In 1990, Nintendo hosted the first Nintendo World Championships (NWC) event. The tournament took place across 29 cities in the US and culminated with a national championship held at Universal Studios Hollywood. The 1990 NWC was the first major esports event in the US and kicked off a new era of competitive gaming in the states.
Earlier in 2023, CGC Video Games™ and Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®) had the opportunity to certify the Nicholas Membrez-Weiler Collection, an extraordinary group of memorabilia from Nicholas Membrez-Weiler’s participation in the 1990 NWC event. Recently, CAG had the honor of certifying another major group of 1990 Nintendo World Championships memorabilia: The Carolina Collection.
The Carolina Collection includes over 150 CAG-certified items from the NWC city-wide tournaments and national championship event. Many of these collectibles are being offered by Heritage Auctions in their Carolina Collection Archive Video Game Showcase Auction, on May 11, 2022; bidding is already underway.
The auction includes several forms of memorabilia from the Nintendo World Championships, including information pamphlets, event tickets, stickers, letters, game guides and more. Highlighting the sale is a CAG-certified Hints to Mastering Wall Street Kid – Sofel Corp. Printout (lot 79111). Wall Street Kid is an NES game published by Sofel that allows players to set up pseudo investments in a virtual Wall Street market. The printout offers tips and tricks on the game and was given to NWC participants before being fully published for public release.
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Another interesting item in the auction is a CAG-certified 1990 Nintendo World Championships Contestant Information Sheet (79085). This beautifully preserved information sheet gives the name of each winning contestant in each age division, along with the city they competed in for the qualifiers. The sheet also lists the NWC’s sponsors.
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How about physical proof that someone attended the event? The Carolina Collection has that, too! Also featured in the auction is a CAG-certified 1990 Nintendo World Championships Powerfest General Admission Ticket (lot 79096). It is credited to the Lakewood Exhibition Center in Georgia and was dated for November 18, 1990. The Powerfest was a sub-event held during the citywide NWC competitions.
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Other CAG-certified items from the Carolina Collection being offered in the auction include:
