Celtics vs. Lakers for the Mega Drive could sound like an irrelevant sports activities title from the early 90s, nevertheless it’s really a “Holy Grail” collector’s merchandise, prized for its rarity. By no means formally launched within the EU, solely 13 PAL copies are confirmed to exist, and one simply offered for an eye-popping quantity. A replica was bought on eBay for $9,800, which is superb since NTSC copies will be discovered for less than $5-$10.
Prepared for launch, Digital Artwork’s warehouse was already stocked with copies on the market when Celtics vs. Lakers was cancelled. Licensing charges for the NBA had been oppressively excessive on the time, and as an alternative of rebranding the title to one thing extra generic, like “EA Basketball,” the choice was made to scrap it utterly and look ahead to Bulls vs. Lakers the next 12 months. A number of copies leaked out, with EA documentation displaying practically 200 copies in existence, however solely 13 have been confirmed.
The sale for practically $10,000 is spectacular, nevertheless it’s nowhere close to the most important quantity a uncommon sport has offered for, with a sealed and graded copy of Tremendous Mario 64 promoting for $1.56 million and a pristine copy of Tremendous Mario Bros for the NES going for an astonishing $2 million. What separates Celtics vs. Lakers from these two gaming relics is that it’s solely the packaging that makes the EA sports activities title a collector’s merchandise.
Inside the case, the precise Mega Drive cartridge isn’t any totally different from the NTSC copies out there for a number of {dollars}. It’s the packaging, and the distinctive case with PAL markings, that makes Celtics vs. Lakers so costly. Any copy with out the packaging wouldn’t be value even a fraction of the entire worth, making this one of many rarest, most unusual collectibles on the earth of gaming.
