Recent NES black box sales

[Kevincal]

definitely some kind of bullshit, nobody would pay pay that kind of cash for those games. nobody is truly that stupid.

[jonebone]

Yes, the buyer has a habit of clicking the BIN and then negotiating down afterwards. I'm not sure if any of the most recent sales have been paid for, but he at least paid $7,000 for a VGA 90 QUALIFIED (Not Sealed) Super Mario Bros., and several other expensive games. Like a $2,500 VGA 90 Castlevania II. And those sellers have confirmed that payment was received, and both parties left feedback.

There's no conspiracy here. It's just that someone showed up with very stupid amounts of money, probably from an inheritance or lotto winning. I've heard his grammar is mediocre at best, and his communication is rough. It's not some self-made millionaire businessman or anything.

This amount of spending cannot continue indefinitely, so many collectors are faced with the tough decision of selling their favorite collectibles at insanely high prices, or keeping them in the collection. Almost everyone has a price for everything, so many people are being tested.

People like this usually disappear as quickly as they arrive, so it should die down (hopefully).

[BeaglePuss]

Some of these sales have been confirmed by the sellers over on NA. From what people are saying, it appears to be one guy, and I don't believe he's part of NA or any other forum for that matter.

Having sold a sealed title in the five-figure range (and numerous others in the four-figure range), I can assure you these sales do indeed exist. Would I ever spend that type of money on a sealed NES game? Fuck No!!!! But you're damn right I'll sell one for stupid money. I'd rather have a brand new bathroom than a game in an acrylic case, but to each their own I suppose.

[jb143]

I'd rather have a brand new bathroom than a game in an acrylic case, but to each their own I suppose.

Maybe he's laying acrylic tiles in his bathroom.

[treismac]

I'd rather have a brand new bathroom than a game in an acrylic case, but to each their own I suppose.

And I thought that I was the only one.

I would honestly enjoy having any of those black box games sealed. I would. I just couldn't justify spending over $20 for them. If they're sealed, they're decorations, and I don't pay stupid money for decorations. I would, however, spend semi-stupid money for a game that I wanted to play. And by semi-stupid I mean that I will continue to pass on Earthbound until it is going for around its original market price. I ain't spending $100+ plus for a video game.

[Jorpho]

Oh, my! This is stuff that's worth sticking around for. (I am however saddened that there appears to be no site at www.batshitinsane.com . Not even a redirect. Dang shame, that.)

I would honestly enjoy having any of those black box games sealed. I would. I just couldn't justify spending over $20 for them. If they're sealed, they're decorations, and I don't pay stupid money for decorations.

I can't see why you'd pay $20 for decorations when you could manufacture something just as functional for half that price, at most.

[T2KFreeker]

definitely some kind of bullshit, nobody would pay pay that kind of cash for those games. nobody is truly that stupid.

Yes they are. I've seen it in the "Collecting" market my whole life. I have collected Comic Books since I was a kid and lived through the boom of the 1990's. The stupid amounts people were paying for "Rare" items that had over a Million print run was stupid. Market crashed and all those "Stupid" prices dropped to pennies. Same thing happened to Baseball cards in the 90's. Move to the late 90's and early 2000's and Beanie Babies. Same damn thing. Stupid prices for ugly little bean bag toys. Now, you can't give the damn things away. Remember Tickle Me Elmo? Zsu Zsu (SP?) Pets? "Collectors" always pay stupid amounts of money for crap that isn't really rare. It's all in the perception of the buyer. Then again, these are obviously people that have way too much damn money to spend on stupid crap they don't need. mind you, I understand playing games and keeping the ones you like and play, but buying a game just for the sake of owning it for no other reason than to just pop it on a shelf in a plastic box just to say you have something rare . . . I never did understand it. And before I get the argument about works of art and all that nonsense, remember, art serves it's purpose; It was meant to be looked at and appreciated for it's brilliance and workmanship. Comics are meant to be read, toys to play with, and Video Games are meant to be played. Plain and simple, nothing more, nothing less.

[lakerstowin]

Yes they are. I've seen it in the "Collecting" market my whole life. I have collected Comic Books since I was a kid and lived through the boom of the 1990's. The stupid amounts people were paying for "Rare" items that had over a Million print run was stupid. Market crashed and all those "Stupid" prices dropped to pennies. Same thing happened to Baseball cards in the 90's. Move to the late 90's and early 2000's and Beanie Babies. Same damn thing. Stupid prices for ugly little bean bag toys. Now, you can't give the damn things away. Remember Tickle Me Elmo? Zsu Zsu (SP?) Pets? "Collectors" always pay stupid amounts of money for crap that isn't really rare. It's all in the perception of the buyer. Then again, these are obviously people that have way too much damn money to spend on stupid crap they don't need. mind you, I understand playing games and keeping the ones you like and play, but buying a game just for the sake of owning it for no other reason than to just pop it on a shelf in a plastic box just to say you have something rare . . . I never did understand it. And before I get the argument about works of art and all that nonsense, remember, art serves it's purpose; It was meant to be looked at and appreciated for it's brilliance and workmanship. Comics are meant to be read, toys to play with, and Video Games are meant to be played. Plain and simple, nothing more, nothing less.

Could not have said it better myself. even if I had went to grammar school!

[jonebone]

I don't even know what to reply to. At first I was heated, then I was confused, then I felt the need to accept Jesus Christ into my life, and then I felt like I was in 9th grade English class, practicing alliteration.

Couple of points:

1) Many collectors, including myself, still prefer to trade over selling. Even though Rarebucky is often outed as being evil for his reselling practices, I've still done at least 4-5 trades with him, while purchasing absolutely nothing. You only see sales data publicly through eBay, but there are many trades behind the scenes that never get talked about. I will always prefer to trade, it's just hard to trade sealed games to loose collectors and vice versa. You usually have to collect the same medium.

2) Sealed games can only affect loose prices on genuinely rare games. If Stadium Events jumps from $30k sealed to $300k sealed, then yeah the loose cart is probably going to get bumped up. But if Baseball goes from $2k to $25k to even $200k, the cart is probably still going to remain under $5. It's so abundant that the sealed price has no affect on it. You can make the argument that a hoarder would try to buy every Black Box sealed to drive up prices, but buying every single Black Box loose cart is impossible. You can walk into any flea market or thrift store and probably find at least a Golf for $1. Hoarders are naturally drawn to rare sealed / rare CIBs, but carts are simply too plentiful. Even hoarding rare carts would probably be a bad idea, though I'm sure there are people that have tried.

3) I agree that this "hobby" has become more like a part-time job nowadays, but that's the nature of the beast. Nothing stays the same forever, and you either evolve, move on, or just stop and watch the fireworks. I haven't seen any big collectors truly sell off their entire collection, so most people are evolving or watching to see how it pans out. For the game market to crash, you'd have to see several people unloading their large collections at the same time. I just don't see that happening...