Super Mario Bros. is a game that came bundled with millions of NES consoles when it was released back in the 1980s. It’s certainly not rare, and can be picked up pretty cheaply, depending on condition. So what was so special about this particular version of the game that resulted in it selling for over $30,000?

Listed on eBay by DKOldies, the seller is also a video game collector in Pennsylvania, and has an online shop selling retro consoles and games. Bidding started at one cent and finished at $30,100.44 (that’s around £23,000, or the equivalent of a brand new BMW Mini Countryman, or over 28,000 Kinder Eggs). For the record, the second-highest bid was $30,000.44.

So why did collectors bid highly for this? For a start, it’s still sealed. However, it also comes with a hang-tab that allows the game to be hung on a peg. That means that this copy of Super Mario Bros. is most likely one of the first editions of the game from an early production run and was not bundled with NES consoles. Kotaku spoke to DKOldies, who revealed that the buyer did actually pay for the game. It probably won’t be long before we see various sellers flogging their sealed copies of Super Mario Bros. with a hang-tab on eBay.

DKOldies also sold a sealed copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out for the NES for over $3000, and his listing for a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda for the NES ended at over $5,200.

Originally published on MyM Buzz on 28 July 2017.