Sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. sells for $100,150 (insane game auction price thread)

[AdamAnt316]

Words fail me.......... O_O

https://www.cnet.com/news/super-mario-bros-cartridge-sells-for-100150/

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Idiots with deep pockets. I thought this "grading" bull shit was pretty much over. I would have expected a sealed Super Mario Bros. from the launch to sell for $100 to $150, but $100,150?! I could hold a whole demolition derby with 10 of (the newer) Dodge Darts for that money!

[Aussie2B]

Seems like a pretty rare item. I know boxed copies of SMB are fairly rare to begin with, since most copies of the game were sold as pack-ins, and obviously still sealed is much rarer yet, with this sticker variant even more so. Still insane either way. Sealed collecting in general has no appeal to me.

[mkenyon2]

I wish I could send a message to myself in the past, I'd send myself a list of the super-rares... :grin:

[MASTERWEEDO]

I'm just thinking about Funcoland opening and throwing away all the boxes back in the day.

[Tanooki]

Idiots with deep pockets. I thought this "grading" bull shit was pretty much over. I would have expected a sealed Super Mario Bros. from the launch to sell for $100 to $150, but $100,150?! I could hold a whole demolition derby with 10 of (the newer) Dodge Darts for that money!

It probably to a point was over since VGA was an obvious scam with their bullshit mysterious behavior of inconsistent grading, no published list of quality individuals doing it, nor published standards on how they did it either to qualify it all. WATA though, they are backed by all that and people from other grading agencies of other hobbies. That sale basically cemented them on a level with the rest with heritage auctions getting in on it.

Either this will be a benefit to everyone, or potentially only those who still have the goodies as the values will show more perhaps given they do both individual item and sealed good grading on those qualified scales. It could help those who want it, but it could hurt those if a ripple effect happened for even more trolls thinking their $2 copy of Taboo is worth a gold brick.

[Niku-Sama]

a game doesnt have to be sealed to be graded by wata, unlike vga.

i dont feel like getting something graded necessarily adds greatly to the value that hey this is a "legit thing" but in a way its in a protective case and you kind of know where things rank.

same thing with coins and comics, its like why charge twice or 3 times more when its graded when if its a hobby you are into you can figure condition, variants or rare mintages on your own.
this is in general thinking though.

who ever forked over about a 3rd of my houses value for a game has either more money than brains or is truly hardcore into collecting oddities, the duders putting it up i am sure just did it to see whats up (and of course to get the name out there)

[Nz17]

I heard that this might have been bought on speculation. In other words, pay $100,150 today, resale for much higher in a few years' time.

[Aussie2B]

I wouldn't be surprised. When you get prices this high, it basically enters the realm of fine art buying, where the rich use it as a way to invest their money rather than buying because they actually care about the item in any way. This article about sums it up: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/fine-art-facing-a-crisis-of-marketspeculation/article35123665/

[Bojay1997]

I've mentioned this on other forums, but this "sale" was mostly to hype the new partnership between WATA and Heritage and one of the three people that supposedly bought the item is the owner of Heritage. Since Heritage charges a 20% seller premium and a 20% buyer premium (as well as a 3% credit card premium), the seller really only got $80K or so and I'm sure Heritage just booked this as a cost of advertising and promo for their auction services. It will be interesting to see how this goes long term, but the buyer and seller premiums are going to be difficult to sell to many buyers and sellers when Ebay is so much cheaper and doesn't charge credit card fees.

[AdamAnt316]

And now, we've (apparently) heard from the seller of the $100K game, referred to only as "Bronty":

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/02/meet-the-man-who-got-100000-for-a-copy-of-super-mario-bros/

[Niku-Sama]

oh the NA dude or dudette

[Aussie2B]

Geez, basically nothing in that article is a good look. That article about sums up why I have never registered for Nintendo Age.

[AdamAnt316]

Well, it's happened yet again..........

Why is this copy of Super Mario Bros. worth a record $114,000? (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/07/why-is-this-copy-of-super-mario-bros-worth-a-record-114000/)

A question we all should be asking ourselves........... X_x X_x X_x

[Aussie2B]

I saw a story on my local news about this last night, which gave me a chuckle. Of course, they made no mention of the cardboard hangtab.

This is just another nail in the coffin of hunting for games in the wild. When non-collectors hear about this stuff, they don't grasp the details and start thinking all retro video games are like gold and snap everything up for flipping. As much as I may miss my game hunting days, I'm glad I already have a big collection I can be content with.

[Greg2600]

When the value increases 14K in one year, maybe they're onto something? :texaschain:

[AdamAnt316]

I saw a story on my local news about this last night, which gave me a chuckle. Of course, they made no mention of the cardboard hangtab.

This is just another nail in the coffin of hunting for games in the wild. When non-collectors hear about this stuff, they don't grasp the details and start thinking all retro video games are like gold and snap everything up for flipping. As much as I may miss my game hunting days, I'm glad I already have a big collection I can be content with.
Hangtab or not, this is definitely insane. I'm glad I got into this stuff when it was almost literally being given away, and (more importantly) that I generally couldn't care less about sealed games. Sure, I pick them up when I see them cheap (which isn't often), but then I fret about what I'm going to do with them, since games are meant to be played, IMO. Same thing goes for 'un-built' electronic kits from the likes of Heathkit (http://www.heathkitcatalogs.com) or Knight-Kit (http://www.alliedcatalogs.com). I actually have a small selection of un-built (or partially built) kits from the '60s and '70s, and I am planning on assembling them. The one (likely) exception is my Motorola MEK-6800-D2 (http://www.electronixandmore.com/adam/temp/6800trainer/mek6800d2.html) microprocessor trainer, which is probably worth a fair bit, though I've seen other un-built examples shown online, so who knows.


When the value increases 14K in one year, maybe they're onto something? :texaschain:
I sure hope not! :rockets:

[Emperor Megas]

I generally couldn't care less about sealed games. Sure, I pick them up when I see them cheap (which isn't often), but then I fret about what I'm going to do with them, since games are meant to be played, IMO. This, right here.

It's really a paradox. I have sealed games that I really want to play, but I can't see myself unsealing something like 'Kuon' or 'Rule of Rose' when they're 'worth' so much. I've sold games in the past when I've been in a pinch, and so I see games in my collection that sell for goofy high prices as rainy day funds. I never purchase games for their value, but I only break the seal on a game when I'm about to play it, and with such a large backlog often games go up in value, and so they're pretty much off the table for playing. 😐

I mean, why casually break the seal on a game that sells for triple digits sealed if you have hundreds of other (unsealed) games you can play?

[Aussie2B]

I avoid the sealed game dilemma by opening and trying out almost everything when I first get it, even if I don't intend to play all the way through anytime soon. I mean, for one, I want to put in a tiny bit of time just to see what a game is like and to confirm it's not defective. That way, I can better decide what to play later on, when I'm craving a particular type of game and remember what seemed fun from the, say, 30-60 minutes I played in the past. From a financial standpoint, I understand if people think it's dumb, since I may sit on these games for like 10-20 years (I have PS1 and N64 games I bought new back when the systems were still alive that I still haven't gotten around to), but once a game stays sealed for a long time, to the point that it becomes a rarity to have sealed, I'd feel bad opening them up, especially if there's a significant value difference between a mint, complete copy and a sealed copy. To play the game, I'd feel compelled to sell off the sealed copy and buy one that's already opened. But that's a pain, so I'd rather just open my own copy at a time when opening copies of said game is normal. One time several years ago I came across a sealed Intellivision game in the wild, and even though it was barely worth anything, I still ended up selling it because, if it had survived that long without ever being opened, I just couldn't bring myself to open it.

[Nz17]

One time several years ago I came across a sealed Intellivision game in the wild, and even though it was barely worth anything, I still ended up selling it because, if it had survived that long without ever being opened, I just couldn't bring myself to open it.

I understand that one!

[mailman187666]

I personally am not a sealed game collector. I'm just not into paying a premium for a game that I am not able to use. However, if I do find sealed games at normal game price or even on super cheap, I will leave them sealed for my collection or to sell later on.

[Gamers1]

When I saw this news, I was really surprised. Finding a sealed part is quite complicated but it seemed to me a pretty exaggerated price

[AdamAnt316]

Yet more sealed NES game insanity, this time involving a different game:

A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 has sold for $156,000 (https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/23/21591120/super-mario-bros-3-record-breaking-auction-price-condition-sealed)

It just keeps getting crazier and crazier.......... @_@

[Gameguy]

It's weird how all these super high priced sealed games are all selling from this one specific auction house and are all graded by this same WATA grading company, not the more common VGA company. I don't see any of these games selling for so much on ebay or other auction sites.

[gbpxl]

idiots with money

[Buyatari]

It's weird how all these super high priced sealed games are all selling from this one specific auction house and are all graded by this same WATA grading company, not the more common VGA company. I don't see any of these games selling for so much on ebay or other auction sites.

It is true many items sell for more on Heritage. Comic collectors sometimes refer to it as the Heritage tax.
eBay is fine for many things but at certain price point some people get nervous buying on eBay.

[jperryss]

It is true many items sell for more on Heritage. Comic collectors sometimes refer to it as the Heritage tax.

So just like Bring A Trailer, except for video games.

[Gameguy]

So it's not actually a scam? I assumed that auction site wasn't legit or the buyers and sellers were planning something like manipulating the markets.

[jperryss]

So it's not actually a scam? I assumed that auction site wasn't legit or the buyers and sellers were planning something like manipulating the markets.

That very well could be happening too.

[AdamAnt316]

Heritage strikes again...with a vengeance!

Sealed Super Mario Bros. cartridge sells for a record-breaking $660,000 at auction (https://gizmodo.com/sealed-super-mario-bros-cartridge-sells-for-a-record-b-1846608620)

Idiots with too much money? Some sort of money-laundering scheme? You decide! X_x

[gbpxl]

Video games are getting up there with coin prices now. It'll only be a few more years til we see 7 figure prices. I have to imagine a gold Nintendo World Championship would be more valuable than a sealed 1st print Mario?

[calthaer]

Video games are finally taking their place in the world as fine art. Those of us who grew up with the early days of the medium are what...in our 40s, 50s now? There are people out there who Have Money and this is their favorite piece of art. Nintendo probably affected more than Van Gogh or some other artist, so why not?

[jperryss]

Video games are finally taking their place in the world as fine art.

AKA money laundering?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/business/art-money-laundering-sanctions-senate/index.html

[Gameguy]

Video games are finally taking their place in the world as fine art. Those of us who grew up with the early days of the medium are what...in our 40s, 50s now? There are people out there who Have Money and this is their favorite piece of art. Nintendo probably affected more than Van Gogh or some other artist, so why not?
How can it be so valuable when it's mass produced? What was the intended artistic vision with these games when they were programmed? They were created as a piece of entertainment for children, for the purpose of making a profit. They're collectibles, not art.


AKA money laundering?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/business/art-money-laundering-sanctions-senate/index.html
Exactly this, I was going to mention this too. A lot of valuable art isn't actually that valuable, it's just a way to move large amounts of money around. Or an easy way to gain a tax write off, just pay an artist to make something, then get a friend who's an appraiser to overvalue the piece by a significant amount, then donate it someplace and claim it for your taxes.

[Tanooki]

The one big monkey in the room here, population reports.

There are not to back up this bs. When combined with the fact that WATA and Heritage have owners/board members on both companies at the same time, and that they double dip to make money on others goods they grade so well, it comes off as like some huge SEC worthy thing to have investigated.

Coin, stamp, comic, card, etc they all have days, months, years, decades worth of population reports that show the amount of copies of X item and how often they exchange hands and for what to help substantiate what they should relatively go for, how much they really shouldn't as well. Sure you can get a double of dumb yo-yos going at it, but really a half million bounce in that gap of time... really? It's fishy as it keeps happening with multiple grossly mass marketed items into the hundreds of thousands if not millions of copies. Sure those masses aren't all still sealed, but it's like people are being lied to believe it's the only one sealed left, only one sealed in this quality left, only with...(insert bs for reaction.) I think not.

I'm already seeing others parrot what I've said here, and other comments I've seen too elsewhere such as the obvious look of money laundering, racketeering, and the rest. Sickeningly it fits all TOO well. Nothing of this is coming off above board anymore with these moves in values on these overly populated games.


You want some real crack smoking crap that seems to have risen up along side of this WATA-HA-ownership pyramid scheme....pokemon.
Go look up what pokemon games have gone for, specifically for fun, try looking at both GEN1, but also whatever the GBA was, particularly Emerald. Also make sure if you're using VGPC to do this, single out 2 variables independently, new(sealed), and then the complete ones too. (Bonus check loose for a laugh or groan as well.) Needless to say an ungraded copy of GEN1 red/blue right now can buy you a car, not a shitty beater either, something with under 100k miles, not very old either I kid you not. Keep in mind that pokemon games they're the most published copies of any game on gameboy outside of the packed-in then sold forever aside Tetris.

[gbpxl]

The one big monkey in the room here, population reports.

There are not to back up this bs. When combined with the fact that WATA and Heritage have owners/board members on both companies at the same time, and that they double dip to make money on others goods they grade so well, it comes off as like some huge SEC worthy thing to have investigated.

Coin, stamp, comic, card, etc they all have days, months, years, decades worth of population reports that show the amount of copies of X item and how often they exchange hands and for what to help substantiate what they should relatively go for, how much they really shouldn't as well. Sure you can get a double of dumb yo-yos going at it, but really a half million bounce in that gap of time... really? It's fishy as it keeps happening with multiple grossly mass marketed items into the hundreds of thousands if not millions of copies. Sure those masses aren't all still sealed, but it's like people are being lied to believe it's the only one sealed left, only one sealed in this quality left, only with...(insert bs for reaction.) I think not.

I'm already seeing others parrot what I've said here, and other comments I've seen too elsewhere such as the obvious look of money laundering, racketeering, and the rest. Sickeningly it fits all TOO well. Nothing of this is coming off above board anymore with these moves in values on these overly populated games.


You want some real crack smoking crap that seems to have risen up along side of this WATA-HA-ownership pyramid scheme....pokemon.
Go look up what pokemon games have gone for, specifically for fun, try looking at both GEN1, but also whatever the GBA was, particularly Emerald. Also make sure if you're using VGPC to do this, single out 2 variables independently, new(sealed), and then the complete ones too. (Bonus check loose for a laugh or groan as well.) Needless to say an ungraded copy of GEN1 red/blue right now can buy you a car, not a shitty beater either, something with under 100k miles, not very old either I kid you not. Keep in mind that pokemon games they're the most published copies of any game on gameboy outside of the packed-in then sold forever aside Tetris.
An unopened Pokemon game being unGodly rare is pretty believable. who the hell in 1996 buys a Pokemon game and goes "yeah Im not gonna play this" doesnt return it and just holds onto it for decades. That's like a 1996 Honda Civic with 0 miles on it. just doesnt happen.

[Gameguy]

An unopened Pokemon game being unGodly rare is pretty believable. who the hell in 1996 buys a Pokemon game and goes "yeah Im not gonna play this" doesnt return it and just holds onto it for decades. That's like a 1996 Honda Civic with 0 miles on it. just doesnt happen.
I have some games I've received as gifts and never got around to opening, including a copy of Super Mario Land. I found a loose copy soon after so I never saw a reason to open it. And I do have a sealed Pokemon Blue, I got it years ago from someone local when I bought his Gameboy collection which was mostly all boxed complete in excellent condition.

It's insane to see how much these are going for now, even used copies. Years ago I couldn't get $20 for a sealed Pokemon Red Rescue Team and now it goes for around $500, I guess I should have held onto it longer. Even a complete Pokemon Emerald seems to be worth around $600, and I doubt I got more than $50 for mine when I sold it off. I'm actually annoyed as I could have traded them for rare games I'm now looking for. I just didn't want them sitting around as I was trying to clear out some clutter.

What's weird is how there's apparently a difference with the first printing of Pokemon Red and Blue, apparently the screenshot on the back was changed so the first print is noticeably different and now much more sought after. This seems to have just been noticed somewhat recently with collectors.

[kupomogli]

Heritage strikes again...with a vengeance!

Sealed Super Mario Bros. cartridge sells for a record-breaking $660,000 at auction (https://gizmodo.com/sealed-super-mario-bros-cartridge-sells-for-a-record-b-1846608620)

Idiots with too much money? Some sort of money-laundering scheme? You decide! X_x

O_O @_@

Gives me a good idea atleast, it's too late to keep games like Super Mario Bros or Super Mario Bros 3 sealed, so every single game I currently have sealed now, games like Pokemon White 2, Metroid Prime Trilogy Steelbook Edition, Fire Emblem for Gamecube and Wii, etc, maybe in 20 years these few games will make me a millionaire.

Jk, I know that it won't work like that, meaning that every sealed Nintendo game ever would reach those insane costs and it's doubtful. Just wishful thinking. Granted who knows if I'll be dead or senile by then.

[gbpxl]

I never understood the fetishization of toys/video games where there is value in just having them in your posession still in the shrinkwrap. I could see doing that with a game like Stadium Events or some other crappy game I dont wanna play. Hard to get into the mind of someone trying to get every NES game sealed.

[gbpxl]

damn speaking of prices going up... black label PS1 copies of Castlevania: SotN are selling for over $250 right now. I saw one go for over $350 because it had the registration card. I think I paid maybe 50 or 60 for it back in 2014 and I remember at the time just cringing at the thought of paying that much for a PS1 game. Now it's 5x the price lol

[calthaer]

I never understood the fetishization of toys/video games where there is value in just having them in your posession still in the shrinkwrap. I could see doing that with a game like Stadium Events or some other crappy game I dont wanna play. Hard to get into the mind of someone trying to get every NES game sealed.

It's a combination of a bunch of different things - different reasons for different people, who think differently about these things.

Some people obviously just want it because everyone else seems to.

Other people might want it as a representation of, or return to, their younger selves. Lots of disappointment in consumerism throughout life - you see something to buy, think it's going to make you happy, then you get it and it doesn't live up to your hopes. Maybe having something sealed represents that state of expectation someone is in before getting it...and with something as popular as this, there's the idea that maybe the dream doesn't disappoint? That what's waiting in that sealed box is something that will live up to expectations? Kind of like a time capsule, I guess.

It's also possibly the closest thing available to the "original". Shigeru Miyamoto's sketches, or whatever - something brand new, as it existed in 1985, is a piece of history. The Mona Lisa is only popular because everyone says it is - and Super Mario Bros. was kind of a revolution, at the time, that is still reverberating today. Who wouldn't want a copy of the first movie shown in a theater, for example? The first wax cylinder upon which a piece of music was released / sold? Especially if you were there at the time and have fond memories of it yourself.

Maybe later generations will come by and have no personal connection to that moment in time and think it's ridiculous, the way we have no idea how old tin soldiers or kewpie dolls could ever be worth it for someone. A lot of it might just be people wanting to return to the wide-eyed innocence of youth - to a simpler time when things were better for them and the world. They might not even be able to think through their emotions; it might just be instinct. I dunno.

[AdamAnt316]

Personally, I don't see nearly as much value in sealed games as these nutty auctions seem to be pulling in/laundering. To me, video games are meant to be played, not just looked at as static objects. A sealed Mario game might be nice to display in a museum like the Smithsonian, but my ideas for the museum I've long been hoping to open someday involve allowing early computers and video game systems to be experienced by attendees in a curated fashion, not just having everything locked inside display cases with "DO NOT TOUCH" signs in front of them.
-Adam

[Gameguy]

It's a combination of a bunch of different things - different reasons for different people, who think differently about these things.

Some people obviously just want it because everyone else seems to.
People tend to want to own collector items in the best possible condition, and new items are considered to be in better condition than used items. Plus with a sealed game you know it to be fully complete, there's no inserts missing or incorrect variants(like original or greatest hits versions) just pieced together from different copies later on. If you had the choice to buy a new copy of a game or a used copy of the same game, at the same price, you'll probably choose the new one. There's more demand for new copies and less available than used ones, so they're worth more.

When collectors are complaining about sealed games, it's really just complaints about the pricing with them. I don't really hear many people complain about the game simply because it's a new copy. Plenty of collectors have multiple copies of games too so they can always play the titles they also own sealed.

As for why they're so much more valuable than used copies, that I don't get. Even with Super Mario Bros, as I heard someone else mention, this isn't even the original version of the game as that would be the Famicom version. That should be the valuable version if it's about historical significance.

[calthaer]

As for why they're so much more valuable than used copies, that I don't get. Even with Super Mario Bros, as I heard someone else mention, this isn't even the original version of the game as that would be the Famicom version. That should be the valuable version if it's about historical significance.

Ah, but this is the key: "Especially if you were there at the time and have fond memories of it yourself."

The Japanese versions of Nintendo games don't hold any emotional significance for most people - it doesn't take them back to their single-digit-year-old self, standing in the aisle of their department or toy store, gazing longingly at the items and wishing you could take them home and play them. People are trying to recapture a feeling from their now-distant past - and they're willing to pay handsomely to have their heartstrings pulled that way. And, because these games were widely popular, there are a lot of people competing for that feeling.

It can't possibly be rational, these prices - it's emotional and irrational.

[Baloo]

You can't bring the plastic with you. The prices people pay for this crap is completely irrational.

[Gameguy]

Ah, but this is the key: "Especially if you were there at the time and have fond memories of it yourself."
But for people who actually lived through that time, they tend to remember the pricing and just how common it all was back then. Older people often undervalue antiques and collectibles because they consider them to be common items that were easily available. It's really newer collectors who just discover something and start buying into it that tend to view things as rare obscurities of another time. I tended to look at items that way from before I was born back when I was a kid, I loved looking through antique stores and flea markets back then thinking so many old things were just amazing, and I automatically believed whatever pricing was listed on them.

For people remembering actual items they saw in stores, would that include very specific rare variants that wouldn't have been available in many locations or for a long period of time? Wouldn't people most likely want the same version they saw as a kid which would probably be a more common version? There would be less demand for specific rare versions and more demand for common versions.

[calthaer]

That's one way of looking at things - remembering them as common and not wanting to pay a lot. But it's not the only way. I once watched that "Nintendo Quest" documentary, and it's...kind of hard to watch. That guy's collecting is so devoid of joy it's a little disturbing...and it's obvious that he has some childhood issues he's trying to paper over with this "quest" of his - maybe trying to recapture the good parts of his childhood and forget the bad? I don't necessarily understand that guy's motivations, but I do recognize he has them.

There's something going on with people who pay $600k for an old video game. I don't myself understand it, but I can't necessarily say they don't have their reasons for it. They may not be rational reasons, they may not be my reasons - but there is some line of thinking in their head that makes that price seem justified. Maybe they have a ton of money and that price seems reasonable to them (cheaper than a McLaren, after all). Maybe they're so desperate to have it for some personal reason that they'd mortgage the house to get it. I don't know. Would be interesting to ask them.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

Over the past few years, whenever I buy a game I leave it sealed until the minute I want to sit down and play it for the first time. Why open it before that? It is not like they come with nice manuals to read anymore. This has helped me on more than one occasion when I have found a game sitting around that I never got around to playing but people are paying stupid money for. I will sell off the sealed game and buy something that I will play. One that I remember doing that with was Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii. I ordered it but never played it because I believe I gave my grandson my Wii. I found it in a drawer on day and sold it for something like $100.

[Gameguy]

Why open it before that?
I basically do the same as you, only opening games before I want to play them, but there's still a chance they could be defective somehow. Disc manufacturing errors sometimes happen, though it's very rare.

[nebrazca88]

We've seen similar things happening with other popular collectibles. A LeBron James rookie card in fantastic condition just sold for 5.3 million which equaled a Mantle or a Ruth or something like that. There aren't anymore of these being made and with all the technology we have these days it's incredibly difficult to make even passable copies. It may seem like complete nonsense and depending on the circumstance I may agree but now NFTs are selling for untold millions let alone things you can actually hold in your hand.

I'm pretty sure I heard a pair of Kanye's shoes just sold for one or two million. Strange days.

[AdamAnt316]

And now, Heritage has other classic Nintendo games getting in on the money launderin' action:

Ultra-Rare Zelda Cart Fetching 6 Digits Before Auction Even Begins (https://kotaku.com/ultra-rare-zelda-cart-fetching-6-digits-before-auction-1847239277)

[AdamAnt316]

..........aaaaaaaaand it apparently sold (https://comics.ha.com/itm/video-games/nintendo/the-legend-of-zelda-wata-90-a-sealed-no-rev-a-round-soq-early-production-nes-nintendo-1987-usa/a/7261-28030.s) for $870,000.......... X_x :beaten: *_*

When will it end?! How long before a slabbed sealed copy of Combat for Atari 2600 sells for a million bucks??!!?!?!?!?!? :shameful:

[AdamAnt316]

Well, it wasn't Combat (or Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack for the Intellivision, another guess of mine), but the megabuck threshold has been thoroughly shattered, and mere days after the previous record was set:

Sealed Super Mario 64 sells for more than $1.5 million (https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/11/22572688/super-mario-64-most-expensive-video-game-ever-heritage-auctions)

Has the collecting world gone mad?! Have the people gaming (pun unintended, I swear) the PPP loan program found a great new way to 'sanitize' their ill-gotten money rather than spending it on Lamborghinis? Either way, I'm rather at a loss for words yet again, waiting for the next (expensive) shoe to drop.......... *_* *_* *_*

[gbpxl]

Well, it wasn't Combat (or Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack for the Intellivision, another guess of mine), but the megabuck threshold has been thoroughly shattered, and mere days after the previous record was set:

Sealed Super Mario 64 sells for more than $1.5 million (https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/11/22572688/super-mario-64-most-expensive-video-game-ever-heritage-auctions)

Has the collecting world gone mad?! Have the people gaming (pun unintended, I swear) the PPP loan program found a great new way to 'sanitize' their ill-gotten money rather than spending it on Lamborghinis? Either way, I'm rather at a loss for words yet again, waiting for the next (expensive) shoe to drop.......... *_* *_* *_*
You know, in one of these threads about current price trends, I was mocked for suggesting that some CEO out there was driving up prices, but I mean really, not many people have 1.5 mil lying around...

Rich man's hobby that has outpaced what most of us can afford. I've had to stop caring about box condition years ago, to now just being happy to get the cartridge. I still need disc based games to be CIB but I am sure it wont be long before I am happy just to get a loose disc of a game.

part of the problem is that the current trend of digital games and the throw-away/obsolete within 3 years has made the older games appear to be a lot more valuable in terms of how long they'll last. People are looking at 30 year old games and thinking "well this is a game that will last another 30 years and I can still enjoy them with my kids and their kids" versus a PS4 game that might not even be playable 10 years from now.

And I saw the writing on the wall at least a decade ago with that stuff and I knew that modern games were being designed to be enjoyed for a year and then thrown away to make room for the newest edition. same thing happening with consoles now as well. course if youre on this website youve known all this for a while too

[Ed Oscuro]

That's not a crazy theory; cornering the market is definitely something that happens, although given what people said about this niche market it seems like it'd be promotional for the sealed games market as a whole, rather than an attempt to cash in on lesser-graded pieces. About what calthaer was saying, I think we're witnessing the moment that retro games collecting transcends the "personal" into the "cultural." There aren't many people still around from when Da Vinci was painting. Yet appreciation or even a kind of nostalgia for his art is a heartfelt thing for many. There also are Saudi princes who will spend outrageous sums on a heavily overpainted Christian religious painting of Jesus without sending a clear signal that they share that value. By the clock, Indiana Jones and The Lost Ark sits halfway between us and the pulp works of a generation earlier that it was referencing. I suppose it will be more or less accidental which things are valued in the farther future, depending on what's trending. You can find lots of things from the 30s (or most any age) that are pretty cool but not currently "worth" a lot on the market, and the same goes for the mini pulp nostalgia boom of the 80s. History repeats itself with Stranger Things and nostalgia for the 80s.

I've probably said it before, but this is the illusion of preservation vs. the reality. Games are too complicated to be considered "preserved" like a coin, card, or comic book, especially if they're unopened. I think it's miserable that we always have to trade off real preservation measures (like dumping rare game discs) against the monetary hit. My hat's off to people who have made that hard choice for the betterment of the cultural preservation of games, when it applies.

On the plus side, the forum is lively again! Good to see you all.

[Gameguy]

I still think it's about money laundering or some type of similar scheme, something about diversifying assets. Video games are different from valuable art, mentioning Da Vinci or some other considered masters as an example, as these were always considered expensive luxury items even when new. Valuable paintings were originally sold through specific authorized dealers, and sales records were kept to establish provenance through each buyer, even hundreds of years ago. It's not usually general paintings sold at random shops or on street corners that become valuable, at least not by that much in the millions. Other extremely valuable items like vintage Rolex watches were also aimed as luxury items originally. Most items that become extremely valuable(like six figures plus) started out as very valuable in the first place, or were very limited and rare to begin with, or at least were meant to be disposable so if mass produced at all they're still extremely rare to find at all and even more rare to find in excellent condition. With old comic books or sports cards that's what applies as these were basically meant for kids to play with and throw away, or some food items like sealed cereal boxes or chocolate bars which most people wouldn't even keep for long when new, and it's mostly just old comics or sports cards that can be six figures plus.

Video games are different, they were mass produced and aimed at general consumers so there's no reason why they should be selling for so much, especially common games with high print runs.

It's starting to get the same way with sealed VHS tapes as they're being graded now, and even common tapes are going for high prices. Here's a sealed copy of the Super Mario Bros movie on VHS. Is this really worth five figures?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AWU-VHS-GRAIL-Super-Mario-Bros-BROS-IGS-GRADED-SEALED-Near-mint-video-film-/254948509440?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l44720.c10&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

It's just ridiculous with how almost everything is being graded and slabbed now. It's like seeing future beanie babies in the making.

[Ed Oscuro]

When you get right down to it, though, there probably were more "useful" things Da Vinci's clients could have spent the money on. Even though there are people with a practical outlook like you, all it really takes are a few people willing to boost up the prices for one reason or another. In investing this is called a "greater fool game." Personally, when I got into this hobby I got a lot of junk and I threw around (for the time) lots of money. For the most part I think my bets were right, if we're talking about what things were worth then versus now, but it still does distress me a bit that what should be mass culture, like you say, is quickly becoming unreachable.

[Tron 2.0]

Well, it wasn't Combat (or Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack for the Intellivision, another guess of mine), but the megabuck threshold has been thoroughly shattered, and mere days after the previous record was set:

Sealed Super Mario 64 sells for more than $1.5 million (https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/11/22572688/super-mario-64-most-expensive-video-game-ever-heritage-auctions)

Has the collecting world gone mad?! Have the people gaming (pun unintended, I swear) the PPP loan program found a great new way to 'sanitize' their ill-gotten money rather than spending it on Lamborghinis? Either way, I'm rather at a loss for words yet again, waiting for the next (expensive) shoe to drop.......... *_* *_* *_*
What bizarro world where a boxed sm64 become a collectable given it's a very common game.

[gbpxl]

What bizarro world where a boxed sm64 become a collectable given it's a very common game.
The "unopened" aspect of it is what makes it rare. Like, who buys SM64 in 1996 or 1997 and says, "gonna wait 25 gears to sell this and become a millionaire." very few, if anyone, had that foresight

[Gameguy]

The "unopened" aspect of it is what makes it rare. Like, who buys SM64 in 1996 or 1997 and says, "gonna wait 25 gears to sell this and become a millionaire." very few, if anyone, had that foresight
You can literally say that about every sealed game that exists today, yet games with a far lower print run are worth far less than this. Multiple sealed copies of Stadium Events have turned up, including a sealed case of copies, when that only had a very small print run and was actually recalled from stores shortly after release. That's worth far less than this, a copy of a highly successful game that was in demand and never recalled.

You can also literally buy sealed food items from decades ago, same argument about who buys to never use, only these have a shelf life and you'd expect unused ones to have been thrown away if never consumed. Saying SM64 is rare to find, even new, is just not true.

[gbpxl]

You can literally say that about every sealed game that exists today, yet games with a far lower print run are worth far less than this. Multiple sealed copies of Stadium Events have turned up, including a sealed case of copies, when that only had a very small print run and was actually recalled from stores shortly after release. That's worth far less than this, a copy of a highly successful game that was in demand and never recalled.

You can also literally buy sealed food items from decades ago, same argument about who buys to never use, only these have a shelf life and you'd expect unused ones to have been thrown away if never consumed. Saying SM64 is rare to find, even new, is just not true.

wrong. some games came out late in a console's life cycle and they just sat. there were a ton of Players Choice F Zeros made, so snagging a copy hasnt been difficult. Another one is Arkanoid: Doh it Again. I have a sealed copy. very late SNES release. I have a sealed Anticipation and a sealed Pictionary for NES. No one bought the damn game. also have sealed a bunch of shitty PS2 sports games I got for 2 dollars. trust me when I say "you cant say that about every game."

[Gameguy]

wrong. some games came out late in a console's life cycle and they just sat. there were a ton of Players Choice F Zeros made, so snagging a copy hasnt been difficult. Another one is Arkanoid: Doh it Again. I have a sealed copy. very late SNES release. I have a sealed Anticipation and a sealed Pictionary for NES. No one bought the damn game. also have sealed a bunch of shitty PS2 sports games I got for 2 dollars. trust me when I say "you cant say that about every game."
If nobody bought any copies then no sellers would still have them for sale, they'd be next to ET in a landfill or otherwise destroyed. Shelf space is valuable and when items don't sell, they're cleared out. They can't sit around forever just waiting for a buyer. Overall it's easier to find games later on that sold well and have a larger print run, it's only easier to find late releases sealed just after a console is discontinued.

Sealed copies of popular games exist. How it works is a kid asks for a popular game, and is given multiple copies by different family members as gifts. Then they keep a sealed copy. That's how I ended up with multiple sealed Disney VHS tapes. And I still have sealed games I got as a kid and never got around to opening, ones I specifically asked for and wanted to play. Like Super Mario Land for Gameboy, a popular well liked game. I found a used copy afterwards so I didn't bother opening my sealed one. Even for PC I have multiple from when I was a kid, like The Neverhood and Castle Explorer which are still sealed. And as I got older and started actually collecting games I found plenty of sealed games from older systems, like Super C on NES and Pokemon Blue on Gameboy which are both popular games. It's not just late releases or garbage that are still sealed.

Just checking ebay there are 15 sold sealed copies of Super Mario 64, 2 of those are the original print run non-player's choice. Only one copy sold for over $10000, and it was still less than $20000, and yet another one on another site sold for $1.5 million for some reason which is quite a jump.

Also on ebay there's currently 5 sealed copies of Super Mario 64 available for purchase, with 3 of them first print copies. That's some rarity with multiple copies available at any time. Of course now the price is $35000+, just in time to list for more elsewhere or get regraded by a different company. Apparently VGA sucks now so get them regraded by WATA to raise their value.

[gbpxl]

not necessarily. "no one bought any copies" translates to the game being sent to some surplus or discount or unclaimed freight store and eventually getting picked up by a video game reseller. there is no end user in that equation is what I was trying to get at. I read an article about the sticker sealed Super Mario Bros. that basically said "this shouldnt exist but somehow it does." I think by 1996 there were enough people with disposable income to where video games sat around unopened. would love to hear the stories about how these games came to exist never being torn open by some kid. the multiple gift thing you mentioned does make sense though

[Gameguy]

not necessarily. "no one bought any copies" translates to the game being sent to some surplus or discount or unclaimed freight store and eventually getting picked up by a video game reseller.
So they were purchased by a human being and were then available for sale, in some fashion, so people eventually bought them. Twenty plus years later sealed copies of these games still exist but aren't as easy to find anymore. Plenty of other games were late releases, like Shantae, and were available sealed new at a cheap price for years, only copies eventually sold out and are now extremely rare to find. Conker's Bad Fur Day was another late release title I saw for sale for years after N64 games were cleared out in retail stores, now it's a sought after game. Most late releases end up being rare games later on and eventually much rarer to find, the NES is full of titles like this.

If a game doesn't sell well originally, no further copies get printed, making it rarer when existing copies eventually sell to the public. Every game ends up in public hands eventually, once discounted and sold off. Still available for sale privately in some fashion, but much rarer than with common games with large print runs. The exclusions are recalled copies that get destroyed prior to release, yet even then some copies get saved by employees and still exist. Far rarer than anything sold directly to the public.


I read an article about the sticker sealed Super Mario Bros. that basically said "this shouldnt exist but somehow it does."
You can still say this about any rare item in still new condition, yes they would be "rare" but not to the point of one of a kind. It's general hyperbole. Somewhere I'm sure there's some sealed cases still stored away, possibly from some unsold store stock from a business that closed down at that time period. There was some collector who collected sealed cases of NES games from back then, who had various games like this including sealed cases of Stadium Events. I still wouldn't say it should be worth so much more compared to a used complete copy, but at least this is much more rare than the sealed Super Mario 64 copy.


I think by 1996 there were enough people with disposable income to where video games sat around unopened.
So something like Super Mario 64 isn't rare then, the opposite of what you said previously. If multiple sealed copies are available at any time, then it's not that rare. There are various videos and laserdiscs in high demand that might show up for sale once every several years, same with some rare toys or puzzles. Basically much rarer items worth far less money. If I could start selling my sealed games for over a million dollars I could easily retire.

[Tron 2.0]

The "unopened" aspect of it is what makes it rare. Like, who buys SM64 in 1996 or 1997 and says, "gonna wait 25 gears to sell this and become a millionaire." very few, if anyone, had that foresight
I'm gonna laugh if that investor tries to sell the game decades later on and it no longer works.Sure cartridges are more reliable then discs based video games but nothing last forever.Though there's talks this auction was prop up by shill bidding to make it more desirable to buyers.

[gbpxl]

I'm gonna laugh if that investor tries to sell the game decades later on and it no longer works.Sure cartridges are more reliable then discs based video games but nothing last forever.Though there's talks this auction was prop up by shill bidding to make it more desirable to buyers.
I think people underestimate the lifespan of cartridges, CDs, etc. The only medium that I feel I will outlive is magnetic tape, so VHS and audio cassette tapes

[Ed Oscuro]

If we're talking about a small store with little storage space like GameStop, they probably are quicker to rotate old stock away - that could be via donation or return to corporate or manufacturer. Maybe some stores have gotten better tax breaks for donating something versus tossing it. Bigger stores with large stock rooms in the back occasionally hold secrets, waiting for a time when the manager decides to deal with it. I didn't get the inside story on how old stock shows up on shelves again in every case, but I can make some guesses. I bought a NOS Astrocade from a member here, years ago, which I believe was stock at a mom-and-pop store that didn't sell. One out-of-the-way Target had a new copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 on sale about 10 years after the game release. A Walmart had a bargain bin of 5-7 years old PC games show up one random day in the early 2000s. A Best Buy had a bargain bin of over ten year old PC classics like Tomb Raider 2, 3. My old local Goodwill got all kinds of old stock which had been discounted repeatedly at its original location and remained unsold. These days I've seen a fair amount of early Xbox One / PS4-era stock at many stores, and quite a few Xbox 360 games too.

Remember the difference between overall rarity, and rarity of a certain condition. Supply and demand doesn't just apply to a title, but also to all the various grades. Lots of things aren't rare but they also weren't kept in good shape, so anything that survives in factory minty shape can be worth a substantial premium if demand is there. You can see this at work in markets as different as cars and baseball cards. The reference books for other hobbies have different prices for different grades and weird things can happen (i.e., the widely-hoarded 1950-D Jefferson Nickel).

It sure it true that you can expect most media to last a long time, but it's not a guarantee. That's why I wrote earlier about sealed games being just an illusion of preservation. Unless what you're interested in is the "factory scent" that might still be lingering inside (mmmm, volatile organic compounds!), you could do a lot of preservation work for the money rich lazy yobs throw at slabbed games. It's a different kind of thing than a coin or card where a slab is one of the best ways to preserve condition and value while still being able to enjoy the item. But that being said, I've got a fair number of sealed games because I haven't been willing to lose the "value" or deal with the work of preservation, so I shouldn't throw too many stones...

[AdamAnt316]

Looks like an "alternative asset investment" firm called Rally (https://rallyrd.com/) (though still in conjunction with WATA, of course) is trying to get in on the money-laundering game:

A sealed copy of 'Super Mario Bros.' has sold for a record-breaking $2 million (https://www.engadget.com/super-mario-bros-rally-sale-164126689.html)

So, in the two-and-a-half years since I started this thread, we've gone from a bit over $100,000 to around $114,000 (a 'mere' 14% jump) in 17 months, then a big jump to $660,000 (478%) nine months later, and now we've gone to $2,000,000 ('only' 203%) a mere four months (and several insane auctions for other games) since then, a total jump of nearly 1,900% (if I'm using my HP 12C (https://www.hpmuseum.org/hp12c.htm) correctly) over the past 30 months. I'm no statistician, but that's pretty fucked up right there.......... X_x X_x X_x X_x X_x

[SpaceHarrier]

Wow, "Mario Mania" used to be in reference to a 1991 Nintendo Player's Guide, or the general phenomenon of the franchise's popularity back in the day. Now it's becoming akin to 1637 Dutch "tulip mania", the infamous asset bubble collapse following rampant speculation in flower bulb futures.

[gbpxl]

I probably will never even gross $2 mil in my lifetime. craziness

[AdamAnt316]

Surprise, surprise, surprise..........

YouTuber Accuses Million-Dollar Retro Game Sales Of Being Scams (https://kotaku.com/youtuber-accuses-million-dollar-retro-game-sales-of-bei-1847557296)

Granted, not the same as Wata and Heritage being clamped down on by the FBI or whatnot, but I could see something like that as being not too far off... :evil:

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Hope so. The idea of games, especially common ones, selling for more than new luxury cars, or, nowadays, NICE HOUSES pisses me off.

[Tron 2.0]

This video goes into the details about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A

What it comes down to a group of rich people inflating the market and making it into investment.

[mailman187666]

This video goes into the details about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A

What it comes down to a group of rich people inflating the market and making it into investment.

The funny thing is that a lot of long time collectors could smell the BS from a mile away with these million dollar games. Before this video even came out, I had suspected that maybe it "sold" for 1mil but you don't get any data on whether money exchanged hands. It's like ebay completed listings. Something can sell for a high price and it'll show you that, but there is no telling whether the person got paid.

[gbpxl]

I didnt watch the entire video but I got the gist of it. I hate when non-gamers purchase games solely as an investment (i.e. the dentist in that video who started "collecting" in 2019.) All it does is drive up prices for the people who actually like the games.