Once Thought Out of Reach, Sealed 8.0 Copy from First Production of 'Legend of Zelda' Heads to Heritage Auctions

DALLAS, Texas (October 25, 2021) - What happened before "the earliest"?

When a sealed Wata 9.0 A copy of The Legend of Zelda sold in July for $870,000, it was described as "the earliest sealed copy one could realistically hope to obtain" ... which at the time was beyond dispute.

But the extraordinary results of that auction prompted others - a lot of others - to check to see if they had a similar prize stored away. Those searches led to a cavalcade of inquiries to Heritage Auctions.

One stood out among the rest: a call from someone who recently discovered they had a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda - Wata 8.0 A Sealed [NES TM, No Rev-A, First Production], NES Nintendo 1987 USA - the rarest and most desired variant of the game - the true first production. This extraordinary game will find a new home when it is sold in Heritage Auctions' Video Games Signature ^® Auction Oct. 29-31.

"Many collectors have considered this variant practically unattainable. While it is no secret that sealed, first-production copies other than this one are known to exist, each one is carefully tucked away in a private collection." Heritage Auctions Video Games Managing Director Valarie McLeckie said. "Since the emergence of this copy, the interest understandably has been sky-high. Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise is among the most significant in video games."

An extraordinary piece from another blue chip franchise is featured in the auction is Super Mario Bros. - Wata 9.4 A Sealed [Hangtab, 2 Code, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA. Even the most persistent collectors have admitted feelings of frustration in the pursuit of a sealed "hangtab" copy of any NES game "in the wild," much less a game in as exceptional condition as this one. Heritage Auctions has offered just one other hangtab copy with the "2 Code" sub-variant, but that one carried a Wata 7.0 B+ grade.

Cardboard hangtabs were used originally on the American test market copies of black box games, before games were sealed in plastic. As Nintendo grew in the U.S., its packaging was updated regularly. In fact, the addition of the plastic wrap came before the box cutting die was altered to remove the cardboard hangtab, rendering the functionality of the cardboard hangtab completely useless, since it was under the plastic seal.

Even complete-in-box examples can not match up against a sealed copy of this variant. Sub-variants of the hangtab variants were produced for only a couple of months in 1987, which was early in the NES lifespan. Considering the meteoric rise in demand - and prices paid - for Super Mario Bros. games, it seems unlikely that there are enough sealed, hangtab copies of this title to satiate the demand the market has expressed for them.

The sale also features six lots from the Dreamer Collection, a moniker that refers to the original owner's lofty dream of building an incredible rental store with an immense library of amazing games. The selection includes Resident Evil - Wata 9.6 A+ Sealed [Ridged Longbox, First Production] (The Dreamer Collection), PS1 Capcom 1996 USA, one of fewer than 10 known sealed copies in this variant of the game PlayStation collectors have called "elusive" and even "impossible" to find. The offered copy features the jewel CD case packaging, but stands out because of the "long box" style used on early PlayStation games. A dedicated auction featuring all of the games in the Dreamer Collection is slated for early 2022.

https://comics.ha.com/c/search.zx?saleNo=7263&collection=110&FC=0The auction also includes five lots from the collection of Mark Freedman, the producer known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), as well as 1994's Street Sharks and 1987's KISS: eXposed. Lots from his collection include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters - Wata 9.8 A+ Sealed (Mark Freedman File Copy), NES Konami 1994 USA, an incredible copy of the game that many have considered to be one of the rarest in the Turtles Franchise.

Other selections from Freedman's collection include:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers - Wata 9.8 A++ Sealed (Mark Freedman File Copy), GameBoy Konami 1991 USA
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project - Wata 9.8 A++ Sealed (Mark Freedman File Copy), NES Konami 1992 USA
• Judge Dredd - Wata 9.2 A+ Sealed (Mark Freedman File Copy), GameBoy Acclaim 1995 USA

Other highlights in the auction include, but are not limited to:

• Sonic the Hedgehog - Wata 9.6 A Sealed [Made in Japan, Early Production], Genesis Sega 1991 USA
• Super Mario World - Wata 9.4 A Sealed [Made in Japan], SNES Nintendo 1991 USA
• Super Mario Bros. - Wata 9.4 A Sealed [Rev-A, Round SOQ, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA
• GoldenEye 007 - Wata 9.8 A++ Sealed, N64 Nintendo 1997 USA
• The highest-graded mid-production copy ever offered at auction of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Rev-A, Round SOQ, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1987 USA
• Nintendo World Championships 1990 Grey - Wata 6.5 Cart [#0181], NES Nintendo 1990 USA
• Punch-Out!! - Condition: VF/NM New in Box [Gold Japanese Pre-Release of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!], Famicom Nintendo 1987 JPN

For images and information, visit HA.com/7263.

Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

Heritage also enjoys the highest online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,400,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of five million past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.

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Steve Lansdale, Public Relations Specialist
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