This $10,000 Game Popped Up At A Thrift Store
If you thought current video game prices were high, this Atari 2600 game might blow your mind. Video games are notorious for rising in value over time, especially if they're rare and in good condition. As games age, they become harder and harder to find, particularly if there weren't many cartridges produced to begin with. Recently, an anonymous citizen sent off a copy of the 1982 game "Air Raid" to a thrift shop, and it went on to sell for over $10,000.
As originally reported by Kotaku, someone donated a copy of "Air Raid" for the Atari 2600 to a Goodwill in Texas. A Goodwill employee quickly realized the value of the game, and Goodwill auctioned it off soon after. The online auction lasted a week and pulled in 33 bids at ShopGoodwill. The bidding ended at $10,590.70, and while it wasn't the most expensive game to ever sell, it's much more than your average collector can spend.
The moral of the story? Check the value of old games before donating them. You might be sitting on a pile of hypothetical gold. Luckily, Goodwill has some pretty amazing plans for the money generated from this sale.
Why the 1982 Air Raid game was so expensive
Video game collecting can get expensive quickly, especially if you're looking at older, more "vintage" games. For those unfamiliar with the obscure title, "Air Raid" features a distinctive blue T-shaped cartridge and was manufactured in small quantities back in 1982. As reported by Kotaku, only been 12 copies of this game have been found over the years, making it much harder to come by (and much more valuable) than many other Atari 2600 classics. There was little reason to believe that any additional copies would ever show up, let alone in decent condition. It's no wonder it fetched such a high price.
In a press release shared by Kotaku, Goodwill mentioned that the money made by "Air Raid" has the potential to "provide day habilitation services for a year for one adult with disabilities; or provide 20 homeless individuals with job placement services and community resources; or help 10 at-risk youth earn their GED and a paycheck at the same time."
The specific Goodwill that the item was donated to will be able to decide what happens with the money. Whatever the company ends up choosing, it sounds like the community nearby will benefit from it. Who says video games can't make a difference?