extra cash

[@mobilevideoviewer2610]

@dwatts64 on a serious note if n64 is your favorite keep it if you've tried emulation and it scratches the itch sell it that's how I made my collection meaningful while still playing games.

[@dwatts64]

@@mobilevideoviewer2610 yeah. I'm certainly not getting rid of my N64 or any of the other ones in the collection, because I really enjoy sometimes hooking it up, getting my kids (6,9, and 12) together and doing some 4-Player Smash Bros, Goldeneye (paintball mode for the kids!), Starfox, some of the classics, and they love it too. It's really just this specific game, if I have another means to play it that's decent if I ever really get the itch to, then I should probably sell it, honestly. I could use the money right now, there's some medical stuff going on. But I'd feel pretty dumb if I sold it for 8 or 900 and I see one in worse condition going for like 4 grand some day. The kids don't have the nostalgia attachment like I do, so for them playing it on the emulator would likely be about the same. It kind of becomes a cost/benefit analysis for me of if what I can get for it is sufficient enough to make it worth it for the family right now I guess. Idk, anyone here looking to buy a copy of Sculptor's Cut? Lol. It's one of the rare ones that doesn't have a giant Blockbuster be kind rewind sticker on it or anything and the label is near perfect condition 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@LordsOfSkulls]

As collector for over 20 years... I am loving that grading market is crashing so badly right now. I hope Video Game Market crashes completly. I hope all games be worth no more than $100. So everyone that wants to get in on this hobby, could join it, cause its alot of fun. Problem is conditions, are limited. Especially now days with places like Limited Run Games, they make only so many copies physically. In some cases under 1000.

[@zer0sgaming618]

The problem with the whole video game market as a whole crashing is its gonna ruin a significant amount of franchises and companies that do good work and is only gonna open the doors to it repeating itself but more monetization what needs to happen is people need to start actually boycotting specific companies that cause the issues in the market which most likely will never happen

[@LordsOfSkulls]

@@zer0sgaming618 ohh i just said games shouldnt be more than $100. So For companies and developers releasing at $40 to $80 prices they are not effected. Its the Resellers/Grade/Seal market. People who are "Investing" into Collecting market instead of actually be Gamers/Fans/Collectors.

[@Autistic_Pixel]

In my local game shop I saw a disk only copy of Silent Hill 3 for 600$. F the game resellers/collectors, I remember when a cib of any ps2 silent hill game was max 25$. I just want to play games I couldn't as a kid. I couldn't buy them all then cause money and now I sure af can't now cause some are in the thousands.

[@LordsOfSkulls]

@@Autistic_Pixel yap exactly, that why i hope sealed/graded market fails, cause i rahter all games be 1-$50 and never over $100.

[@JayboCorp.2014]

I feel the same except I want to play every game I collect, same with DVDs I'd rather use them for their purpose.

[@Itheman123456789]

Crazy how back in 2012 everyone was practically throwing away all their old stuff for emulation and even then my mindset was "90s 4 life" and would go to my local retro store once in a while. Definitely regret not going all out on a GameCube back then.

[@kevintemido]

Even the used video game market was ruined

[@WARDEATHFUN]

I stopped being a retro game collector for ten years now. I am even thinking of selling them now because there's no point of keeping them knowing I can never finish the collection like I always wanted to.

[@jacksonbutterfly2964]

I'm sorry to hear that

[@The.Original.Potatocakes]

That’s when I got all my snes carts cheap

[@solikeletsbenerdy]

Bro the price of games is getting ridiculous I found out recently that Pokemon fire red is one hundred dollars and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is like 300 it's a shame my child hood games are so expensive no one will get to experience them other than piracy

[@nickjohnson7666]

DK Oldies is a perfect example of these price gouging scammers

[@bottledwaterprod]

Ppl are accusing Microsoft of a supposed monopoly, yet here we have cut and dry market manipulation and nobody is doing much about it.

[@zhanewithah7462]

imagine if nintendo just started reprinting nes carts and destroyed the market

[@DomeHunter24]

I was listening with my screen locked. I had to hit a big pause thinking wtf porn stars had to do with vintage games lol man was I disappointed

[@scrappyanimations4096]

Lmao, auto subtitles say "porn stars" too

[@patrickm1533]

Any market for items with little intrinsic value and massive market value is basically just a front for money laundering and fraud.

[@Ineedabreakfromlife]

I don't collect video games, but I do collect merch for some games, and scalpers ruin it for everyone. When all you wanna do is collect stuff for your favorite game or character, but a single person buys it all and resells for 10 times the price, it hurts man. I totally understand the pain of the situation.

[@7QWERTY13]

19:30 "are people sending these games in to be graded, or do they just have their own stock lined up ready to go?" Remember that earlier in the video, Karl stated that WATA and Heritage had a used game seller in their corner, so the answer is both. Once the ball got rolling, people would begin sending in games to be graded, but they had effectively an unlimited supply from their partner to help get the ball rolling in the first place, however many sham graded auction sales it would take to get the necessary media buzz.

[@55B5]

the way you looked at the camera like "hey big brother" after saying "alleged" fraud . had me in stiches

[@chenstormstout9456]

I’m only trying to find like 8 GameCube games for my collection but goddamn, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Except if someone hoarded all the needles and wanted to sell it to you for $100.

[@bigbrisk8423]

Grading companies are trash lmfao I had a 100% mint af copy of a few games n they said they were trash condition they legit all in it for themselves anyone can determine how nice a cart is compared to sale lolol

[@Critastic]

Does anyone remember going to GameStop back in the day and seeing old Copies of Pokémon going for like $10? I’ve bought so many old copies of Pokémon, red, blue, yellow, silver and gold. All from GameStop, ah the good old days

[@blodguizer]

WATA grading is a joke and nothing says that more than the seller on Ebay asking 50k for a 9.8 WATA graded copy of ET for the Atari 2600.

[@ad-sd-vids5332]

Remember back in 2007 in avgn’s texas chainsaw massacre Atari episode, where it was crazy that the guy was selling the game for 100 dollars? I dare you to find the TCM Atari game for 100 dollars

[@penelopeplimsoul3617]

At one point in time, tulips were more valuable than human lives. In some areas, they were illegal. It is crazy to go through history and see what products were valued.

[@chrisshergie1030]

kinda like crypto today…morons still repeating history

[@tinkerer3399]

Just look at the spice trade. It could be argued that making semi edible food more tasty was the single biggest economic factor in human history.

[@zenkim6709]

I remember my dearly departed best friend Jeff mentioning to me that a similar phenomenon happened during the Gold Rush era ...where the canny merchants who set up shop for the gold prospectors would inflate their prices to preposterous levels -- like $100 for a loaf of bread. The reason why this ever worked was that gold prospecting typically took place in remote, difficult to reach locales (such as the historic Yukon territory) so that the local merchants were the only practical suppliers of food, goods & services. Keep in mind, the value of the US dollar outside of those prospecting towns / areas was normally MUCH higher at the time (spanning from the 1800s into the early 1900s) ... so this puts an interesting perspective on the current trend of right-wing mouthpieces publicly bellyaching about present-time "out of control" inflation in the US....

[@Syclone0044]

@@zenkim6709is that a typo? Don’t you mean much LOWER?

[@izorion6443]

This expose was really well put together.

[@juliusplaesar3950]

🍾 pour one out for all the games comics and collectibles that went through manufacturing only to never produce joy by anything more than its weight trapped in packaging forever 🥺

[@ahlbiurgaid61]

That's why more and more people are getting into piracy and emulation.

[@rayvenskye3274]

As they should. I learned how to emulate and it's the best thing I've ever done

[@flapjackpancake5486]

its not even about playing the game for these people, I doubt that the guy that bought that is gonna open that box and slap it in his NES, if they wanted to play mario they could just get mario/duckhunt those are everywhere

[@MRkriegs]

@@rayvenskye3274 u need to do more things then lol

[@edgeninja]

I feel like this should be illegal in 100 different ways.

[@jaymesjmathias9390]

One reason why I love old showcase, blockbuster etc rental games old stikkerd up old stuff. Fun to carefully clean em up and your certain they're the real McCoys

[@nikolaiiscoolguyproduction4807]

Thanks to Redlettermedia, I think the VHS version of these scummy practices will come to light more publicly as well.

[@random58585]

I think it should be illegal to sell anything for more than it's original price

[@charlie12102]

I think it should be illegal to sell anything for more than the rrp for like 10 years or something at least

[@Vaidiss]

my dad is a retro game collector + retro console collector, but his displays arent clean but then again he actually lets us play with the stuff still, they arent just for show

[@ahank1706]

There are more boxed copies of SMB exchanging collectors hands today than there was in stores in 1989.

[@marsguo8095]

Makes me mad because I actually want to play the games not put them on a shelf

[@Chris-dy1cb]

At this point this argument is so null and pointless to make. You don’t need a perfect version of a game to have a playable version of the game. Playable cartridges still exist for you to use. No one is making you buy the pristine $80k version of a game just to play it.

[@rayvenskye3274]

@@Chris-dy1cb collectors who don't play their games are just resellers

[@tubeguy4066]

So buy them and then you can play them. Duh

[@masoncombs7799]

@@Chris-dy1cb clearly you were not listening, at the end of the video he said that even not in box games are still being raised in price

[@HandheldGamer1991]

No game is worth 80k$ unless there is like only 2 copies out there. The nintendo world champion carts are worth like 10k to 20k and there are only like 25 out there and that i can understand but mario64 being a 2 mil game cart is bullshit! Btw you will never get money by "investing" like the cool kids like to say in retro video games. Old games are worth like 5$ and thats in mint condition XD

[@jacobmilford]

Wow heritage auctions is just right up the road from me

[@scrappyanimations4096]

You should Minecraft that building

[@theotherjared9824]

It happens every time. A niche hobby gets noticed by the rich and powerful, turning it into a fad that gets so expensive to the point of pushing out the fans that popularized it in the first place. When people inevitably realize these items have no practical value, the market crashes and those hobbyists are now sitting on worthless items.

[@argentinajacuzzi1176]

Same in all hobbies. Pokemon, sports cards, comics, VHS, records, games, toy’s

[@thedeepfriar745]

I don’t get these collectors like these people, I mean what’s the point of buying a vintage mustang if you aren’t gonna drive the damn thing. Your buying a game cart but they’re not ever gonna play the games and enjoy them the way their meant to.

[@defiantxkalo]

All money hungry

[@house_cocoon]

Same. As someone who collects comics, I've never really understood why people buy cased + graded comic books. Like, what's the point of buying a comic if you're not gonna read it? What purpose does it serve?

[@scrappyanimations4096]

These are Jews, they have no human soul and therefore the only thing that makes them happy is the amassment of funds they obtain illicitly, rather than things that would bring happiness to an actual human being

[@fefyfona4318]

Them knowing they can sell it to some desperate fan for a ridiculous price. It's a shame because there's always that one person that will buy it. I've been wanting to get Megaman Legends 2 for ps1 for years and the price was always high. Of course digital exists and emulations but i really wanted to play the physical.

[@flapjackpancake5486]

they probably bought the game then continued to play the game on an emulator🤣

[@ThePotFather]

I am so excited for the bubble to burst, because then I actually be able to collect again

[@FenrirFire18]

How? Earthbound was CIB for $1350-1500 a year ago. Now, people want $2,500-$3500....

[@rata_yonqui]

it always has been like this on the art/collectibles market. anonymous collectors and inside transactions are common practice by art galleries, auction houses and even museums. and yeh, it's a crime. but no difference with art or other high valued collectibles.

[@VideoPine]

Anyone saying that a Van Gogh or Monet replica would look the same can't actually have seen one in real life. They are amazing, really mesmerizing, it's almost undiscribable. That room in the musee d'orsay is magical. So yeah definitely priceless art.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

How could you even tell? You wouldn't be able to lol Art displays are a well known scam, used as a tax write off

[@VideoPine]

@@jesusramirezromo2037 I have heard of the rumors of van Gogh fakes in paris, but there are experts who dissagree with the claim of some of them being fakes, so it's just a theory. Also the Monet are not rumored to be fakes to the same extent. But still there's a big difference between the Monet and van Gogh in exhibition compared to the prints/reproductions you find in the gift shop, they don't come alive in the same way, so there's definitely something special about those paintings. In my opinion more special than the Mona Lisa. So I guess you can believe they are fakes, but we can also just as easily accept them as real and special. Whatever we believe, I don't think just anyone can easily replicate those paintings, the incredible colors, depth etc, would take a real master to replicate what I experienced. That's what I meant by that "just any replica would look or feel the same" as those amazing paintings hanging at the musee d'orsay.

[@MrJobocan]

Gatekeep collectors. Of anything. They exist solely to wreck the hobby for everyone else. Retro gaming used to be the "budget" side of gaming. If you couldn't afford the big fancy new consoles, get an NES, buy tons of games for 1-10$ each at most, game. You could game without spending hundreds for a console and 60$ per new game. It was great. Now, even the cheapest shit is unbearably overpriced. This is without even going with graded shit. I used to "collect" (AKA buying games because I wanted to play them) but stopped because I largely got everything I wanted and prices were getting dumb (and that was well before the current bubble). Some games I got for 20$? Some of that is "worth" hundreds now. Mighty Final Fight for NES, I spent 15$ on it cartridge only, it was pretty expensive as far as NES games went. A Mighty Final Fight cartridge only copy now is somehow worth 386$ canadian (and is one of my most "valuable" games). How the shit did that happen?

[@HandheldGamer1991]

Back in 2007 there was a show about some guys going out each saturday or friday to some flea market and buying games for 1$-5$ and anything that was sold for 5$ was already asking tor to much. now ppl want to sell them for 100$ of dollars because some influencer scamers said online that they are worth that much what a joke. The problem are the ppl online that promote this shit but ifbyou call them out on it now you get labeled a toxic idiot or some crap. I cant buy now most retro games and even cards that i aleays wanted like the e reader cards because ppl think that 1 fucking card is worth 40-80$ that came free with a copy of kid icarus!

[@BakedPillow]

A lot of people are talking about them not being transparent. They don't need to better themselves. They need a serious prison sentence.

[@Flibbertyjib]

In 2015 I was a fresh dad and was pretty broke and needed cash fast. I had a pretty nice ps2 and ps1 library. I sold my collection for diapers and food for the month, and I thought at the time I’d easily be able to spend a few hundred bucks to get it back when I was more stable. Boy how wrong I was. That collection today to replace would probably cost me about 2000. I sold it all for 300.

[@nv_takeout]

damn when i was young you could actually walk into a gamestop and buy retro games for an affordable price

[@atticusstephenson2895]

@FatSkeleton That's been happening for the last couple years. They're literally like 1-20 dollars for 360/PS3 games

[@amala1333]

@@atticusstephenson2895 ps3 aint retro homie

[@ScooterCat64]

@@amala1333 It's over 17 years old

[@chadg2696]

Same thing with Logan and pokemon cards lol. Everything is a scam these days but I still love you all. Stay strong fam..

[@drone124]

It's market manipulation but there isn't a wide consumer base so no government will crack down on it. Doubt it at least. Just collectors exercising their purchasing power

[@samuelhoward8504]

This always happening with sports cars. People buy them with hopes they make money on them besides buying cars because they fell in love with them and it’s killing the sports car industry. People hoarding one certain type of car and intentionally driving up prices. Then it gets to where the real enthusiasts can’t afford them or even get the chance for an allocation for a new one

[@ThatMasterChiefGuy1]

Them grading places you have to be careful my friend send in a crazy rare yu gi oh cards it was a original 1st edition blue eyes but when he got it back it was not 1st edition

[@fayne1]

Its always scam and fraud

[@cheekyzoombies4588]

I got a copy of legend of zelda Wing water for like $60 at a local game shot years ago. Went back in recently and they had another copy, in worse condition for $100 lol

[@ShadrackMeduson]

10 years ago when blockbuster was a thing in my country there was a copy of twin snakes for 2 dollars, the game was sold and i found it at some store in a swap meet for 60 dollars, and i knew it was the exact same because of the marks on the case and the art cover.

[@forestman111]

The Mass Effect music in the background singlehandedly made me sub to this channel lol

[@quipsilvervr]

When I see all the games I used to own selling for 10s of thousands, it's gutwrenching! If I'd had the foresight to put them unopened inside Museum glass, I'd have had a monsterous amount of money!

[@thishandleisnotavailable]

The repro companies need to be sued.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

sued and torn apart and their assets donated to charities.

[@HugZBruh]

Karl is like the coffezilla of video games

[@Lelouch358]

Maaaaaan the Mass Effect Galaxy Map Theme in the background makes me want to go back and play them all again.

[@mbarker_lng]

This is the same scheme used to hype NFTs when they came out. Someone with a vested interest in NFTs taking off, bought that one NFT that was a collage of smaller pics for some ridiculous amount- millions of dollars. It was all a PR stunt to lure people.

[@julzrulz11111]

That tomb raider looked like some awkward teen REALLLYYYY loved Lara croft... all those white spots 😳

[@dirt372]

It's so upsetting to find out how much this stuff is worth now. Of course I'd lose all of it to a flash flood.

[@mariekim2885]

The price propping done on comic books by Jim Halperin reminds me of what major collectors of specific artists do with their collections. For example, Andy Warhol. I don't know how much information about this, but I do know it exists, and because it exists auction houses and art collectors exist as well as money laundering through artworks or tax reductions through artworks. And that's only the surface information.

[@razorednight]

I saw a very similar video recently, about a very similar scam.... but with VHS video cassettes. Beware of collectable bubbles!!

[@afreem3052]

That one guy who says “I disagree with the video”. Oh… ok then 👍

[@HopeyDiamond]

"you can't have my card" Me printing shiny pokes, black lotus and whatever is expensive on Yugi to use on my "fake cards deck"

[@2oqh]

I think the point is that downloading an NFT gives you an exact copy of that NFT, while printing a picture of the card wouldn’t actually pass as a real card. There’s also a massive difference in prices between the two and the actual work put into it. Cryptopunks don’t look cool enough to spend hundreds of thousands of, it’s just made to profit off the hype

[@BoxcarPhill]

@@2oqh Not only that, the NFT/crypt market itself can crash at anytime and all that you'll be left with is some pixels. Physical cards are something tangible that you can keep that will grow value overtime because there is only a finite number of them in good conditions.

[@2oqh]

@@BoxcarPhill couldn’t have said it better myself

[@scrappyanimations4096]

Just remember that when you buy an NFT, you're still not even buying the image. You're buying a link to the image. So it's actually another degree of separation further from the original than even a fake Yu Gi Oh card because an NFT is like if you had the address to a PO box that you don't own where the Yu Gi Oh card is kept.

[@MRkriegs]

That's like saying watching porn is just as good as having sex. Nahhh

[@briantran3791]

Merry Christmas! By the way thank you for the video and saving everyone a ton of money too.

[@MoistMoments]

Merry Christmas!

[@walterlaten7662]

Graders and auctions are genius wouldn't be surprised if they helped each other or even worked toogheter like buying a share in each other company

[@grayfullbuster1242]

Just like Funko pops. People buy them for crazy prices.

[@lil.mountenlighting7682]

Bro buying Mario for a million dollars it's on the eShop for 7, the biggest L

[@nadiaquraishi9707]

The Mass Effect track in the background brings back so many memories

[@SilverFlame819]

WTF. I collect NES, and I've never paid more than like 5 bucks for a game. This is so stupid.

[@butterlipz117]

That time Charlie mistook Majora's Mask for Fierce Diety :P

[@EmoPunkgirl144]

Pretty sure its just a bragging right to have old ass games on display, lol but im not paying a crap ton of money to have it in my house XD. I just love when i have friends come over and im like yo look at this PS1! and they go WOW thats so old, and im like yea! it still works wanna play! And then we play its fun

[@loganbarrois5726]

the mass effect idle music in the background is making me smile

[@ChangedEver]

Previously watched that video. It's insane that this kind of stuff happens.

[@katsamagka]

Jobst is an absolute legend :)

[@pillage_party_and_papacy]

Man this is one huge early life moment

[@5dancingisraelis535]

🤫

[@pillage_party_and_papacy]

@@5dancingisraelis535 ah hahaha

[@Mr_Shitlord]

All talmud readers.

[@AmishDancer]

I live near the Lancaster area and used to shop at just press play all the time, but over the recent years they're prices started to skyrocket, I mean you know some is wrong when GameStop starts having competitive prices. Honestly the last two or three times I went there I left empty handed and disappointed. I know businesses are out to make a cut of profit but damn.

[@bewing77]

It's such a bizarre feeling to see how the toys of my childhood are now worth ridiculous amounts of money and of course it make one think "if only I had realized back then"., but that's true for quite a few things.. I mean, I sometimes torture myself by looking at my Bitcoin transaction history and seeing where I sold 50 Bitcoins when they were at $70. It's sad to see the vultures flock to any opportunity to make money though, but I guess it's unavoidable.

[@chrisshergie1030]

if i pay $1 million for Mario Bros on NES, will i still have to blow in the cartridge to play it?

[@11duelist]

This is the 2008 crash all over again. So many of the same tactics.

[@commentresurrection1841]

Perfect, I'll buy when the crash comes!

[@tonysobon4669]

Fun fact , my step-niece had a large Beanie baby collection and when she was like 14 years old during when the prices just started peaking. She only collected them because it was the thing to do and they were fun. When she first said it my family thought she was nuts or going through a faze. But she explained how in math class they were like buying fake stocks and basically role playing the stock exchange. She was smart enough to connect the dots and took a chance but sold her collection for like 150k. Her parents allowed her to by a safe reasonable car and the rest went into savings for college or a first house. I forget how she sold them other them it was her full collection at once since she had some of the ones the at times people thought alone would be worth a crazy amount like 1million and yeah , some in the family thought she was selling them to cheap. At the time she could have probably sold them for more but she wanted to sell them all at once since it was a large collection and this was way before buying and selling over the internet is where it is now. Some guy around 40 years old with no.kids bought them as a collector. I wish there was like tracking chips in all of them so we could have seen if they were ever sold again and were they ended up. Lol , sorry , this gets brought up at family dinners and such all the time. We still joke about the princess Diana Bear being worth less then the case it was in. It's a shame looking back on it since they were pretty well made and well designed , they really should of lasted longer. Beenie Babies has to be one of the biggest things out there that the internet exposed with " rare" Beanie Babies not really being that rare. I need to watch a video on that now. I get the logic of parents and such at the time , at worst they would be like Legos building block toys , they do cost a solid amount but they legit last forever and every generation of kids has loved them. Dam 2 minutes in and off topic...

[@Shadepariah]

"I held a board position I wasn't employed" is pretty 😂