Why Vintage Tech Is So Valuable To Collectors

My name is Mark Montero.

I'm the founder of LCG Auctions.

We specialize in high-end pop culture collectibles.

Today we're gonna talk through five collectibles

ranging from $3,000 to $60,000.

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This is the very first Super Mario Brothers

released on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

This particular example would appraise for around $10,000.

This is a rare hang tab edition.

The back of it has a hang tab that's perforated,

which is different from the subsequent models that came out.

And collectors find the hang tab very collectible.

This one is graded by CGC,

which is also a comic book grader.

They've graded some of the most valuable comic books.

Anything 9.0 or greater is considered exceptional condition.

Super Mario Brothers is the most popular

video game of all time.

There's been over 40 million copies sold.

Super Mario Brothers revived the video game industry.

After Atari, the video game console was starting to fail.

When the Nintendo Entertainment System came out,

Mario in particular,

it created a whole new level of interest.

The Holy Grail of Super Mario

is a 9.8 sealed hang tab edition.

It sold for $2 million.

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This is a Sega Game Gear, released in 1991.

It's the very first release.

retailed at $149.99 at launch.

This is around $12,500.

This example is what we call Hobby Fresh.

It's never gone to market before,

and it'll be interesting to see where it ends up.

This grade is the Holy Grail of Sega Game Gears.

It's graded by VGA.

It's a VGA 85.

Game Gear was Sega's answer to Nintendo's Game Boy.

The Game Boy was black and white.

The Sega Game Gear was in color.

Unlike Game Boy, you could actually play

Game Gear in the dark because of the backlit screen.

The Sega Game Gear had popular titles

like Sonic The Hedgehog and Streets of Rage.

Over 10.5 million units were sold of the Sega Game Gear.

It was one of the most popular

portable gaming systems for years.

The Sega Game Gear is known for ripping through batteries.

But there was also a TV tuner that you could put on the top,

allowed you to watch television stations

on the portable console.

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This is the very first release

of Ghostbusters on VHS, from 1985.

It retailed for $79.99.

79.99 was a very high price,

but VHS was in its infancy,

and the tapes were just very high.

It's dropped down a bit, but it's still in the four figures.

The first edition Ghostbusters has some unique features.

The logo on the front is an embossed logo.

On the back, it also has what we call waterfall watermarks.

These are vertical RCA white watermarks

that resemble a waterfall.

VHS as a collectible is relatively new

in the four and five figure numbers.

Some videotapes that have sold for a lot of money include

Superman Black Box Edition.

This was a Betamax tape that sold for $40,000.

And some of the early release Rocky's

have sold for significant amounts of money as well.

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This is an Apple iPod first release,

first generation, from October, 2001.

It retailed for $399.

The last one that sold, sold for $29,000.

The first edition iPod is extremely rare

in factory sealed condition.

It's become highly collectible through the years.

In collectibles, we have something called scarcity.

Just because something is rare doesn't make it collectible.

Scarce factors in demand,

so something scarce is oftentimes collectible.

This is most definitely the Holy Grail iPod.

The first release, the five gigabyte version,

and factory sealed.

It has a black and white screen.

It utilizes buttons as opposed to a click wheel.

And it stores around 1,000 songs.

Apple had been struggling up until the early 2000s,

and this was the first handheld device

that really helped the company turn a corner.

And it really launched Apple's

handheld division to hew heights.

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This is a first release iPhone from 2007.

This model cost $599.

We have it between 50,000 and $60,000.

This model's eight gigabytes.

For the internet it used something called the Edge Network.

It was a very slow internet service.

And that was kind of the main difference

for this first model compared to the subsequent models.

Factory sealed means the seal has not been broken,

it's not been opened up.

You may have an iPhone at your house

and think it could be worth a lot of money.

The reality is it's probably not.

There's a lot of them in the population.

And for that reason, they're not worth very much.

Steve Jobs introduced the phone

at Macworld in January, 2007.

There was a lot of hype around it.

The most expensive item that we have sold

is a first release iPhone from 2007.

It was the rare four gigabyte model.

The four gigabyte was discontinued after just two months in,

and it went for $190,000.

An item that would just be a Holy Grail

that we have not seen,

if we were to have an unopened iPhone

with a signature from Steve Jobs.

The sky would be the limit on something like that.

I've heard that he actually gave

a signed edition iPad to his inner circle.

There are counterfeits that enter the market

from time to time.

Collectors have to be very careful to make sure

that all sides of the iPhone are shown.

The seal follows a very detailed pattern.

The use of the box underneath the seal,

it should be in mint condition.

The seams along the side are very thin.

Those that are resealed,

the counterfeiters never tend to get the seal right.

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My advice to those looking to get into collectibles

is to collect what you like.

Do your homework in terms of pricing,

previous sales history.

Some of the stuff is very, very expensive,

so you want a good amount of knowledge before you dive in.