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Thread: $30,100.44 for 1 Copy of Super Mario Bros.

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    Default $30,100.44 for 1 Copy of Super Mario Bros.

    Quote Originally Posted by Time Magazine
    A rare sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for a little more than $30,000 on eBay Wednesday.

    An unnamed man who appears to be one of the most dedicated members of the video game fandom world bought the mint condition 1985 game from Pennsylvania-based classic video game trader DKOldies with the winning bid of $30,100.44.

    To outsiders, that may seem like a high cost to become the proud owner of a game, but they might not appreciate the most exciting feature, which distinguishes this Nintendo Entertainment System game from all those unwrapped $10 versions: a hangtag on the back that indicates the copy originates from back when video games hung on pegs in stores.

    "They said the reason that game went for so much was because Mario was always sold in the system," CEO Drew Steimel told Mashable quoting the experts of Reddit. "You bought it with the system, it came in the box. This particular copy was from before that happened, before Nintendo decided to bundle them. They only did it for a short time."

    You read that right. No box for this game, hence its final price.

    According to Steimel, it's the most anyone's forked over for a single game in his experience, and he paid in full. The same aficionado bought other sealed games at the same time, including a copy of Kid Icarus that he ultimately nabbed for $11,000.
    Source: http://time.com/4879077/super-mario-bros-ebay/

    There were 43 bidders.

    Original listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-Super-M...p2047675.l2557

    Internet Archive's copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20170802...p2047675.l2557

    Click image for larger version. 

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    "one of the most dedicated members of the video game fandom" aka someone with the deepest pockets

    Throwing a shitload of money around for shelf decorations that you'll never even open and play is not proof of your dedication to video games. It's just proof of your financial clout. Even people who only emulate retro games and can't afford to buy them can be just as dedicated if not more so, if they're dedicated to playing games, learning about games, doing something for the fandom, like creating community spaces or documenting information, etc. Maybe the buyer is doing that, I don't know, but I think it's dumb of Time Magazine to call the buyer "one of the most dedicated" based on what they spent alone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    but I think it's dumb of Time Magazine to call the buyer "one of the most dedicated" based on what they spent alone.
    yeah that is really dumb

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    "one of the most dedicated members of the video game fandom" aka someone with the deepest pocketsThrowing a shitload of money around for shelf decorations that you'll never even open and play is not proof of your dedication to video games. It's just proof of your financial clout. Even people who only emulate retro games and can't afford to buy them can be just as dedicated if not more so, if they're dedicated to playing games, learning about games, doing something for the fandom, like creating community spaces or documenting information, etc. Maybe the buyer is doing that, I don't know, but I think it's dumb of Time Magazine to call the buyer "one of the most dedicated" based on what they spent alone.
    Completely agree. There is too much money involved in our hobby in the meantime, it is somewhat disgusting. Not only when it comes to very rare games but also the average price for games for certain systems are way too high in the last couple of years.

    These kinds of articles are also terrible. In the meantime every Atari owner with a couple of games has the impression that the games are a lot worth just because they are old and 'antiques.' Additionally, the hype about valuable older games and rarity re-enforces the desperate search for the future Stadium Events which is awful for the prices of certain current games.

    ...and $11000 for a sealed Kid Icarus? Is this a joke? The market prices are inflated, this is very bad for the average used and complete game up until the PS1.

    If someone would have told me 20 years ago that these prices would be paid for simple sealed videogames, I would have dismissed it as just plain nutty.

    PS: I better hold on to my 7 incredibly rare sealed NES games which I got for $3,50 each from ebay 15 years ago, among them hardhitters like Track and Field II, Kings of the Beach, Deja Vu und Magic of Sheherezade. However, 'Galactic Crusader' which was in the same bunch is indeed a bit pricey in the meantime.
    Last edited by lendelin; 08-02-2017 at 11:12 AM.

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    I don't collect Nintendo games or consoles but I have bought a few sealed games in the past just because they're something incredibly rare nowadays and I kind of want to preserve that. So many kids just threw away their boxes and instruction manuals back in the day, it was always nice to find some unopened. I've got Ultimate Air Combat, Bart vs. the Space Mutants, and Golf.

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    It's reasons like that why I specifically look to buy used retro games (CIB used is always nice if not at an exorbitant price). If I acquired a sealed NES game or an even older sealed game, there's no way in hell I'd open it. For many games, it's equivalent to flushing a large sum of cash down the toilet, and even if there isn't a significant price difference between complete and sealed, I'd still feel bad opening a game that managed to stay sealed for 25+ years. One time I did find a sealed Intellivision game at a thrift, and even though it wasn't really worth jack, I still sold it off. Collecting games with the intention of permanently keeping them sealed isn't my thing, so I figured I'd let somebody else have at it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    It's reasons like that why I specifically look to buy used retro games (CIB used is always nice if not at an exorbitant price). If I acquired a sealed NES game or an even older sealed game, there's no way in hell I'd open it. For many games, it's equivalent to flushing a large sum of cash down the toilet, and even if there isn't a significant price difference between complete and sealed, I'd still feel bad opening a game that managed to stay sealed for 25+ years. One time I did find a sealed Intellivision game at a thrift, and even though it wasn't really worth jack, I still sold it off. Collecting games with the intention of permanently keeping them sealed isn't my thing, so I figured I'd let somebody else have at it.
    Aussie has a very salient point here.

    This isn't just confined to video games; a good example would be the old (and no-so-old) blister pack figures for Warhammer and the like. NIB/MIB can be a big deal, especially for a rare or 'premium' mini like Captain Draco or Chaplain Xavier or the army box exclusives. This can and does extend to whole model kits. This is juxtaposed with the 'player' mindset. You don't just want to get some rare goodies, you want to (gasp!) take knives and files and paint the things and then conquer the nearest table with them. It can be very hard to do both, even with a good amount of disposable income. Whole sections of the secondhand market are all about finding a rare fig because it's rare and you want to put it on a shelf to show off. These purchases smack of such a mentality.

    But having a bunch of paid-for trophies is very different than finding that rare (and not-so-rare) game, and taking it for a spin. Getting those games in as close to original state is a laudable and can be worth the effort and expense, but they're games; at the end of the day, you should be having fun with them. If you enjoy getting sealed or slabbed copies for collection value, that's fine, but get another (cheaper) copy and play the things, too. if you're freaking out because you got something sealed but you really want to play the thing but you'll ruin your investment by opening it, you need to set your sights a bit lower when buying things. Or devote the 'I want sealed stuff to stare at' to numismatics or something.
    RPGs: Proof that one you start done the dork path, forever will it dominate your wallet's destiny.

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    Sealed games are a trap but also a paradox... great it's sealed, and? For a game with it, did the battery burn a hole through the board or more? Has weather despite the seal caused something to rot within? Also, being a rarity people can get very stupid with their money fast either in a panic or out of desperation.

    This one I can't figure. It's not an original release SMB1. A very first run of that would have NO shrink, it would be hangtabbed on the back and have a black circle sticker seal in the middle of the top of the box on the flap with (Nintendo) on it in like silver if I recall right. Those are rare, very rare if the tab wasn't popped off in the least bit as it was most common for stores to pop and hang, not just leave in a stack.

    That said though, it's SMB1 the highest copies sold game for the NES (well sold or sold as a pack-in.) The fact that rivaled Stadium Events sealed which you can count on a hand last I cared to look smells of bs to me.


    But hey if they've gone up that much, anyone want to pay me $6000 for my sealed up Metroid in a yellow box I keep in a shadowbox? You could remove all my credit card debt, totally grateful really!

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    You would think he should be pissed at a***0(455) who is a likely shill that bid him up over 15k, for openers.
    -
    Pete Rittwage
    C64 Preservation Project
    http://c64preservation.com

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