DALLAS, TX.- An ultra-rare copy of Mega Man from the game’s first production run sparked a flurry of competitive bidding before finishing at $75,000, which has now been confirmed to have set the world record for the most valuable sealed video game ever sold at auction.

The game led an assortment of 332 video games sold in Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art auction Nov. 21-24. This sale itself set the record for most valuable video game auction ever.

The selection of Wata-certified video games sold for a combined total of $616,534 and the sealed games from the Carolina Collection pedigree, which held the cartridge of the "Dr. Wright” Mega Man video game, made up $540,952 of that total.

"Sealed, high-grade video games starring blue-chip characters from early print runs currently spark the most interest with collectors,” Heritage Auctions Consignment Director Valarie McLeckie said. "Mega Man is one of Capcom’s most iconic IPs, and this game marks his first appearance. The 'Dr. Wright’ variant is the definitive first print, named for the text on the back of the box identifying the villain as 'Dr. Wright,’ as it was changed shortly thereafter to 'Dr. Wily’ on later print runs. Indisputably, this is not only the crown jewel of the Carolina Collection, but one of the most elusive sealed keys in video game collecting.”

The strong result for Mega Man ["Dr. Wright" First Release] - Carolina Collection Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed NES Capcom 1987 USA was a driven by a flurry of competitive bidding from nearly two dozen bidders. Rumored by some collectors to be the only remaining sealed copy from the game’s original production run, it has been claimed that other copies of this variant that have retained their factory seal still exist. However, these claims have not been publicly substantiated.

Other top video games in the sale included, but were not limited to:

· Bubble Bobble Part 2 - Carolina Collection Wata 9.0 A Sealed NES Taito 1993 USA: $19,200

· Super Mario Bros. [Oval SOQ R] Carolina Collection Wata 9.8 A+ Sealed NES Nintendo 1985 USA: $19,200

· The Legend of Zelda [Rev-A, Round SOQ] - Carolina Collection Wata 9.0 A Sealed NES Nintendo 1987 USA: $19,200

· Mario Bros. [Rev-A, Round SOQ] - Carolina Collection Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed NES Nintendo 1986 USA: $15,465.60

"The introduction of Wata Games as a reliable third-party grading service has greatly improved the confidence of the collecting community within the last year, effectively opening the door for new collectors,” McLeckie said. "This auction’s results have shown the value of vintage video game titles is changing to match that growth in confidence.”