Consoles considered ‘holy grail’ of Nintendo history for sale

By Jonathan Coles

A trio of retro Nintendo video game consoles considered the "holy grail" for collectors could fetch up to £9,000 ($12,200) at auction — after an empty box sold for more than £8,000 ($10,845).

The three consoles were officially licensed variants of the Game & Watch series used to promote Phosphatine, a popular French cereal and infant food product.

Nintendo first released consoles and games from the Game & Watch series in 1981, and prices on eBay for vintage examples start at about £45 ($60) but can rise to thousands of pounds for rarities.

Auctioneer Ewbank's, based in Guildford, Surrey, the specific type of console are particulary sought after.

James Spooner, head of retro video games, said: "Phosphatine branded Game & Watch systems are considered a holy grail for hardcore Nintendo collectors.

"It was discovered by the broader retro gaming community relatively recently, with only a single-digit number of verified units documented to exist in the world.

The three handheld consoles include the "Parachute" [PR-21], "Fire" [FR-27] and "Turtle Bridge" [TL-28] games.

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They have all just been tested and found to be working, and each is guided at £1,500 ($2,035) to £3,000 ($4,065).

A surge in demand and prices for retro video games helped Ewbank's to a premium-inclusive £200,000-plus ($271,100) over three sales in a single week, ending July 10.

"A key factor has been PlayStation's decision to stop selling physical product, so fans have been clamoring to get their hands on historic games and consoles that are now sought-after collectibles," said James.

An empty box for a Nintendo 64 (N64) "Mario 64" game had been expected to sell for £1,000-£2,000 ($1,355-$2,710) on July 3 but ended up making a premium-inclusive £8,450 ($11,455). What made it so special was that it had been signed by the "father of modern video gaming," Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's leading video game designer, producer and director.

Miyamoto signed the box for the vendor at the historical event at Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street in London, on Feb. 21, 2003. This was the first and only public appearance and signing event in Europe of the creative mastermind behind globally iconic franchises like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin.

A first print, factory-sealed Nintendo Game Boy "Pokémon Emerald" game, complete with red strip Nintendo seal, also had hopes of £1,000-£2,000 ($1,355-$2,710) but made £4,940 ($6,695), a price boosted by the absence of any damage to the seal.

Further success came for a factory-sealed Nintendo Game Boy "Pokémon Yellow," with a Nintendo red strip seal, again with no breakages to the outer seal. A guide of £500-£1,000 ($680-$1,355) turned into a final selling price of £3,640 ($4,935).

Ewbank's, who have been holding dedicated sales of retro video games for some time now, publish a guide to collecting them on their website.

Live online bidding for the Sept. 4 sale is available via www.ewbankauctions.co.uk