Possible inconsistencies in classification of retro games revealed following allegations of fraud

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Image: Heritage auction

Over the past two days, investigations by both Proof reporter Seth Abramson and YouTuber Karl Jobst have brought to light allegations of criminal acts and collusion between retro game rating service WATA and the house. auction site Heritage Auctions. Copies of NES games recently sold for record prices of US $ 2 million for a copy of Super Mario Bros., US $ 870,000 for The Legend of Zelda and have drawn suspicion and attention from some quarters. .

The final question again comes from Abramson, who pointed out on his Twitter account the disparity between two far-from-perfect examples of NES games that have been ranked differently specifically in how the company reports which items have been compromised. by mold.

One example, a moldy copy of SNK’s Alpha Mission for NES for sale at Cosmic Connect, has a rating of 6.0 on a red sticker at the top right of the box, a clear indicator that the game inside doesn’t. is not in the best shape and, according to Abramson’s understanding, specifically that mold is present (on the back of the box in this case).

However, a moldy copy of Excitebike sold recently (August 24) by Heritage Auctions that has very noticeable mold on the front of the box was rated 5.0 but had a blue sticker rather than a red on it. Abramson believes this may indicate preferential treatment for Heritage Auctions.

As I understand it, moldy games eventually disintegrate, even in WATA cases. The red seal, as I understand it, warns buyers of this and, therefore, significantly reduces the selling price. At Comic Connect, they have to sell sealed games. At Heritage, mold gets a * blue * seal. – Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) August 24, 2021 Does it matter? Damn, yes. This worn out, disgusting, shoddy copy of the NES EXCITEBIKE costs over $ 500 in proxy auctions, so it can cost over $ 1,000 in live auction tonight. Would he get it with a red seal?

So how much money does the “blue seal” favor annually net Heritage?

– Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) August 24, 2021

This particularly awesome Excitebike went on to sell for $ 960, as you can see below, and various copies of the game in much better condition regularly sell for thousands of dollars (another recent example rated 9.4 on l 10-point WATA scale sold for $ 43,200 in July):

Image: Heritage auction

If you’re wondering exactly how this speculative market is pulling in such large and unlikely sums, Abramson has an excellent (and long) Twitter thread that explains his findings, and Karl Jobst’s 52-minute video is also a fascinating exploration of the evidence and allegations. until there.

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