Moustache Johnny
An incredibly rare version of ‘Super Mario Bros.’ has just smashed the record for the single most expensive video game ever sold. At $114,000 USD, it beat the old record held by a different version of the same game by more than $13,000 USD. That’s a lot of coins to knock out of that block.
Originally released in 1985, the iconic game and character put Nintendo Entertainment System on the map and in the homes of countless gamers worldwide. We just didn’t call ourselves that back then. Unbelievably, the game was never taken out of the box before being auctioned off.
Its condition is nearly identical to how it would’ve hit retailers’ shelves for the first time in the ’80s. An almost perfect 9.4 grading verifies it’s preservation. The auction was held at Heritage Auctions, won by an unknown buyer. According to Heritage Auctions, this edition of ‘Super Mario Bros.’ commanded such a price due to its rare cardboard hang tab. The first batch of casings tested in the U.S. market “before plastic was used to seal each game,” so only a few exist today as they “had a production period of just a few months.”
As the first generation of lifelong gamers began to conquer the business world, expect to see this trend continue to get bigger as the games that shaped our childhoods become gallery status pieces of nostalgia.
