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little samson nintendo nes psa pop report

Little Samson Nintendo NES: PSA Pop Report + Loose / CIB / Sealed Prices

Published 2026-05-29 · Updated 2026-05-31 · by Jason Trogdon
Retro Video Games 8 min read

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PSA has graded 36 Little Samson Nintendo NES copies on record — 12 loose, 21 CIB, 3 sealed. PSA tracks 2 distinct production variants separately because they’re priced differently by collectors. Sealed copies trade for $20,000+ on the open market. This page is the per-game pop + price + grading reference for Little Samson on Nintendo NES — updated weekly from PSA’s official population data and PriceCharting’s market catalog.

Loose
POP 12
Market: $2,100
CIB
POP 21
Market: $5,000
Sealed
POP 3
Market: $20,000

Quick Facts

Variant Comparison

PSA recognizes 2 distinct production variants of Little Samson, each tracked on its own population row because collectors value them differently. The variants this game discriminates on: USA-region production code labeling.

Variant Loose Pop CIB Pop Sealed Pop Total
3 Screw, USA Code 12 12
Made in Japan 21 3 24

PSA Pop by Condition

PSA tracks Little Samson populations independently for loose carts, complete-in-box (CIB), and factory-sealed copies — collectors price each condition separately because rarity and demand diverge sharply. Tables below show the grade-tier breakdown per condition, aggregated across 2 variants PSA recognizes for this title.

Loose Cartridge

Total graded: 12

Variant Pop Grade Breakdown
3 Screw, USA Code 12 7.5: 3 · 7.0: 4 · 6.5: 1 · <6.5: 4

PSA has not graded the following variant in this condition: Made in Japan.

Complete in Box (CIB)

Total graded: 21

Variant Pop Grade Breakdown
Made in Japan 21 9.6: 1 · 9.4: 1 · 9.2: 1 · 9.0: 1 · 8.5: 2 · 8.0: 7 · 7.5: 2 · 7.0: 2 · 6.5: 1 · <6.5: 3

PSA has not graded the following variant in this condition: 3 Screw, USA Code.

Factory Sealed

Total graded: 3

Sealed summary by variant:

Variant Total Pop Top Numeric Grade Best Seal Grade
Made in Japan 3 9.6 A+

Factory Sealed Grade × Seal Matrix

Rows show PSA numeric grades. Columns show seal grades. Cell values are PSA population counts. Aggregated across all variants. Top observed grade: 9.6 (PSA scale extends to 10).

Grade A+ B+ B Total
9.6 1 1
9.4 1 1
8.0 1 1
Total 1 1 1 3

PSA has not graded the following variant in this condition: 3 Screw, USA Code.

Current Market Prices

All prices below are pulled directly from PriceCharting’s public catalog and refreshed each time this article regenerates (typically weekly). PriceCharting computes their values from active and recently-sold listings on eBay + their dealer network — independent of any data on this page. The Sealed column reflects PriceCharting’s “manual-only” / new tier — factory-sealed retail at average condition; specific graded-sealed prices vary sharply by numeric grade + seal letter (use the Sealed eBay browse link below for grade-specific comps).

All 2 PSA-tracked variants share the same PriceCharting prices because PriceCharting indexes at the title level, not the variant level. Variant-specific pricing surfaces on eBay sold-comp data — check the Sealed / CIB / Loose browse links below for variant-aware market signals.

Heritage Graded Sales

Heritage Auctions sold results below are real auction transactions for Little Samson on Nintendo NES. They complement the PriceCharting loose / CIB / sealed benchmarks above; they are not estimates and they are not blended into PriceCharting’s ungraded market prices.

Summary rows are title-level Heritage sale signals, sorted by format, recency, and realized-price signal. PSA production variants can price differently, so the sale records keep Heritage’s own variant notes visible instead of pretending every auction lot maps cleanly to a PSA variant row.

High-grade games can trade years apart, so older auction records stay visible; treat the latest-sale date as part of the comp, not just the dollar amount.

Format Grade Sale signal Latest sale Comps
Factory sealed (Oval Soq R) CGC 8.5 A Last sale $26,250 May 25, 2024 1
Factory sealed WATA 9.4 A Last sale $18,000 Mar 8, 2020 1
CIB (Oval Soq R the Carolina Collection) WATA 9.0 Last sale $5,400 Aug 10, 2023 1
CIB (Oval Soq R) WATA 8.0 Last sale $3,720 Nov 5, 2022 1
Loose WATA 3.0 Last sale $1,560 Jul 6, 2021 1

Sale records:

Date Sold For Grader / Grade Format Variant Notes Source
May 25, 2024 $26,250 CGC 8.5 A Factory sealed Oval Soq R Lot 7372-28022
Aug 10, 2023 $5,400 WATA 9.0 CIB Oval Soq R the Carolina Collection Lot 44206-79059
Nov 5, 2022 $3,720 WATA 8.0 CIB Oval Soq R Lot 7290-29045
Jul 6, 2021 $1,560 WATA 3.0 Loose Lot 312127-66036
Mar 8, 2020 $18,000 WATA 9.4 A Factory sealed Lot 7224-93022

Listings

Each link below opens an eBay search filtered to that condition, scoped to Little Samson on Nintendo NES. “Sold” pulls completed/sold listings (use this for price research). “Listings” pulls current active listings (use this to find a copy to buy).

Why Little Samson Matters for Grading

With 36 PSA-graded copies on record, Little Samson sits in the mid-rarity tier for Nintendo NES — graded copies surface periodically on eBay but command meaningful premiums over raw. Sealed copies trade at roughly 9× the loose price ($20,000 vs $2,100). Solid spread for grading speculation if you can source a clean sealed cart. Because PSA tracks 2 variants separately, production-code identification matters before submission. The pop-by-variant breakdown above tells you which variant is the rarer find.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Little Samson Nintendo NES worth grading?

Yes for clean, top-condition copies. Little Samson has a healthy 36-copy graded population, and the higher-tier grades (9.4+) consistently command meaningful premiums over raw. Mid-tier grades (7-8) often net break-even after grading fees, so submission strategy matters.

How rare is a graded CIB copy of Little Samson?

PSA tracks 21 graded CIB copies of Little Samson for Nintendo NES. The grade-tier breakdown above shows how those split across PSA’s numeric grades — top-grade copies (9.4+) are the scarcest and typically command the strongest premiums.

Should I buy a graded or raw copy of Little Samson?

Depends on your goal. Graded copies cost more upfront but come with PSA’s authenticity + condition guarantee — the right move for buy-and-hold collectors. Raw copies are cheaper but require condition assessment yourself, and the grading lottery means a $50 raw cart can come back as a $25 PSA 7 OR a $200 PSA 9.4. Use the per-condition pop and price data above to calculate expected value before you commit.

Why does PSA track multiple variants of Little Samson?

PSA recognizes 2 distinct production variants of Little Samson on Nintendo NES. Variants reflect real production differences — different factories (Made in Japan vs Made in Mexico), packaging die changes, ESRB-rating retrofits added partway through the console’s life, or Players Choice reissues from later runs. Collectors price them differently because rarity diverges, and PSA tracks each on its own population row so the data reflects the real market structure.

Sources

Pop counts pulled weekly from PSA Video Games population data. Prices from PriceCharting. PSA acquired WATA in July 2021 and completed the rebrand to PSA Video Games on October 20, 2025. PSA Video Games population data is the continuation of WATA’s population history. Heritage graded-sale comps come from Heritage Auctions sold archive lot pages linked in the sale-record table.

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About Jason

Jason has been collecting cards since 1999 and retro video games since 2008. Based in the Southeast US. What The Slab cites real eBay sold comps, PriceCharting data, and PSA pop reports — no guesswork. Read more →