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

[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

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

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

[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/busin...ate/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/busin...ate/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

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

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