News Article

Gold Nintendo World Championships Sells for $17,500

Posted Sat, 04 Jul 2009 by Corbie Dillard

Holy Grail of NES collecting!

Holy Grail of NES collecting!

But parting with that much cash wasn't the only tough thing the buyer had to face.

You might remember that someone recently listed a gold Nintendo World Championships NES cartridge for sale on eBay for a whopping $25,000. Well that cart has finally sold, albeit for a bit less money, and it seems the buyer had to go through quite an ordeal in order to finally own the holy grail of video game collecting.

I recently bought Nintendo World Championships Gold and was able to reunite the Gold and Gray cartridges together. I'm sure they missed each other. The process of getting the Gold cartridge was actually pretty interesting and full of emotional highs and lows so I thought I would share it with the VGPC readers.

Be sure and check out the entire article at VideoGamePriceCharts.com to hear the entire story.

Source: blog.videogamepricecharts.com.

Tags: NES, Retro.

User Comments

Tails86

1. Tails86 United States 04 Jul 2009, 10:49 BST

Awesome Pure Awesome Keep Them forever man

Corbie

2. Corbie United States 04 Jul 2009, 10:50 BST

I know what it felt like to part with $1500 for one game and that hurt bad enough. I can't imagine tossing $17,500 at one game. No matter what it was. :)

Mik

3. Mik United Kingdom 04 Jul 2009, 10:59 BST

Which game was that, Corbie?

Corbie

4. Corbie United States 04 Jul 2009, 11:01 BST

I bought a Cave shooter kit for my Egret 2 cabinet called Mushihimesama Futari. I don't think I could ever pay that much for one game again.

SupermarketZombies

5. SupermarketZombies United States 04 Jul 2009, 11:04 BST

I'd fort up a couple grand (if I had it) to buy a Police 911 cabinet. Those games are a lot of fun :)

Will

6. Will Ireland 04 Jul 2009, 11:10 BST

Fantastic. When is it coming to VC?

madgear

7. madgear United Kingdom 04 Jul 2009, 11:11 BST

I don't get it - what's so great about it? Is it just because it's rare? I have some rare titles myself but I only spent like £10 on them when they were first released - as much as I love them, I'd never even consider paying over £100 for any of them (even though some are worth that now).

I just don't think a game is worth that price - rare and collectable or not. Granted if someone were to pay me a ridiculous amount for one of my games I'd gladly accept though - any offers?

chunky_droid

8. chunky_droid Australia 04 Jul 2009, 11:45 BST

holy crap, most I've bought for a game was $150 bucks for a Popeye NES game that was only released in Japan.

Most I've sold in one game was Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on DS for $210, though I've been offered $400 for my complete copy of Paper Mario on N64

Corbie

9. Corbie United States 04 Jul 2009, 11:49 BST

I wasn't aware Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Paper Mario were rare. Hell I've got a brand new Paper Mario that I got at a Toys R Us clearance sale years ago.

Machu

10. Machu United Kingdom 04 Jul 2009, 13:08 BST

Shameful behavior. What a dork!

Hope it gets robbed now he's blabbed about it. :P

MarkyVigoroth

11. MarkyVigoroth Puerto Rico 04 Jul 2009, 14:07 BST

How did he get all of that money?

motang

12. motang United States 04 Jul 2009, 14:31 BST

That is some serious cash!

Egg miester

13. Egg miester United States 04 Jul 2009, 14:52 BST

i love rare games myself and spend money to get them but 17k thats a waste

Digiki

14. Digiki Canada 04 Jul 2009, 15:58 BST

No the value of it will only increase.

The Fox

15. The Fox United States 04 Jul 2009, 16:06 BST

What a waste. Some collectors have some serious mental defects.

Mayhem

16. Mayhem United Kingdom 04 Jul 2009, 17:08 BST

So you complain about people spending far more on cards and comics too? It's his money, he can do with it what he wants. I got similar attitude from some people for spending $2,600 on a game once...

theblackdragon

17. theblackdragon United States 04 Jul 2009, 17:17 BST

wow, some people here sound kinda jealous. it's his money, let him spend it how he wants. it's pretty cool that he's got a set like that now; who knows how much the two games would sell for together years from now when that kid of his is ready for college? :3

rodoubleb

18. rodoubleb United States 04 Jul 2009, 18:39 BST

I'd like to see a full time line of how the gold cart got from Nintendo to where it is now.

MarkyVigoroth

19. MarkyVigoroth Puerto Rico 04 Jul 2009, 18:40 BST

Mayhem-san, I am only half like that. I would enjoy getting rare cards (I got back into the Pokémon TCG.), yet I would not bother if the price is about $50+.

Machu

20. Machu United Kingdom 04 Jul 2009, 19:32 BST

@tbd I'm not jealous far from it. You've got $17,500 going spare and you spend it on a game cartridge, that's pretty obscene (and yes I would say the same about someone spending much more than that on art). The amount Corbie mentioned is fair enough, but what this guy paid is foolhardy. I hope the circuit board encased in plastic makes him happy.

uel

21. uel United States 04 Jul 2009, 19:32 BST

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories isn't for the DS.

Tails86

22. Tails86 United States 04 Jul 2009, 19:48 BST

I've Seen That Game Its Freaking Hard Corbie :)

The Fox

23. The Fox United States 04 Jul 2009, 20:16 BST

@theblackdragon
It is his money and nobody is going to tell him how to spend it, but that doesn't mean we can't make fun of such a wise purchase.

Sneaker13

24. Sneaker13 Netherlands 04 Jul 2009, 21:16 BST

Damn, that's a lot of money for a cartridge that only has three games you can play for 6 minutes and 21 seconds. But I understand it if he is a collector.

Ricardo91

25. Ricardo91 United States 04 Jul 2009, 21:55 BST

@Uel. Who said it was?

Game Informer did an article 2-3 months ago about the highest-selling games, and these came out on top. I think the guy actually made a pretty smart decision. He now has 2 of the most valuable games in history, and their value will just increase as years go by. Sure, he'll be out of some dinner money for a couple years, but he'll be thankful for it in the long run. :)

Though for the record, I wouldn't even spend 1/20 of that money on any game.

MetalMario

26. MetalMario United States 05 Jul 2009, 00:47 BST

Wow...that is cool.

apocalypse217

27. apocalypse217 United States 05 Jul 2009, 04:01 BST

I would not pay it, but its not my money so congrats to him !

MickEiA

28. MickEiA Australia 05 Jul 2009, 06:00 BST

WOW that was a gopod story .The most I have paid for a game was $95 it was Mario Kart Wii but I had a $30 gift voucher

Mario maniac

29. Mario maniac Australia 05 Jul 2009, 12:00 BST

Cool story, but I'd NEVER consider paying that much for any game. = / $100 is too much, imo.

theblackdragon

30. theblackdragon United States 05 Jul 2009, 14:37 BST

@Machu, The Fox: there's a big difference between simply disagreeing with his purchase and hoping it gets stolen from him or saying he's got mental defects. :/

gblock

31. gblock United States 05 Jul 2009, 21:23 BST

I've seriously thought about getting the reproduction cart from retrousb...but that's insane though.

StarDust

32. StarDust United States 06 Jul 2009, 04:34 BST

RetroZone has for sale a slightly cheaper option, albeit not the genuine game cart:
http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=62

I wonder what the buyer would have done if he'd gotten screwed with one of the RetroZone clones :O

LinktotheFuture

33. LinktotheFuture United States 07 Jul 2009, 14:07 BST

I would love to have this game, but it is way out of my price range.

Wolfang44

34. Wolfang44 Argentina 07 Jul 2009, 21:52 BST

HOW MUCH!? o.O

grenworthshero

35. grenworthshero United States 08 Jul 2009, 04:30 BST

Maybe if it were only $15,000 I'd go for it...

iSonic

36. iSonic United States 13 Jul 2009, 15:56 BST

Holy snap. That was alot of money towards one game. 0_0

Grooveraider

37. Grooveraider United States 18 Jul 2009, 18:39 BST

Don't get me wrong - the NWC (Gold carts) are rare but c'mon $20,000 rare? There's a few of them. The NWC (Gold carts) is being hailed as the "Holy Grail" of Nintendo game collecting - but that's subjective. I'm an old school Nintendo game collector and I own two classic Nintendo games ( Yoshi's Island & Zelda: Ocarina of Time ) both signed and dated by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto. They're one-of-a-kind signed items. Those are my "Holy grails" but the only difference between me and those folks with $20,000 bank accounts is that I don't have the MEDIA ATTENTION to make my "holy grails" seem more sought after / important. Am I jealous? Why should I be? I feel blessed to have been in the same room with legends such as Shigeru Miyamoto and the late Gunpei Yokoi. And to have a personal photo and signatures of those legends is just phenomenal. I dunno if I could put a price on my experiences. But in the end - I am happy video games are getting the recognition of being valued collectibles like anything else before it. Congrads to JJ Hendricks for owning both NWC carts and the media attention :)

JRAPOCALYPSE

38. JRAPOCALYPSE United States 20 Jul 2009, 20:17 BST

#4 futari is not even that great,i have an egret 2 cab as well with pink sweets aka ibara 2 and death smiles which i also have for my jap 360. Besides futari is coming for the jap 360 and i will pick that one up then for a way lower price of $70.

JRAPOCALYPSE

39. JRAPOCALYPSE United States 21 Jul 2009, 18:12 BST

Besides that is hardly the nes holy grail of collecting! i have the remade NWC cart and i was there at the event when i was a kid so to buy that cart for what? i couls take an old zelda cart and make my own with a reprint grey cart,im happy he owns it but he was ripped off big time!honestly that cart is not worth much it's just what people try to milk out of it like anything else.3 games on that cart that play seconds or a minute at best for 17,500 i don't think so!There are some ureleased and unliscensed games that were never released back in the day that are actually worth more than this and people would know if they did their homework,so this is hardly holy grail.

JRAPOCALYPSE

40. JRAPOCALYPSE United States 22 Jul 2009, 22:05 BST

Like i stated if a cart like this was to be the holy grail then it would of been the NCC 1991 CAMPUS CHALLENGE WHICH HAS NOT BEEN PLAYED PUBICALLY IN 17 YEARS! they were all destroyed but only 1....thats right only 1 real copy is left in the world making this the holy grail umong some other very rare actual game titles,the nwc cart ain't sh**,there was alot of those.I own these repro's among others and both the nwc originals which i received when i was at the NWC IN 1990 at cobo hall in detroit where i live.Nobody burns me when it comes to import or retro.Not to sound like a jerk but all these people who talk about things and state facts that are not true just gets to me,homework should be done or facts known before you think you know something,thats the way i roll! http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=68

7.Alejandro_Talavera

41. 7.Alejandro_Talavera Mexico 05 Aug 2009, 10:32 BST

I would gladly hand out even more money for the holy grail of video game collecting if I had both, the money and the opportunity to do this transaction... who knows, maybe I´ll be the next collector geting them, all of my other collectables also started as a daydream.

youknowit

42. youknowit United States 28 Oct 2009, 19:26 GMT

This is an expose on the Nintendo World Championship Golds.

Be careful of buying a Nintendo World Championships Golds because one can be easily faked. There are two flaws making this possible.

First, the are not numbered and the carts cannot be told apart from another. This makes it very difficult to prove the original owner and its ownership history.

Second, the only mark on the cart is printed on cheap non-glossed sticker paper with a 360 dpi Xerox printer. Worse yet, the sticker isn't machine cut, nor shaped by exacto knife. It is cut with original scissors by hand. Then sloppily slapped on.

If you have no soul, you can mint your own. You will also walk in the very same steps Nintendo did.

1) Get a gray cart(stay with me here) and remove the circuit board. They are 100% identical.

2) Take a Zelda cart and remove the inside and wash off the sticker. Cut a small sqaure in the upper left hand corner in the same position as the gray. Smooth it out.

3)Place the gray board in the gold and put in the screws. Since the corner is gone and the right size, the dip switch will face out nicely.

4) Scan the Nintendo World Championships logo in and match to size of any gold cart you've seen in Photoshop. Print in 360 dpi on ordinary non-gloseed sticker paper. Best if you have a color inkjets could do the trick.

5) Cut with plain scissors and place by on the front as a gold would.

There you go. You have upgraded a 6,000 dollar gray cartridge to a 17,500 gold.

Once again, DO NOT DO THIS. THIS IS FRAUD. This is to prove the golds are not a wise investment.

Why would Nintendo make it so easy. The golds were a promotion and an afterthought when the grays were made. They used what they had the official grays.

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