Since I started collecting video games years ago, I have come across some really cool finds. Usually at places that were stand alone rental stores or flea markets, but now a days, good finds are hard to come by. This one actually came to me very easily for once. Someone walked this awesome Mario statue into my store and says, "I have had this in my garage for years, I was not sure if this is something you guys would want or not". I instantly said, "Yes, that is definitely something I would want!". Then we proceeded to make a deal. I have had some amazing stuff walk into my store, and those finds would be a thread of their own, but this Mario statue is in a league of its own. The guy was willing to take very little for it, but I made sure he got paid fairly in the end (which I always do when someone does not really know the value of something they have.) Anyway, I am really geeked out about this statue. He also mentioned he worked at Comp USA and this is where he got it originally.

Such an awesome score, that's amazing.

Thats amazing, i'd buy that thing in a heart beat. Looks to be in fantastic condition as well.

Awesome congrats!

Very nice

Amazing pick up! Congrats!  

I would take that over a nwc cart. That is REALLY cool...

Sweet!

The CompUSA in Holyoke, Massachusetts absolutely had this same statue

love it - nice score!

Well done

Thanks guys, I love it. I wonder what other stores had the same statue, or even statues like it? I am not sure.

That's sweet. Just curious, is that thing heavy?

Amazing Congrats!

Wow. Very unique piece. Cool to see. I wonder how many were made and how many still exist.
I'm also curious about the weight/material. My guess is fiberglas and 35 pounds?

Finally, it's very cool that you did not hide your enthusiasm, and did your best to be fair with the finder. If you don't mind sharing -- how much did you pay?
Chances I will ever find something like this are nil, I am simply curious (or nosy if you want), and if it's not conducive for you to say that's fine.

Wow awesome condition! Every single one of these I see is always either really dull, faded, has tons of paint missing like that yellow spot on yours but all over, or has been repainted but yours looks like it's in awesome shape other than that one spot.

Congrats stories like this make me wish I had a store

Good on you for not taking advantage when you easily could have. Who knows, he may talk to his friends and you might end up with more business because of your honesty and excellent customer service. Sweet find!

That is really cool! I am also curious of its weight and material, if you don't mind sharing.

Nice piece and it looks to be in great shape to boot.

It seems to be fiberglass, not 100% sure though, and it is not super heavy or anything, but has a bit of weight to it.
 
Its fine, I don't mind you asking. Originally the guy thought he would get a couple of hundred bucks for it, and I explained to him if I were re-selling it as a store, I would probably try to get it as low as possible, but since I was going to keep it for myself, I would be willing to pay him $600 to be as fair as possible. I told him that I know it is worth more than that, and that if he wanted to put it on something like Craigslist to get a bit more, I understood. He said he was fine with the $600 and we made a deal.

As a collector of retro video games and toys for the past decade, I have visited many stores on the hunt before I was a store owner, and a really sad thing I have seen many times in retro video game stores is people offered next to nothing for the items they bring in. I understand the business has overhead and has to make money, but offering someone $20 when they have $200 in games they are trading in or selling is just insulting, or a store down playing a really valuable item to make it seem not very valuable, that is as shady as it gets, yet we still see it happen. People like that give retail retro game stores a bad name in general. On the other hand, there are stores out there like mine that are fair and make sure to take care of every customer to the best of their ability. I think the worst I have ever seen is a store owner lie to a customer telling him his games were only worth about $100, and he would offer him $60 (at this point I did not even know what he had), and when the guy took the offer and left, the store owner bragged to his employee that they just ripped that guy off for 10 SNES games, two of which were Harvest Moon and Mega Man X3. I never went back to that store and now they have been out of business for a few years. Stuff like that makes me sick.

 

Wow, you are clearly a nice, genuine, and fair person. I hope karma brings you success in your store and that it will enable you to continue living the dream.

I thought that looked familiar! I was just in your store today! 😎

Nice, that looks to be in really good shape. Believe it or not, they still have one of these in the window at my local TRU. I bug them about it all the time, but they say they will never sell it. It seems like the manager just keeps it since no one really owns it as far as I can tell. They still have their DS kiosk and other things too... really strange.

As cool as this thing is, it's definitely not unique or rare. The Toys R Us in Gatineau, Quebec, has the same statue inside the store above the rackings behind the cash. The colours are not as good though, it looks like they have been washed out by UV rays (kind of like the bit that is a bit orangy on this Mario, but the whole statue is like this).

And if I recall, someone else got one on NA not too long ago.

I think it's awesome! Especially in this condition!