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

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PSA has graded 96 StarTropics Nintendo NES copies on record — 8 CIB, 88 sealed. PSA tracks 2 distinct production variants separately because they’re priced differently by collectors. Sealed copies trade in the $109 range. This page is the per-game pop + price + grading reference for StarTropics on Nintendo NES — updated weekly from PSA’s official population data and PriceCharting’s market catalog.

Quick Facts

• Title: StarTropics

• Console: Nintendo NES

• Variants tracked by PSA: 2

• Total PSA-graded copies: 96 (Loose: 0 · CIB: 8 · Sealed: 88)

• PriceCharting market data: available

Variant Comparison

PSA recognizes 2 distinct production variants of StarTropics, each tracked on its own population row because collectors value them differently.

PSA Pop by Condition

PSA tracks StarTropics 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

PSA hasn’t graded any loose copies of StarTropics for Nintendo NES yet.

Complete in Box (CIB)

Total graded: 8

Factory Sealed

Total graded: 88

Sealed summary by variant:

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: 9.8 (PSA scale extends to 10).

Per-variant grade × seal matrices

Click any variant to expand its full grade × seal breakdown.

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).

• Loose cartridge: $11

• Complete in Box (CIB): $54

• Sealed: $109

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 StarTropics 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.

Showing the top 12 Heritage sale signals; the sale-record table below includes every Heritage auction sale used on this page.

Sale records:

Listings

Each link below opens an eBay search filtered to that condition, scoped to StarTropics 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).

• Loose Cartridge: Sold · Listings

• Complete in Box (CIB): Sold · Listings

• Factory Sealed: Sold · Listings

Why StarTropics Matters for Grading

StarTropics is one of the more heavily-graded Nintendo NES titles, with 96 PSA populations on record across loose, CIB, and sealed. Strong submission volume signals collector demand — and grade premiums are the market’s vote on which copies are scarce. The sealed condition dominates submissions (88 of 96, ~91%) — a strong signal that’s where most collector value sits for this title. Sealed copies trade at roughly 9× the loose price ($109 vs $11). 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 StarTropics Nintendo NES worth grading?

Mostly for sealed copies. The sealed-state population (88) outweighs CIB and loose for StarTropics, indicating sealed is where collector capital concentrates. CIB and loose grading is viable but margins are thinner after fees.

How rare is a graded sealed copy of StarTropics?

PSA tracks 88 graded sealed copies of StarTropics 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 StarTropics?

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 StarTropics?

PSA recognizes 2 distinct production variants of StarTropics 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.

Related Resources

• Nintendo NES Game Library (forthcoming) — every variant PSA tracks for this console.

• Retro Video Game Collecting — pillar with broader strategy, market dynamics, and grading economics.