I recently got my hand on a sealed POKEMON BLUE VERSION Gameboy game. It is in fairly good condition exept for the tiny hole in the wrap on the front (see the 4th pic)

I had a few q's from experienced collectors:

1) Is this seal  legit?

2) How should i store it so it maintains its condition?

3) Does the small tear in the wrap de-value this item at all? How can I make sure the tear doesnt grow ?

4) Is it worth getting it VGA Graded?  I've heard mixed reviews on the validity of this service

Thanks!

1. Looks legit to me but I am not a sealed games professional. Definitely want to get more opinions.

2. I stored most of my boxed/valuable/sealed stuff in acrylic cases. Seems to do the job for me.

3. Not sure about that little tear decreasing a ton of value. maybe a few bucks if you are trying to sell it and they are looking for "minty mint" items. I would just store it in a case and not touch it again to keep it from tearing more lol

4. No clue there. I'm not a big fan of getting stuff graded but for people who are, it may be worth a grade. I don't even have the slightest clue of what a possible grade could be.

Sorry if this post doesn't help in any way.

3). It looks like a vent hole and not a tear (it's supposed to be there).

Oh good, if its a vent hole then im a lot happier!

Are vent holes always located in this region for pokemon gameboy games?

Not sure if that's a vent hole or not. If there aren't any more holes, then it's probably a little tear. Vent holes are machine made in a straight line...more than one hole, but I'm not sure how many.

Looks legit. That looks like a vent hole to me. Even if it wasn't a vent hole, it wouldn't damage the value much at all IMO. This thing is beautiful. Pokemon Blue was one of my first game boy games. *cries*

Yea there's only one hole in it and ,as you said , I thought vent holes came in a line....I'm OCD with stuff like that though ,collection wise.

That box is way too nice for it to be a re-seal.

Thanks for everyone for the help and advice, any other comments feel free to post!

1. Seal looks legit, the box looks fantastic. If you show us more pictures of where the openings are on the box it might help a bit more.

2. Most people I think go for the box protectors. I got my protectors for N64 stuff from http://www.videogameboxprotectors.com and I'm really happy with them. Obviously if you have it graded it will be well protected.

3. As others have mentioned, my first guess was that it is a vent hole. I wouldn't worry about it honestly. Obviously don't put stress on the hole, but it should be fine.

4. Totally up to you. Figure the price of shipping and the specific grading you are going after, then see if it's worth it to keep it in its current condition. If you have other games graded then it might be good just to have a collection going. If this is your first sealed game you are considering getting graded, maybe collect a few more and see if this route is something you want to follow.

Congrats on the find, it looks really nice!

Thanks Kelp, I was looking into those box protectors earlier, cheap price but hopefully decent quality....and the more I look into the hole /tear I think its a vent hole , I'd still like the opinion of someone who collects/ sells sealed pokemon gameboy games

How much did you pay for it?

I got a fairly reasonable deal for it, thats not the point of this thread though =P

Yeah, so? It's a valid question...i'm just wondering if you payed ebay prices or got it for like 10 bucks.