Sealed copy of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros that was originally bought in 1986 has sold at auction for a whopping $660,000 at U.S auction house Heritage Auctions. The game that sold on Friday was purchased as a Christmas gift in 1986 but it had been placed in a desk drawer, where it remained untouched for more than 3 decades.
“It stayed in the bottom of my office desk this whole time since the day I bought it,” the seller, who asked not to reveal identity, told Heritage Auctions. “I never thought anything about it.”
“Since the production window for this copy and others like it was so short, finding another copy from this same production run in similar condition would be akin to looking for single drop of water in an ocean,” said Valarie McLeckie, video games director for Heritage Auctions.
Heritage Auctions called it the “finest known copy” of the game, with even the perforated cardboard hangtab intact. The opening bid at the auction was $310,000.In the past year, interest in factory-sealed video games has greatly expanded, and games for the Nintendo Entertainment System are often the hottest investments. Collectors have been able to quickly flip titles for thousands of dollars in profits.
Super Mario is a platform game series created by Nintendo, featuring their mascot, Mario. Alternatively called the Super Mario Bros. series or simply the Mario series, it is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. A day commemorating Mario’s birthday is also celebrated on March 10 every year.
