This sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda came from the same wave of high-grade retro submissions that flooded Heritage Auctions in mid-2021, as collectors realized sealed Nintendo cartridges were becoming a genuine asset class.
It was the first video game to break the half-million-dollar mark at public auction, and the number kept climbing in headlines all summer as the Mario sales above topped it within weeks.
For a generation that grew up blowing dust out of cartridges, watching one sell for the price of a house was the kind of story that spreads on its own.
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