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Donkey Kong 3 Nintendo NES: PSA Pop Report + Loose / CIB / Sealed Prices

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PSA has graded 58 Donkey Kong 3 Nintendo NES copies on record — 42 CIB, 16 sealed. PSA tracks 8 distinct production variants separately because they’re priced differently by collectors. Sealed copies trade in the $490 range. This page is the per-game pop + price + grading reference for Donkey Kong 3 on Nintendo NES — updated weekly from PSA’s official population data and PriceCharting’s market catalog.

Quick Facts

• Title: Donkey Kong 3

• Console: Nintendo NES

• Variants tracked by PSA: 8

• Total PSA-graded copies: 58 (Loose: 0 · CIB: 42 · Sealed: 16)

• PriceCharting market data: available

Variant Comparison

PSA recognizes 8 distinct production variants of Donkey Kong 3, each tracked on its own population row because collectors value them differently.

PSA Pop by Condition

PSA tracks Donkey Kong 3 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 8 variants PSA recognizes for this title.

Loose Cartridge

PSA hasn’t graded any loose copies of Donkey Kong 3 for Nintendo NES yet.

Complete in Box (CIB)

Total graded: 42

PSA has not graded the following variant in this condition: Made in Japan, Hangtab - Gloss Sticker - NES GP.

Factory Sealed

Total graded: 16

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: 9.6 (PSA scale extends to 10).

Per-variant grade × seal matrices

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

PSA has not graded the following variants in this condition: Made in Japan, Hangtab · Made in Japan, Hangtab - Gloss Sticker · Made in Japan, Hangtab - Gloss Sticker - NES GP · Made in Japan, No Rev-A.

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: $21

• Complete in Box (CIB): $122

• Sealed: $490

All 8 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 Donkey Kong 3 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 Donkey Kong 3 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 Donkey Kong 3 Matters for Grading

Donkey Kong 3 is one of the more heavily-graded Nintendo NES titles, with 58 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 cib condition dominates submissions (42 of 58, ~72%) — a strong signal that’s where most collector value sits for this title. The sealed-to-loose price ratio is roughly 23× — sealed copies trade at $490 while loose carts move around $21. That spread means a fresh sealed find is the move; raw cart flips have thinner margins after grading fees. Because PSA tracks 8 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 Donkey Kong 3 Nintendo NES worth grading?

Yes for clean, top-condition copies. Donkey Kong 3 has a healthy 58-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 Donkey Kong 3?

PSA tracks 42 graded CIB copies of Donkey Kong 3 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 Donkey Kong 3?

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 Donkey Kong 3?

PSA recognizes 8 distinct production variants of Donkey Kong 3 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 — every variant PSA tracks for this console, with pop + price per condition tier (loose, CIB, sealed).

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

More Nintendo NES pop reports & prices:

• Disney’s The Little Mermaid

• Donkey Kong

• Donkey Kong Classics

• Donkey Kong Jr.

• Super Mario Bros. 3

• Super Mario Bros.