Gold Cartridge Buyer Recreating Nintendo Championships Today

Author: admin

9 Aug

J.J. Hendricks, the Denver entrepreneur who bought the rare Nintendo World Championships Gold cartridge, is hosting an event today that seeks to recreate the original contest. He spoke to Kotaku about it and his acquisition.

Hendricks, the owner of vintage game-and-console retailer JJGames.com, bought the NWC Gold cart last month for $17,500. The seller was asking $25,000. So it was a nice discount for a “holy grail” of game collecting similar to baseball cards’ Honus Wagner T206 or comics’ Marvel Comics #1. Rather, his business bought it, and will reunite that game with a lesser known (and possibly more rare) Nintendo Campus Challenge cartridge he’s in the process of purchasing for $14,000.

“My guess is that they’ll increase in value over time,” Hendricks said, saying he considers both cartridges to be investments held by the business he founded 10 years ago while at the University of Colorado. “I these as opposed to wine or paintings or other collectibles because of the business connection, and because I have always enjoyed video games.”

Though the NWC Gold cart was a newsmaking buy back when Hendricks got it in June, the Campus Challenge cartridge was an even luckier find. That cart was the basis of a 60-college tour by Nintendo from 1991 to 1992 and, unlike the World Championships, none of the game cartridges went public as prizes or giveaways. Hendricks said his copy was found at a garage sale and might be the only known copy.

For those wondering, yes he has played the original NWC gold cart – it was advertised as a working one, after all, and Hendricks wanted to make sure it was still good. I asked if the cart – made in 1990 – required the Nintendo Blow.

“Yes, but after I played it,” Hendricks said laughing, “I just wanted to make sure it was clean before I put it in a safety deposit box.” Next >>