An extremely rare Foxdata Chrome Leopard Nintendo 64 (N64) controller is going for as much as $1,200 at an auction after being discovered in a gamer's loft.
The unit will officially go on sale at Hansons Auctions on Oct. 17, which is when it is expected to bring in between $850 to $1,215. The rare N64 controller is believed to be one of only 200 of its kind in existence.
Rare Nintendo 64 Controller Up for Auction
Foxdata released a series of colorful N64 controllers during the late 1990s, but only in the United Kingdom. These include the Chrome Leopard alongside other types of controllers, such as the Desert Storm, Red Rain, and Purple Forest. Experts believe that Foxdata only produced roughly 800 controllers in total across the four different designs.
In 1998, Liam Clousdale was gifted the Foxdata Chrome Leopard N64 controller for his birthday after seeing advertisements for the range in Nintendo magazines. In a statement, he said that all of his friends used to go to each other's houses to play and added that in order to avoid confusion, everyone liked to have their own unique unit, as per IGN.
Clousdale added that the Foxdata units were amazing for them at the time that they were released as they were the official controllers but the only difference was that they had custom paint jobs. He noted that he used the unit a fair amount and loved having the craziest-looking one among his group.
He added that one of his friends spotted that a Foxdata pad previously sold for a decent amount of money and instantly remembered that he had one as well. Clousdale was asked about his controller so he unpackaged his old pad from a box in the loft where it was kept carefully stored away.
As he had used the controller regularly as a child, the rare N64 controller was not boxed or in mint condition. However, Hanson said that this only added to the charm of the unit and the sheer rarity of the item will immediately draw eyes among collectors.
Limited Edition Foxdata Chrome Leopard N64 Controller
In a statement on Hansons' website, the head of its Toys and Video Games Auction, David Wilson-Turney, said that the controller's value is high because the Foxdata series is "increasingly sought after in the video game market," according to Tech Radar.
As the games industry continues to mature, the cultural cache afforded to retro memorabilia seems only to be growing even further. While there have been successful modern efforts to recreate the feel of retro gamepads, including the 8BitDo NeoGeo Wireless Controller, there is no direct substitute for the original units.
On the other hand, since being released in 1996, the Nintendo 64 console has been relatively difficult to find in the market. Hansons will also be auctioning off a plethora of other items, including rare N64 games, such as Worms Armageddon, F1 Racing Championship, Super Bowling, Stunt Racer 64, and ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut. The latter, if in new condition, can sell for nearly $15,000, said GameRant.
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