Sealed 1985 Super Mario Bros. Cartridge Fetches $3 Million at Auction

Heritage Auctions announced that a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System sold for $3 million, establishing a new high for video-game collectibles. The cartridge was found inside a brand-new Control Deck NES console bundle and had remained untouched for almost four decades.

"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," said Evan Masingill, Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions.

The item comes from the second print run of the game and is the oldest known sealed copy, featuring a 1986 glossy sticker and a cardboard hang tab discontinued in 1987. It received a PSA grade of 9.6, the highest for this title, with only two similar sealed copies known to exist. The previous record for a highly graded Super Mario Bros. cartridge was a $2 million private sale in 2021, and an earlier 2021 sale of a different copy fetched $660,000.

Heritage Auctions has opened a channel for potential buyers to submit offers to the current owner.