For more than two decades, I was a full-time freelancer. In addition to authoring
books about video games and popular culture, I wrote for numerous journals,
magazines, newspapers, and websites about pretty much anything and everything.
It was fun while it lasted. You could call it my dream job, and many people
did. During my peak time, I would have more than 80 articles published in print
each year, plus a ton of online content.
Most weekdays, I’d start early with a strong cup of Earl Grey (a la Captain Picard) and make the short commute to my home office, just a few steps from my bedroom. Like many in the field, I took on a few side gigs to help supplement my income—selling on eBay and running a booth in an antique mall among them. It was great: I was my own boss, made my own hours, avoided rush hour traffic, and spent my days doing things I enjoyed. I could even take a walk or a nap pretty much whenever I wanted, especially once the kids started school.
During this time, one of the biggest challenges I faced was the sharp rise in health insurance costs after the Affordable Health Care Act initiative, which was signed into law in 2010 and took full effect in 2014. I’d been paying around $100 a month for a basic plan that met my needs, but with the ACA’s rollout, I lost that plan, my access to CareNow Urgent Care (the nearby substitute was like something out of a third-world country), and my doctor, who I absolutely loved—despite assurances from President Obama that wouldn’t happen. My new policy cost over $600 a month and offered fewer benefits. While I recognize that the ACA helped many, including my son, it was a serious blow for freelancers, business owners, and self-employed people like me, making affordable healthcare ironically harder to obtain. Cheap plans that were not through an employer simply did not exist anymore.
As the years went on, many of the publications I wrote for shut down,
victims of the digital age. For those that remained, such as AntiqueWeek and
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the pay dropped drastically, and I found myself
leaning more and more on my side-hustles. I started walking dogs through Wag,
which was fun (I love pups and the outdoors!) and provided grocery and gas
money, but eventually I had to confront the reality that I needed a job with steady
pay and full-time benefits. I ended up taking a graveyard shift loading trucks at
FedEx, which came with excellent benefits—good health insurance for only $9 a
month—but the hours and the job itself were grueling. I could never adjust my
sleep schedule, and exhaustion quickly took its toll. I was weary all the time
and knew I needed to find something else.
About three-and-a-half years ago, during the “dark period” (what I call my time at FedEx, which lasted an interminable two years and nine months), my wife and I went to see a Pink Floyd cover band at a local bar. I knew the frontman, Greg Holman, an old friend from my time working at Lone Star Comics, a chain in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Before the show started, we caught up, and he talked to me about his job as a comic book cataloger at Heritage Auctions, which had recently moved from Dallas to Irving near DFW Airport—much closer to where I live in Fort Worth. For years, I’d thought working at Heritage would be a fantastic job (I’m a huge comic book fan), but the old commute would have been too far, and I’d been happy freelancing. Now, with their new location, a budding video game department (which started in 2019), and my own financial needs, it felt like the perfect fit.
I applied to Heritage Auctions the following week, was hired soon after, and have been cataloging video games ever since. My work is similar to what I’d already been doing with my books—writing brief descriptions of video games. The listings appear on the Heritage website and, for their Signature sales, in printed catalogs as well. However, rather than writing reviews or gameplay synopses like in my books, I focus on rarity, condition, and the collectible nature of each item, requiring me to adjust my style. The notion of going to an office Monday through Friday took some getting used to, but after a couple of months on the job, I adapted. More importantly, I really like my co-workers and the advantages that come with working for a great company.
A few months after starting with Heritage, I got a nice promotion to Lead Video Game Cataloger. Around that time, Cierra Caballero, one of my best friends and someone whom I’ve collaborated with on many projects, started working at Heritage as a video game cataloger after my recommendation. She’s a great fit for the department and super fun to work with, bringing her positivity and unique perspective. I’ve also been traveling with Heritage to video game conventions, working at their booth. These developments only made my job better.
Some of the most exciting items we’ve sold at Heritage show just how far the video game collectibles market has come. A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. brought in an incredible $660,000, while a pristine Super Mario 64 shattered records at $1.56 million, becoming the most expensive video game ever sold. The Legend of Zelda also turned heads, fetching $870,000 for a sealed early-production copy.
Sonic the Hedgehog had his moment in the spotlight when a copy of the original Genesis game fetched an impressive $360,000. Meanwhile, John Madden Football for the Genesis outpaced it, achieving a staggering $480,000. Although these prices reflect a market bubble from two to three years ago, and we may never see these lofty numbers again, video games as collectible commodities continue to thrive as a robust industry. Heritage and other auction houses frequently sell games for amounts comparable to the price of a brand-new 2024 Porsche, unthinkable just a few years ago.
Some of Heritage’s more recent highlights include: a Wata 9.8 A++ first
production copy of Super Mario Bros. 2 for $137,500; a CGC 9.6 A+ first
production copy of Metroid for $125,000; a Wata 9.4 A first production copy of
Super Mario World for $125,000; a VGA 85 NM+ NES Deluxe Set console for
$120,000; a Wata 9.6 A++ first production copy of Duck Hunt for $120,000; a
Wata 9.8 A++ mid-production copy of Pokémon Red Version for $118,750; and a
Wata 6.5 grey Nintendo World Championships cartridge for $62,500.
It’s been interesting watching the
video game market evolve over the years, expanding to the point where these
pieces of electronic plastic housed in cardboard are considered collectibles comparable
with coins, baseball cards, and comic books. While not everyone is happy with
this development—some prefer a time when retro game collecting was a niche
hobby, and I totally understand that—it was inevitable considering the ubiquity
of the medium and the explosion of collecting and popular culture in general. Games
that people were literally throwing away during the 1990s are now antiques worth
preserving.
If you’ve got sealed vintage video games or some truly rare and/or valuable items—like original artwork, prototypes, or other gaming collectibles—you might want to consider consigning them with Heritage Auctions. It’s a great way to find new homes for your treasures among serious collectors who will appreciate them. If you’re curious about how it works or just want to chat about your collection, feel free to reach out to Valarie Spiegel at valaries@ha.com or Evan Masingill at evanm@ha.com. They’re always happy to hear from fellow gamers and potential clients. If you just want to check out some of the cool stuff Heritage sells, head over to HA.com.
As for me, working at Heritage has been a rewarding way to combine my passion for video games with my experience as a writer. Cataloging games gives me the chance to interact with incredible pieces of gaming history, from sealed classics for the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Genesis, NES, and Super NES to unique artwork that reveals the creative process behind beloved titles. It’s a role I never expected to find during my early freelance days, but it feels like things have come full circle, and I’m enjoying it. Watching the gaming world evolve—from casual swap meets to games selling for thousands of dollars through prestigious auction houses—has been truly fascinating.
If you’d like to read my essay on the history of why video games have gotten expensive, you can read it HERE. Or, you can watch my video on the topic HERE.
As always, thanks for reading!
~ Brett
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