CGC-certified Gold NWC Cartridge Realizes $207,400 in Goldin Sale

A gold 1990 Nintendo World Championships cartridge graded by CGC Video Games™ just realized an impressive $207,400, the second-highest price realized for any CGC-certified video game in an auction. The elusive cartridge was one of four CGC-certified collectibles to realize at least five figures in the 2024 Goldin 100 Part 2 Auction, which ended on August 17, 2024.

CGC Video Games has only certified two examples of the gold NWC cartridge, as of August 2024, with both examples receiving a grade of CGC 4.0. This is the first example to be offered in a public auction, and it is now the second-highest auction price realized among the thousands of video games certified by CGC Video Games, not far behind a sealed first production copy of The Legend of Zelda graded CGC 8.0 A that realized $288,000 in a Heritage Auctions sale in February 2024.

While the Nintendo World Championships toured in 1990, Nintendo ran a Player’s Poll contest in Nintendo Power. One of the poll’s prizes included a copy of the NWC cartridge being used in the NWC competition but encased in a special gold plating similar to that of the Legend of Zelda cartridges. Nintendo picked 26 winners, and each received a copy of the gold cartridge that had their name and hometown printed on the cartridge’s unique hand-cut label.

Out of the 26 copies produced and distributed to the poll’s winners, only 16 examples of the gold NWC cartridge are known to exist. Nine copies remain unaccounted for, and one copy was destroyed in a house fire. In comparison, over 300 copies of the regular gray NWC cartridge were produced and distributed to the finalists of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships. This makes the gold cartridge considerably rarer.

Meanwhile, three other CGC-certified collectibles realized five figures in the Goldin sale. These included a Charizard, Pokémon (1999) “Disco” Holo Test Print graded CGC Gem Mint 10 and certified by CGC Signature Series as signed by Mitsuhiro Arita that realized $87,975; an X-Men #1 graded CGC 8.5 that realized $51,240; and a Splendid Genesis, Magic: the Gathering (1997) Richard Garfield Event Artist Proof graded CGC Gem Mint 10 and certified by CGC Signature Series as signed by Monique Thirifay that realized $36,600.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. The newest division of CGC, CGC Home Video, provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of home media, including Betamax tapes, DVD and Blu-ray discs.