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[IbizaPocholo]

A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda just sold for nearly a million dollars

Somebody paid $870,000 at auction for a rare copy.

www.theverge.com

A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda for the NES just sold for $870,000 at Heritage Auctions, breaking the previous record for the most expensive game ever sold (as far as I am aware, at least). That record was just raised quite a bit in April when a copy of Super Mario Bros. was auctioned for $660,000, a price that more than quadrupled the previous known record.

As for why this version of the game is so valuable? I’m just going to leave part of Heritage Auctions’ grandiose explanation here:

While it is a hard truth, it is a truth nonetheless — none of the copies we’ve offered of this title previously could even attempt to hold a candle to this one due to its incredibly rare variant that holds early production status. This matter is completely inarguable. This is the only copy from one of the earliest production runs that we’ve ever had the opportunity to offer, and, possibly will have the opportunity to offer, for many years to come. Considering this variant was only produced for a few months in late 1987 before it was ultimately replaced by the “Rev-A” variant in early 1988, this statement likely comes as no surprise to collectors. Only one other variant precedes the offered “NES R” variant and that is the “NES TM” variant, which is the true first production run. However, it is also widely believed that only a single sealed “NES TM” example exists, and there is no telling whether or not that copy will ever come to market. Essentially, this copy is the earliest sealed copy one could realistically hope to obtain.

 

[Gamerguy84]

Reason number 10 for physical over digital.

 

[BennyBlanco]

wonder who is buying shit like this? huge fans who are also rich or is it some kind of investment where they want to turn a profit in 10 years or whatever.

either way this is fucking stupid

 

[LOLCats]

wonder who is buying shit like this? huge fans who are also rich or is it some kind of investment where they want to turn a profit in 10 years or whatever.

either way this is fucking stupid

With everything going digital, physical games are going to be even more collectable. This is nothing different than tom brady rookie card selling for 2mil or whatever. They are indeed investments for collectors and im sure they have an insurance bill to go with it.

i tell you right now i got some shit in my closet that is worth 500-1000% more than original cost (not exaggerating) and yes i worry about it all the fucking time.

 

[Stuart360]

 

[squarealex]

Free on some website retro ROM

 

[Porcile]

wonder who is buying shit like this? huge fans who are also rich or is it some kind of investment where they want to turn a profit in 10 years or whatever.

either way this is fucking stupid

Maybe they just want a rare game, in the best possible condition for their collection? You might as well ask why people buy anything that isn't clothes, food and water.

 

[kretos]

wonder who is buying shit like this?

clowns with too much money

would be funny if whoever bought it was walking down the street and holding the copy and it falls under a car's wheels and gets crushed

 

[Kilau]

Damn rupee laundering.

 

[LOLCats]

clowns with too much money

would be funny if whoever bought it was walking down the street and holding the copy and it falls under a car's wheels and gets crushed

But when would a person this rich "walk down a street" with a million dollar investment flopping in their hand?

oh wait, a clown i see. If a millionaire clown bought an ultra rare video game for 870 thousand dollars, they would of course drive their clown car to pick it up, then just carry it like a burrito to the car.... this is about when it will fall under the car wheels and get crushed. Got it!

 

[Stuart360]

clowns with too much money

would be funny if whoever bought it was walking down the street and holding the copy and it falls under a car's wheels and gets crushed

Or it was just a promotional copy they had on show with the plastic case, and there was no actual cartridge in the box.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Reason number 10 for physical over digital.

Digital can be done right, simply providing an installer for example.

 

[LOLCats]

Digital can be done right, simply providing an installer for example.

lol! Ok... you meant to say a blockchain format of a game that has a finite solution to number of copies.

 

[Deleted member 820760]

People buy these as an investment. It's not stupid when it will make them a fuckload of money down the track.

It's the same reason people buy million dollar diamonds. They're not just "fucking rocks".

 

[TLZ]

This is stupid. In any way anyone's going to spin it.

If I'm going to throw away $870k, I'd rather give them to a few families who need that kind of money.

Invest in your community. Not some stupid "rare collector's item".

 

[TLZ]

People buy these as an investment. It's not stupid when it will make them a fuckload of money down the track.

It's the same reason people buy million dollar diamonds. They're not just "fucking rocks".

Yay more greed!

 

[SJRB]

This is stupid. In any way anyone's going to spin it.

If I'm going to throw away $870k, I'd rather give them to a few families who need that kind of money.

Invest in your community. Not some stupid "rare collector's item".

How very altruistic of you.

 

[Deleted member 820760]

Yay more greed!

Greed or not, mate. It's the truth.

These people are not idiots just throwing their money away.

 

[nikolino840]

Reason number 10 for physical over digital.

Buying games for a milioni?

 

[Punished Miku]

To think I lived to watch this happen. In my lifetime I could have just kept this in the box and made almost a million dollars.

 

[6502]

Hmmm..

I was kinda hoping this means my sealed gamecube twilight princess may win me some money one day..

Then I remember last week I told the Mrs my barely used boxed jaguar (cost a tenner) is now worth hundreds. When she asked if I was going to sell it I said no way.. as they are going for hundreds!

I would be the worlds worst scalper..

 

[anthony2690]

clowns with too much money

would be funny if whoever bought it was walking down the street and holding the copy and it falls under a car's wheels and gets crushed

If a person can just drop near a million on a game they don't plan on playing and will leave sealed, they probably wouldn't care too much as I bet they could easily afford another.

 

[dave_d]

Damn, I originally bought Zelda when it first came out in 87.(Same with Metroid and a ton of other NES and SMS games.) Are you telling me if I had bought a second copy and didn't open it there would be some idiot who'd pay that much?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Damn, I originally bought Zelda when it first came out in 87.(Same with Metroid and a ton of other NES and SMS games.) Are you telling me if I had bought a second copy and didn't open it there would be some idiot who'd pay that much?

only if you were enough of a spaz to throw it in one of these protective cases

 

[clem84]

Nintendo :

 

[CitizenZ]

I mean 70/30 this is the winner?

 

[dave_d]

only if you were enough of a spaz to throw it in one of these protective cases

I didn't do that, I actually played it for fun.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

I had one of those

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[ipukespiders]

Yay more greed!

 

[MrMephistoX]

My dad had Mickey Mantle’s Rookie card and my grandma gave his baseball card collection away for free to neighbors. I kept the cardboard and my gold copy of legend of Zelda and my mom send it to goodwill. Life lesson take anything of value with you to college.

 

[Joshmyersbv]

Someone should run into that guys house, open the game, blow in the cartridge and then shove the game into a Nintendo the wrong way lol.

 

[Moonjt9]

Heritage auctions is a huge scheme of the same collectors buying and selling shit between them to pump up prices and manufacture hype. Such a scam. There’s a reason these crazy numbers only come from their auctions and nowhere else.

 

[ChazAshley]

Used to partner with a sports card/ccg store a few years back. They would often stream box openings of sports cards which would cost hundreds by the box. I discovered it was legit oil tycoons and doctors with money to spare who would casually spend money every week like a lotto ticket. (I won't even get into the whole collectors side of it)

I mean, buyers would get disappointed if their cards only ended up being $20s-50s worth of cards.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if 870k was chump change to the buyer.

 

[Corgi1985]

Damn. Imagine if it was from a good series how much it would get.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Damn. Imagine if it was from a good series how much it would get.

 

[German Hops]

Damn. Imagine if it was from a good series how much it would get.

 

[Urban]

Damn. Imagine if it was from a good series how much it would get.

 

[LMJ]

Not surprising, video games are very much a collectable, and the more rare and mint an item the higher it will sell for.

The same happens to nearly anything physical in good condition with a limited run

 

[SafeOrAlone]

This is stupid. In any way anyone's going to spin it.

If I'm going to throw away $870k, I'd rather give them to a few families who need that kind of money.

Invest in your community. Not some stupid "rare collector's item".

I see where you are coming from, but this is dangerous line of thinking. Have you ever spent money on entertainment that you could have spent on those in need?

Then to the guy who has less than you to spend on entertainment, you are greedy.

 

[FunkMiller]

Eh. If the loser has enough money to waste on a cheap bit of plastic and card, who are we to judge?

I’d feel like a right cunt pissing away that kind of cash on something so pointless, but the guy could be a multimillionaire, and 870k to him is like five hundred to the rest of us.

 

[Birdo]

The internal battery is probably dead.

 

[sircaw]

Will the item hold its value?, is there another nutta out there that will pay double the price for this item in a few years, then i can see it as a good investment.

At the end of the day it's their money to do what they wish with,

Personally, i would rather donate it to my local RSPCA, but everyone is different.

 

[truth777]

wonder who is buying shit like this? huge fans who are also rich or is it some kind of investment where they want to turn a profit in 10 years or whatever.

either way this is fucking stupid

Yes. It’d be different if this was some type of unseen and rare game, but Nintendo literally printed a bazillion copies of the original Zelda. To pretend this is worth more just due to it being an earlier release is purely delusional.

 

[lame gag1990]

Eh. If the loser has enough money to waste on a cheap bit of plastic and card, who are we to judge?

I’d feel like a right cunt pissing away that kind of cash on something so pointless, but the guy could be a multimillionaire, and 870k to him is like five hundred to the rest of us.

How is he a loser if he's rich?

 

[TheDreadLord]

I don’t really care, good for who manage to sell this for such huge amount of money. My main grip with it is that it artificially inflates the retro gaming market.

 

[German Hops]

How is he a loser if he's rich?

It doesn't take much to scratch off a lotto ticket.

 

[McCheese]

And to think my wife keeps asking me why the fuck I have a sealed copy of The Baldies for the Atari Jaguar CD on the shelf.

Just you wait until that one person who played the game becomes a billionaire and can't find fulfilment in their life without it... any minute now...

 

[Cyberpunkd]

clowns with too much money

Salty you didn’t make better choices in life? Whoever bought it is either a massive fun, very skilled and savvy collector and/or this is pennies for them.

 

[lh032]

Digital can be done right, simply providing an installer for example.

people collect physical copies for a reason. Physical, put on shelf for showcase purpose, they are not going to play it.

Lol collecting digital, come on.