Theme
Preordering Super Mario Bros. Wonder through Walmart included a pack of trading cards
Each pack contains ten cards, with the Elephant Mario card being extremely rare
Elephant Mario cards have sold for nearly $1,000 already
Mario fans are having a great week. Super Mario Bros. Wonder just dropped a few days ago, and the reviews are looking good. As part of a preorder bonus at Walmart stores, certain Mario Wonder games also included packs of Mario trading cards. These included a wide spread of possible cards, with one in particular being extremely rare. Only 1,000 Elephant Mario trading cards are out there, and they have started to resell for much, much more than the price of the game.
So why does Mario have his own set of trading cards now? And why are people throwing tons of money at them?
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the latest Mario game, and the first side-scroller since 2012. The game mixes familiar themes with new mechanics, and is being reviewed quite well. Wonder was released on October 20, 2023 globally.
Like most games, Super Mario Bros. Wonder came with preorder bonuses depending on the retailer. Target and GameStop offered a shadowbox and sticker sheet respectively, while Best Buy shipped out posters with their preorders.
What we’re interested in are the Walmart preorder bonuses for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Buying your copy earlier through Walmart would net you not only the game, but a booster pack of Super Mario trading cards.
Each pack includes ten total cards which are drawn from a base set of fifteen different cards, mostly characters from the game. There are five more cards that are a bit more rare, four holofoils and one super-rare serialized holo.
The rarest Super Mario Wonder trading card is the holo Elephant Mario. These are serialized out of 1,000 total cards, and are estimated to come in “less than 3%” of all booster packs.
These booster packs are not sold separately. Super Mario Bros. Wonder costs $60 through Walmart, and even though these were preorder bonuses, they’re still available for purchase after the game’s launch. We don’t know how much supply is left, but we imagine these packs won’t be available for too much longer.
What’s remarkable is that these booster packs are currently reselling, even though they are showing as available through Walmart’s store (as of this writing, at least). Sealed Mario booster packs are reselling for around $30 to $40.
Complete sets of cards (minus the Elephant Mario card) are actually selling for quite a bit. eBay has recorded several sales for the full base set with all possible holofoil cards at around $200.
With a base set this small it’s not that hard to complete a collection, but it’s still surprising to see how much money people are spending on these trading cards.
But the money made from selling the booster packs is small potatoes compared to the holy grail card. The Elephant Mario trading card from the Walmart booster packs is exceptionally rare, and each card is numbered individually from 1 to 1,000.
As of this writing, there are 27 listings for the Elephant Mario card, with all of them starting at $500, and many more sellers asking upwards of $1,000 to $2,000.
Since the game released, there have been seven sales for the card. Prices vary, but right now the Super Mario Elephant card is selling for upwards of $600, with a few sales edging up to $1,000.
Kind of wild, but collectors like collecting. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this market to see if buyers will keep paying the prices we’ve seen. Remember, these booster packs are still available at Walmart. If you don’t mind handing over $60 or you’re already planning to play the game, prioritize picking up a copy of the game that includes these cards.
You can either sell the booster pack or take a gamble and try to pull the Elephant Mario card. All it takes is a little luck and your next 10 games are paid for.
Subscribe to our newsletter if you want to learn more about reselling. We talk about video games pretty frequently here; check out our articles on Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield for examples of how games can resell for way, way more than they ever retailed for.
Expect to see these blow up on TikTok
Start calling your local Cinemark
