Super Smash Bros. Melee is debated to be the apex when it comes to Nintendo and competitive fighting games that the company has produced, with an active community 20 years after its original release. While the series has grown and fleshed out its roster to feature over 70 different playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Melee still has its fans due to the various mechanics that give the gameplay a high skill ceiling that appeals to the competitive scene. This popularity didn't spark until 2003, however, as it was considered a nice party game with various Nintendo characters back in the day.
Back when Super Smash Bros. Melee was being sold in brick-and-mortar stores like Toys R Us, there were some items for the game that were exclusively made for marketing that weren't available to the public. Employees of these stores would receive bonus items, such as pins, buttons, and other rare items. A fan of Super Smash Bros. Melee was able to get their hands on one of these items thanks to a former Nintendo employee they were dating at the time.
In a Reddit post by user PolishTamales, they explained that this employee was a representative from Nintendo who came by every month. Her job was to update Nintendo's kiosks, such as adding new game demos, maintaining them, and giving out printed materials and product documents for retailers. Employees would get the aforementioned items as well as replacement N64 controllers if they were lucky. The two would end up befriending each other and would go on random dates if their schedules aligned.
After one of these dates, the Nintendo employee left a ton of items back at his apartment, which she had never picked up. One of these was a Super Smash Bros. Melee floor decal. Their Reddit post shows off this unique piece of the game's history, which has seen a bit of age but was definitely something very cool nonetheless. The user showed off a GameCube as well as Pokemon cards that showed how big this decal was in comparison.
The user states that they thought they lost this item during a U-Haul crash, but it turns out their mother had left it between cardboard boxes that would be left in their garage. Fellow Redditors expressed their intrigue and excitement over such a rare Nintendo item, with many stating that PolishTamales may have one of the last existing pieces of official Super Smash Bros. Melee's history to boot.
Super Smash Bros. Melee is available on the Nintendo GameCube.