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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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[Metoroid0]

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).

$10 game + $2790 nostalgia tax + $1000 shipping = $3800 total

 

[DuoForce]

I just know this was done on purpose. You're telling me the game got that fucked up during shipping? Please

 

[Metoroid0]

I just know this was done on purpose. You're telling me the game got that fucked up during shipping? Please

Prepare for trouble...

 

[Shubshub]

While the morality and legality of sealed copies of widely available games as Pokemon Yellow is highly questionable and up for debate

What?, Who is debating the Legality and Morality of Sealed Copies, Its not fuckin piracy

 

[MohammedQ8]

My lion was destroyed by US customs so I decided to wear it.

Edited: Lol I Can’t upload the picture here

 

[tabzer]

My lion was destroyed by US customs so I decided to wear it.

Kylie Jenner is fuming.

She's going after elephants now.

 

[Xzi]

This is a weird one. Like yeah, okay, it's stupid to spend that much cash on a sealed Gameboy game, but it's equally wild that U.S. customs can absolutely demolish something like that based on what was presumably vague suspicion.

Yeah I've actually had a similar experience. Sold a slightly used GPD Win 2 to a guy in Canada, carefully bubble-wrapped each individual component (cords, manuals, etc). Thankfully it arrived not too much worse for the wear, but he said the bubble wrap was all torn up and thrown back into the box randomly by customs, with the device and everything else just flying around loose.

Moral of the story is don't buy anything new/expensive from out of country, and even with used stuff you should expect at least some mishandling in transit.

 

[urherenow]

It could have been used to store drugs.

Nope. Not buying it. Everything gets run through an xray, and they can clearly see the electronics, and know there's actually a cart inside.

 

[Xzi]

Nope. Not buying it. Everything gets run through an xray, and they can clearly see the electronics, and know there's actually a cart inside.

They don't care, they have quotas for random inspections.

 

[Marc_LFD]

They don't care, they have quotas for random inspections.

If they didn't care, the employee he or she would simply open the package, see it's a game inside an acrylic case and then seal it up to have it processed.

An acrylic case for a game, handheld, movie, etc is essentially a coffin for it. I'd just use a plastic sleeve instead as I've done.

There are better ways for people to invest their money than using games, but hey, it's their choice.

 

[tech3475]

I’ve watched a couple of shows about border inspections, I’ve seen people hide drugs inside mechanical hardware, books, statues, etc.

Usually they do an x-ray/swab and if that isn’t clear they may then do a more thorough/destructive test, either disassembly, bore holes, etc.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they saw a rectangular shape inside the box on the x-ray, weren’t 100% sure, thought something like ‘F this, it’s just a game, as long as the cartridge is fine, who cares about the box?’, obviously unaware/indifferent that there are people who do care.

Well either that or maybe they‘re a Digimon fan.

 

[Xzi]

If they didn't care, the employee he or she would simply open the package, see it's a game inside an acrylic case and then seal it up to have it processed.

What I mean is customs doesn't care about leaving anything intact when doing inspections. To mark it off as part of the quota they have to be thorough. New, used, sealed inside three different locked safes, they'll tear that shit apart however they possibly can. And you're lucky if how they put it back together is even halfway fit for shipping the rest of the way to its destination.

 

[duwen]

I'd need to investigate further, but on the surface this reeks of bullshit...

Is the package receiver within the US? And if so, was the package sent internally within the US?

Regardless of the country, customs only open packages entering a country - not stuff leaving or internal mail.

I'm making the presumption that the receiver of the package is the person that had the game graded by WATA (a US company), so if both parties are within the US there would be no reason for customs (or any other stage of mail handling) to open the package as destructively as the images show.

If the receiver is outside the US it would be their local customs that would/could open the package.

The only way this could be true is if the receiver is based in the US but purchased an already graded copy of Poké Yellow from outside the US... which in itself seems crazy, as it would be the most expensive way possible to purchase the game.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Yeah I've actually had a similar experience. Sold a slightly used GPD Win 2 to a guy in Canada, carefully bubble-wrapped each individual component (cords, manuals, etc). Thankfully it arrived not too much worse for the wear, but he said the bubble wrap was all torn up and thrown back into the box randomly by customs, with the device and everything else just flying around loose.

Moral of the story is don't buy anything new/expensive from out of country, and even with used stuff you should expect at least some mishandling in transit.

It's so wrong. I refuse to believe it's the best way to inspect goods with the technology we now have, either.

 

[Marc_LFD]

It's so wrong. I refuse to believe it's the best way to inspect goods with the technology we now have, either.

eBay Global Shipping Program also damages packages and they don't particularly care, heck, they'll just stab away to open a box if they feel like it.



Maybe they've gotten better... Wouldn't bet on it. I personally avoid using GSP for this reason and rather choose a postal company of my choosing.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

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).

You could say that about any collectible. In the end, things are worth whatever people are willing to pay for them, and it happens that sealed copies are rare and therefore collectors prefer them over a loose copy. It's useful to have a grading system so you know what the condition of something is without seeing it in person, as long as the people doing the grading are honest. You certainly can't trust online sellers, so a grading system is the best way to know.
Of course, Wata Games is not exactly a shining example of honesty, but that's besides the point.

Personally, I don't find any additional value in a sealed copy, but I'm not a collector. I understand why collectors might, especially if it happens to be a game or a console they have good memories with. Probably wouldn't be worth much if it was shovelware garbage, so being sealed or rare certainly doesn't automatically mean that it's valuable. Only if it's desirable to begin with, being a sealed copy can multiply how desirable it is to a certain audience.
Complete in box I get, there is a lot of nostalgia to having those old booklets and adverts that we all used to read when we couldn't or weren't allowed to play the new game we just got, and I have good memories from that.

 

[Evilengine]

next time hide the dr*gs somewhere else.

 

[Viri]

I worked at USPS for a year and a half, and if your rare Wata game came to me, I'd tear your package apart. I'd xray it, and tell them I suspect drugs, lol. You'll get 5 grand max, and a torn apart box.

 

[Marc_LFD]

It's useful to have a grading system so you know what the condition of something is without seeing it in person, as long as the people doing the grading are honest.

Grading is bullshit, it's just an excuse to charge people for an acrylic case and a made up grading system.

You certainly can't trust online, so a grading system is the best way to know.

That's really disrespectful to sellers who do it either as a hobby or as a job because they aren't trying to scam people. In fact, I and them provide as much info and photos as possible so buyers know exactly what they're getting.

I've bought from private sellers for years and never had an issue, yet here's this guy saying sellers can't be trusted and we should get our games from a grading system. Wtf.

What's next, we should buy games from DKOldies?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Grading is bullshit, it's just an excuse to charge people for an acrylic case and a made up grading system.



That's really disrespectful to sellers who do it either as a hobby or as a job because they aren't trying to scam people. In fact, I and them provide as much info and photos as possible so buyers know exactly what they're getting.

I've bought from private sellers for years and never had an issue, yet here's this guy saying sellers can't be trusted and we should get our games from a grading system. Wtf.

What's next, we should buy games from DKOldies?

It's really not. The fault isn't with them, but you often have no way of knowing who is a scammer and who isn't, so you can't trust anyone on online auction sites. Just stating facts.
Buying privately from a trusted member of a retro community is a little different. It's just on eBay, Amazon etc. you have no idea who people are.