Welcome to this month's Video Game Signature Auction on Heritage! Each Signature auction offers up something new and unique for video game collectors. Finds include rare video games, prototypes, memorabilia, and more! These auctions are a ton of fun to watch, and fun to bid on. These are my pics for the coolest items in this month's Signature auction.

Super Mario Kart Prototype 

Here's something we truly don't see every day. This certified prototype is for the game Super Mario Kart. This game was tested and played by The Video Game History Foundation which discovered that the North American version of the game was on the prototype. Super Mario Kart was officially released in 1992 and would spawn the family-friendly and family-destroying series Mario Kart. The game would go on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.

This gradeless Prototype WATA-certified item is one of the coolest items I've seen in an auction. I'm a big fan of ashcans and prototypes, as are many other collectors. If you're looking for a truly unique piece of video game history, this is it. While there isn't a lot of sales data for this game, similar items usually sell high.

For comparison, a sealed WATA-graded 9.4 copy of Super Mario Kart has a one-year average of $21,302. While I don't think this will go for that much, anything is possible with this market.

Final Fight II

Having one prototype game in an auction is special, but having two is something truly great. This certified prototype for Final Fight II, but unlike the previous prototype this one has not been played. The Video Game History Foundation notes that there are three EPROMS which all have Capcom stickers on them. This cartridge looks almost complete, save for the sticker and handwritten FFII on the label. Final Fight II was a popular side-scrolling beat-em-up game that sold over one million copies worldwide.

This gradeless Prototype WATA-certified item is another great find. Sales data for this item is close to nonexistent. On top of that, only a handful of Final Fight II copies have been graded by a third-party company. The only sales data to date is for a sealed 7.5 WATA-graded example, which last sold for $898 in September of 2021. This prototype may not get as much attention as the Super Mario Kart item, but this should be on everyone's watch list.

Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures 

Speed Racer's popularity in America is as odd and colorful as the show. Based on the Japanese manga and anime Mach GoGoGo which first saw print in June of 1966, the show was brought over to America without much of a translated storyline by Trans-Lux and producer Peter Fernandez -- who also provided the voices for Speed, Racer X, and a number of other characters.

The show became a cult hit and was one of the few shows to bring anime to Western television before the anime boom of the 1980s and 1990s. Speed Racer is a personal favorite of mine -- but I didn't own a Super Nintendo as a child, so I never got to play the 1994 Super Nintendo game Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures. Unsurprisingly this game is a side-scrolling adventure racing game, which follows the spirit of the anime.

This sealed 9.4 WATA-graded copy is awesome. Frank Rocco's box art truly captures the thrill of any given episode. This game is hard to come by, with very few being graded by a third-party grader. The only recorded sale is for a sealed 9.0 WATA-graded copy, which has a one-year average of $1,400. My conservative guess is that this copy could go close to $2K, but anything is possible with this market.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.