There’s a new gold standard for auction prices on vintage video games.
Like comic books before them, sealed mint classic video games are starting to sell for quite a lot of money. The record for the highest sale price ever for a video game was recently broken at a high-dollar auction with a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
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The game sold for a massive $156,000, topping to previous record holder, which funnily enough was also a Super Mario Bros. game.
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A sealed copy of the original Super Mario Bros. was sold last July for $114,000, giving that sale a reign on top of the mountain for just a few short months.
Of course, the popularity of Super Mario Bros. 3 might have something to do with the sale price. It is one of the most popular Mario games of all time, selling over 17 million copies in its original run. In terms of iconic status, it has one of the biggest followings of any Mario game before or since.
That makes original sealed copies of the game a high value item for collectors all over the world. Recently, a prototype cartridge for the game was moved for $30,000 at an auction.
This record setting sale took place through Heritage Auctions, who described the sale as being incredibly unique. Not only was the copy of the game sealed, but it was one of the rare few copies in the world that had the word “Bros.” partially covering Mario’s right glove on the box.
Yes, that is a thing that matters.
That was the artwork for the game when it was first released. No one knows exactly how many copies like this exist, but only a few collectors have managed to find one.
The starting bid on this auction was $62,500, with more than 20 bidders duking it out for this rare item.
We’ve also seen a number of Pokemon TGC booster boxes sell for huge prices this year, breaking record after record. It seems to be a trend with a number of classic video games.
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While Super Mario Bros. 3 has set this record, if history is any indicator, it’s not going to hold it for very long. Another sale is likely to pop up that will overtake this one, as collectors wade into the vintage video game world, making these items true treasures for the lucky few that happen to have them.