Man sells old video game for $31,600 after reading CNN.com
44 replies, posted
[IMG]http://www.marketingshift.com/resources/cnn-logo.jpg[/IMG]
[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/04/13/game.sells.for.thousands/index.html"]
View article [/URL]
[quote=CNN]
[B]([URL="http://mentalfloss.com/?cnn=yes"]Mental Floss[/URL])[/B] -- While reading a story on this site about rare video games, Tanner Sandlin of Austin, Texas, recognized one of the games -- Air Raid for the Atari 2600. He found the thirteenth known copy of the game in his garage and put it on eBay.
It sold last Sunday for $31,600, the second-highest price ever paid for a video game.
Sandlin bought the game when he was 11 or 12 years old at a store called Tuesday Morning in Arlington, Texas. The store bought overstocked or undersold goods from other retailers and sold the items at a discount.
[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/20/mf.rich.off.video.games/index.html?hpt=C2?cnn=yes"]8 very rare and very expensive video games[/URL]
[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/20/mf.rich.off.video.games/index.html?hpt=C2?cnn=yes"]
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Sandlin said he paid between $5 and $10 for Air Raid in the mid-1980s. This is important because none of the other twelve people who possess Air Raid cartridges were the original owners -- they bought them at auction, secondhand stores, or through private collectors. Learning a collectible item's "provenance," or owner history, is key to proving its authenticity. Since Sandlin was the original owner, his cartridge had more credibility than one found in a box at the local thrift store.
[URL="http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/30933.html?cnn=yes"]6 more people who accidentally found a fortune[/URL]
[URL="http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/30933.html?cnn=yes"]
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Oddly enough, Sandlin remembered that this much sought after game wasn't really all that great. In fact, the only reason he still had it was because it was so bad. He and his friends used to borrow games from each other all the time --sometimes you'd get your game back, sometimes you wouldn't, and that was OK. But no one wanted to keep Air Raid, so it kept coming back to him.
He's not complaining now.
While it's impressive that Sandlin had the thirteenth known copy of Air Raid, he also had the original packaging, which changed everything. Why? Because his was the only known Air Raid box in the world, making it the only known complete copy of the game in existence.
But he couldn't start counting his fortune just yet. If you're willing to pay thousands of dollars for a video game, you're going to make sure it's legitimate. Sandlin knew this, so he went straight to an expert, Albert Yarusso of [URL="http://atariage.com/?cnn=yes"]AtariAge.com[/URL], a forum for fans of anything Atari, to get his professional opinion on the authenticity of the find.
The two both live in Austin, so Yarusso met with Sandlin and examined both the game and the box in person. After some thorough research, Yarusso declared everything was real (or the most impressive forgery he'd ever seen). With expert confirmation behind him, Sandlin pulled his stand-alone cartridge auction on eBay and replaced it with the complete game package. The starting price was $.50.
Sandlin's [URL="http://www.ebay.com/?cnn=yes"]eBay[/URL] auction ended on April 10, 2010 at about 10:15 p.m. EST. With only 5 minutes to go, the highest bid was $14,600. It sat at this price until the very last few seconds, when it jumped to $17,528, and then made a giant leap to $31,500. The final bid was $31,600.
This sets a new record price for the game, blowing away the previous record of $3,000. That also makes it the second-highest price ever paid for a video game cartridge, just behind the $43,300 paid for a factory-sealed copy of Stadium Events for the Nintendo back in February.
I asked Sandlin what he intended to do with the money and he wasn't quite sure yet. He did know that he wanted to buy something tangible; something he could point at it and say, "I bought that with a video game!"
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go look for something in my garage.[/quote]
Good job of the guy who bought it. I mean a game for the Atari 2600 and Air Raid. Crazy amounts of money!
Lucky sod.
Man, I'm keeping all of my N64 stuff for the rest of my life.
31,600 for a game that that apparently was not very fun.
Some people...
That game will be worth many times more in a few years too I bet.
That's sad..
I'm going to keep every Playstation, Gameboy and computer game I own for future investors.
THis reminds me of a video store that sells pazer dragoon for £10 btw it's the rarest sega saturn game
[QUOTE=Stupideye;21354161]That game will be worth many times more in a few years too I bet.[/QUOTE]
Nah, it's actually the only known complete copy as of now, so if anything the price could only go on assuming someone else realizes they have it.
there's been $42k for Stadium Games (I think that's what its called) (NES) alone, what makes this so special?
[QUOTE=TropicalV2;21354025]Man, I'm keeping all of my N64 stuff for the rest of my life.[/QUOTE]
You and everyone else
[QUOTE=Sean C;21354507]You and everyone else[/QUOTE]
Exactly, old things are worth nothing if there a lot of them.
I wonder of those gold N64 OoT cartridges are ever going to be worth anything
i have a few 2600 games
i wonder if i should sellem
$50,000
[IMG]http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2008/11/thumb160x_snes_50k.jpg[/IMG]
[URL]http://kotaku.com/5076423/50000-gets-you-this-rare-super-nintendo[/URL]
[quote]The more casual console collectors in the audience may scoff at the asking price for this PowerFest '94 Competition Super Nintendo, but if you've got an extra fifty-thousand dollar bill lying around, you really can't go wrong with this little stocking stuffer. Built for the Nintendo World Championships II competition, this one of a kind survivor — only 32 were made, they say — from the early '90s is a hidden bargain.
Why? According to the seller, it features level 1-1 of [I]Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels[/I], five laps of the first track from [I]Super Mario Kart[/I] and the home run derby from [I]Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball[/I]. That's practically a hundredth of a full game, right there!
For further details on this high priced item, hit up the eBay auction.
[URL="http://cgi.ebay.com/SNES-Super-Nintendo-Powerfest-94-Competition-NWC-II_W0QQitemZ150307781055QQihZ005QQcategoryZ139973QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]SNES Super Nintendo Powerfest '94 Competition NWC II[/URL][/quote]
[QUOTE=Mystery Penguin;21354476]there's been $42k for Stadium Games (I think that's what its called) (NES) alone, what makes this so special?[/QUOTE]
This is the only other thing of its kind that has even come close to that price.
I wonder if GoldenEye will ever be worth anything. That's single handidly the best Bond game in existance.
Wish I hadn't sold my N64 stuff, not just for the fact that it might be worth something someday, but damn there was some awesome games for it.
Woah what a coincidence that's what MW3 mappacks will cost.
[QUOTE=Rubs10;21356098]I wonder if GoldenEye will ever be worth anything. That's single handidly the best Bond game in existance.[/QUOTE]
Nah it's always the obscure games that get collector attention.
I sold that game for $5 like two years ago :saddowns:
I have a copy of Polybius in my attic. I hear that will fetch quite a bit, maybe I should get it down.
What can I get for my Virtual Boy with ~15 games?
[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;21357383]Woah what a coincidence that's what MW3 mappacks will cost.[/QUOTE]
That was terrible.
Boo.
[QUOTE=Cluckyx;21357515]I have a copy of Polybius in my attic. I hear that will fetch quite a bit, maybe I should get it down.[/QUOTE]
Make sure to play through it a few times to check if it still works.
I'm keeping a pile of old gaming magazines for historical reference.
Looks like he's game for a bargain
[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;21357383]Woah what a coincidence that's what MW3 mappacks will cost.[/QUOTE]
MW3?
LoL
[QUOTE=The mouse;21354326]THis reminds me of a video store that sells pazer dragoon for £10 btw it's the rarest sega saturn game[/QUOTE]
Shit, not only is that game totally awesome, I had rented it for my saturn once. Fuck, wish I had bought it when I had the chance.
I do, however, own an atari 2600 copy of E.T. Wonder how much that goes for?
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