Old Nintendo Game Hidden In Attic For 30 Years Sold For $9,000

Antiques normally fetch a good price if they’re in a great condition. Rare copies of old video games can also sell for a good amount of cash, especially if they’re sealed and in perfect shape.

That’s what Scott Amos learned when he found a sealed copy of “Kid Icarus,” a 1987 adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. CNN reported that one day, Amos cleaned up his mom’s attic and found the old game cartridge there, kept in perfect condition inside its packaging.

Cleaning up

Amos said his mom kept asking him to take his belongings out of her Nevada home’s attic since he left from there more than two decades ago. Since mother’s day was just around the corner, he finally decided to go clean the attic and pick his boxes up. To his surprise, he found the unopened copy of the game there, safe and sound.

He said he found the game cartridge intact and still inside the shrink wrap that kept it safe from dust and moisture. It was placed inside a JCPenney bag, along with a receipt that said it was purchased in December of 1988. Amos was just 9 years old when his mom bought the game for him, and he was already 40 when he found the game unopened and in excellent condition.

Something special

Not knowing what to do with it, Amos called Wata Games, a company that grades video game cartridges, CDs and consoles, for collectors. Wata’s CEO told him that what he found has some value in it.

“What you have there is something special, and it's worth a pretty good chunk of change if it's authentic,” Deniz Kahn, Wata Games CEO, told Amos.

After an exchange, Amos decided to send the video game cartridge to Wata, “swaddled” with bubble wrap “until it was about 2 feet around.” Wata inspected it, said it was authentic, and rated the box’s condition as 8/10 and the wrapper with an “A.” The grading company then connected Amos with Heritage Auctions which was able to sell Amos’ “Kid Icarus” cartridge for $9,000.

Despite making a lot of money from an old game that originally cost his mom $38.45, Amos still doesn’t know who it was bought for. "I probably did ask for it for Christmas, or my sister [did]," he said. "That's a debate in my family, who it was really meant for."

Amos said the family decided to split the proceeds, and planned to spend it on a family vacation with his mom and dad who bought the game.