CGC-certified Video Games Dominate Heritage Sale; Record-breaking Zelda Realizes $300,000

A first production copy of The Legend of Zelda graded CGC 9.4 A+ is now the second-highest CGC-certified video game ever sold.

Posted on: 5/28/2025

CGC flew high above the competition in a recent Heritage Auctions sale, where the top-selling lot was a CGC-certified The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System that realized six figures. CGC Video Games had the six lots with the highest prices realized in Heritage’s Video Games Signature Auction, which ended on May 24, 2025.

The top result in the sale was a sealed The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1987) graded CGC 9.4 A+ and pedigreed to the Waterford Collection (lot 28021), which realized $300,000. It now holds the record for the second highest-selling CGC-certified video game ever sold, surpassing another sealed first production copy of The Legend of Zelda graded CGC 8.0 that sold on Heritage Auctions in February 2024. The example of The Legend of Zelda sold in May 2025 is the highest-graded first production copy of the game to be offered by Heritage Auctions, which likely contributed to the intense bidding war leading up to the end of the sale.

Additionally, a sealed Pokémon Blue Version for the Nintendo Game Boy (1998) graded CGC 9.8 A++ (lot 28086) realized $106,250, claiming the highest price realized for a CGC-certified copy of the game on Heritage Auctions' platform. This is a first-production copy of the flagship Pokémon game, which can be identified by a misprint on the back that erroneously identifies the game as “Pokémon Red Version” instead of Blue. Pokémon Blue Version was released alongside Pokémon Red Version in the United States in 1998. Both are enhanced versions of the Pokémon Red and Green games released in Japan in 1996, and paved the way for Pokémon to become the multimedia franchise it is today.

Other CGC-certified video games in the auction included:

  • a sealed Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1990) graded CGC 9.6 A+ (lot 28043) which realized $100,000
  • a sealed Pokémon Red Version for the Nintendo Game Boy (1998) graded CGC 9.9 A++ (lot 28088) which realized $93,750
  • a sealed Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1992) graded CGC 9.4 A (lot 28073) which realized $68,750
  • a sealed Ice Climber for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1987) graded CGC 9.4 A+ and pedigreed to the Waterford Collection (lot 28017) which realized $57,500
  • a sealed Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1995) graded CGC 9.8 A++ (lot 28057) which realized $52,500
  • a sealed Clu Clu Land for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) graded CGC 9.2 A++ and pedigreed to the Waterford Collection (lot 28009) which realized $47,500

All prices realized include a buyer’s premium.