Rare copy of The Legend of Zelda auction sets record with $870,000

An extremely rare copy of The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System has netted a record $870,000. That is converted to 816,000 euros. According to the auction house, it is ‘the earliest print that still had a chance to appear’.

According to auction house Heritage Auctions, this is the second printing of the game packaging. They infer that from the lack of an imprint that reads ‘Rev-A’ and that it says ‘Nes R’ instead of ‘Nes TM’, which was on the very first printing. According to the site it may be “perhaps the last of this print to be auctioned for years to come” and “unpredictable whether the very first print will ever come along”, but it is believed that a single copy of it, fully sealed, consists.

The example is not only rare, but is also rated with a 9 in terms of the condition it is in. That is what Wata does, an organization that deals with collectible games. The motivation for why a point is dropped is not given.

With the amount, the record for what is paid for a video game has been broken again. Just a few months ago, that record was raised from $156,000 to $660,000. These were respectively copies of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Bros.

Image: Heritage Auctions