United States Customs and Border Protection appears to have destroyed a sealed, graded copy of Pokemon Yellow potentially worth thousands of dollars. Getting copies of older, well-kept games graded has become an increasingly popular practice in recent years and a boxed copy of Pokemon Yellow is a rare treasure in 2023. Shipping a sealed box internationally, however, comes with some risks. US Customs completely destroying a rarity probably wasn't a risk anyone considered.Here's how video game grading works. Collectors will take what they consider a rare video game, boxed or unboxed, and ship it to a professional grading and certification service. Wata Games and CGC Video Games are just two examples of companies that provide this service. The graders will then evaluate the product's authenticity, give it a grade on a 10-point scale, and secure it in a sealed plastic casing with official information prominently displayed. The result is a collector's item that's much easier to compare with similar products and assign it a value for resale.Nightdive Studio CEO Stephen Kick shared a nightmare experience that their friend recently went through with a Wata-graded US copy of Pokemon Yellow for the Game Boy still in the box. Kick explained that US Customs, assumedly evaluating a package being shipped through the mail, not only broke the acrylic case and discarded the seal of the graded game, but also sliced off the front of the Pokemon Yellow cardboard box to see its contents. Suffice to say, it's unlikely to regain its 9.2 grade upon reevaluation.
The exact value of the original sealed copy of Pokemon Yellow is difficult to evaluate with any certainty. A very similar copy of Pokemon Yellow with a 9.4 rating is asking for $10,500 on eBay right now. A 9.0-graded copy in Germany is asking for EUR 11,500.00. However, the highest-value sold copy on eBay cost just over $1,400 for a 9.0 grade. The value of the game at this moment is likely somewhere in the middle.
Whether Kick's friend will be compensated may come down to if the shipment was insured. The United States Postal Service allows for collectibles to be insured based on value, so it's possible a claim could lead to the full value of the sealed Pokemon Yellow. Even without insurance, however, there may be enough evidence to show that USPS intentionally destroyed the game for a claim to go through. The legalities are unclear, given the powers US Customs agents have to dig through mail looking for contraband.
All in all, this is a horror story for any video game collector. The possibility of a valuable package going missing, being stolen, or being damaged during shipping is one thing. To have US Customs destroy a valuable collectible with reckless disregard is something else entirely. On the other hand, sealed copies of video games do seem like a smart way to mail contraband. One less sealed copy of Pokemon Yellow is still a tragedy no matter how one looks at it, though.
Pokemon Yellow is available for the Game Boy.