“The Holy Grail of Games”
Collectors items from the world of video games have not (yet) reached the prices of a Blue Mauritius, but they are in no way inferior to stamps in terms of rarity. A real rarity, for example, is a special cartridge from the original The Legend of Zelda from 1987.
It is of course not just any cartridge from the first The Legend of Zelda from 1987. Currently, the Heritage Auctions website auctioned an extremely rare version of Link’s debut. Before you turn the mattress over and start counting, the current bid is $ 110,000 and the auction will run until July 9, 2021. Perhaps you’d rather look under the couch for some change.
Not just any Zelda game
The Legend of Zelda was released in Japan in 1986 and then also in Europe a year later. The version that is currently being auctioned at Heritage Auctions has the addition “NES-R” and became only produced for a few months at the end of 1987until they are then from the “Rev A” version was replaced. The cartridge is so rare that the online auction house assumes they have never offered such a version of this game and does not expect to be able to do it again in the next few years.
Heritage Auctions calls the “NES-R” cartridge one “Holy Grail Among Games” and emphasizes not only the rarity but also the video game cultural importance.
It’s even less common
To be worth the millions, as some postage stamps are, you need a little more. Maybe another variant of the Zelda cartridge will do it. According to Heritage Auctions, the “NES TM” variant only one sealed copy. This variant is the first production of The Legend of Zelda.
But there is still a long way to go before the postage stamps. It wasn’t until June 2021 a red Mauritius auctioned for 8.1 million euros. However, the stamp had 140 years more time to gain rarity and become a coveted collector’s item. The Legend of Zelda is already in demand, because someone is willing to pay 110,000 dollars. Incidentally, there is a surcharge of 20 percent on top of the bid – just so that you know for your calculation.
