'Super Mario Bros. 3' just sold for a record $156,000.
'Super Mario Bros. 3' just sold for a record $156,000
More than $150,000 for a Mario game? In this economy?
Yes, on Friday morning, Heritage Auctions announced it sold a rare, sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System for a record-breaking $156,000.
Twenty bidders battled to spend the most ever paid for a video game.
Why did this copy of the game sell for so much?
According to Heritage, sealed copies Super Mario Bros. 3 with this particular packaging are rare. Most gamers recognize the cover art of the game, with Mario gliding through the sky with his raccoon cap and the title of the game centered above him. But the earliest production of the box art looked a tad bit different.
The thing that makes this box art so special is the word “Bros.” appears on the left-hand side of the box, covering Mario’s glove. That’s it.
And, pack rats, before you go digging through your old Nintendo game collection to see if you too have this version of the cover art, there’s something else that makes this record-breaking copy unique.
The vintage video game grading company, Wata Games, gave this copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 a score of 9.2 A+. That means the sealed copy was in near-perfect shape. For comparison, Heritage points out that another sealed copy of this version of Super Mario Bros. 3 sold in July for $38,400. The difference? It was only graded 9.0 A.
Today’s sale shattered the previous record holder, a sealed copy of the original Super Mario Bros. which sold for $114,000 just this past July. In Heritage’s press release, the auction house seemed surprised to have broken this record twice in the same year.
"That said, it's no surprise that another Mario game, which so many of us grew up with, would set the new bar,” the company said in a statement.
Heritage shared details of another notable video game auction today. A sealed original copy of the 1998 Nintendo Gameboy game Pokémon Red Version sold for $84,000, the highest price ever paid for a Pokémon game.
Here’s hoping looking at these sealed, very expensive video games makes their new owners happy.
lol, the picture in the facebook article could have actually used the right box art...
ReplyDeleteGreat now people on Facebook that don't know anything about video games are going to be asking 150k for their copy of super Mario 3 game :( >.<
ReplyDeleteWatch them get sued by Nintendo for purchasing something they didn't sell.
ReplyDeleteGreat. Everytime I get rid of something it becomes a collectors item
ReplyDeleteMisleading picture a side,
ReplyDeleteIt was a graded one sold to dumbarses with more money than sense.
The new type of collectors that haven't a friggen clue what they are buying its just an "Investment"
One of my favorite nes games of all times own this game even down loaded in of the Wii GBA take on Go
ReplyDeleteThat's a lie you can't even give them games away these days trust me I had 200 games couldn't even get 200 with this economy smh
ReplyDeleteI prob still have mine sitting around 70k gets it.
ReplyDeleteYou know if you have Nintendo switch online and you download the free Nintendo online thing they have it on there lol
ReplyDeleteI have super Mario 1, 2 and 3. With my original Nintendo made in 1985. Gladly sell it for $20,000.
ReplyDeleteKinda crazy that the difference between a $200 copy and $156,000 copy is a thin layer of plastic.
ReplyDeleteAnd the difference in a $200 copy and a $20 copy is a cardboard box!
DeleteI'm not sure I'll ever really understand the collector mindset. Like, someone really spent $156,000 to not play SMB3.
ReplyDeleteMust be nice to have fuck you money.
I get the mindset, just not the money. I think it'd be super cool to have a sealed copy of SMB3, I'm just not paying six figures for it lol
DeleteI had a sealed copy of chrono trigger and opened it because games are meant to be played.
DeleteLike any other form of art, really. It’s rare and people get joy out of having it, therefore it is valuable.
Delete"Left Bros" - checks out
ReplyDeleteI can see value at 1k but 100x that, uh no
ReplyDelete“ While the condition of the game is remarkable, what makes this copy even more singular is the layout of the packaging itself: Exceedingly rare are sealed copies with the word ‘Bros.’ formatted to the left, covering one of Mario's signature white gloves,” Heritage Auctions said. ”. I figured there must be something to make this example special. Although it’s still not worth this much at all.
ReplyDelete