If you own a game from 20 or more years ago in good condition, there's a chance it's worth a lot of money. Whatever you do though, don't let customs get a hold of it. The owner of a sealed copy of Pokemon Yellow found that out the hard way.Although it isn't their copy of the iconic Pokemon game - apparently it belongs to a friend - Night Dive Studio's Stephen Kick has shared a picture of it along with what allegedly happened. Clearly in a pretty rough state, apparently US customs broke open the acrylic case the copy of Pokemon Yellow was being kept safe in, ripped off the seal and threw it away, and then sliced open the box, presumably to get a look at its contents.Getting any property back from customs damaged is a tough blow to take. This one is more bitter than most though as according to GamesRadar, this particular copy of Pokemon Yellow would have likely been worth somewhere in the region of $10,000 before it was torn apart. Regular boxed copies of Pokemon Yellow currently sell for a few hundred dollars, but this one was still sealed and had been scored and graded by Wata Games, receiving an A+ and a 9.2.
For comparison, there's currently a sealed copy of Pokemon Yellow with a 9.4 rating selling for $10,500. Even though it's in slightly better condition than the one that is now presumably almost worthless, it's probably safe to assume the previously 9.2-rated copy of Pokemon Yellow would have been worth somewhere in the region of $10,000.
As for why employees at US customs allegedly decided to hack it to pieces is anyone's guess. Perhaps they believed there to be drugs inside for some reason. It's also unclear whether the game's owner will be able to claim anything for the way their game was treated effectively losing them thousands of dollars.