A mint copy of a US version of the 1985 Super Mario Bros.game just sold for $114,000 at Heritage Auctions, breaking the previous record set by a copy of Super Mario Bros. in similar condition that sold for $100,150 at an auction last year.
According to game collector and journalist Chris Kohler, the most expensive game ever sold to date.
A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. just sold at auction for $114,000, which is a new record for the sale of a single game. Bet the owners of the $100,000 one, which is an earlier printing, feel great today. pic.twitter.com/lVdcla8d19
— Chris Kohler (@kobunheat) July 10, 2020
According to Heritage Auctions, the auction house that handled this massive transaction, the cardboard hangtab was a major factor in this copy’s extreme price – cardboard was the first batch of cartridge casings tested in the United States before it was switched to plastic.
“There are four sub-variants of the plastic sealed cardboard hangtab box (this particular copy of Super Mario Bros. being the “3 Code” variant) that were produced within the span of one year. Each sub-variant of the cardboard hangtab black box, produced within that timeframe, had a production period of just a few months; a drop in the bucket compared to the title’s overall production run,” explains Heritage in the product’s description.
#HeritageLIVE Super result for highest-graded Super Mario Bros. – Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Hangtab, 3 Code, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA: $114,000 at Heritage Auctions!!https://t.co/q190oZxtAY#Comics #VideoGames #SuperMarioBros pic.twitter.com/OWKsyYW1L6
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) July 10, 2020
There are four sub-variants of the plastic sealed cardboard hangtab box (this particular copy of Super Mario Bros. being the “3 Code” variant) that were produced within the span of one year. Each sub-variant of the cardboard hangtab black box, produced within that timeframe, had a production period of just a few months; a drop in the bucket compared to the title’s overall production run.
In short, a cardboard hangtab copy of any early Nintendo Entertainment System game brings a certain air of “vintage” unrivaled by its successors.