Sealed Super Mario Bros. Sells for $114,000, Sets New Record

The sale of a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System has set a new record for the sale of an individual game after it recently went for $114,000 at auction. This Heritage Auctions sale tops the previous record that was held by a similar copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES that was also sold via Heritage Auctions early last year. That copy, which was an earlier printing in similar condition, went for $100,150.

Notably, this most recent copy appears to be from after Nintendo stopped using stickers and moved to shrink wrap in the late 1980s. It includes a cardboard hangtab underneath the shrinkwrap, which indicates that it was part of the short production run immediately following the shift. The full classification from Heritage Auctions is “Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Hangtab, 3 Code, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA.” You can check out a look at the certified game behind its plastic case below:

The Super Mario Bros. sale was part of a larger auction of items, including a console prototype for a second model of the Sega Saturn that went for $84,000, totalling nearly $700,000 against a pre-auction estimate of $428,000 — though none of the other individual games came even close to the final price of the Super Mario Bros. game. “The demand for this game was extremely high, and if any lot in the sale could hit a number like that, it was going to be this one,” said Valarie McLeckie, Heritage Auctions Video Games Director, as part of the press release. “We knew this would be a strong live session, but I don’t think anybody could have anticipated how much bidding action there was on Heritage Live! and the phones. These results only verify Heritage Auctions’ position in this rapidly growing market.”

What do you think of the new record? Anything you feel like could top it? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!