Auction house Goldin has put up for sale one of the rarest cartridges for the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Japanese company released only 26 of these “golden” cartridges in 1990 as prizes for readers of Nintendo Power magazine. Ten years ago, one of them sold on eBay for $100,088.
Image Source: Goldin
In 1990, the United States hosted the Nintendo World Championships event, at which the country’s best players were selected – several hundred special cartridges were released for it. Gamers competed in Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Rad Racer under time limits, which were set using physical switches on the cartridges themselves.
Most of these cartridges were released in standard gray cases, but 26 copies had a shiny gold finish and were awarded at Nintendo Power magazine’s Player’s Poll Contest in 1990. The copy up for auction at Goldin was awarded to Patrick King from Cheyenne, Wyoming, who appeared in issue 18 of Nintendo Power along with other gamer competition winners.
These cartridges were never sold in packaging, which partly explains why this example is missing its sticker and has such a worn appearance. The lot received only 4.0 points according to CGC Grading – 10 points would correspond to ideal condition. The starting bid price is $10,000, and potential buyers will have to pass a solvency check.