Before the Internet was the quickest route for video gamers to find answers to Nintendo's 8-bit games, there was Nintendo Power. This magazine is perhaps the most fondly remembered video game publication of the late 80s and early 90s because it offered tips and strategies to help players complete some of Nintendo's most challenging games. The magazine ran from 1988 all the way through 2012, producing 243 issues over the course of 34 years. Later, in 2017, Nintendo Power found an extra life as a podcast.
Nintendo Power #1 is of particular interest to collectors for a few reasons. The content of the magazine featured the nature of the second quest in Nintendo's iconic The Legend of Zelda game, which was all but a myth to most American video game players at that point. The magazine explained that players could start the hidden second quest if they accidentally deleted their file after they beat the game and entered ZELDA as their new file name, which was a historic video game reveal.
The other reasons this magazine is of interest to collectors is because it was the first issue and was absolutely read to death by fans (presumbly trying to unlock the secrets of Zelda), so there are likely few high-grade copies of this magazine still in existence. This newsstand copy of Nintendo Power #1 happens to be the highest graded copy known at a CGC 9.8 NM/MT with white pages. The cover features clay versions Mario and Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2, rendered by Joan Gratz, and pre-bidding on this item sits at $22,000 as of the publication of this article.
Heritage also sold a Wata 9.8 A++ Super Mario 64 for $1.56 million back in 2021 (see "'Super Mario 64'").
Click on Galley below for full-size images!
View Gallery: 2 Images