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several hundreds of dollars as a trade-in when you go for an having to have the other. Not dissimilar to the
upgrade. At this time, however, it’s the sale of first- comeback of turntables and the manufacturing
generation iPhones that are grabbing all the market attention. of new turntables with the renewed popularity
In February 2023, a first-generation 2007 iPhone sold of vinyl.
for more than $63,000 in an online auction by auctioneer The market’s interest in rewinding the past to
LCG Auctions, more than 100 times its original cost. play again the popular video games of our youth is
Dubbed a “first edition” device, the box had never been driving record-breaking market values and interest
opened. In March, a brand new first-generation Apple among auction houses such as Heritage Auctions
iPhone Model A1203, brand new and sealed, sold for and Hakes to hold specialty video game auctions.
$54,904 at RR Auction. These are, however, rare examples A super rare, one-of-a-kind Atari CX3000
of the value being placed on their first-generation status Graduate Computer keyboard prototype for the
and unopened condition. Atari 2600 VCS sold in March through RR
Auction for $61,141. A Nintendo Super Smash
Bros. game sold for $11,800 in November
through Hakes. A sealed Super Mario 64 game
cartridge from 1996 went for $1.56 million at a
recent Heritage auction.
According to Yahoo! Finance in an April 4,
Unopened First 2023 article, the most expensive and rarest video
Generation Apple games ever sold include Super Mario Bros. (In
iPhone Sells for August 2021, The New York Times reported that
$63,356 at an anonymous collector had plunked down a
LCG Auctions. record $2 million for a copy of Nintendo’s
flagship video game In August 2021, The New
York Times reported that an anonymous collector had plunked down a
record $2 million for a copy of
Nintendo’s flagship video game made for
its original 1985 console. made for its
original 1985 console. The cartridge was
sealed in its original packaging, a rarity
for video games); Super Mario 65
(released in 1996 for the Nintendo 64
Introduced by the late Steve Jobs back in 2007, the original Apple iPhone console and sold for a then-record $1.56
sold for $599 USD and came in 4GB or 8GB memory options with a 2-megapixel million in the summer of 2021); and a
camera and 3.5-inch screen. photo: hypebeast.com rare, unopened copy of “The Legend of
Zelda,” another iconic Nintendo game
Video Gaming that sold for $870,000 at auction.
The first video game was a 1952 In this market segment,
research product called OXO – tic-tac- the brand names to
toe played on a computer the size of a look for when it
large room. Fifteen years later, Ralph comes to game
Baer produced “The Brown Box” consoles include
which was released by Magnavox five Nintendo, Sega, Atari,
years later as the Odyssey, the first PlayStation, and Xbox, An unopened copy of Nintendo’s
home video game console; however, along with the vintage Super Mario 64 from 1996 sold for
it was not enough to manufacture games that made these $1.56 million at Heritage Auctions
at-home game boxes without the games devices so popular and in Dallas. photo: ha.com
that drove user interest. It was a classic desirable in their time
chicken-or-egg start for the personal and timeless in the eyes of
video gaming market. Atari’s Home Pong their fans and collectors.
According to The Museum of Play, console, released through Nostalgia is one of the most powerful marketing trends
Sears in 1975
Pong is the first video game to capture photo: en.wikipedia.org of the 21st century. Collectors will pay huge sums for
“wide-scale public attention.” The electronics from their
game mimics Ping-Pong, hence the childhood, creating serious
name, and appeared first in coin-operated arcade-style form at opportunities for anyone
bars and restaurants. In 1975, Atari introduced an at-home with a well-preserved
version of the game, “Home Pong,” in the Sears Catalog. The console, computer, or
game became wildly popular and opened the door for more audio device. So before
games and at-home game consoles to play them on. your next garage sale or
Atari’s Atari 2600, introduced in 1977, was a game changer. donation drive, ask your-
It came with joysticks and game cartridges that played self – do you have any
multi-colored games, according to The History Channel. The vintage electronics that are
revolutionary nature of this console kicked off a new wave of now worth a fortune?
video game systems among console manufacturers and video Should I hold on to this?
game developers.
While today’s consoles and video games are literally light 1982 Nintendo
years ahead of their earliest iterations, nostalgia is re-igniting Game and
market interest in buying back and playing the vintage games Watch, Donkey
that started it all: Pong, Pack Man, Super Mario Brothers … Kong, boxed,
Over the years, these beloved games were not upgraded with selling for
next generation consoles and Play Stations, so having one means $135 online.

26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles