The Legend of Zelda NES cartridge auctioned at record $1.2m

If you are a collector of any kind, chances are, you are always on the lookout for a holy grail. The one special item that outstrips everything else in the collection in terms of rarity, value, or just nostalgia.

For fans of The Legend of Zelda series from Nintendo, it could very well be this sealed cartridge of The Legend of Zelda, which exchanged hands for a cool US$870,000 (S$1.2 million).

The amazing transaction happened at an auction organised by Heritage Auctions, and broke the record for the highest-priced video game ever sold. The previous record was US$660,000 for Super Mario Bros., which Heritage also oversaw.

The money at play here is certainly staggering. Previous sales of the same game saw the highest bid come in at US$50,400. This new record is roughly 17 times that.

Pristine condition

The sealed cartridge of The Legend of Zelda is well worth it to collectors. It is factory sealed, and has been rated 9.0 A sealed by Wata, with 10 being the highest rating. It is the only copy from one of the earliest production runs that Heritage managed to get its hands on. This will be an opportunity that is hard to come by.

“It is widely believed that the copy sold Friday is one of just two sealed ‘NES TM’ copies graded by Wata,” the release stated. “Essentially, this copy is the earliest sealed copy one could realistically hope to obtain,” the auction description said.

The cartridge also happens to be a rare variant edition of The Legend of Zelda that was only produced for a few months in late 1987 before it was replaced by another. When you are spending that kind of money, chances are, you are a superfan of some sort.

Congratulations to the winning bid, and know that the world looks on in envy!

This article was first published in Geek Culture.