Not so long ago, headlines were made by the fact that a copy of Castlevania on the NES sold for a staggering $90,100 on eBay, setting a record on the popular auction site.
At the time, it was reported that the person selling the game – along with some other rare NES titles – had acquired them as part of an estate sale, and we now have a little more information on the origin of these games, thanks to Cllct (as spotted by Chris Kohler).
According to the report, the games were owned by a pair of brothers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who began collecting video games in the 1980s when they were in their 60s. They would often buy multiple copies of the same game, keeping one in pristine, sealed condition, clearly in the hope that they would one day be able to cash in on their rising value.
Tragically, it seems they passed away without taking advantage of their amazing forethought, and their estate was sold off without any knowledge of its potential value.
Many were purchased by a buyer who listed some of them on eBay, including the Castlevania, which sold for over $90,000. The same seller would sell Kid Icarus for $81,988.36 shortly afterwards.
"I am not a game player or collector," read that game's auction listing. "I am a reseller who bought the estate of an avid game collector. I will list items to the best of my ability and try to describe games accurately. They are not graded, and I am not familiar with how to grade video games."
This stance was affirmed by the fact that, initially, the seller had put the incredibly rare game up for sale at $500 'buy it now' before switching to an auction.
All of this activity has predictably caught the attention of collectors, with CGC grader Joseph Ross of the Sealed Games Club (SGC) posting:
The recent find in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is very exciting. The rarity and quality of the games coming from this estate sale are impeccable. Because of the condition and significance of this collection, CGC Video Games is willing to pedigree it as the Dallas-Fort Worth Collection.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas managed to get in touch with one of the resellers and duly sent Cris Bierrenbach to investigate.
"After we finally got an appointment to go see the games, we headed over to this gentleman’s place without any idea what we would find — but with high hopes," Bierrenbach told Cllct. "As we walked into his living room, and I saw the games piled on the kitchen table and arranged in several different boxes I knew that we were in for a special ride. Going through each box and finding each was like a true treasure hunt. I’ll never forget seeing that perfect sticker-seal 'Urban Champion,' or this super clean, gemmy first print 'Metroid' … and the Sega games! The early-master system with perfect seals! What a day!”
Heritage claims that around 90% of the games are sealed. 166 of the titles consigned to Heritage Auctions are awaiting grading at CGC – so it will be interesting to see what impact this influx of new stock has on the retro game collecting scene when they eventually make it to the market.
As Chris Kohler neatly puts it: Sell Your Shit Before You Die.