A sealed copy of ‘Rocky’ on VHS sold for $27,500. Why? Beats us.

Check your parents’ basements.

In February, a sealed VHS copy of the original 1982 Rocky sold in an auction for $27,500.

A recent New York Times article about Heritage Auctions — a Dallas-based auction house that bills itself as the “world’s largest collectibles auctioneer” — suggests it’s because of nostalgia marketing.

Jay Carlson, a videocassette expert, sells VHS tapes regularly through Heritage Auctions. His first auction last June brought him more than a half-million dollars, the Times reported.

That first sale fetched him publicity. People with original tapes began reaching out with offers.

One father took the three first Rocky films out of his son’s 1982 time capsule and sold them to Carlson for $180 he told the Times. Carlson flipped them for a total of $53,750, with Rocky selling for $27,500, Rocky II for $12,500, and Rocky III for $13,750. Buyers’ information is not publicly listed on the auction platform.

The original tapes’ allure has something to do with the fact that they remain factory sealed. VHS tapes were bought with the intention of people using them.

There is similar interest in deadstock sneakers — meaning they are no longer manufactured but are unworn, with the original tags and packaging — or first-edition pressings of vinyl records.

According to Heritage Auctions, Carlson’s copy of Rocky was “the only known factory sealed copy of the original retail release” of the film — not to be confused with still-sealed re-releases.

Still, as noted by the Times, if a person considers dabbling with collectibles, they have to decide if they think an item will hold its value or fall to the fate of Beanie Babies, which were infamously sold as collectibles among fans but nosedived in value over the years.

For those unsure if they want to dish out the cash, Rocky and most of the sequels are available to stream on Netflix.