You know, if only we had the foresight back in the 80s and 90s to buy 2 of every major Nintendo game--one to keep stored away sealed in a vault and another to actually play . . .
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Anyone want to spend 6 figures on a Nintendo game?
- Thread starter usagora
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Wow. Cannot imagine they’ll actually fetch anywhere near asking price.
Still, makes me sad I sold my sealed copy of SMB3 in the early 2000s for $325 when I needed some cash.
Still, makes me sad I sold my sealed copy of SMB3 in the early 2000s for $325 when I needed some cash.
I'd buy that for a dollar!
Seriously though. Millions of these games were sold. I find it hard to believe there aren't a bunch of these in the wild, unopened. There had to be more than a few kids who ended up with a second copy of the most popular games of the time. From the likes of grandparents and such.
Seriously though. Millions of these games were sold. I find it hard to believe there aren't a bunch of these in the wild, unopened. There had to be more than a few kids who ended up with a second copy of the most popular games of the time. From the likes of grandparents and such.
I have a pretty large classic video game collection.
No plans to sell it, but I am curious with how much everything would be worth.
It is mostly Nintendo stuff, and some of the stuff is kind of rare.
My brother was telling me about a Sega CD game, cannot remember which one, is selling for a few thousand dollars.
Another one he was telling about is the Earth Bound SNES special box set, with the large box and players guide, it is selling for a few thousand dollars on eBay.
But, a sealed SMB3 listed for 6-figures? That is insane.
No plans to sell it, but I am curious with how much everything would be worth.
It is mostly Nintendo stuff, and some of the stuff is kind of rare.
My brother was telling me about a Sega CD game, cannot remember which one, is selling for a few thousand dollars.
Another one he was telling about is the Earth Bound SNES special box set, with the large box and players guide, it is selling for a few thousand dollars on eBay.
But, a sealed SMB3 listed for 6-figures? That is insane.
Or they just might:
Unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. sells for a record $2 million
It’s the latest vintage game to sell for big bucks
www.theverge.com
Well I sure never received a duplicate game as a gift in all my life, and even if I did, I would never have kept it hidden way thinking it might be worth 4+ figures one day. My parents would probably make is give it back or re-gift it to someone else. "CIB" (complete in box) copies are probably a lot more abundant (though many of those boxes, manuals, etc. are in pretty bad or mediocre condition). But a factory-sealed mint copy? Very rare as far as I know, thus the prices.
These are almost universally money laundering vehicles or some kind of financial scam between parties that are working together.
There was a big exposé a few years ago on one of these grading companies and how they were self-dealing.
This is an easy way to 'wash' money, just like a lot of fine art - especially from upstart artists. You get one person to get a collection, sell it to their friends a few times in publicly huge-deal auctions, then they create an artificial market and have an easy way to get rid of questionable money through 'legal' means. With art they have an even easier time because they can 'write-off' fair market value (which is the market they created) when donating to galleries or museums. In the games case it was mostly the grading companies being involved.
It's crazy that this is still going on. There are some very rare games worth a good amount of money but millions for a sealed game that sold a million copies? No chance, but it makes a fun headline and people keep repeating the same non-researched junk all over the internet. "Rich people moving money around" doesn't make for an interesting clickbait article.
So, don't feel bad – unless you are in the criminal wealthy underworld you wouldn't be getting these prices anyway, and those aren't people whose attention you want to get. It's not like missing out on bitcoin for 2 cents or whatever (which is still its own can of bs).
There was a big exposé a few years ago on one of these grading companies and how they were self-dealing.
This is an easy way to 'wash' money, just like a lot of fine art - especially from upstart artists. You get one person to get a collection, sell it to their friends a few times in publicly huge-deal auctions, then they create an artificial market and have an easy way to get rid of questionable money through 'legal' means. With art they have an even easier time because they can 'write-off' fair market value (which is the market they created) when donating to galleries or museums. In the games case it was mostly the grading companies being involved.
It's crazy that this is still going on. There are some very rare games worth a good amount of money but millions for a sealed game that sold a million copies? No chance, but it makes a fun headline and people keep repeating the same non-researched junk all over the internet. "Rich people moving money around" doesn't make for an interesting clickbait article.
So, don't feel bad – unless you are in the criminal wealthy underworld you wouldn't be getting these prices anyway, and those aren't people whose attention you want to get. It's not like missing out on bitcoin for 2 cents or whatever (which is still its own can of bs).
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This is certainly another sign of late-stage capitalism.
Not that I'm generally opposing free-market capitalism but this is just dumb.
You're buying a collectors items you'll never be able to play and which is probably not even working anymore.
Not that I'm generally opposing free-market capitalism but this is just dumb.
You're buying a collectors items you'll never be able to play and which is probably not even working anymore.
It probably works fine.
Almost everyone of my large collection of NES games still work. I still have Atari 2600 games that still work.
Trust me, people aren't buying these to play, but as an investment. There's plenty of loose cartridges out there they can buy if they want to play the game. And unless the cartridge has been exposed to severe elements or physically damaged, there's no reason it shouldn't work. Games that use save batteries might need the battery replaced, and sometimes the contacts need to be cleaned, but that's usually about it.
It's not even a good investment. There is over 150 WATA graded 9.2+ SMB3s. That is almost half of what has been graded in total (343). And asking close to half a million for a Player's Choice version of the most common SNES game just seems insane. There's a high chance out there with these super common games somebody has a sealed carton of the darn things sitting in a warehouse or storage unit too.
Time for me to dig through the black of the closet and find my Turbografx-16 games like Bonk's Adventure, Silent Debuggers, Blazing Lasers and Splatterhouse.
These aren't real. They're fraud. Ever since COVID there was a string of auctions like these that attempt to artificially inflate retro game prices
Report alleges auction and grading ‘fraud’ is behind recent surge in retro game prices
UPDATE: Auction house and grading firm deny colluding to manipulate the market…
www.videogameschronicle.com
Game grading firm Wata hit with lawsuit for "manipulating" retro market
Wata is accused of inflating prices, false advertising and more.
www.nme.com
The same is happening for "graded" VHS tapes as well.
These aren't real. They're fraud. Ever since COVID there was a string of auctions like these that attempt to artificially inflate retro game prices
Report alleges auction and grading ‘fraud’ is behind recent surge in retro game prices
UPDATE: Auction house and grading firm deny colluding to manipulate the market…
Game grading firm Wata hit with lawsuit for "manipulating" retro market
Wata is accused of inflating prices, false advertising and more.
Even if those allegations are true and they're only worth thousands, that would be a nice profit!