Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge going for $150,000 on eBay

If you so happen to have $150,000 in spare cash lying around somewhere, or money that you have access to, and are looking for something to invest all that moolah in, perhaps it is time to look beyond the regular vehicles of investment such as property and financial instruments, or even less traditional modes such as wine, comic books or vintage cars. How about video game memorabilia? Enter the pre-release prototype of Nintendo’s first Legend of Zelda game which hit eBay earlier this morning? Yes sir, a seller going by the name “tjcurtin1″ has put up his copy of a pre-release prototype version of The Legend of Zelda, in addition to a totally new and sealed copy of the game up for auction – with an asking price of $150,000. Here is what tjcurtin1 has to say.

This is a complete version to my knowledge and as far as I know does not differ from the released version. The simple label reads “HP NOA 2-23-87 Legend of Zelda.” The actual release of the game was August 22nd 1987. I can only speculate that the 2-23-87 refers to the date they completed this prototype and being so close to launch is why there are no differences from the released version. Again I’m speculating. If you google NES Zelda Proto you will see the history of this particular cart. I will be happy to add pics, answer questions (to the best of my ability) and field offers for this title. If you look through my 100% positive eBay history you will see I am a regular purchaser and seller of video games. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of my collection and I challenge anyone to come up with anything more important in the video game collecting scene. Stadium Events? How many carts are out there? Hundreds. NWC Gold Cart? Again how many? There is one Prototype in the world for the NES Zelda, one prototype that started the launch of a generation of gamers and you are viewing it.

What do you think of such geekery and the amount of commitment to the cause?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: legend of zelda, nes