Super Mario Bros. game left in drawer for 35 years sells for record price in Dallas

A Super Mario Bros. video game left in a desk drawer for decades sold for a record-breaking price.

A sealed copy of the iconic Nintendo game from 35 years ago sold Friday in Dallas for $660,000, the most ever for a video game, according to Heritage Auctions.

Purchased as a Christmas gift in 1986, the video game was left unopened and untouched in a desk drawer until it was found earlier this year, the auction house says.

The wait paid off.

“It stayed in the bottom of my office desk this whole time since the day I bought it,” the seller, who remained anonymous, said, according to Heritage Auctions. “I never thought anything about it.”

The forgotten gift shattered the record for most expensive video game set by a $156,000 Super Mario Bros. game from 1990 sold at an auction in November, according to Heritage Auctions.

“As soon as this copy of Super Mario Bros. arrived at Heritage, we knew the market would find it just as sensational as we did,” Heritage Auctions Video Games Director Valarie McLeckie said in a news release. “Even so, the degree to which this game was embraced outside the market has been nothing short of exceptional, and that aspect of this sale has certainly exceeded our expectations. Though, I suppose we can’t be too shocked; who doesn’t love Mario?”