A few weeks ago, we learned that one of the two SEGA Pluto prototypes known to exist would be going up for auction by Heritage Auctions the week of July 9-13.
The auction has officially ended with an anonymous buyer plunking down $84,000 for the winning bid to secure the SEGA Pluto-02 model.
The SEGA Pluto is essentially a SEGA Saturn with a built-in Netlink modem and internal hard drive. This particular model was owned by a former SEGA of America employee who revealed the existence of the prototype on the Assembler Games forums (now archived).
The SEGA Pluto owners have had a tumultuous time trying to sell the consoles in the past. The owner of Pluto-02 tried selling the prototype back in 2015 on eBay for a whopping $10,000. The catch? It’s wasn’t even operational! Our own editor-in-chief Chris Powell had a chance to sit down with Robert Vega back in 2013 on his troubles in loading off the relic. Vega has since linked up with Ben Heck in getting the console repaired and planned on touring the US at different game shows before selling it off.
It will be interesting to see how much the second Pluto system will go for now that a baseline has been set for these consoles.
