Initially released on February 21, 1986 for the Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo’s first Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda, is an unforgettable classic that spawned a major gaming franchise and captured the hearts of countless gamers. The original game is so highly regarded, in fact, that one collector with deep pockets paid $870,000 this week for a sealed, 1987 copy of the game. Sold on Dallas, Texas-based auction site Heritage Auctions and described as a “true grail among games,” this particular copy of The Legend of Zelda is extremely rare in that it’s a variant stemming from one of the game’s earliest production runs, which only lasted for a few months. The Legend of Zelda’s $870,000 auction beats that of the previous record attained by Super Mario Bros., which auctioned for $660,000.
[…] This is the only copy from one of the earliest production runs that we’ve ever had the opportunity to offer, and, possibly will have the opportunity to offer, for many years to come. Considering this variant was only produced for a few months in late 1987 before it was ultimately replaced by the “Rev-A” variant in early 1988, this statement likely comes as no surprise to collectors. Only one other variant precedes the offered “NES R” variant and that is the “NES TM” variant, which is the true first production run. However, it is also widely believed that only a single sealed “NES TM” example exists, and there is no telling whether or not that copy will ever come to market. Essentially, this copy is the earliest sealed copy one could realistically hope to obtain.
Sources: Heritage Auctions, The Verge