Pokemon Yellow

We've heard some horror stories in the past about games and consoles that have been sent off and didn't make it to the other end, but this story takes it to another level. A WATA-graded copy of the Game Boy classic Pokémon Yellow has been completely destroyed, apparently after an encounter with US Customs.

As explained by Nightdive Studios CEO Stephen Kick, a friend of his recently purchased a "sealed and graded" WATA copy of the original 1999 Game Boy classic. When it arrived, the case was broken, the seal had been "ripped and discarded" and even the box was cut up. Ouch!

It's unclear why US Customs decided to tear the whole thing to shreds, so we'll assume it must have been suspicious of something. As Kick notes, maybe it just wasn't a fan of WATA! As you might recall, this grading company has been accused of manipulating video game market prices over the past few years:

Earlier this month, WATA was also caught out when it graded a reproduction copy of the Castlevania title Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine CD-ROM) which was listed on ebay for a whopping $3,989.99 USD. You can learn more on our retro-focused sister website Time Extension.

Have you ever had any bad experiences like the above one? Leave a comment below.