Sealed Copy of The Legend of Zelda, Initially Believed to Be Worth $700,000 USD, Sells for $288,000 USD
Posted on February 26 2024 by Nick Miller
A sealed copy of the 1986 classic The Legend of Zelda went to auction last weekend, and it had some experts speculating at a six-figure sale.
Kiro, a 22-year-old from California, says his family purchased this game in 1987 for $29.87 USD. They never played the game after all these years, so it remains in its plastic wrapper, still adorned with the original price tag. After looking the game up on eBay, Kiro was surprised with what he found, saying, “I looked at price history and thought ‘Oh, maybe at most I’ll get like $17,000 [USD] or $20,000 [USD] if I’m lucky.'”
After listing the item, it sold within minutes, but the offers didn’t stop there.
Kiro says, “Multiple people were messaging me on eBay right away. One guy offered to drive down to where I was and give me $30,000 [USD] cash.”
After cancelling the sale and removing the listing out of fear that he may have something worth more than his asking price, Kiro was contacted by a collector who put him in touch with WATA Games and their business partners at Heritage Auctions. WATA is a grading company which authenticates collectibles and gives them a score for their general condition, among other things. This score is then used by resellers and auctions, like Heritage, to estimate the item’s value.
This collector informed Kiro that his copy of The Legend of Zelda was from the first production run, which significantly increases its value. Expectations ran high, as the last copy of this game to sell in a similar condition went for over $700,000 USD.
On Friday, February 23rd, Heritage Auctions’ listing marked Kiro’s game as sold for $288,000 USD. Kiro is surely in high spirits though, as he said he would be “grateful for anything.”
So, what do you think about this? Is $288,000 USD a fair price for a game like this? Was $700,000 USD a realistic expectation? Do you think games this expensive are worth collecting? Let us know in the comments.
Disclaimer: The subject of this article and its price may be susceptible to market manipulation. You can learn more about allegations of impropriety in the retro collectors market right here.
Source: CNBC, Heritage Auctions
Nick is a writer for Zelda Dungeon and a longtime fan of the Zelda franchise. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, archery, skateboarding, and some good ol’ fashioned family time. He’s an advocate for physical media and an avid video game collector. His favorite Zelda game is Ocarina of Time, though Breath of the Wild and the Link’s Awakening remake are close contenders.
