Your Retro Video Games and Collectible Cards Could Be Worth a Fortune

21 Sep Your Retro Video Games and Collectible Cards Could Be Worth a Fortune

The market for retro video games and collectible items is booming, with the rarest items selling for millions. For many millennials, the startup sound of a PlayStation 1 is the sound of their childhood.

“I loved games when I was a child,” said collector Jarrod Hayes in an interview. “It was a great way to keep my brain occupied as a kid, and as an adult, I’m really captivated by the nostalgia. And with some games, it’s better to play the original copies, you know?”

Hayes, known as Polished Gamer on Instagram and YouTube, is one of New Zealand’s biggest retro game collectors. “At the moment, I’m running something like 4,100 games and I think about 100 consoles,” he said. “It’s quite a lot, to be honest. I keep a tally. I think it’s around $100,000.”

And retro games are big business. This year, an original copy of Legend of Zelda sold for nearly $500,000, while its rarest edition is worth around $1.5 million.

But it’s not just about video games. Some old Pokémon cards, like those sold by Nostalgia Box, are now fetching six-figure sums.

“You know, for this highest rarity card, like a PSA 10 of 10, we’re talking a price of over $200,000 on the market,” said Nostalgia Box manager Ben Mayo. “So, you know, if things are in perfect condition, just looking at them and seeing what you might have could be worth something.”

When influencer Logan Paul appears at WWE’s WrestleMania, he’s not wearing a diamond around his neck, but the world’s most valuable Pokémon card: worth nearly $10 million.

The Pokémon frenzy is so intense that when the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam offered limited-edition Pokémon cards in January, it caused a frenzy.

It’s time to dust off your collections, because those old games might be a goldmine.