Sale prices of collectibles have turned some heads in recent months. It turns out that owning original first edition video games which are unopened and in nearly perfect condition has become an investment. Before you arbitrate against this notion, it has become undeniable that collectibles have matured from hobby into an alternative asset class. It is also undeniable that there are such deep-rooted video game fans that there is a steady demand for gamers’ favorite past-times.

Collectors Dashboard has tracked some serious vintage video game prices that have almost literally gone through the stratosphere. One aspect that the vintage video game segment has to deal with now is that investors have also come on board just as they have in other collectible segments. That statement is not speculation.

A fresh sale of a copy of The Legend of Zelda game produced in 1987 fetched $870,000 in July via Heritage Auctions. This made the sale of the graded game (Wata 9.0) the most expensive video game, at least for a couple of days.

An example of Super Mario previously had broken the video game sale record, and it was a Super Mario 64 example (graded Wata 9.8++) which just stepped up on the heels of the record-breaking Zelda sale — and Mario fetched $1.56 million this last weekend via Heritage Auctions.

It was just back in April of 2021 that heritage auctioned a Super Mario Bros. (graded Wata 9.6 A+ Sealed) from the 1985 NES USA for $660,000.00.

Other fresh video game sales have been eye-popping as well. A Nintendo World Championships 1990 Grey (8.0) fetched $180,000 via Heritage Auctions this week.

The fractional (share) platform Otis recently dropped a Nintendo World Championships 8.5 grey cartridge for $211,300.00 at $10. per share. it took only about 2 hours to be fully funded. The Otis platform is specifically for investors whether they are collectors or not, and the have initial public offerings (IPOs) at specified share prices. There are then future trading windows which open and the crowd (or the market) determines whether those prices are higher or lower.

There is another aspect that will also support the “investing in video game” theme for collectors and investors alike. Collectors Universe, which is the parent of the PSA (cards and autographs) and PCGS (coins and currency), has recently announced the acquisition of the Wata Games (Wata, mentioned above). Wata is the leader for grading video games , the gold standard for video game authentication.

And to further back up the alternative asset class even further, Collectors Universe specified in its press release that the acquisition of Wata builds on its mission “to provide every hobbyist and alternative investor with the best customer experience, tools and information available.”

The company was even more specific. Nat Turner, Executive Chairman of Collectors Universe, said:

Collectibles across categories, including trading cards and sports memorabilia, are now firmly considered an alternative investment class by both hobbyists and investors. With those categories seeing a stratospheric rise recently, we’ve identified video games as the next area primed for similar expansion. We’re partnering with Wata because they are the experts in video game grading and there’s simply no other way to recreate the amazing and trusted company they have built.

Here is a consideration about why this notion of investing in video games is a hard sell even to aggressive collector-investors out there. Pretend you are back in time and at GameStop or Best Buy at the first Halo video game release in 2001 – or a Buyer of Super Mario in the 1980s. How many buyers told the cashier, “I want one copy to play now, and one to hide away in a box to resell for thousands of dollars in 20 or 30 years.”

As a final note, investors who invest in stocks, bonds and property know that there are no guaranteed profits. The same is true for collectibles – there are no guaranteed profits, and you may face significant losses. Even though some collectibles will see their value rise to tens of thousands of dollars (or over $100,000 or $1,000,00) the majority of items produced as collectibles will have no value or will be destined for landfills.