A box of Nintendo games forgotten in storage for years has turned into an unexpected piece of video game history.
Inside were 97 copies of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt for the Nintendo Entertainment System. These copies, however, were different, with a later 1993 production date and label and hardware details collectors had not previously documented.
Nintendo collector and Nintendo Wire publisher Jason Ganos found the games while working with Kevin Braun, owner of OneStopWonders, a retro collectibles store in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Braun had purchased the box years earlier from a customer whose family had kept the cartridges for their scrap value. Electronics can contain small amounts of precious metals, and the games could have eventually been taken apart to recover those materials.
Instead, the box ended up in storage at Braun’s shop.
Braun did not expect the games to be worth much. Since Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt is so common, he had considered selling the cartridges for about $15 each.
Ganos took a closer look and noticed details that did not match other copies collectors already knew about.
The games were still sealed in individual plastic sleeves, much like cartridges that had originally been packed with NES systems. The instruction manuals were also in unusually clean condition, with little sign that they had been handled.
Production codes dated the cartridges to 1993, several years after Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt had been widely used as an NES pack-in title.
Closer inspection showed other differences from earlier copies. Changes appeared in the rear labels, screws, circuit boards, manufacturing codes, and printed manuals. The labels also included several languages not commonly seen on earlier versions.
Taken together, those differences showed that the group came from a version of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt that collectors had not previously documented.
There is still no confirmed explanation for why Nintendo made the cartridges in 1993. Ganos and Braun have suggested they could have been intended for replacement or refurbished systems. Another possibility is that they were produced for a console bundle that was never widely released.
After recognizing that the batch was unusual, Ganos took all 97 cartridges to California for professional authentication and grading. Getting them there included a trip through airport security with nearly 100 NES games packed into his luggage.
Professional Sports Authenticator, or PSA, examined and graded the collection.
The lowest grade given to any of the cartridges was 9.6. Many received 9.8s, and five earned perfect PSA 10 grades. Ganos said those five were the first NES cartridges ever given a 10 by PSA.
The grades added another layer to the find. Many sought-after NES games are valuable because they were produced in small numbers or connected to limited events and releases.
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt was produced on a much larger scale and is still easy to find. These copies stand apart because they came from the later 1993 run, differ from previously known versions, and remained in remarkably good condition.
A large portion of the group is expected to go to auction through Goldin, including three of the five PSA 10 cartridges. Ganos and Braun intend to keep the other two perfect-grade copies, along with several more from the collection.
They have also discussed setting aside one cartridge for a future charity auction.
Ganos plans to keep one of the games for personal reasons. Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt was the first video game he played growing up.
How much the cartridges will sell for remains unknown.
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