We’ve seen several overpriced tech items auctioned over the past year or two, from a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. selling for $2 million to a rare iPhone 11 Pro with a visible cosmetic defect costing $2,700.
Even an Among Us shaped Chicken McNugget sold for almost $100,000. However, what we have here related to an item likely getting undervalued at an auction.
About this Game & Watch, yes it is extremely rare, and comparred to some other recent video game prices, the final price paid is very low. This piece is museum level (1/3) https://t.co/aKsDgbMDcP
— Beforemario (@beforemario) August 21, 2021
A rare version of Nintendo’s Game & Watch, an early 1980s one-game portable device released before the company entered into the home console market, was recently auctioned off for $9,100 USD (about $11,455 CAD) on Yahoo Japan. This device is unusual because it was commissioned by Gunpei Yokoi, the creator of Game & Watch after Nintendo sold over 20,000 million handheld units in 1982.
According to @beforemario, a blog focused on Nintendo toys and games from the mid-1960s to the early 80s, the illustration on the handheld was made by designer Makoto Kano. It depicts Gunpei Yokoi, programmer Hiroshi Momose and sound engineer Naoto Ishida.
Further, what makes the handheld even more unique is that it’s unclear how many were manufactured.
“Were there just three made (one for each of them) or [was] it a limited thing Nintendo made and sold/gave away? Maybe there are 50 of them? Maybe Nintendo has a pallet in their warehouse. It’s just hard to know since there’s very little information. If I had to guess, I would say there were more than three made, but again, just a guess,” says John Hardie, director at the National Video Game Museum, Frisco, Texas, in a statement given to ArsTechnica.
According to ArsTechnica, Vintage Game & Watch handhelds range in price from approximately $50 for unboxed ordinary ones to close to $2,000 for the scarce ones, such as Balloon Fight variant.
Image credit: @beforemario
Source: @beforemario Via: ArsTechnica
