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Ultra Rare NES Cartridge Raking In A Fortune On Ebay
A factory-sealed copy of Stadium Events is currently on the auction block at Ebay, and bidders are willing to pay a hefty price for it.
The Bandai Co. sports title is one of the few North American NES games to use the Family Fun Fitness mat (later renamed the Power Pad), and has become a valued prize amongst collectors. How valuable? The current bidding on Ebay stands at a whopping $23,100, with 7 days left in the auction. The rare game opened at a relatively modest starting price of $5,000 on Monday, but a number of interested bidders quickly brought the price into the $20,000+ range.
So why's the game so darn expensive? According to the owner, Nintendo purchased the rights to the Family Fun Fitness mat and Stadium Events in 1987, and issued a complete recall of the game for rebranding purposes. The owner also claims that he used to work at Nintendo, and has been holding onto the cartridge since the early '90s. The game has reportedly been authenticated by the Video Game Authority in Roswell, Georgia, making it an even sweeter proposition for game collectors.
Before you lose your mind over the asking price, it should be noted that a previous factory-sealed copy of Stadium Events sold for $22,800 on Ebay back in 2011. So, who has a small fortune to spend on an old NES game?
[Source: Ebay]
Our Take
I don't care how good
of an investment it may be, paying that much money for a video game is still insane. Here's hoping the winning bidder is happy with their investment, as I'm sure the seller will be with the price it fetches.
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