Yesterday, Heritage Auctions announced that an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. has set a world record for a graded game, selling for $100,150.
"Beyond the artistic and historical significance of this game is its supreme state of preservation," says Kenneth Thrower, co-founder and chief grader of Wata Games.Since it's release in 1985, there have been 11 total box variations released, from 1985 to 1994. Of all the copies of Super Mario Bros., this is the only known "sticker sealed" copy of the classic title. It was certified by Wata Games with a Near Mint rating of 9.4, and a "Seal Rating" of A++.
"Not only are all of NES sticker sealed game' extremely rare, but by their nature of not being sealed in shrink wrap they usually exhibit significant wear after more than 30 years," Thrower said. "This game may be the condition census of all sticker sealed NES games known to exist."The singularly unique copy of one gaming's most famous titles was purchased on February 6 by a group of people. These include "Jim Halperin, Founder and Co-Chairman of Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas; Zac Gieg, owner of Just Press Play Video Games in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rich Lecce, renowned coin dealer, pioneering video game collector, and owner of Robert B. Lecce Numismatist Inc of Boca Raton, Florida."
"This is [the] first appearance of Superman of video games," Gieg said. "We all knew how hard it is to find an open copy of this version in nice condition, but to find one still sealed is truly something I thought I would never see, even after selling vintage video games for over 20 years."
Quick Take:
It's not my scene at all, but it's pretty cool to see old games go for so much money. I've sold some older games in the past for a few hundred dollars, but nothing even approaching this. Good for them.Are you a video game collector? Do you have any rare titles that are the pride of your collection? Let us know in the comments!
