A Nintendo poster that was nearly thrown in the trash has now become the most expensive piece of video game artwork ever sold at auction. The rescued find has now provided an incredible windfall for a former Nintendo employee.

Video game collectibles and the games themselves can sometimes be sold for eye-watering prices, especially when they're in good condition. For example, earlier in 2026, a copy of the original Super Mario Bros. broke sales records when it was auctioned off for $3 million. Finding old copies of games and their connected works in good shape is getting harder as the years roll by, leading some coveted items to sell for incredible prices.

Just a day before the systems were set to arrive, Walmart pre-orders for the Zelda 40th Anniversary Nintendo Switch 2 are being canceled.

An original art poster for Donkey Kong has now sold at auction for a whopping $329,400. The artwork is a classic, featuring Donkey Kong on top of a tower with Pauline, throwing barrels down at Jumpman. Jumpman is essentially the prototype for Mario, and looks considerably different here than the plumber most Nintendo fans know. What makes this particular piece of art so unusual is that it's the original painting, produced in 1982, making it one-of-a-kind. The artwork was created by illustrator Leslie Cabarga, and was estimated to be worth anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000, but fan interest led to a considerably higher selling price.

Aside from it being the original art, part of what makes this sale so remarkable is that this piece of work was almost lost forever.

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