Poll attached, feel free to elaborate as you like.

I'm not looking to debate each company, I'm curious to see what people think of each company's scale.  And when I say scale I mean all aspects of the scale.  Topics including the literal numbering convention of each, the variability associated with individual grades, the accuracy of those grades, difficulty in obtaining desireable grades, etc.

I'm on the fence personally.  I do tend to prefer the VGA scale itself since it ties everything into one rating.  Conceptually, you should know that an 85+ is worth more than an 85.  On the Wata scale it is not as transparent and the overall grade dominates.  Example, what is worth more, a 9.6 / B+ or a 9.4 / A?  Or a 9.2 A++?  Or should they all be worth the same?  Personally from that group I would probably want the 9.4 / A but it's not intuitive on how those should be valued.  I also have zero interest in comics so the comic scale is not a draw for me.  

In terms of variability I find myself preferring Wata.  I have a good idea of what a 9.4 or 9.2 is and it's been pretty spot on so far.  But of course the sample size is smaller so time will tell how good one of those grades look when there's 1,000s of games graded in that grade.  It's just the nature of numbers, if you lined up 1,000 different 9.4 / A games, there's some that would appear better than others.  If you're only comparing 10 games in that grade then you probably wouldn't notice a difference.

Anyways just curious for thoughts of other collectors.  In terms of strictness both companies are a bit looser than I care for, but as long as they are consistent that is all that matters.  Everyone has their own personal preferences but consistently adhering to the scale they have established is the most important factor in the grading. 

I like that Wata grades the wrap separately, since I'm not as particular about it. I want at least a "good enough" seal (e.g. Wata A) and the nicest box within it. I'd probably take a 9.4 A over a 9.0 A++, 9.2 A++ vs. 9.4 A would be down to eye appeal for me. I wouldn't want a B+ at all.

I own probably less than 50 sealed games so I'm not really in this space but as far as I understand you could theoretically find "nice" VGA 75s with bad shrink that land high on the Wata scale with a poor shrink subgrade, but a Wata 8.5 B+ should grade about the same on the VGA scale every time. In that sense I like the specificity of Wata.

Likewise, I think Wata is preferred for me than VGA

I voted indifferent. I can see how both make sense. Wata is more like CGC comics grades, VGA is more like PSA baseball cards. If I had to choose I'd say Wata's just because it seems more granular and transparent.

the whole 85+ and up = gold thing, I think was a mistake. I was guilty of only wanting "gold level" VGA games, turning up my nose at 85s for years. The truth was, there was no significant jump there really, or not a jump further than 80 vs 85 (both silver). It took 80% of the market out of the mint freaks' radar.

I like WATA better, but wonder if the wrap grade might have to change when PS2 and newer (hard plastic that doesn't crack) takes off.

Indifferent. It's like asking whether you like English or Spanish better if you're bilingual. Once you understand the nuances of what they're each are telling you, you're on solid footing.

If I had to choose one, I'd choose VGA. As Jone said the wrap is part of the overall grade, so when I see a VGA grade I know they are covering every aspect without having to do the additional research and math of sub grade wrap vs box condition that Wata offers.

I prefer VGA. Easy to understand the grade differences between gold, silver and bronce grades...still trying to figure out how Wata can give A+ 9.6 to a sealed game that can barely make a grade 85 silver if they send it to VGA.

not a fan that a 9.6 or even 9.8 would not justify a gold grade 85+ in VGA standards. a 10 should be basically impossible and just a symbol of if we lived in a perfect world or nothing happened in the factory it could be achieved Ie roller marks.

wata is a little loosey goosey imo.

also don't quite like how they weigh each member of a cib for example a mint cart and manual with badly damaged box with sunfade or whatever and still getting 8's or even 9's when in the cib world that cib would not be considered an 8 or 9 to prospect buyer with a bad box.

wata is too generous for me what ive seen.

I feel like Wata is overly generous with their grades. I see alot of games getting very high grades of 9.2, 9.4, etc. when in fact they don't look that nice. It's pretty rare for VGA to give a 9.0 or 9.5. I appreciate that Wata is made up of knowledgeable collector's but I'm still a bit skeptical.

I like the simplicity of VGA. The grades can seemed almost too vague compared to how specific Wata gets, but I prefer the simplicity as I think it's easier to price/categorize the item for what it is overall. Wata's grades almost seem to turn the games into 'diamonds' where there are too many factors at play for my likes. On another personal level, I prefer the simple and clean look of VGA's acrylic cases. Wata's cases are not my cup of tea. However, I'm happy that Wata grades opened games. I think every collectible should be able to be slabbed if that's the owner's desire.

Wata's scale seems top heavy to me. The bottom third of their scale is junk that could basically be lopped off and replaced with "1.0", then stretch out the scale to offer more differentiation at the top end and not push everything nice into the 9s. Even a 2.0 on a comic or card grade scale can have decent eye appeal. A Wata 3.5 is basically REKT and has little if any more appeal than a 1.0 already.

VGA seems more gradual but I've can't remember the last time I saw a game between a 10 and a 70 so it's hard to say, and it's hard to tell anything apart from 85+ and up in pictures on the internet.

Yes but don't you think the people sending stuff in to WATA are sending in their best stuff? I would expect more higher grades at the beginning just because who's going to send in stuff they know would be a weaker grade? I would imagine more lower graded stuff will come as the best stuff would get sent in at the front end. Obviously I could be wrong. I have no horse in this race as WATA games don't fit on the custom shelves I just spent $17k having a contractor build in my house for my collection. I have over 250 VGA Only Gold graded NES, yes I am one of those people Robin spoke of. However, that said I have bought gold graded games that looked terrible and I immediately resold them as I didn't want them. I had one that was clearly dropped on the corner and the box was smashed in about 3/4 of an inch on that corner and it was graded 85+ gold? There is also one on eBay that I've put in my checkout cart on 3 separate occasions to buy because it's a gold grade I need but I asked the seller via email and thankfully I've bought many times from him before he admits it has significant damage to the top back of the box and there is no way it should be a gold. So I guess moral is nobody's perfect and there are always growing pains.

I like how WATA's cases are tamper proof but I REALLY like how VGA cases display. I prefer VGA's scale as I have been dealing with it for a decade and I know pretty much what is what and what it's worth. I have a sub at WATA and have more to send in, I admit I was slow to the party and still have a lot to learn about their grade scale. I've seen errors from both companies on labels and of course VGA has made more, they've been doing this for 10 years. But WATA can't be opened and tampered with, VGA can, as much as I don't really think that's a problem at all, some people think it's major - I understand that for some buyers not having as much experience would consider this a major issue.

Well too bad buddy!
 

I think at the end of the day, the moral of the story is if you're wanting a specific game of a specific condition you're after, then you NEED to inspect pictures very carefully before purchasing. This generally applies to anything you pay in pricey dollars.

As with any grading scales, no VGA85+ will look identical and I would imagine with WATA grading there would be a lot more variety of appearances for CIBs or sealed games, as there is more components they're basing the score on.

VGA displays better, WATA reads better (much better label info to include first appearance, artists etc.). Both are subjective, and as I've been saying for a decade, buy the game, not the grade. I have 85's that should be 90's and 90's that should be 85.

Just on your point regarding the score and the condition being off-tangent. There are other factors that can come to play other than a dodgy grading inspection:
- possible damage whilst in the process of putting games into the acrylic case
- possible damage from the owner of the graded item eg. Being dropped on the floor.

These issues are general to all grading services.
 

As a relatively new sealed collector i prefer the scale of wata because it is way more intuitive to me. Vga games can look drastically different in the same grade which makes little sense to me. Also, why is 85 silver and 85+ gold? Why not 90 and up be gold?

I dont care if the shrinkwrap has some scuffs as long as theyre not really visible when slabbed, hence i rather have a mint looking box with its own grading. However i would probably never keep a high graded wata box with a B seal grade.

I also agree that people get overly excited on 9s and up from wata, and that their scale seem a bit lenient. For that reason i dint really care about anything sub 9.6, except for some rare occasions.

For display you have to go with vga. Wata horizontal cases are horrible for snes and n64. I have yet to receive my 2D labels so maybe that looks better but man does the 3d horizontal cases are awkward. Wtf were they thinking!

Tl dr: vga scale is confusing and daunting for newbies but displays better

I like the Wata scale, for example........A game can come right out of a shipping case with shrink wrap damage or scuffing right from the factory. Should it impact the overall grade? It could literally be uncirculated. It's a good discussion for sure. The level of standards and objectivity seems far more apparent in a Wata grading report over a VGA. I have seen both.

If anyone has a Wata grading report and a VGA one....it would be good to share in this post. Grading scales need to have strict guidelines and standards to help eliminate bias and wrong decisions. IMO


Also....just a thought I have had......I think a huge data factor missing in all of this is access to Census data on graded games. It would be nice to know when a graded game is the highest of any of the examples graded by a certain company and how many exist. I do not know if one can access VGA's census data or if Wata is going to make that available as well. Does that make sense?

Like this with the CGC.

https://www.cgccomics.com/census/...

Not a big time sealed collector, and I'm probably going to abandon that ship soon and go back to 100% CIB but I like the scale to a point.

I feel there is no reason for half points in between lower end grades. What's the difference between a 1.5 and a 2.0? Or a 6.0 and 6.5?

I can understand having in between grades if the individual COMPONENTS were based on whole grades (eg 5.0 box + 6.0 Manual & Cart = 5.5 Grade)

Wouldn't trust a grading company who grades things with the moniker "Carolina Collection". What else are they marking for that crisp dollar?

Legit lost respect for them over that stunt and wouldn't trust their grades. Like the folks behind it, but don't like their values about Wata.

VGA is better, and I can't even believe I'm saying this. While I would never personally use either source, at least VGA cases don't look hideous like the wata stuff.

I guess WATA is better since the new group of comic book marks that have invaded this space like it? I would actually consider grading my Mario and Ballon fight sticker seals since apparently those are now worth thousands of dollars? At last that's what people on ebay are asking for beat up condition boxes? Game collecting has really jumped the shark in the last year, might as well cash out on some of this stuff.

You like VGA's grading scale better because WATA's cases are ugly, got it.  

In these uncertain times of change pegboy, thanks for being our rock of consistency.  We need you my friend.  

 

Yes. Because the grades are irrelevant to me. I can judge it based on my own eyes, so all that matters is how the game presents, and wata cases look like garbage and are way too cluttered.

Yeah, I think Wata's "3D" case need to be simplified. In fairness I have only seen the "3D" type. I'd prefer a straight box like VGA has. Does anyone have a good pic of the other type of Wata case?