DALLAS, TX.- Sliding a Nintendo Entertainment System game cartridge out of its protective sheath was a rite of passage for lucky kids in the 1980s and '90s. Some — knowing the personalities of their well-loved NES machines — might insert the game with a fluid motion, or pop it into the 8-bit console with a self-proclaimed expertise surely no neighbor kid could perfect, so "We can play, but only I touch the games." The feel of a hard-edged rectangular controller was a high-tech dream back then, not to mention one's ability to quick-fire a code to gain advantage before the game even begins (more on that later).

For many, playing a beloved video game is a sense memory, one that can come back with super-speed just by looking at a game box. The Legend of Zelda, Rad Racer, Super Mario Bros., Contra: Intrinsic to the games offered in Heritage's May 23–24 Video Games Signature® Auction, there's a sincere and simple magic in that many of the lots feel tied to the experience of play versus merely collecting.

"This is new old stock. These are unopened birthday presents that are found in the attic. These things aren't supposed to exist," says Valarie Spiegel, Heritage's Managing Director of Video Games. "Video games weren't meant to be collected as sealed products, so that's why there's this natural, organic rarity attached to these games." Heritage's Consignment Director of Video Games, Evan Masingill, notes that the price of video games nearly guaranteed their being put into play. "Take a game that was $60 in 1990. People didn't buy them to not play them. That's why these games are so rare these days."

When they say rare, they mean sealed, graded, first-edition — "boss level" — condition.

One highlight of the auction is a first print Legend of Zelda, identified by the NES trademark symbol on the front with a very limited production run. It was a copy that was essentially on the shelves at launch in 1987 and is now the highest graded copy, at 9.4 A+ Sealed, to hit public auction.

This pristine link to the original Link hails from the newly discovered Waterford Collection, a cache of high-grade, sealed NES games that's been awarded a named pedigree by CGC. "Coming off the heels of last year's DFW Collection and the earlier Plattsburgh find, the Waterford collection is the newest historic video game discovery," Masingill says. "The cache of early print Nintendo titles was found in the Midwest and includes other games like Metroid, Sqoon, Clu Clu Land and some of the highest grade examples of each respective title."

And of course, there's one of the ultimate IPs of game, film, TV and poster: Pokémon is represented here by a stunning 9.9 A++ Red Version for Game Boy. But it's not just Nintendo sweeping this auction: Collectors new and seasoned will find IPs like Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil and more to satisfy both nostalgia and a progression into other platforms (Sega and Sony, for starters) and media crossovers.

Beyond video games, retro design buffs and art lovers will find lots to covet. Original Nintendo artworks range from arcade flyer art to box art to brochure art. "Obviously, sealed games are rare with only a couple handful of copies, but art is one of one," Masingill says. "Getting first-party Nintendo-published artwork is especially challenging, since Nintendo maintains their own archives. Seeing these kind of works offered to the public is extremely rare."

There's that word again: Rare. "It's incredible just how many high-grade first-to-market examples are being offered in this sale, from the 9.9 A++ Pokémon Red to the 9.6 A+ first-print Super Mario Bros. 3 and much more," Masingill says. "It's a great privilege to be entrusted with handling historic collections like this."

The two-day event is a chance to make a grab for a glorious past, level up, or tell the tale of the Contra code — up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start! A score in this auction just might beat starting out with 30 extra lives, especially considering this from Spiegel: "Video games are the perfect collectible because they weren't meant to be collected."