Even if there are thousands of sealed copies, it pales in comparison to the 4k+ 1st Ed charizards and the 50K+ base set charizards.
Genuinely for the sealed games to flourish, the CIB collecting needs to take hold. I do think there will be a time that the average person can’t afford a sealed Pokémon red, and will be forced to purchase a high grade CIB (9.2-9.6).
When we see the 9.4 CIB selling for $2-3K, I can only imagine a 9.4A+ sealed copy would be $20K+
On the flip side of the size of games, I have found that when I collected cards, I found it challenging to properly display my graded cards. With games they lend well to displaying on a shelf (until you have too many to display)
It’s a very good point about buying them graded for the authenticity alone. I had a game that I bought as a sealed in 2018 that ultimately turned out to be resealed. It had an H seal and everything, and because it was so clean I never even questioned it!
The good news on that copy was I only spent $250, and I could probably make my money back if I sold the CIB today. The bad news is I missed out on a 10X investment lol
At the same time, the video game sets are small, and there are variants within the sets to collect as well. So there is some additional depth to collect within the first 3 gens. But it’s an interesting point!
Is your goal to “invest” in graded video games / to make money? Just trying to understand your perspective and motivations.
That is certainly a limitation when we’re talking popular IP plus collectible system.
Another avenue is you can go to heritage auctions, pwcc, and certified link and find games for <$300. they might not be the popular or even desirable games to everyone, but they exist. I just picked up a Japanese Tales of Symphonia in vga 90 for $250 in the last showcase on HA; the auctions will generally see games go for well under whatever BINs resellers are setting up for arbitrage. 
If the games go down in value, I’d be excited to be able to buy even more!
Naturally when you are spending 4-5 figures on an item, you hope that it doesn’t go down in value. Right now I do feel now is a buying opportunity, that will yield positive returns. But my main motive isn’t profit.
If my games go to zero, I wont lose sleep over it, at the end of the day, I will own some super awesome games, hope that helps.
That definitely helps. I hope that these returns realize for you. Not my cup of tea, but I’m glad that you love it!
Nice stuff! Would you prefer a lower grade sealed copy or a higher grade CIB? Say 6.5A+ vs 9.2 CIB?
Thanks!
I have absolutely no interest in CIB graded. I do not see a point in it. It is already opened so why would you artificially close it? I have some CIB games like HG, SS and Emerald but also that allows me to play them if I want to. Like I get it for really old stuff like NES where having the boxes is rarer than the games and sealed isn’t an option. But when sealed is an option, graded CIB is a gimmick in my eyes.
Even though I am more in the minority for liking lower grade, I will never buy below an A seal. At that point from what I see and hear, the seal is so bad that there isn’t much of a point then.
Something I ended up doing is dumping my ROMs and loading them into my everdrives. Made it a lot easier to justify grading CIB for the games I knew would grade well. lol
Big believer in the future of sealed video games. I posted an IG reel on cards vs games recently.
Tldr: Sealed Video Games = lower pop & greater historical significance.
I’d be curious how others around here feel about the statement that the video games have more historical significance than the cards.
I personally agree, but also I’m a game collector, so I do wonder if I am biased.
Can you share you experience grading games? I have a sealed copy of Gold and Pearl I’d like to send in, WATA seems to be the one people gravitate towards?
To each their own as one thing I do not like doing is roms and emulation. I completely understand why so many people do it but I have the means necessary to play games how they were supposed to be played and it is also how I enjoy gaming.
If they are very clean sealed copies, I would take a closer look at submitting to VGA as their higher grades are more desirable than high grade WATA copies
There are 3 real options for grading, each have pros and cons.
Price
CGC - cheapest
Wata - a little more expensive
VGA - stupidly expensive
Speed
CGC - fastest
Wata - moderate
VGA - slowest
Case design
CGC - some people like the case, I do not
Wata - new case is slick (old case is bulky)
VGA - no inner blister; good design
Grading Scale
CGC and wata - comic book scale
-box grade (#) + seal grade (letter)
-both are reasonably consistent (I am able predict within a grade or 2 most cardboard games)
VGA - single grade
-I personally have had issues with having games that felt over over graded
Generally, I have found if I am buying a game that I want to sell, I will send it to CGC for the price and speed, if I am buying a game for personal collection, I prefer wata. VGA had an opportunity to adapt, but got left behind. I would only grade with them if CGC and wata won’t grade it based on a custom size.
With the exception of Crystal and Yellow, which I have on VC, I have a physical opened copy of every game since Red/Blue. I bought these two to remained sealed
I think they are pretty good, and I hope they are legit (LOL). I can post pictures in here if you want to see them
To your point about the relatively high potential populations, it becomes even more important to focus on the conditional rarity of these games!
If there are 3000 possible games out there, only a fraction would in what I would consider mint condition, 9.4A++ / 9.6A+ or better. I’d expect maybe 5-10% might be in this condition. Which brings your populations down to 150-300, which honestly sounds higher than I’d expect there to be.
Currently there are wata copies (9.4A++ or better):
Red (30) <187>
Blue (32) <194>
Yellow (43) <249>
There is currently an incentive to submit higher grade copies, so I’d except that as time goes on, we will see less and less mint copies submitted, skewing the average game down.