One of the first-ever images of Mario and Donkey Kong has sold for almost $330,000 at auction, more than doubling its estimated final price, after nearly ending up in a dumpster decades ago.
Donkey Kong (Credits: Nintendo)
The artwork appeared on a humble sales flyer sent to arcade operators some 45 years ago, introducing a game that would change the medium. On the front was a cartoon scene that laid out the whole premise: an ape hurling barrels down scaffolding, a damsel in distress behind him, and a smug, mustachioed man in overalls ready to take the monkey down. It was among the first images of Donkey Kong, Mario’s debut, and the game that launched Nintendo to international success.
Donkey Kong Artwork Almost Lost Forever
The piece was created by legendary illustrator Leslie Carbaga to sell the arcade cabinet to sceptical operators. It went on to appear across Donkey Kong merchandise for decades and helped establish the early look of Mario and Donkey Kong in media such as the Saturday Supercade cartoon.
Remarkably, it was almost destroyed. According to former Nintendo advertising director Donna Darbous, whose collection the piece comes from, it was slated for a dumpster when a storage room was being cleared to make office space. Recognising its value, Darbous took it home and stored it away, only rediscovering it recently.
A Treasure Trove of Nintendo History at Auction
The flyer artwork was just one highlight of a wider auction of Darbous’s saved material. The collection also included an image of Mario as Santa commissioned for an early company Christmas card, Disney-themed artwork for early licensed Game & Watch titles, a promotional Punch-Out boxing glove signed by Mike Tyson, rare black box NES games, and a wealth of promotional material and internal documentation.
The full set of auctions, and what everything fetched, can be viewed online at Landry Pop Auctions. The story is a reminder of how often gaming history has been thrown away during office moves and restructurings, only to be rescued by people who recognised its worth before anyone else did. This time, that rescue was worth nearly a third of a million dollars, and it is unlikely to be the last time a piece of gaming’s past emerges from obscurity to command a princely sum.
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Source: GameSpot — read the full story there.
