'Staggering' pristine copy of legendary game sells for record-breaking millions

NES games in such a pristine condition don't really exist Stories about forgotten collectibles that are suddenly discovered are practically cliché. The copy of Super Mario Bros. that just broke a sales record isn't like an old trading card your uncle found in the attic, though. This is a case where a history-defining game was found in a box nearly 40 years old, still shrink-wrapped. The fact it exists at all, let alone that it went completely untouched, is practically a miracle. On Friday, Heritage Auctions closed a "staggering" $3 million sale for a copy of Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System. “The remarkable backstory — it was just discovered a few months ago inside a brand-new Control Deck NES console bundle, meaning it has not been touched for nearly 40 years — makes the result even more impressive," says Evan Masingill, a Consignment Director at Heritage. You can inspect the box and its condition below: Previously, the record for a highly graded copy of Super Mario Bros. was a $2 million private sale in 2021, according to Heritage Auctions. Earlier that same year, a different Super Mario Bros. cartridge sold for $660,000 — which at the time was the most mon

Jun 15, 2026 → Jun 15, 2026