Rare Copy of Super Mario Bros. Sells for $3 Million at Auction

Some collectors are willing to pay a lot for a well-preserved rare copy of a game.

Another major deal for the sale of a classic Nintendo Entertainment System game recently took place. An auction on the Heritage Auctions platform concluded, where a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. was purchased for $3 million.

This deal set a new record. The previous record, $2 million, dates back to 2021 – when another sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. was sold.

The lot description on Heritage Auctions explains its collectible value. This is not just a “well-preserved sealed copy” of Super Mario Bros., but an early specimen from the second print run with a glossy sticker:

The glossy sticker format was introduced in early 1986 after a brief use of a matte sticker (which was found exclusively on launch copies from Nintendo's test run in October 1985). Since no sealed copies of the first print run are known to exist, [this lot] is the earliest confirmed sealed copy of this revolutionary game.

It is noteworthy that in 2020, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. was sold for only $114,000.