‘The Legend of Zelda,’ ‘Excitebike’ Original NES Games Sell For Ridiculous Prices

A lot of retro game collectors out there know the value of a good, rare NES game. Heck, we've seen copies of Bonk's Adventure and Panic Restaurant clear out for hundreds of dollars. But a new auction service has managed to start selling very rare versions of popular games for thousands.

Based on this report from ICV2, a group called Heritage Auctions has begun running auctions on certified and rare versions of games on its site, and they're clearing out at top dollar.

After receiving grading from a group known as Wata Games, the games go up for sale. One of the first was a very rare grey version of The Legend of Zelda, rated B+ by the group. Considering that most cartridges are produced with gold coloring, this is a highly sought after item- especially in that kind of condition.

The report indicates that the game sold for a whopping $3,360. And apparently that's not all that cleared out for that price.

Another auction featured an A-rated version of the racing game Excitebike, but with a special Revision-A type of the game, instead of the usual general cartridge that Nintendo put out. That makes it one of the first to makes the round. As a result, it managed to attract a bid price of $1,140 in all.

And there were more auctions where that came from, as the following items sold in the following conditions:

• Dragon Warrior (NES, Nintendo, 1989) Wata Games 8.5 A (Seal Rating): $660
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES, Nintendo, 1989), Wata Games 8.5 CIB (Complete in Box): $312
• Super Mario Bros. (NES, Nintendo 1985), Wata Games 8.0 CIB (Complete in Box): $312
• Wario's Woods (NES, Nintendo, 1994), Wata Games 9.4 A+ (Seal Rating): $228
• Mega Man 5 (NES, Capcom, 1992), Wata Games 6.0 CIB (Complete in Box): $216
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, Nintendo, 1990), Wata Games 6.5 CIB (Complete in Box): $210
• Double Dragon (SMS, Sega, 1988), Wata Games 9.6 CIB (Complete in Box): $204

Considering their success on the market, Heritage said it will continue to hunt down games like this to sell on its service. They'll no doubt attract fans that want certain versions of these games, to go along with their boxed copies of DuckTales 2 and Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers 2. (Yes, they still exist.)

What do you think about paying top dollar for old-school games like this? Let me know on Twitter at @TheDCD!

(Hat tip to ICV2.com for the scoop!)