Store Paying Insane Prices For Sealed NES Games (2008)

Not too long ago, I was spending some time in a Barnes & Noble browsing the magazine racks. I picked up a toy collecting magazine since I used to be into that stuff a decade ago and I was curious what has happened lately. While flipping through the pages, I spotted an ad featuring some classic NES games.

Upon closer examination, I noticed that the advertisement wasn’t even for selling games; it was all about buying games — sealed games in particular. Considering we had just published the Rarest & Most Valuable Games guides for the classic Nintendo systems, I found this especially interesting. Also, since most of the actual games weren’t especially rare on their own, I was amazed by how much this store was willing to pay for sealed version of the game.

I suppose that, especially with those early NES games with the black boxes, it is hard enough to find complete copies of the games with the boxes in good condition, let alone have a copy that is still factory sealed.  (An eBay completed auction search for “NES Sealed” shows that others seem to agree)

However, think about one more thing: It would be one thing if this store was SELLING these sealed games for these prices, but since he is actually BUYING these games at these prices, he must think that they are actually worth significantly more if he is paying a magazine to run an ad and plan on selling them for a profit. Perhaps he doesn’t plan on selling them right away, but instead hoarding them and holding onto them in anticipation of rising values.

What are your thoughts on this matter?