NEW YORK, NY.- Plenty of folks have a bug for collecting. Coins, comics, baseball cards, art — those who are wired to acquire often figure this out about themselves at an early age.

There’s another type who recognizes the unlikely objects that may become highly collectible, even if hardly anyone else shares their vision. They see a hole in the collectibles market and bet on it.

And still another type with an amped-up impulse to gather about them the things they are passionate about, yet don’t predict how their burgeoning collections could one day amount to a gold mine.

On that note: Only recently have vintage home video games — most especially those with their original seal intact — exploded as a market category. This astonishes more than a few: When you tell a newbie to the collecting sphere that a pristine, sealed 1996 copy of Nintendo’s Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million (through Heritage, by the way, which dominates the category) they seem flabbergasted — unless they grew up playing the games, and loving them, and perhaps, even, wondering whether breaking the seal on their brand-new copy was short-sighted.

On August 23-24, in its August 23-24 Video Games Signature® Auction, Heritage will offer a remarkable collection of prime-era video games that exists compliments of two anonymous brothers who, back in the 1980s and early ’90s, obsessively collected the most popular titles and did not break their seals. They bought the best of the best: The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Urban Champion, Mega Man X... the sibling gamers-turned-collectors had the combined instinct of a heat-seeking missile, and they simply could not miss. This auction debut of this hotly anticipated Dallas-Fort Worth Collection includes a sealed, first-production copy of 1987’s The Legend of Zeldathat’s graded by CGC at 9.2A; this game is one of the most coveted grails for any video game collector, and this landmark copy has created a huge stir in the collecting community.

“Thanks to its well-kept condition and K·B Toys price sticker, you can practically imagine plucking this copy of the iconic game off store shelves back in 1987,” says Valarie Spiegel, Heritage's Managing Director of Video Games. “One of the greatest video games of the 8-bit era, The Legend of Zelda is also one of the most influential titles in the history of the industry. We've only sold two sealed first-production copies previously, and this one is a full six grades higher than either of those two examples. It's also the top copy offered in a public auction in recent memory.”

The Dallas-Fort Worth Collection made its way to Heritage via a slightly meandering route (eventually landing in North Texas), given that the well-meaning person in charge of the collecting brothers’ estate had little idea how valuable their cache was. A thrift store outing and an eBay listing happened along the way, but when a few titles first surfaced, the collecting world was electrified.

“This recently discovered Dallas-Fort Worth Collection needs little introduction,” says Spiegel. “While other pieces from the collection will be featured in future Heritage sales, this auction showcases its most prized items. The copy of Zelda will undoubtedly attract attention, but the highest-graded first production Metroid is also team favorite at Heritage.”

This unmatched copy of 1987’s Metroid, one of the most significant NES titles, illuminates the level of prestige that connoisseurs expect from the Dallas-Fort Worth Collection. The sealed hangtab copy graded at CGC 9.6A+ is also one of the most prominent video game finds of the last few years. “The chance to acquire a sealed hangtab variant of Metroid, especially one in such outstanding condition, is extremely rare and likely won't come around again any time soon,” says Spiegel.

Another gem from the Dallas-Fort Worth Collection featured in the August event is this highest-graded CIB true first print of 1985’s Super Mario Bros. The copy has the highest component and box grade Heritage has ever offered; not a single first-print copy is known to exist in an unopened state, so this exceptional CIB example is the earliest and best representation of Super Mario’s debut release.

“One of the most historically important video games ever released, Super Mario Bros. did nothing less than help revive the industry after the video game crash of 1983,” says Spiegel. “The game pioneered the side-scrolling platformer genre and established Mario as Nintendo's mascot. There are fewer grails holier than a first-production matte sticker copy of Super Mario Bros.”

Other auction leads from the Dallas-Fort Worth Collection include, among dozens more, a sealed first-production copy of 1986’s Urban Champion, this one with a CGC 9.0 A++ grade (and the first time Heritage has offered a sealed copy of this variant); an early production copy of 1994’s Mega Man X graded by CGC at 9.8 A++; and a well-preserved copy of 1988’s Contragraded by CGC at 9.4 A+. Its iconic box illustration by Bob Wakelin makes it perfect for display.

More than 30 titles from the Dallas-Fort Worth Collection are featured in this event. But that’s not all. Hundreds of other sought-after game titles from various other collections and consignors are included, and alongside them are some historically significant lots from the video-gaming world.

“One highlight is a Nintendo World Championships trophy from Detroit city champion John Wyman, featured on the auction’s catalog cover,” says Spiegel. “All NWC items in this auction belonged to him, including his original competition cartridge, and it’s an honor to present them together.” The 1990 championships were pivotal in bringing eSports into the mainstream and setting the groundwork for today's global competitions, Another notable lot is a rare circa-1992 Nintendo PlayStation SNES Prototype Controller — a relic from the infamous failed collaboration between Sony and Nintendo. This prototype, believed to be one of the last remaining from the original 200 units, most of which were reportedly destroyed, is designed with the familiar casing of a Super Nintendo controller but is branded with "Sony PlayStation" in dark gray on the front and features much smaller "Sony PlayStation Controller" text on the back.

Also on offer: a unique Final Fantasy VII LEGO diorama from 2023.

“After an intense fan vote, the fateful encounter between Final Fantasy VII characters Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough in the Sector 5 slums was chosen to be recreated into a LEGO model,” explains Spiegel. “This exclusive set, created as a tie-in with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was given away to a single lucky fan.” There’s good old-fashioned luck, and in the case of two game-obsessed brothers, there’s something magical that falls between luck, pure passion and impeccable taste.