

Super Rare NES game in eBay auction at $89,000 - dsyph3r
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221357006206?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

======
pud
Just a reminder that anyone can bid any amount for anything on eBay, with no
repercussions.

Source: I once put a website for sale on eBay. Bids went up to $10M. The press
covered it like crazy. Turned out the bids were fake.

For example:

[http://www.salon.com/2000/09/11/ebay_deadpool/](http://www.salon.com/2000/09/11/ebay_deadpool/)

There were articles about it in Forbes and Cnet also.

~~~
azth
What happens in that case? Does it get sold to the next real bidder?

------
sekm
For anyone who has no idea what this is:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_World_Championships](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_World_Championships)

~~~
Gonzih
I looked up it in wiki. Still have no idea what it is...

~~~
dec0dedab0de
Its a cartridge that only finalists of a competition were given.

~~~
Gonzih
How many of these exist?

~~~
doubt_me
There was a guy on reddit who was actually a winner in the 18+ category who
still has his with its label

If this one is worth 90k then his must be double that

~~~
dwild
This one is not worth 90k. It got published on multiple news website and now
there's ton of fake bid on it. In good condition it's worth 6k but I've never
seen one in this bad shape, it's probably worth much less. The gold one is
worth way more, about 20k in good condition.

------
pirateking
Sometimes, I wish I kept my rather comprehensive collection of Squaresoft
games, Nintendo consoles and games, and rare Capcom imports. I got about $2000
total for all of them a couple years ago on eBay - much less than what I
thought they would be worth.

I had imagined that someday I would just be able to emulate the games on
future computers, and there was no rational reason to waste space with the
dusty relics I was not playing. What was less obvious at the time was that I
really had little intention of actually re-playing most of these now
collectibles which I had already played to a pulp. The future of perfect
hardware and software emulation was as irrelevant as was impossible.

What I gave up for some quick cash was basically a life long historical record
with the physical artifacts to match. It will be a bitter sweet day in the
future when I visit the Video Game Museum to see my lost history. At least I
still have my Marvel cards.

------
hackertux
The Nintendo World Championships gold cartridges are more rare than the grey
ones (only 26 of them were made). The Nerd also covered it some time ago in an
avgn episode. Having seen it's not a "super rare elusive game", he smashes the
overglorified cartridges with a hammer:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2wczJXETM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2wczJXETM)

~~~
vinkelhake
Just to be clear: he didn't actually smash the _real_ cartridges. Doing that
would be, well, pretty stupid.

~~~
hackertux
Thanks for the clarification. Given their value, that would indeed be foolish.
Don't smash rare cartridges with a hammer, kids! That's not really the point
of the video.

------
aidenn0
The price seems super high. It's not in great condition and more rare games
have gone for less fairly recently.

~~~
gradstudent
Game collecting has become a thing lately and the more rabid collectors are,
frankly, idiots.

~~~
marban
You could say the same about arts, mangas or Pez dispensers. Having owned and
sold a large Super Famicom and vinyl collection I can definitely say that
collecting is (was) way more fun than owning.

~~~
gradstudent
Do art, manga and Pez collectors pay almost six figures for beat up junk? For
stuff that isn't even readily identifiable? For context, these carts have
previously sold for between $10K and $20K. In much better condition too.

The only conclusion I can come to is that rabid video game collectors are a
special kind of stupid.

~~~
marban
I wouldn't call collectors who act out of irrationality stupid since you have
to look at the motivation behind a deal situationally — I'd just say it's on
the edge of being an unethical waste of money.

~~~
gradstudent
> I wouldn't call collectors who act out of irrationality stupid since you
> have to look at the motivation behind a deal situationally — I'd just say
> it's on the edge of being an unethical waste of money.

Unethical? Huh? Ethics is concerned with morality; with right and wrong.
There's nothing inherently wrong about paying large sums of money for beat-up
bits of electronics. It's just plain ol' stupid.

~~~
philpill
One good reason might be if you think the value is going to increase beyond
what you paid for it, like people paying whatever mad amount for bitcoins.

I think people who spend huge amounts on diamonds are stupid, but everyone has
their reasons.

------
marban
Not sure if someone will fork out 100k for a dev build of Angry Birds in 20
years from now.

~~~
userbinator
The thing about this cartridge is that it's a _physical_ object, and people
can generally see more value in possessing one rather than effectively just a
very large integer... someone has already dumped the ROM for this one and you
can find it offered in a lot of places online.

------
bnycum
I do believe that the cartridge from the 94 Nintendo PowerFest is even more
rare. Something like only 2 being left as they weren't given out to winners.
It's for the SNES though. I remember winning a round of this competition and
getting a shirt I still have, a Virtual Boy hat, and some other Nintendo swag.
Maybe the shirt is worth something these days.

------
RyanZAG
[http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&rt=nc&item=2...](http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&rt=nc&item=221357006206)

Why would someone bid multiple times when they already have the highest bid?

~~~
hackinthebochs
Ebay only shows the leading bid any time a big is placed. So when someone bids
higher than the currently visible bid, but lower than that person's max bid,
the leading bidder is shown as placing another, larger bid. You end up with
the appearance of someone outbidding themselves repeatedly.

~~~
tgb
I'm surprised they don't show the new second-place bidding in the history, if
only to make it obvious what's happening. Like if there's a starting price of
10, I bid at 100 and then someone bids at 20, then it could show me bidding
10, them bidding 20 and me bidding 21, instead of just me at 10 then me at 21.

------
whage
let James enlighten you:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2wczJXETM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2wczJXETM)

------
waterlesscloud
I just like that he gives the provenance. Some sort of official registry can't
be far behind.

------
ericthegoodking
People really have money. That's one year salary for a developer!!!!!

~~~
aaronem
That's one year's salary for an _extremely well-paid_ developer.

------
peterstjohn
I was hoping it was a NES version of Mire Mare, myself.

------
mindslight
Be careful with flash photos of those EPROMs..

------
naiyt
Well, at least he gets free shipping.

~~~
tux
It looks like game is $0.99 and shipping is $91,099.00 price combined for
convenience. =)

------
riffraff
there is a marquee tag there and I can't see anything else.

------
tux
Looks fake/conterfit without label. Why anyone whould pay thousands for some
game I could never understand.

