A box of video games stored for years in a store in the state of Wisconsin, in the United States, ended up revealing a discovery considered historic by Nintendo collectors. Inside were 97 cartridges of a rare version of Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Forgotten box reveals 97 rare Super Mario and Duck Hunt cartridges
A box of video games stored for years in a store in the state of Wisconsin, in the United States, ended up revealing a discovery considered historic by Nintendo collectors. Inside were 97 cartridges of a rare version of Super Mario Bros....
The material came into the hands of Jason Ganos, owner of the Nintendo Wire website and collector specializing in products from the Japanese company, after contact from Kevin Braun, owner of the One Stop Wonders store. Braun was looking for help selling an old inventory of video games stored at the store.
- Among the items was a box of NES cartridges delivered to the store by a salesperson about six years earlier.
- When analyzing the material, Ganos realized that the games had different characteristics from the versions of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt already known and documented by collectors.
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The material came into the hands of Jason Ganos, owner of the Nintendo Wire website and collector specializing in products from the Japanese company, after contact from Kevin Braun, owner of the One Stop Wonders store.
Braun was looking for help selling an old inventory of video games stored at the store. Among the items was a box of NES cartridges delivered to the store by a salesperson about six years earlier.
When analyzing the material, Ganos realized that the games had different characteristics from the versions of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt already known and documented by collectors.
"I still can't believe this is happening," Ganos told ABC News. "I think it was a big coincidence. It's all very strange."
Cartridge details caught attention
According to the collector, differences were present in several parts of the product, from the sticker located on the back to the screws, the manual and the cartridge's internal plate.
"It's like finding the Holy Grail," he told WISN-TV.
Ganos highlighted that Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt is among the most studied and cataloged titles by video game preservation experts, but that specific variant had not yet been identified.
A survey of the copies indicated that the cartridges were produced in 1993. The date drew attention because the package containing the two games had been discontinued by Nintendo in 1991.
There is still no confirmed explanation for the late manufacturing. Ganos and Braun work with hypotheses such as the production of units intended for warranty replacement or some promotional package that never reached the market.
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Cartridges receive almost perfect grades Given the rarity of the lot, Ganos personally took the cartridges for evaluation by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a company specialized in authenticating and classifying collectible items.
Five of the 97 copies received a score of 10, the maximum rating. According to Ganos, until then no NES cartridge evaluated by PSA had achieved this score.
Among the other games, 60 received a 9.8 rating, another 31 received a 9.6 and only one copy received a 9.4.
"I think games with the highest score will have historical significance. First, because they are part of many people's childhoods and, secondly, because there has never been a game with a maximum score on an NES cartridge before," he declared.
Rare Super Mario and Duck Hunt games will go up for auctionGanos and Braun decided to put part of the discovery up for sale. Three of the best-rated cartridges will be offered in an online auction, starting this Friday and ending on September 9th.
The two intend to keep some examples of the collection, including units with maximum ratings and others that received ratings close to 10.
The value that the cartridges will be able to reach is still unknown. Ganos avoided making an estimate on the price of the pieces given the absence of previous records of this variant on the collectors' market.
After the first auction, those responsible for the lot also plan to organize a new sale with part of the copies to raise funds for charity.
You can see images of the discovery and games in the gallery above.
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