The Nintendo New York store offered gamers a “GameCube slip cover” with their purchase of “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door” for Switch, and the slip covers have quickly become hot collector’s items on the secondary market.
The slip cover, which is meant as a tribute to the original 2004 release, sold out within hours of its release in May and have since appeared on eBay, selling for hundreds of dollars (if not more).
Nintendo sold the Switch game and slip-cover promotional bundle for around $60 originally.
Soon after selling out May 23, the first listing appeared (and sold) on eBay for a $150 fixed price. The seller included the physical game in the listing.
Two days later, a seller got $199.99 for the slip cover and various commemorative merch from Nintendo NYC, though the lot did not include the physical game.
On May 29, a three-day auction for the slip cover alone ended at $1,175. The seller, who also included a photo of their receipt in the listing, wrote in the description:
“Bought the game at Nintendo NYC on 05/23 in the morning. I just saw the sleeve was getting a lot of attention because it was only sold at Nintendo NYC. I love the game and really like the sleeve, but I’m happy letting a collector have a chance at it.”
The sale has not been able to be confirmed, and a review of bidding activity shows the auction hit $400 before coming down to just two bidders, each with 100% positive feedback rating, driving the price up in the final day.
Later that day, a buyer paid $1,200 on another fixed price listing for the slip cover (no physical game included). Additional sales of the slip cover have notched $595 and $600, respectively, in recent weeks. The most recent sale came last week for $471.79.
The slip covers were also available in Canada, however, they have commanded far lower prices, generally around $60, and are easily discernible from the NYC version due to manufacturer text on the cover.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.