Penguinz0 on Wata Games' Retro Market Manipulation

Someone really just dropped over $310,000 on a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros., and the whole thing stinks to high heaven. For the past year, we've all been expected to just accept that these ancient cartridges are suddenly appreciating faster than beachfront property. It never felt right, and it turns out that gut feeling was on the money. Journalist Karl Jobst just unloaded an absolute bombshell of an exposé that pulls back the curtain on this entire circus, and the details are even crazier than you'd imagine. The main players in this alleged grift are the grading company Wata Games and the auction house, Heritage Auctions. The core accusation is that these guys are basically in bed together, creating a self-feeding hype machine. Wata grades a game, giving it some arbitrary high number, then Heritage Auctions sells it for a record-breaking price. They then use that one massive sale to declare to the world, 'See? The market is exploding!' It’s a masterclass in alleged retro market manipulation, essentially creating value out of thin air and convincing everyone to buy into the hype before the bubble pops. This isn't just a funny story about rich people overpaying for plastic; it's a calculated scheme that poisons the entire hobby for actual fans. Watching the penguinz0 breakdown, you see how it turns a passion into a gross, speculative asset bubble, pricing out anyone who just wants to own a piece of their childhood. The level of collusion detailed in Jobst's report is genuinely staggering, and it's wild to see how a few key players can allegedly warp an entire industry for their own gain. The full story is a must-see, showing just how deep the deception apparently goes.