Game collecting reaches new heights as early Super Mario Bros. hits $372K bid ~ USA Latest Games

From the front, there's little to distinguish this box from the millions of others Nintendo has produced for Super Mario Bros.

For a while now, we've watched as early sealed copies of Super Mario Bros. have commanded six-figure prices at auction, starting with a $100,000 copy sold in 2019 and continuing through a $140,000 sale last year. Those previous sales look downright cheap now, though, as bidding on another sealed Super Mario Bros. has already reached $372,000 on Heritage Auctions.

That price comes after 13 early proxy bids, placed ahead of four days of live bidding for a large lot of comics and games memorabilia set to start on April 1. The bid also includes a 20 percent "buyer's premium" that will go to Heritage Auctions itself and not the game's current owner.

Early provenance, excellent condition

Unlike some earlier high-priced Super Mario Bros. sales, this copy isn't from the earliest production run of the game, which had a box sealed only with a small sticker and which was only sold in New York City during the NES's late 1985 test market run. But this copy is one of the earliest shrink-wrapped editions of the game, sold only for a short time in late 1986 according to WATA Games' guide. This copy also received an incredible 9.6 out of 10 on WATA Games' quality scale, with an "exceptional" A+ seal in "near-mint" condition. It also still has an intact hangtab, meaning it never had its seal pierced so it could be hung in a store display.

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