Out of 20 bidders, a rare, sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 set a record this past Friday for the most expensive video game sold at auction.
A Super Mario Bros. 3 variant was recently sold at auction, breaking the record for the world’s most expensive video game.
20 bidders battled for a sealed copy of the 1990 Super Mario Bros. 3 video game, which sold at Heritage Auctions Friday Nov. 20, 2020, for $156,000. Bidding opened at $62,500. This is the second time Super Mario Bros. broke the record for the most expensive video game sold at an auction: the 1985 Super Mario Bros. sold for $114,000 in July.
“We couldn’t be more pleased about breaking the world record for the second time in the same year,” said Heritage Auctions’ Director of Video Games, Valarie McLeckie. “That said, it’s no surprise that another Mario game, which so many of us grew up with, would set the new bar.”
According to a press release from Heritage Auctions, Super Mario Bros. 3 is in excellent condition and is graded Wata 9.2 A+. This edition of the game is particularly rare and difficult to find, mostly for its cover design which features the word “Bros.” oriented to the left over one of Mario’s white gloves.
Super Mario Bros. 3 wasn’t the only sealed game to set a record at auction this Friday. The Red Version of 1998’s Pokémon for Nintendo’s Game Boy sold for $84,000, which is the highest price paid for a Pokémon title.
Heritage Auctions reports that Friday was the world’s “first-ever million-dollar video-game auction,” with more video games set to go on sale as the auction continued Sunday, Nov. 22. Those interested in participating can start bidding now.
Source: Heritage Auctions