SMB3 sells for $156k

[Brickman | 3,982]

4 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

But I have yet to hear of who's buying these outrageously priced games.  Is it actually video game collectors or is it merely guys from other fields?  If it's not game collectors, then this is a bubble with a really thin lining at the top end of the pricing scale...

And we probably won’t get told until all these speculators have dumped their games. That’s why WATA is dragging their feet on a population report, they don’t want the speculation to end the money train. It would reveal how all these people are getting duped.

It’s pretty safe to say that the majority of people paying these crazy prices have no interest in the game or collecting. Just like the random investment banker from Brazil has no interest in action comic #1 or comics but still owns it anyway. 

[imanerd0011 | 10]

I just saw this on Nintendolife and thought it was fake.  A box variant of the most common NES game other than SMB??? What in hell! How many sealed Left Bros are there?  I know this one has a high rating, but jesus H! Sealed collecting has become completley out of control! 

[phart010 | 1,705]

22 minutes ago, imanerd0011 said:

I just saw this on Nintendolife and thought it was fake.  A box variant of the most common NES game other than SMB??? What in hell! How many sealed Left Bros are there?  I know this one has a high rating, but jesus H! Sealed collecting has become completley out of control! 

My understanding was that the left Bros is the first print. And given the tremendous launch for Mario 3 (they even made a movie to promote it), there were a lot of copies made in the first print

[GPX | 1,369]

I would love to have a chat and coffee with whoever purchased this particular graded copy for this amount, and ask him/her “WTF were you thinking?”

I mean, sure...sealed copy of a Mario game, passing through the machineries at WATA, and then processed through the halls at HA with a sprinkle of hype.. but how did this blow out to be this kind of value?

I would also like to ask them “couldn’t you hold on to find a raw sealed copy and then grade it later for perhaps a saving of $150,000?”

[RH | 4,895]

But this is what get's me with auctions.  There was a guy who was willing, and did pay +$150,000 for it... and there was someone else willing to pay it that bumped the price that high!

So, there are at least two people that valued this game at that much, probably because it was just there and accessible.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

9 minutes ago, RH said:

But this is what get's me with auctions.  There was a guy who was willing, and did pay +$150,000 for it... and there was someone else willing to pay it that bumped the price that high!

So, there are at least two people that valued this game at that much, probably because it was just there and accessible.

Well let's be honest here, thanks to Covid-19, they can't get to Africa to shoot Simba at the moment, might as well just put out the burning sensation in their pockets by buying a left Bros.

[DefaultGen | 5,399]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:37 PM, Code Monkey said:

Yes but it's a 9.2 grade which, oddly enough, isn't the highest graded copy. Expect to see this one hit a quarter million soon.

Out of all the bananas things of this sale, this is the most bananas. Action Comics, Detective Comics, Marvel Comics all hit all-time high sales when the highest graded copies sell. I don't know how many better copies are out there, but this is for sure not the best one. So they were wiling to pay an outlandishly all time high price, but not willing to shake loose the cream of the crop from someone else's hands and just settled for what was on the market today?

Same goes for any of these sales. If you're willing to pay $40k for a Super Mario Land, you're telling me you couldn't find a first print? Oh, is a first print rare, maybe that's why you would need like $40,000 to shake one loose.

Edited November 23, 2020 by DefaultGen

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

16 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Not even close. And they're not sealed in shrinkwrap, IIRC.

A complete Zelda FDS is probably around $70 or so.

At that price I'd buy 5 of them as throw away money just to see what happens.

[joshdose | 56]

On 11/22/2020 at 6:47 AM, GPX said:

I’d love for an article to delve deep into who’s actually buying these heavy hitters, and how legit these sales really are. Instead, all articles thus far are stating the sales as a matter-of-fact on an assumption people are actually paying up these end bids. 

Some of these prices are outrageous beyond belief, understatement!

Seems like a high percentage of these outrageous sales would end with the buyer not paying. I can think of many ways they could be scheming the market up by illegitimizing (is that a word?) these auctions. No way in hell this was a legitimate sale. I would have to see some sort of proof to believe it. Even then, I may be skeptical. LOL

[doner24 | 1,195]

2 minutes ago, joshdose said:

Seems like a high percentage of these outrageous sales would end with the buyer not paying. I can think of many ways they could be scheming the market up by illegitimizing (is that a word?) these auctions. No way in hell this was a legitimate sale. I would have to see some sort of proof to believe it. Even then, I may be skeptical. LOL

Heritage isn’t eBay, the sale and all the other ones were legit. 

[tbone3969 | 304]

24 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

At that price I'd buy 5 of them as throw away money just to see what happens.

Maybe you could find one with the sticker seal still in-tact / not opened.  Would be very hard though.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2020 by tbone3969

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

11 minutes ago, joshdose said:

Seems like a high percentage of these outrageous sales would end with the buyer not paying. I can think of many ways they could be scheming the market up by illegitimizing (is that a word?) these auctions. No way in hell this was a legitimate sale. I would have to see some sort of proof to believe it. Even then, I may be skeptical. LOL

Heritage Auctions doesn't allow you to bid prior to their approval, I had to call them and apply just to enable my account for bidding. After that they have your credit card on file so they just take payment once the auction finishes. If you don't pay, you get sued so there's your proof. 

[Tanooki | 4,930]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:44 PM, DefaultGen said:

...for crazy money. People dying for anything with a Pokeman or Mario on it at any price.

I bet they'd flip their shit over this piece.

[RH | 4,895]

Just now, Tanooki said:

I bet they'd flip their shit over this piece.

Man, I'd love to have the older Mario, holding the mushroom, jumping but there's no way I could afford one now.

Buuut if anyone does have one, hit me up.

[DefaultGen | 5,399]

14 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I bet they'd flip their shit over this piece.

Oval seal of quality  Please get me some EARLY Nintendo pieces, thanks.

[joshdose | 56]

I found my original Mario plush from the 80’s. How much you think I could fetch for this at Heritage Auctions? 

[RH | 4,895]

8 minutes ago, joshdose said:

I found my original Mario plush from the 80’s. How much you think I could fetch for this at Heritage Auctions? 

$225k, easy.

[O.G. CIB | 415]

1 hour ago, doner24 said:

Heritage isn’t eBay, the sale and all the other ones were legit. 

Not all auctions are paid for and that’s a fact. They don’t turn around and sue the buyer either.... they may be banished from the platform or restricted from purchasing. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a couple stories out there of what happens to the games when the seller doesn’t pay  

[artemis69 | 3]

Well im ready to send my high grade sealedcopy of legend of Zelda A Link to Past 1992 to Wata next week for grading and i would take a fifth of what Mario went for

[a3quit4s | 4,092]

55 minutes ago, joshdose said:

I found my original Mario plush from the 80’s. How much you think I could fetch for this at Heritage Auctions? 

That is the thing of nightmares

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

14 hours ago, joshdose said:

I found my original Mario plush from the 80’s. How much you think I could fetch for this at Heritage Auctions? 

I had one of those that I won at the county fair as a kid. I'm sure that it got thrown away years ago.

[Gulag Joe | 582]

There have been 90,000 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards graded. Mint 9's are commanding $200 right now. I do not believe there are 90,000 factory sealed copies of left bros. Demand is what is driving these prices. Its being speculated that these population reports are being kept hidden so insiders can buy up to sell even bigger as the interested buyers continue to multiply. This isn't limited to WATA. Game Value Now could easily determine populations simply based off of its users who have freely entered their collections into their database.

[Hammerfestus | 3,820]

What’s the difference between a dentist and a sadist?

[Tabonga | 2,314]

 

[a3quit4s | 4,092]

I'm just happy to have posted a topic that got so many responses.

I can't help but think about how someone mentioned here about buying collectables as a money laundering scheme. Please give yourself credit if you read this.