Graded NES Super Mario Bros Sells For Record £78,000

Super Mario Bros.

Back in the late ’80s (either 1988 or 1989), I was lucky enough to get a NES for Christmas. I was rather into the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles at the time and with my system coming bundled with it my lifelong love affair with gaming truly began. Having a much older brother, however, it wasn’t long after when he came home with a copy of Super Mario Bros and as much as I loved that game, today I think we both might be wishing we’d left it in the box!

In a report via Kotaku, a graded and sealed copy of the NES classic has just been sold at auction for a whopping £78,000.

A Huge Jump In Value

Being graded at 9.4, the copy was considered as in near mint condition. When you consider, however, that the last time something like this appeared on the auction market, it (only) sold for £23,000. Based on this new figure, there has clearly been something of a huge upturn in the last 2-years. Well, that and the fact that the economy as a whole is looking a bit rosier than it did then.

There is, however, quite a significant difference between these two versions and it all comes down to one small sticker.

First Off The Line

The very first release of the Super Mario Bros game was not shrink-wrapped. It instead had a very small sticker sealing the game in the box. It is (amazingly) this small sticker that has made all the difference in the price here. This isn’t just a sealed mint copy of a classic game, it’s essentially (using book terms) the ‘1st edition’.

It’s amazing just how much a small sticker can cost you!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!