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Stephen Kick, who runs under the username of @pripyatbeast, posted on Twitter an image of a received package after being handled by customs. The package was supposed to be an encased sealed copy of Pokemon Yellow, graded A+ with a score of 9.2 by Wata Games with an alleged worth of around $3'800 dollars, but instead, the owner got a broken acrylic case, with a mangled seal and sliced box of Pokemon Yellow.

The highest rated Pokemon Yellow game is also an A+, but with a score of 9.4, which is currently going up for around $10'500 dollars in price.
While the morality and legality of sealed copies of widely available games as Pokemon Yellow is highly questionable and up for debate, and regardless of its alleged worth, it's always heartbreaking to see something you ordering getting destroyed in shipping or customs.

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[Hayato213]

Well dude is a nutcase for spending $10500 on a gameboy game.

 

[Foxi4]

In all fairness, the entire grading system is a scam. There is no additional value in having a sealed copy of anything. In fact, in the case of many products it is *detrimental* from a preservationist standpoint (built-in batteries, capacitor plague-era products, suicide PCB’s and so on).

 

[Jahrs]

Nah he can't be a nutcase cause the case broke so he's just a nut who lost 10,500 dollars.

 

[AncientBoi]

Outrageous !

 

[SylverReZ]

Dunno why you'd fork out $3,800 worth for a sealed boxed game, the whole grading system is a complete scam and people deserve to have this upon them.

 

[MarkDarkness]

This should happen more often so that people would stop this "collection" idiocy.

 

[Hayato213]

https://kotaku.com/rare-pokemon-game-worth-yellow-wata-games-us-customs-1850018581

Seem like it was around $4000 instead of $10500.

 

[Osakasan]

Dude spent 10 fucking grand on a sealed Wata graded copy. He deserves to watch how the Game itself is destroyed before his eyes.

 

[Kioku]

US Customs is a joke, but I really don't feel sorry for anyone who thinks spending thousands of dollars on a game is a smart play. Dunno.. I have a disdain toward "collectors" I guess?

I mean, if I buy a game, having a complete setup would be great! However, I do not see the appeal of throwing money at something so shallow as this grading system... Even less for something graded by a shithole company like Wata...

 

[ZeroT21]

The game isn't even a rarity. How did it even have such a value?

 

[Kioku]

The game isn't even a rarity. How did it even have such a value?

Cuz Wata is a scam.. Retro gaming has become such a mess, even moreso when you have a company like this that has a part in artificially driving up game prices.

 

[Jokey_Carrot]

Surely it would have been insured?

 

[ZeroT21]

Surely it would have been insured?

Let them send a spare, pretty sure they have plenty

 

[AncientBoi]

Surely it would have been insured?

Good point

 

[Jahrs]

Imagine if this was just a scam to get money from the insurance and it was a default Pokémon yellow game worth 5$. Oh wait...

 

[ShadowOne333]

https://kotaku.com/rare-pokemon-game-worth-yellow-wata-games-us-customs-1850018581

Seem like it was around $4000 instead of $10500.

Thanks for the tip, I'll correct the amount.

 

[pustal]

In all fairness, the entire grading system is a scam. There is no additional value in having a sealed copy of anything. In fact, in the case of many products it is *detrimental* from a preservationist standpoint (built-in batteries, capacitor plague-era products, suicide PCB’s and so on).

I agree but I think the point is exactly to speculate on it, not to preserve it necessarily. Rather the value their preserving is the OG unboxing experience. It isn't a pratical thing to preserve but since it can only be done once, it values up.

That said, did GBA Gameboy games even had a seal? I don't think I ever bought a GBA Gameboy game with a seal.

 

[Kioku]

I agree but I think the point is exactly to speculate on it, not to preserve it necessarily. Rather the value their preserving is the OG unboxing experience. It isn't a preatical thing to preserve but since it can only be done once, it values up.

That said, did GBA games even had a seal? I don't think I ever bought a GBA game with a seal.

Now that you mention it, I don't think they did...

 

[Asia81]

Deserved, scamers get rekt