WATA Graded Spider-Man Atari 2600 Game goes from $9,000 to $4,200 in 46 Days! Speculators BEWARE!

In this video, we discuss how a WATA Graded 9.8 factory sealed Spider-Man game (released by Parker Bros. for the Atari 2600 in 1982) went from a high sale price on Heritage Auctions of $9,000 (sold on May 1, 2020 - lot # 93012) to $4,200 on June 15, 2020 (lot # 15731). Both games feature A++ graded shrink wrap and are essentially the same. This is more than a 50% fall in less than 46 days. Do you not see what is happening here? Avoid the market for most graded video games at this time. This is market manipulation combined with a massive speculative bubble! YOU WILL AND CAN LOSE!

[@lukeearle]

Great video. To add to this, on June 22nd another one sold for: $2770. Lot: 17949.

[@tdpetrucci84]

Great video Shawn , killing it ✊

[@NotoriousCIB]

God, I love these videos. My wife and I watch them together and whenever Timmy makes an appearance, we laugh hysterically. This was an especially good rant. I’m a game collector, and I’ve been selling games like crazy the last few months with the market seeing a temporary bump due to COVID. Gamecube is especially nuts. I’m selling games for 2-3x what they were worth three months ago. Part of me feels bad because I’m capitalizing on an awful situation, but part of me thinks it’s also not an essential item, so maybe I shouldn’t feel bad. IDK.

[@Matt1234566789]

This is insane. I bet you most of these people paying these exorbitant prices for these items are doing so with a high interest credit card... Double whammy... Thanks for the video and information Shawn. I watch all your videos and they educate me a lot about things I would otherwise not be aware of. Can't wait for the next one.

[@ReservedInvestments]

Thank you for your feedback!

[@johnwho4794]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the current graded-games market and form an educated guess on the proportions of: - market manipulation - shill bidding - false hyping - unsophisticated timmys Will we ever know the truth? I guess further sales of hot items will give us a better idea over the pending months.

[@davidsimon1912]

Very interested to hear what you think of the latest results on HA.

[@aleksejclerici]

I continue viewing your videos and the more i see them the more i continue to share them to other people warning as "you know a shit, you're a speculator, look here someone who is in the market for decades and knows something". This is another video very very clear about the massive MANIPULATION of the market for a lot of products.

[@CryptoTwentix]

Hi! I don't know if the question was asked before or if you did a video about it. Could you make a video specifically on market reactions to economic recessions/depressions and what you think will happen in the coming years (your opinion). Thank you! I love your videos

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

Where do you buy those Atari Games for cents? or a few bucks??? Garage Sales? Pawn Shops?

[@reniehandler2595]

Even more interesting......on June 22, 2020 the same graded spider-man 9.8 A++ sold for $2,760 Lot # 17949

[@tdpetrucci84]

Shawn have you seen the new PayPal policy on selling used items? Think this will affect the market for collectables?

[@ReservedInvestments]

Yes, I have...possibly more to come!

[@neatuhfajita9128]

WATA market is all over the place..i've made a few bucks off the tims but it's scary i don't wanna get caught with my pants down

[@its_garcia]

You DEFINITELY don’t want to get caught with your pants down near a Timmy.

[@d.j.daugherty4945]

Hilarious, and informative video. A lot of people are going to be upset one day with their losses.

[@duelistinvestment4714]

So in the end two key lessons: 1) you dont want to be part of a specualtive market that is manipulated. 2) and if you do, make sure that you're the guy who sells at 9000$. (but there is always a big risk because you have to buy the ungraded copy, grade it, sell it etc.)

[@Balding187]

Wata is scamming ppl

[@palletown_marketplace]

The rich would not be rich without the timmys so just remember that they are important! We need them! lol but yeah I completely agree people are just buying blindly at these crazy prices. I know this might drive you off the edge but skyridge boxes are about 25k now 😂 absolutely ridiculous. Would love to hear your thoughts on how box breaks affect the prices of the box itself. That’s my reasoning as to why the boxes keep going up because people are able to charge more and more for packs and selling out thus allowing them to pay more and more for the box. Honestly this is a business model for a lot of people in the Pokémon community and I don’t see box prices slowing down untill these box breakers are no longer able to profit off of opening these boxes.

[@johnnyfuture3524]

This is insane. Also you know there HAS to be market manipulators out there trying to push the prices higher. There will be in the future alot of disappointed people who assumed they were in a stable and solid market

[@davidsimon1912]

As was the case for sports cards, coins and comics, when grading started there was a ton of volatility. I'm old enough to have seen the beginning of NGC, PSA, and CGC. This is no different. I take advantage of the volatility and will be buying up anything with big spreads like this. Regardless of what you think, this is where there is an opportunity to get the best price.

[@ReservedInvestments]

This isn’t ‘volatility.’ I don’t think you understand how many of these games exist case fresh. All you are going to be doing is making guys like me richer. Regardless, I wish you the best of luck...

[@ReservedInvestments]

You are aware that Tower of Shadows # 1 and Chamber of Darkness #1 were once $500+ comics in CGC 9.4? There is a difference between stupidity and volatility. If you would like to buy a case of those Spider-Man games, email me through my eBay account. Happy to sell at current prices. Is $800 a game, fair? 😂

[@davidsimon1912]

@@ReservedInvestments what I see are a bunch of people that are holding a bunch of remnant inventory. No one knows what the population is yet and won't until there is a census. As for how those sealed games will stratify across the grades -- we will see. The question really is what is the demand for these remnant games in high grade relative to the supply. It's too early to know. If you are holding a bunch of sealed material that's great. I'm sure you will do well with all of it. I have sealed cases of Spider-man all day long like everyone else. Show me sealed cases of Pitfall, Kaboom, HERO or Beamrider and we'll talk.

[@ReservedInvestments]

@@davidsimon1912 Be careful with that thinking. I have cases of sealed Pitfall games as well. Paid $9.99 during a Kiddie City closeout. None of those games are really rare or desirable. It's a bubble.

[@davidsimon1912]

@@ReservedInvestments I'm really glad to hear that because I thought that Pitfall, HERO, and Kaboom were scarce. I think you may be underestimating the demand side of the equation but that's ok, your are bearish, and I respect that. I've spent and made so much money over the years on collectibles, it's almost like a dream come true. I love the stuff. I love the nostalgia. It brings me joy and that is why I do it. I only have a few examples of where I have bought collectibles that have beat the S&P when I sold, so I'm not advocating for investment but if you time it right, like anything, you can also make some money. You obviously had great foresight that these carts would be desirable some day. Your cost basis is excellent and as I said, I'm sure you will do well with all of it. But I don't agree that it is a bubble. I heard the exact same thing from all of the comic book dealers when CGC arrived. Before that, the same thing with SGC and PSA. And before that, when I was buying Col EH Green pedigree coins 30 years ago, I heard the same thing from dealers that "didn't believe in grading." I think we will have to wait and see how the demand side of the curve holds up or develops. To your point, the supply side is healthy, which is good because if there is not enough material available to service the demand you end up with NES prices for Mike Tyson's Punchout. I agree that the spreads on the Spider-man game are silly in such a short period of time but that may be owing to a number of factors. The first is that the $9k came from a heavily publicized signature sale and the others were all in weekly sales. It's also now summer and things are always slower at HA in the summer. There obviously was not enough demand at $9k to sustain more 9.8s -- and that is how it usually goes. The first one goes high and if there are a bunch behind it, they started to move down to a more sustainable market price.

[@dsmith3112]

Would be ironic if 30 years later Atari crashed an inflated market yet again

[@davidreynoso8593]

Some people Bid higher !!!

[@eunhwastevens]

I think you are missing a valuable variable. The may sale had a catalog whereas the june sale did not. Auctions with catalogs traditionally bring more money due to more eyeballs. This market is less than a year old concerning wata. Also I think your comic comparison is right and wrong. Concerning a silver age hulk 181 or to some extent, amazing fantasy 15, for example, yes the market is in bubble with too many in population. I dont think u can compare golden age to your theory because there are so few of them.

[@aleksejclerici]

And Shawn it's crazy the reactions are always the same...after i speak with a lot of people about these topics and your words too the reactions are similar to your channel (some eh not all)..like "yes if you can't afford them shut up" or "you know nothing" ecc...th best are "keep playing violin and shit music"...those are the best, people who doesn't know a shit about arts ecc (and that market of course which is a giant in relation with these little game). So i'm close to you (and often i think "well if people argue with shawn whos' a giant in this market it's normal they behave like that to me)

[@ParallelUniversity]

Do you talk this intensely all the time? Or just about antiques and collectibles?

[@ReservedInvestments]

Only when it’s something I’m passionate about. 😉

[@xman777b]

He's the Mel Kiper of videogame investment related info. And I love it. Don't change.

[@starboy5177]

Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, those auctions are fake with the intended goal to inflate the market value of that one item being listed? Happens all the time.

[@ReservedInvestments]

No, these auctions are not fake. I’m sorry, but Heritage does not engage in ‘fake auctions.’

[@Drew-wb2jo]

Do you think the nostalgia factor matters more in this market? Nobody has good memories playing Spider-Man on Atari, but their are millions of people that do for super Mario bros. 3, so the demand should be way higher for these types of games like Mario, Pokémon, Zelda, ect. meaning the prices will hold or continue to rise for these while games people don’t care much about fall back to earth

[@ReservedInvestments]

I’ve addressed this numerous times...a kid born in 2010 or 2020 isn’t going to care about a factory sealed game from a system made well before his time...

[@Drew-wb2jo]

Reserved Investments I’m just talking about the next ten years or so.

[@charizardperfection1]

Reserved Investments Rest assured I have no interest in collecting graded video games but with that logic no one will care about Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle, etc in the future either because they never watched them play baseball? People care about many historical items that came before their time so I’m just curious how you draw the line. Mickey mantle was beloved by yankee fans and had a great career and his rookie card prices can be into the millions. Why will the millennial generation care about Mickey mantle? Honestly just asking the question. Cheers

[@jenniferneumann706]

I know you will disagree but I can't see how Alpha mtg cards with their limited print run won't grow tremendously over the next 20 years. There are like 600 of each rare left and many sit in collections that won't enter the market again. ^^

[@ReservedInvestments]

Hi Jennifer, I’m not saying they won’t increase. What I am saying is that the market is much too speculative right now to make an educated guess as to their true current value. I don’t see it as a good use of capital long term.

[@jenniferneumann706]

Well I'd certainly park part of my capital in it but I'm obv biased bcs I love the art on these old sets and the aesthethics, frame, wording etc. and can't connect to furniture or coins the same way :D Anyways good luck with your channel ✌🏻️

[@johnny1893]

I'd buy that for a dollar!

[@sunnohh]

You should explain economics of collectors crap to Alpha Investments, lol

[@CatsGamesWhatever]

Mild shock

[@Mitjitsu]

Just because you overpaid for something at the time doesn't mean you're not an investor. Don't tell me you haven't bought something only to lose money when you go onto resell it months/years down the line.

[@ReservedInvestments]

No ‘investor’ with any kind of financial education is buying items like this in the midst of a speculative bubble.

[@Mitjitsu]

@@ReservedInvestments They may be an unintelligent speculator, but that doesn't necessarily make it not so.

[@Ripred395]

Great video. In Pokémon lots of people think it is okay because of more collectors and the age of the item but it is definitely a bubble. I own a lot myself but I am not buying at those prices at the moment ☀️ keep on the good work. I like your impulsive videos a lot 😁👍

[@Mousevengeance]

I've taken losses on stuff, as long as I make money overall it ain't so bad.

[@ReservedInvestments]

Again, the investor is the one who sells the game. The speculator is the one who bought it. No investor is this unsophisticated to take that kind of loss. That’s a Timmy lesson right there...

[@retrojett26]

Do you ever think that HA auctions are rigged?

[@ReservedInvestments]

You mean by helping to fund a third party grading company that causes uneducated speculators to bid up said items of which they charge a high buyer’s premium for? No, not at all. 😳

[@retrojett26]

Reserved Investments don’t they have a deal? The two companies? I remember reading about a high graded sealed Super Mario Bros. (I think it was the one that was featured on Pawn Stars). Well from what I heard the investors that bought that game sit on Wata’s board of directors. So naturally they give the game a high grade and then try to sell it for 6 figures. That company seems fishy to me.

[@ReservedInvestments]

Heritage is a well respected company to be fair. The whole WATA ‘thing’ is an ethical black hole in my opinion, though...

[@georgedorn9394]

@@ReservedInvestments LOL Thank you Shawn

[@PatTheNESpunk]

What a SHOCK! : o

[@mrmovieprop]

The thing with vintage games is games like Spiderman were never considered that good really. Its cross collecting from Comic book collectors that is driving this. . No one knows how many sealed Spiderman Atari games or what not exist could be a hundred could be 5000. No one knows so that uncertainty is driving people to spend more than the otherwise would if exact numbers out there were known. If Atari is suddenly in demand for sealed games why nor Fairchild Channel F or The APF-1000. Those systems are far more rare and the Fairchild Channel F actually predates the atari system. But they are practically forgotten. Its a weird market. The real question is with this demand for sealed Atari games will it cause the truly rare games like Air Raid to increase in value?

[@Jmillz181]

I'm crossing over from comics and I'm buying games I played or are significant like the first zelda. I never heard of this game and I had a atari. Way over priced.

[@KeyKiller74]

Yikes! some Timmy toke a big "L" on this deal lol, If I was going to invest in graded video games I'd make sure to check the rarity of the item first. Paying that much on a item that you know nothing about is like playing Russian roulette. R.I.P. Timmy

[@crazycarlsadventures5983]

RIP Timmy poindexter

[@xman777b]

agreed. That's alot of birthday money from the grandparents, aunts and uncles, Timmy just pissed away.

[@kristiantucker5449]

Lol ppl delete their comments

[@ataribowlingcgc4465]

Anyone collecting videogames for speculative investment is a fool. Right now, there are 1/2 a dozen graded sealed WATA graded Spidermans on Ebay that are 90+. Ungraded, the game sells for $50-300. I hope the speculative investment fools lose their shirts so that things can go back to normal for the 99% of collectors out there who do so for pure enjoyment and not for investment.

[@b8swiitch228]

I think the majority of people here would love to see a discussion about the long term future of Pokémon between yourself and smpratte!

[@xman777b]

majority? I don't think so. Ditto for MGC. I check this channel for videogame related info.

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

why that shitty SpiderMan game is now popular and why hipsters pay tons of money for?

[@sethsmith2161]

No you are an investor, just not a very good one.

[@ReservedInvestments]

No, an ‘investor’ would be educated enough to know better...the investor is the one who sold the game!

[@kylegredt32]

This is just 12 minutes of complaining. You are probably more upset about this than the guy who actually lost the money.

[@its_garcia]

You must be new.

[@ReservedInvestments]

Welcome to the channel, Timmy. 😉

[@xman777b]

@@ReservedInvestments lol