Super Famicom prototype pulls in $3 million bid via online auction only to mysteriously vanish

A holy grail of Nintendo collectibles made its way online via Yahoo! Auctions Japan, only to mysteriously disappear a day later.

Out of nowhere, a listing for a Super Famicom prototype made its way onto Yahoo! Auctions Japan, and it instantly garnered all sorts of attention. This is the kind of Nintendo collectible that you rarely ever see, as it’s not even clear how it made it from Nintendo’s inner sanctum to the public’s hands. Obviously Nintendo doesn’t want it out there, which only adds to its rarity, mystique, and of course, value.

The major differences in this Super Famicom prototype versus the final design are the red power button, a headphone jack and a volume dial on the side, and an expansion port on the front. It certainly would have been nice to have that headphone jack/volume dial on the final console, but for whatever reason, Nintendo decided to ditch those ideas for the retail release.

The Yahoo! Auction for this prototype managed to climb ridiculously high in a very short amount of time. Within 24 hours of posting, the auction had reached an astronomical $3 million bid…and then poof, it was gone. We have no word on why the listing was yanked, nor do we know if it’ll return. Perhaps the powers that be had the listing pulled, or maybe the person selling the prototype got cold feet. Whatever the reason, one major piece of Nintendo history has up and vanished, and we can only hope it pops up again soon.