By Nicolas Vega -
CNBC
A sealed copy of 1987's
The Legend of Zelda
,
which
sold more than 6 million copies and spawned one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time, is going up for auction this week.
The seller, a 22-year-old Californian who goes by the name Kiro and who did not want his full name to be used for privacy reasons, told
CNBC Make It
that the old game had belonged to his family since
he bought it in the now-defunct Fedco for $29.87 in 1987
, a figure that today would be equivalent to about $80.
Kiro is no stranger to selling items online: he's already made a few hundred dollars selling things like sneakers and Barbie dolls on eBay.
But when he researched his Zelda game, he thought he could earn a little more than that.
The character from the video game The Legend of Zelda, in a store in Tokyo, Japan.Getty Images
“I looked at the price history and thought, 'Oh, I might get $17,000 or $20,000 at most if I'm lucky,'” he said.
He placed the ad one night last October and set the “Buy It Now” price at $17,000.
He received an offer within minutes.
“I said to myself, 'This is crazy.
There is no way I could have sold it so quickly,” she told
Make It
.
A few minutes later another offer arrived.
She soon began receiving offers from impatient buyers.
“A lot of people messaged me on eBay right away,” he said.
“A guy offered to drive up to me and give me $30,000 in cash.”
[Up for auction, the six most famous sneakers of the great Michael Jordan]
Kiro quickly canceled the sale and withdrew his ad, realizing he probably had something special on his hands.
That same night, he received a message from a collector asking if he was willing to talk on the phone.
The collector explained that Kiro's copy of Zelda was an extremely rare item from the game's first production run.
The fact that it was still sealed made it the “holy grail” of video game collectors.
In fact, the last time a first Zelda production went on sale, it had sold for $705,000, making it one of the most expensive video games in history.
The collector offered to put Kiro in touch with a grading service and an auction house specializing in collectible games.
“He really wanted to help me,” Kiro said.
“He was excited about this coming to market and wanted me to get what I was worth.”
Within two weeks, Kiro flew to Florida to have the game professionally graded, and then to Texas to meet with Heritage Auctions, which would handle the sale.
[They pay $1.3 million at auction for a nearly mint copy of the first edition of the Spider-Man comic]
“It's like a miracle,” he said.
“Something inside me told me to auction it off that night.
And in those few minutes of selling they put me in touch with the right person.
I feel like without that guidance I would have been somewhat lost.”
The item will now headline Heritage's Video Games Signature auction, which will take place on February 23 and 24.
While Kiro says he's "grateful for anything" the game gets at auction, he'll be prepared if it reaches a six-figure sum.
“I’ve sat down with an accountant,” he said.
“I won't spend it right away.
[The money] will be used to create long-term wealth for me and my family.”