i think a sealed game would have to have significant box damage to warrant a 75. while a 90 even qualified would have to have a minty~ box.

Personally if I had to pick one or the other I'd go qualified, but thats cuz I don't trust sealed, and at least I know the qualified one doesn't have barbie in it

Not necessarily true.   Refer to my prior example of having a minty sealed game with a large tear in the wrap.  I know of a couple of examples where I was scratching my head trying to figure out why this game or that game got a 70 or 75 because the box looked nice, but then the revalation was that the shrinkwrap had a big tear.

If it's a hard/impossible to find sealed game, I'd think it would still be worth more sealed (but left ungraded).

Rarebucky has a SNES Sparkster on eBay that looks pristine, with the exception of a significant tear in the shrinkwrap, back center. I think that'd be a prime example of a low sealed grade, but possibly a 90+ qualified grade.

Not that I'm in the market for a Sparkster or anything... not sealed at least

Edit to add link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sparkster-Sup...

This is the FF2 that graded 70 because of the large tear in the wrap on the front. Other than the tear, it is in pretty awesome condition. I could see it grading 85+ on the Q scale.

o_O  didn't realize there was that much of a deduction for large tears~ although i don't know if i've ever seen a graded game with a huge tear like that~ (edited)other than the one right above my post!

One post above yours is a picture of a game with a huge tear like that.

yes, just caught that lol i think you were posting when i was editing. i got an error. really weird. NA was down last night and had some hiccups today too

Any situation where a game can be downgraded and still receive a price increase will be short lived. If you are in the position to take advantage then do so while it lasts.

Right.  This copy would probably grade around 75+/80 sealed, possibly 90 under the qualified scale.  I take sealed any day though

Sealed gaming is very expensive. Only way I would deal with Qualified would be for VGA to add a "sub-grade" showing that they simply took the wrap off the box and still never opened it (still factory sealed in my opinion). I have several games where the box is 100% mint but the wrap came off the factory line being "scuffed" up and this issue seems to be common on over 100+ games I've come across. I feel the condition of the box far outweighs the condition of the plastic. Its plastic. The box and the contents are what define the title. I would love to switch over to a scale of that sort... it would make collecting so much cheaper!!

This would surely change the world of sealed collecting. I think a new market would come up, lower overall pricing, and most importantly, invite new nes collectors to join the market.

Clearly a VGA 90+ sealed KI would be high. A Qualified (wrap subgrade) 90+ KI should be considered in the same league. You could potentially hold a clear 100 Gem Mint title but a sharp corner is too sharp and pokes through the plastic wrap. It grades a 90+ sealed. Take the wrap off - its a Qualified (wrap) 100. Box is mint! Why would I want the sealed? I want to collect the best looking piece and let everyone know that it IS the best and I believe that a lot of collectors would feel the same way.

^ You're in the minority dude. Sealed is sealed in all it's plasticy glory. There will always be a huge price difference.

I've thought about that as well. There are several instances where I can think of that the wrap is damaged to the point that I'd rather take it off and have a nice Q graded game instead.  That said I think that adding a "sub grade" for "wrap removed" would only uneccesarliy add some confusion to the scale on an already niche market.  The Q games are basically "new in box" from that perspective anyway. 

If you really wanted to do that, my gut suspicsion is that you can probably send in the partially sealed game to VGA.  Write a note with special instructions to open the seal and grade under the Q scale.  There won't be any special designation on the label, but at least you'll know yourself.

I also think VGA would rather not get in the habit of removing wrap, lest there be some unfortunate case down the road where wrap was removed when it was not supposed to have been. 

Very interesting thread guys

From the grave!

My Kid Icarus is going in Monday. I'm a little scared about it passing the "new, unused" category cause I've never taken it fully out. It was part of the Sawtooth sale on ebay back in the day though, and I'm fairly certain some others from that sale had been sent in and qualified.

*crosses fingers

Good luck man, I know how nervous I felt sending in my Contra, any pics?

Q90+ eh Frisbee? Can't wait to see it

haha, yeah well don't quote me on that.

What did Bronty's qualified Ninja Kid grade?That was from the Sawtooth sell off aswell.

It did grade 85, but it looks slightly better than a 85 on the pics I've seen.