Nintendo Collector Loses More Than 860 NES Games Worth Up to $100,000 in Massive Home Burglary

Summary

• More than 860 NES games worth an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 were stolen from longtime Nintendo collector Roger Holler.
• Holler spent nearly 40 years building the collection and was reportedly just three games away from completing it.
• The games were meant to help fund his grandchildren’s college expenses, while police continue investigating the burglary.

A Nintendo collector in Washington says thieves stole more than 860 NES games from his home, wiping out a collection he spent nearly 40 years assembling and valued at between $50,000 and $100,000. Even crueler, Roger Holler was reportedly only three games away from completing the collection he had pursued since childhood.

Holler, who lives in Puyallup, Washington, returned home with his family after an out-of-town trip and discovered that someone had broken into the property. Rows of shelves that previously held hundreds of Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges had been cleared. Local reporting shows damage around the home’s entrance, while other valuables were also taken during the burglary.

The financial loss is substantial. The sentimental part may be considerably harder to calculate.

Holler had been collecting Nintendo games since receiving his first NES from his mother at age 11. What started as a childhood hobby eventually became a decades-long project shared with his family, particularly his son, Chris Sterling. Holler had intended for the collection to benefit his grandchildren later in life, potentially helping pay for their college education.

Forty years of hunting cartridges disappeared during a single break-in.

That is a particularly nasty speedrun.

More than 860 NES games were taken from Roger Holler’s home

Reports differ slightly on the exact number of cartridges stolen, with some local coverage describing more than 850 games and other reports placing the total at more than 860 NES titles. Holler’s own estimated value for the collection ranges from approximately $50,000 to $100,000.

The higher figure should be treated as an estimate rather than a confirmed auction valuation. Retro game prices can vary dramatically depending on rarity, condition, authenticity, packaging and the particular version of a cartridge.

A loose cartridge worth a few dollars sits in a very different market from an obscure release that collectors have spent years trying to locate.

Holler’s collection apparently contained examples from both ends of that spectrum. FOX 13 Seattle reported that the stolen library included several rare Nintendo games carrying substantial individual values.

The sheer quantity also makes the theft unusual.

More than 860 cartridges are difficult to misplace, casually pocket or explain away as something accidentally left in the back of a car. Someone removed almost an entire physical game library from the house.

The family has reported the burglary to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and authorities have asked anyone with relevant information to contact law enforcement.

He was only three games away from completing the NES collection

One detail has turned the story from an expensive burglary into something particularly painful for retro Nintendo collectors.

Holler says only three games remained on his list.

He had spent almost four decades searching stores, attending gaming conventions and traveling around Washington looking for NES cartridges. Nintendo Wire reported that Holler’s mother gave him his first Nintendo Entertainment System when he was 11, beginning a collecting habit that continued throughout most of his life.

His son Chris Sterling eventually became part of the routine.

Sterling described years of weekends spent driving between game stores, bringing cartridges home and cleaning them together. The collection therefore documented quite a bit more than Nintendo’s 8-bit catalog.

It documented time.

That makes the $50,000-to-$100,000 figure strangely inadequate. Insurance can theoretically assign money to a cartridge. Good luck filing a claim for three decades of Saturdays with your kid.

Holler told local reporters that seeing the empty shelves has become difficult enough that he no longer wants to look at them. He also questioned whether he would ever begin collecting again.

The stolen NES games were meant to help his grandchildren

Holler wasn’t simply planning to keep the cartridges sitting on a wall forever.

The collection had become a form of family asset.

He planned eventually to pass its value to his grandchildren, with college expenses or inheritance among the possible uses for the money. Speaking to FOX 13 Seattle after the burglary, Holler said the games were intended to become something he could leave behind for them.

A fundraiser subsequently appeared under the title Help Roger recoup loss of complete NES library. It was organized by A Gamer’s Basement with Holler listed as a beneficiary and described the goal as replacing the collection or restoring some of the money that had been intended for his grandchildren.

Community members have also contacted the family offering help since the theft became public, according to follow-up reporting from FOX 13 Seattle.

That support may help financially.

Reconstructing the actual collection is another problem entirely.

Rare retro games cannot necessarily be ordered again like replacing a stolen PlayStation from a retail store. Availability fluctuates, prices move and specific cartridges can take years to find in acceptable condition.

Holler had already spent nearly 40 years doing precisely that work.

The burglars took more than Nintendo games

The NES collection was the most valuable and unusual target, but it was not the only property taken.

Holler told FOX 13 Seattle that the burglars had moved through private areas of the home and also stole his wife’s tennis bracelet. Damage to the front entrance was visible after the break-in.

That detail also explains why Holler has described the aftermath as more than frustration over missing collectibles.

Someone had entered the family’s home, searched through their belongings and removed items carrying both financial and personal value.

The psychological difference between losing a game in the mail and discovering that strangers have walked through your bedroom is not particularly subtle.

As of the latest public reports, no suspect has been publicly identified and there has been no announced recovery of the NES collection. The family is continuing to seek information.

Why a stolen retro game collection can be difficult to replace

The case also illustrates a strange consequence of the modern retro gaming market.

An NES cartridge was once just an old video game somebody might find for a few dollars at a yard sale.

Certain games have since become serious collectibles.

Scarcity, nostalgia, sealed-game speculation and the growth of online marketplaces have pushed prices for some old cartridges far beyond their original retail value. Complete libraries have consequently become expensive projects, particularly when collectors chase uncommon releases rather than settling for the familiar Super Mario Bros. cartridges that seem genetically engineered to survive every garage sale in America.

That also creates a problem after a theft.

A collection containing hundreds of individual games requires documentation. Receipts may no longer exist. Purchases made decades ago predate modern online order histories. Values change. Insurance policies can have limits or special requirements for collectibles.

GamesRadar reported that Holler’s family was speaking with its insurance company, although it was not clear from the available reporting how much of the collection would be covered.

For anyone sitting on a valuable physical game collection, that might be the less entertaining lesson hiding inside this story: photograph it, catalog it and find out what the insurance policy actually covers before somebody discovers that your dusty stack of gray plastic is worth the price of a rather nice car.

Roger Holler says the theft may have ended his 40-year collecting hobby

The cruelest consequence may be that Holler no longer sounds interested in rebuilding.

Nintendo Wire quoted him saying he does not think he will “ever collect another thing again.”

His son has taken a softer approach toward whoever stole the games.

Sterling said he believed his father would forgive the person responsible if the collection simply came back. He described Holler as the sort of person who would probably react with gratitude rather than revenge if someone returned what was taken.

There is some practical reason for hoping the cartridges resurface.

A haul containing more than 850 NES games is unusually distinctive. Selling hundreds of retro Nintendo cartridges, particularly rare ones, without attracting attention from dealers or collectors is considerably harder than unloading a stolen laptop.

The retro gaming community is also fairly obsessive about inventory and rarity. For once, people who can identify a cartridge revision from the shape of a screw may prove extremely useful.

Nothing currently guarantees that the collection will be recovered.

What is established is grim enough: Roger Holler spent nearly 40 years building one of those collections most retro players only see in photos, got within three games of finishing his goal, and returned from a family trip to find almost all of it gone.

The monetary estimate reaches $100,000.

The original NES from his childhood, decades spent searching with his son and the plan to eventually turn those games into something useful for his grandchildren make the loss considerably harder to put on a price chart.

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