A unique Xbox console changed hands on eBay for over 9,000 euros. The 19-year-old special edition in the special Hello Kitty design was worth so much money to a bidder despite the defect.
The first Xbox was released in the US in late 2001, before becoming available in Japan and Europe a year later. A successor, the Xbox 360, was released in 2005.
But in the same year, a special edition of the original Xbox was released by Microsoft, which has now become a sought-after collector’s item due to its design and low production numbers.
One of these special editions in the Hello Kitty design has now been sold on eBay for over 9,000 euros, even though the console can no longer be switched on and is therefore defective. Our colleagues at 3DJuegos.com also reported on this auction.
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Broken Xbox in Hello Kitty design is worth over 9,000 euros
Which console is it? The Xbox being auctioned is a special edition that features a pink Hello Kitty motif on the top. The console’s casing is made of transparent plastic, which provides a dull view of the Xbox’s interior.
The console also includes a transparent controller and the game “Hello Kitty Mission Rescue”. The packaging was also designed specifically for this Xbox and, along with a matching Hello Kitty motif, is completely pink.
What makes the Xbox so valuable? Microsoft’s console was sold exclusively in Singapore in 2005 and only by a specific retailer. According to the seller’s description on eBay, only 550 examples were made.
If that weren’t exclusive enough, you could only get the Hello Kitty Xbox if you were willing to buy a television, which at the time cost the equivalent of around 4,600 euros.
In combination with the small number of copies and the high purchase hurdle caused by the expensive TV bundle, the Xbox was already a rarity 19 years ago and is therefore so popular with collectors.
How did the sale go? Since the auction on eBay was only a few days ago, you can track the bidding war in detail via the individual bids. The seller set the starting price at just under 1,400 euros.
Within the first two days, two remaining interested parties ended up outdoing each other with their bids. The contract was won by a person who was willing to pay almost 9,300 euros for the special edition of the Xbox.
Since the seller has repeatedly pointed out that the console is defective and cannot be switched on, one can only assume that the new owner is primarily interested in the console as a collector’s item and does not intend to actively play with it.
Console manufacturers continually produce special editions of their devices. These are often produced in small quantities and are sometimes not sold publicly, but rather given away or raffled off on certain occasions. A hobbyist has built an Xbox that is unlike any other in the world: The hobbyist invested 1,500 euros and months of his life to create the most powerful Xbox in the world – now wants to sell it