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Vintage unopened Super Mario Bros game breaks auction bid record
A vintage Super Mario Bros game sold for a record amount at auction.
An unopened copy of a vintage Super Mario Bros. video game was sold for $114,000 in a Dallas auction, shattering previous bid records for a video game.
The record-breaking sale took place in the third session of Heritage Auctions' Comics & Comic Art event July 10, according to a news release from Heritage Auctions.
The anonymous bidder snagged an early version of the pioneering Super Mario Bros. game released in 1985 for Nintendo's NES console during an auction conducted Friday by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
Heritage Auctions' previous record amount for a video game was a $100,150 bid made early last year for an unopened copy of the same game, the news release continued.
"The demand for this game was extremely high, and if any lot in the sale could hit a number like that, it was going to be this one," Heritage Auctions Video Games Director Valarie McLeckie said. "We knew this would be a strong live session, but I don't think anybody could have anticipated how much bidding action there was on Heritage Live! and the phones. These results only verify Heritage Auctions' position in this rapidly growing market."
The Super Mario Bros. copy that sold for a new record was part of a collection of video games from the 1980s and 1990s that sold to various buyers for nearly $700,000, which was well above Heritage Auction's initial target of about $500,000.
Other titles auctioned off included “Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!" a 1987 video game based on the former former heavyweight boxing champion, that sold for $50,400.
Mike Tyson Punch-Out 1987 game.
Other top lots in the session included:
Wild Gunman - Wata 9.4 A Sealed [Hangtab, 2 Code, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA: $26,400
Contra - Wata 9.4 A Sealed [Round SOQ, Early Production], NES Konami 1988 USA: $21,600
Super Mario Bros. 3 - Wata 9.8 A+ Sealed [Bros. "Right," Later Production], NES Nintendo: $20,400
Duck Hunt - Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Rev-A, Round SOQ, Later Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA: $14,400
Rygar - Wata 9.6 B Sealed [Hangtab, First Production], NES Tecmo 1987 USA: $12,600
Gyromite - Wata 6.0 A++ Sealed [Matte Sticker, First Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA: $11,100
The Associated Press contributed to this report.