It's not shill bidding. Not sure how people always assume that is going on. Muresan fixed the issue, I just told him to block the guys and cancel the bids....

People just misuse the term shill bidding. It gets used as a catch all for any nonsense bids that aren't legit, be it actual shill bids by the seller or just random people who have no intention of paying.

Hmm... I see all of the bids have been retracted now. It's a shame that when legit items come up, some people bid it up with nonsense bids that won't ever be paid (think of the Goodwill Blockbuster cart recently).

All the more reason that you see rare items listed BIN / OBO. That way you at least don't have to worry about non-paying joke bidders.

I would be surprised if it got a single legit bid. I wouldn't pay 5k for this cart. I doubt anyone would.

The game has a lot of history behind it....it was the first NWC for "auction" and it was not even on eBay, it was a newsgroup auction that went for $400 or so many years ago...I think a lot of people who think the cart is like anything else will assume that but it already did sell for more than $5000 years ago TO Muresan in the first place, AND it has exchanged hands twice before that.....just saying....haters and doubters already lost that initial battle.

Rarity sometimes trumps condition.

Good luck to the seller and any potential buyers.

This game is epic, and I hope it finds a nice new home..

I hope the new original will keep it in its current state.

Dat Condition tho.


Since when was a completely destroyed label, plus pen acceptable?

You are saying buy this copy. Then make an exact reproduction and sell the reproduction while keeping the original?  This a famous NWC and the label isn't 100% removed. To reproduce this exactly wouldn't be easy. Pictures have been floating around for years. 

This does happen in the art world. A forger buys an original with papers. As the known buyer he then sells the forgery with those papers and isn't questioned. Stakes are a bit higher. Millions and not thousands.

I hadn't heard of this cart before, but I find it kind of charming... I mean, at some point someone owned it that thought it was just a strange "Mario" game and had no idea what they had. I think thats kinda cool.

That's not what he's saying at all. He's talking about making a new shell just for display purposes, not selling.

If someone spilled a cup of coffee on the Mona Lisa, you wouldn't see it in a dumpster the next day...

The condition will influence the price for sure, but that doesn't mean it isn't valuable AND desirable.

I agree 100%.  But I think "damaged" would be more appropriate.  But hey, its just my opinion.

I don't disagree with you, I think your opinion is the popular one.

It certainly is not going to pull the same cash as a copy with the label intact, that's for damn sure.  That being said, there is a market for this copy based on the rarity and desirability of the grey NWC, so it still holds considerable value in its current state.

Ugg to each his own I suppose. I'd rather display a poor condition real thing then a copy. If it is just for display purposes then why do you even need a real board? Fake the whole thing.

Dude's got it right here mang.

Make a display shell for it and hide the real one somewhere else. Heck, even throw in a RetroUSB repro in the new shell and you still own a real NWC it's only not displayed

I bet if every NA member put $1 in to a fund we could afford to get this and then give it to paul

Just because someone pays a record high price for something doesn't make that the new value... they could just be a fool with their money.  Look no farther than Omar who paid batshit insane prices on many sealed games and he'll be lucky to even obtain a fraction of their prices back if he sold today. 

Collectors generally have to "overpay" today to pry an item from someone's collection if it is stupidly Mint or stupidly rare.   You can easily look at this from another perspective and say he overpaid then for a "piece of history" and is hoping someone else will overpay now.  But who knows, we'll see what happens.

So why not just buy a RetroUSB copy, save yourself a ton of money, and be done with it? Let someone who would actually appreciate this copy for what it is have it. That's what will happen anyway. No one who would have a problem with the condition of this copy is going to waste thousands of dollars on something they aren't going to be happy with. Personally, I would love to have this copy and would proudly display it the way it is. 

The one thing I do like about this cart is the history. Seeing it for sale and hearing the same arguments makes me think of a time early in videogame collecting. It has since become the Mario copy. I'm not in a position to make the purchase but it is something I would love to own. 

On a related note about damaged art check this story out.

There was a Picasso painting which was damaged prior to the sale. The sale was canceled. It was then repaired and sold for millions more after the repair.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a...

So... if we think the Mario NWC should have so much value, then does the Stadium Events with the face cut-out hold a lot of value too? That was one of the first SEs I remember hearing about, though I'm a bit later to the game then many of the vets.

No idea on that; however, I remember this particular NWC cart from back in the day.  IIRC, it had been on an article on tsr's NES Archives, submitted by a guy named Thomas.  A real nice piece of history, almost legendary in its existance, and I would love to own this one too.

Not to me it doesn't. You couldn't duplicate it and it is even hard to explain but this NWC which might have started out as a joke to most has grown on a few of us early birds. When I saw it posted here I smiled. It was like seeing a picture of an old friend. 

It's so well known that it doesn't need a REAL serial number, it already has one spelled M.A.R.I.O .

While that's true...it'd be really nice to know which one it is.

I'm pretty sure if someone took a microscope to it you can find traces of ink and figure out the number.