Somewhere in Haw River, someone just made a boatload of cash off an old Nintendo system that was sitting in a closet -- and set the video game world abuzz.
The recipient of the sudden windfall, a staggering $13,105, has so far remained anonymous, not responding to messages sent by The News & Observer through eBay and eBay representatives.
All that's known about lace_thongs35, the seller's eBay name, is what he or she revealed on the auction site. Lace_thongs35 lives in Haw River (about 60 miles northwest of Raleigh) and clearly wasn't a video game aficionado, writing on the site:
"I have had this stored in the closet for years for my kids to play but the way that electronics come & go and change from one year to the next they wanted all of the new hot items of their own now and now it's time to get rid of things that are no longer being used or wanted."
The starting bid was set at a modest $9.99 with $13.95 for shipping.
By itself, the 25-year-old Nintendo system would have probably gone for about $50.
But one of five games listed along with the Nintendo was a copy of a game called Stadium Events.
To say it is rare would be an understatement.
Only 10 copies were thought to exist before the one in Haw River showed up.
Driving up the value and the bids: The seller had the game manual and the original box for Stadium Events.
"This is a super-rare find," said D.S. Cohen, a classic video games expert who writes for The New York Times Web site classicgames.about.com and author of "Producing Games."
"The game cartridge just by itself is already worth $1,100 to $1,200 in working condition. But with the packaging, nobody's ever found it before. That's the reason it sold for so much money."
Lace_thongs35 posted the lot for sale at 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 3.
By 12:30 a.m., the bids had reached $2,000, and they just kept coming.
In all, there were 36 bids from 17 bidders, finally arriving at the final selling price of $13,105 on Feb. 10.
Cohen wasn't surprised. "This game is legendary," he said. "It's kind of like the holy grail. Some people didn't think it existed. ... It's like one of those things people know about it, but they've never even seen it."
Stories like the one from Haw River are more typical than people think, said Kathy Brewer, who runs a chain of eBay auction drop-off stores called ShipOnSite with her husband John.
"We get stories like that all the time," she said. "Unless you're a collector and know what that rare piece is that people are looking for, you never know."
As for the identity of lace_thongs35, Cohen said that may remain a mystery. But he said the world may soon know who the buyer was.
"I have a feeling this collector is going to come public and let themselves be known if this gets to be a big enough story," he said.
