Ultra rare copy of Super Mario Bros. sells for $3 million

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I can’t believe it! A brand new, still-sealed copy of the original Super Mario Bros. game just went for $3 million at auction! Apparently, the reason it fetched such a huge price is because the plastic seal was still perfectly intact. It’s amazing to think something like that could be worth so much!

This copy of the game is from a limited production run in 1985. Instead of the usual plastic wrap, Nintendo sealed it with a shiny sticker—a method they stopped using very quickly.

Heritage Auctions says this is the oldest unopened copy of the game known to exist, and it received a grade of 9.6 A++ from Professional Sports Authenticator. Simply put, it’s the rarest version of what is arguably the most famous video game of all time.

Super Mario Bros. hits 1-UP on auction record with $3 million sale

This comic book sold for $3 million, breaking the previous record of $2 million set at a Heritage Auctions sale in 2021. That sale happened shortly after a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million just days before.

To show just how much prices have increased: in July 2020, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. fetched $114,000 at auction – a record at the time. Now, six years later, that same game is selling for over 26 times that amount.

As an extra bonus with the purchase, Heritage included a functioning NES console, just in case the buyer ever wants to play it instead of keeping it sealed.

For several years, prices for unopened, classic video games have been rising quickly. This is mostly because people who grew up playing systems like the NES and N64 are now adults with disposable income, and they’re eager to collect items from their childhood.

The value of vintage video games that have been professionally graded has skyrocketed recently. How much a game is worth isn’t about the game itself anymore – it’s usually determined by its condition and specific version, with some selling for hundreds or even millions of dollars. Heritage Auctions has handled almost all of the highest sales in this growing market.

If you’ve been following how quickly prices are rising for rare video games, you might remember when a copy of Super Mario 64 sold for a record $1.56 million. Before that, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 sold for $156,000 in 2020, which seemed like an unbelievably high price at the time.

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2026-06-15 18:21