For decades, fans of all ages have been playing video games. From Atari to PlayStation, there’s certainly a video game for every collector! With graded games, collectors can take their collections to the next level. Heritage holds a Mini-Boss Select auction weekly, featuring some fine examples of collectible video games.
Bram Stoker's Dracula WATA 8.5 A Sealed
Bram Stoker's Dracula was a fever dream of a movie. Released in 1992 by director Francis Ford Coppola, the movie turned many of us into Gothic Horror fans. The casting of Gary Oldman as Count Dracula and Winona Ryder as his love interest, Mina Harker, was magnificent. Oldman stole the show, though one could argue that Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker was a close second. His performance had been criticized repeatedly, and in his defense, it is hard to one-up Oldman. To date, the film is one of the highest-grossing vampire movies and is still a great watch over 30 years later. This movie is still influential on vampire (and Gothic Horror) films to this day, so if you've never seen it, give it a watch.
Curiously, the movie got a few video game adaptations. The Super Nintendo release is a platformer where players play as Jonathan, with the occasional help from Van Helsing. This may not be the best vampire game of all time, but it certainly is a fun novelty. This WATA graded 8.5 A sealed copy presents very well and could be potentially had at a great price. The last game sold in a similar grade was in May 2022 for $384.
Duck Hunt VGA 85 NM+ Unopened
Growing up, I played a handful of games on repeat. Various Mario games, Starfox 64, and Duck Hunt. I felt like I had no choice, as the game was attached to the first Super Mario Bros. The use of the light gun against the TV was exhilarating to 3-year-old me, though I imagine the game was frustrating for older players. The gun didn't catch the ducks most of the time, but when you did shoot a duck, it would die dramatically on screen. The game is a great way to kill loads of time, as there isn't much else to it. You shoot ducks, you miss, the dog laughs at you, and repeat. Experienced gamers will get bored of this game quickly, but this is still an important game.
This version of Duck Hunt is for the Nintendo Famicom. The box art is much more inviting and engaging than the North American counterpart. If you were to buy only one game in this auction, I would go for this one. This VGA 85 NM+ copy is certainly attractive - especially with the purple box! While we don't have any sales data for the Famicom version, the NES version can fetch over $1K, depending on the grade.
Fisher-Price: Perfect Fit WATA 9.6 A Sealed
I've noted in the past that video games, historically, were thought of as a boys' hobby. Nintendo set to change that perception early on by introducing games marketed to girls (The Little Mermaid, Barbie) and even younger players. Edutainment, as many people called it, was a great way to get children to learn while playing with their favorite toys. It should come as no surprise that Fisher Price would enter the world of video games - almost all of their toy lines fall under the edutainment umbrella. This was an easy-to-follow puzzle game with very basic graphics. It was one of a handful of edutainment games Fisher-Price released in the late 1980s and early 1990s, though I don't hear a lot of historians talking about them at length.
This WATA 9.6 A sealed copy is adorable. The blue and red box is eye-catching! The one-year average for this grade is $400, so this game could be the sleeper hit in this auction. I would keep my eyes on this copy!
