A Rare Copy Of Super Mario Bros Sold For $3 Million

A rare sealed second-production copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES sold for an astonishing $3 million at auction on Friday. According to Heritage Auctions, the game had remained untouched for nearly 40 years inside its original box alongside a launch-edition NES Control Deck console, with the packaging and plastic still preserved.

What makes this copy exceptionally valuable is its intact glossy sticker seal, a packaging style Nintendo briefly used in 1986 before transitioning to shrink-wrap. Heritage Auctions notes that only three known second-production copies featuring this sticker-seal format exist, and this example is considered the finest, earning a PSA 9.6 A++ grade.

The auction house highlighted that this specific variant had never before appeared at a public auction in sealed condition, making it extraordinarily rare. Since these early copies were not shrink-wrapped, surviving examples in such pristine condition are almost unheard of.

Both the game and the bundled console originate from Nintendo’s early Los Angeles test-market period, when the company was first expanding into the U.S. market. Heritage Auctions described the item as a unique piece of gaming history, offering collectors a chance to own a tangible reminder of the moment Super Mario Bros. helped transform video games from a niche pastime into a lasting cultural phenomenon.