Recently found and now graded the best conditioned copies of all variants!

The real shame is that I took off the cellophane when I bought it 15 Years ago and then never played it. In some world, I kept it sealed! Couldn’t believe the values I was seeing on eBay for around 200 bucks I guess

This collection is what happens when two passions collide: College Football and collecting. A few years back, I had this wild idea: “What if I could bring my all-time favorite video game, NCAA Football, into my collecting world?” And so, this project was born.

After years of tracking down the right cards and games, I finally pulled it all together! It’s one of the most satisfying builds I’ve ever done. I’m still on the hunt for the latest version, but I like to wait until the featured players have NFL cards. It keeps things more affordable 😂

Collectors who love sports gaming and cards, this one’s for you. 💽🏈✨

Fun Facts:
- I had to track down a custom card for Brian Johnson and reached out to him on twitter to see if he'd sign it. Awesome guy and was happy to help me!
- Sparty is signed by a former student that was one of the Sparty's from 2008-2010

Owner

Since a lot of Mantel users are based in sports cards and maybe TCG, I figured it’d be good to make a crash course on how and why you should collect video games that you guys care about or have nostalgia for. Every topic is intended to let you guys learn more about why we think video games are cool and how they are vastly different from modern sports cards, but VERY similar to vintage cards.

If you guys digest content easier through video form, here’s a link to @GetTheGreg weekly podcast that goes over this topic- https://youtu.be/YNMOJBc9t9s?si=8Y8GT9n4zGOBNmKW

1. Huge disparity in graded collector market size- Video games are 10-50x smaller than sports cards or TCG collecting, with graded games a smaller niche. Liquidity is a bigger issue on games that aren’t sought after. But, you can collect what you want without a ton of competition, which means much lower price points. E.g. Paul Skenes debut patch for $1,000,000 vs Super Mario Bros 1 for $20k. PRO for collector, CON for flipper

2. Pump catalysts essentially don’t exist in games- Video games don’t have volatility when a new game comes out. Comics used to with Marvel movies but that has died out. Modern sports cards are all about the chase cards that can either 5x or tank 90% depending on player performance. Vintage cards are much more aligned to how video games operate- slow and steady up over time. PRO for collector/investor, CON for flipper/speculator

3. IP Risk vs athlete or character risk- Mario/Charizard/Spiderman aren’t tearing ACLs or going to Diddy parties PRO for everyone

4. Profit potential over time- Video games do not currently have any gambling mechanic like how ripping wax does for cards. It’s much more geared towards long term investing without crazy short term volatility like modern sports cards. PRO for collector/investor, CON for flipping

5. Barrier to entry much lower for cards- Graded video games can be affordable around $50 for non 9.8 modern Mario games, but still doesn’t compare to a $10-20 PSA 10 of a random athlete. It inherently is more expensive because grading games are more expensive ($40 the cheapest option so far). CON for all

6. Utility for games and TCG but not sports cards (gives rise to Organic Collectibility)- Video games inherently are meant to be played and were never intended to be sealed. TCG cards are meant to be played as well but are just way easier to keep in good condition because of its smaller form factor. Sports cards entire existence was meant to be collected, although vintage cards have had tons of attrition due to bike spikes and passage of time. Because people aren’t told that games can be collected, you have segmented group that hates any sealed, let alone graded game. But just like comics were meant to be read, overall narrative will change over time since the popularity of graded games really came about in 2018 with WATA (grading games were around since 2008 with VGA but never marketed to a wider audience). PRO for everyone long term, CON short term with vitriol from normies and Redditors

7. Organic rarity is king, there are no 1/1s- Games were not meant to be sealed, comics are meant to be read. Vintage cards have had attrition over time but modern sports cards and even TCG like Magic the Gathering rely on serialization and parallels to maintain value. People like to be told what to collect, but true rarity lies in the things that were never meant to be collected at all. The one issue for the future is that there will not be enough sealed game supply for everyone who jumps into the hobby. For example, our most graded NES game is Super Mario 3 with a total WATA population of 400 and only 16 9.8s. Compare that to any modern sports card like Wemby prizms and you can see the difference. PRO for everyone joining early