Super Mario Bros press/demo release?

[wyansas | 131]

Someone online has this cart, says it's a press or demo release of the European Version of Super Mario Bros.  Anybody ever seen one of these?  Does it even make sense?

[OptOut | 8,883]

I have no idea, but it's in a 3-screw case so that's immediate red flags...

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

Did you get it from EternaX?

[wyansas | 131]

I didn't buy it yet.

[wyansas | 131]

1 hour ago, OptOut said:

I have no idea, but it's in a 3-screw case so that's immediate red flags...

Most of the European versions are 3 screws though.

[wyansas | 131]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

Did you get it from EternaX?

I didn't buy it yet.

[fcgamer | 4,722]

DM sent. 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

7 hours ago, wyansas said:

I didn't buy it yet.

Please let me know the seller once you're ready to release it. I've found some fake European prototypes and I'd like to know if this one leads to the same place.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I get that you’re concerned over the nature of the cart from the generic sticker and not being five screw. But I think the doubt here isn’t right.  Seems more like trying to get the cart ahead of the horse to get the answer you want. Whether it is to talk yourself from getting it or more likely to seed doubt to get it for less than it surely is worth.  What is there seemingly is legit from the outside.  Making comments about doubt and knocking it down seems inappropriate without supporting evidence. 
 

PAL NES May 1987. Fits not being five screw.  This feels like shenanigans. 

[fcgamer | 4,722]

18 hours ago, wyansas said:

Someone online has this cart, says it's a press or demo release of the European Version of Super Mario Bros.  Anybody ever seen one of these?  Does it even make sense?

I think we both know the answer to that question...

8 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Please let me know the seller once you're ready to release it. I've found some fake European prototypes and I'd like to know if this one leads to the same place.

Not the same guy, and that's not the reason you want to know about this cartridge either.

This cartridge is 100% real, we wrote about it in the second issue of Mali's Cash. I have talked to the owner of the cartridge about a year ago, off and on, a super nice guy from a great community, albeit a gaming community that hasn't been perverted with the sickness of investors, schemers, and million-dollar sales.

As @Tanooki mentioned above, I'm also not liking the eagerness of Code Monkey or the hush-hush and feigned ignorance of wyansas here, from the one DM he and I exchanged and the posts here. Both of you have been around for a long time, and are quite knowledgeable with these sorts of cartridges, so why the need for casting doubt on the legitimacy of this cartridge? It all suggests to me a predatory approach, hoping to dangle $400 or even $1000 in front of the unknowledgeable owner, hoping that he'll take the bait and sell for such a miniscule sum, compared to what this cartridge might be worth, which could possibly even be five or even six figures $$$$$$ (for reference, user Code Monkey publicly stated here that he has some demos that he feels will be worth over a million USD someday).

tl;dr The cartridge posted above is authentic / legitimate, and with the significance of Super Mario Bros. as well as recent trends, could be worth BIG money, and the OP wyansas and Code Monkey know as much. 

[fcgamer | 4,722]

On a different note, I reached out to the owner to give him a head's up, and similarly, I will not be revealing his name here, to protect his privacy, as the sharks and piranhas are out in full force tonight.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

13 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

As @Tanooki mentioned above, I'm also not liking the eagerness of Code Monkey or the hush-hush and feigned ignorance of wyansas here, from the one DM he and I exchanged and the posts here. Both of you have been around for a long time, and are quite knowledgeable with these sorts of cartridges, so why the need for casting doubt on the legitimacy of this cartridge? It all suggests to me a predatory approach, hoping to dangle $400 or even $1000 in front of the unknowledgeable owner, hoping that he'll take the bait and sell for such a miniscule sum, compared to what this cartridge might be worth, which could possibly even be five or even six figures $$$$$$ (for reference, user Code Monkey publicly stated here that he has some demos that he feels will be worth over a million USD someday).

tl;dr The cartridge posted above is authentic / legitimate, and with the significance of Super Mario Bros. as well as recent trends, could be worth BIG money, and the OP wyansas and Code Monkey know as much. 

If anyone thinks I'm the kind of person to do this or to have done this, please let me know. I really don't think I've ever given off that impression to anyone here. The last prototype I purchased was a 5 figure sale and I just offered someone $5000 publicly in another thread here for a game that isn't even a prototype.

If the owner of this cartridge is interested in selling it for 5 figures, please let me know and I'll see what I can move around.

[wyansas | 131]

42 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

On a different note, I reached out to the owner to give him a head's up, and similarly, I will not be revealing his name here, to protect his privacy, as the sharks and piranhas are out in full force tonight.

I don't appreciate the assumption of disingenuousness.  I don't know anything about this cart, I had never seen an SMB demo before, and I knew that the first edition of the European Version of SMB was a 5 screw, so I assumed a demo would have 5 screws because it presumably came before the first edition.  I didn't know, so I asked the experts.  Simple.  I did keep the owner close to the vest because I didn't know anything about it and didn't want someone on here to swoop in before I could offer.  I collect international variants of SMB, and this would be a great addition to the collection.  Sorry if I broke collector protocol somehow, I honestly didn't mean to.

[fcgamer | 4,722]

It's a sad state that prototype collecting has gotten to, and considering that US dollars are much, much deeper than the owners country's dollars, I genuinely hope that when making any sort of offer, the owner would have been offered something fair in regards to the value, considering it's SMB and all. 

Perhaps I am wrong, but this definitely felt like an "offer $400 to an unknowing collector and get a diamond" sort of job. For the record, I could have done that a year ago, but I'd rather see the owner receive a decent life-changing payout. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by fcgamer

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

If anyone thinks I'm the kind of person to do this or to have done this, please let me know. I really don't think I've ever given off that impression to anyone here. The last prototype I purchased was a 5 figure sale and I just offered someone $5000 publicly in another thread here for a game that isn't even a prototype.

If the owner of this cartridge is interested in selling it for 5 figures, please let me know and I'll see what I can move around.

ill tell you now-

Its super clear you throw a ton of money at everything in hoping that it will result in a huge return for you someday. When large amounts of money are involved in anything, people are going to assume nefarious conduct. Especially when it comes from left field. 

A lot of people here knew each other from NA, or regional scenes.  All those people know other people not on forums through social media, meet ups etc so word about “collectors” happen.  The retro collecting scene in 2007 wasnt that big.

When you talk about how 2 years ago you were only collecting transformers, and now openly brag about spending 5 figures constantly, it puts many people who been collecting 10+ years off. Whether is “right” or not doesn’t really matter, its the majority opinion in most game collecting communities (id imagine other retro collectible communities too). 
 

My personal opinion: buy all them prototypes dude.  Hopefully they get preserved somehow. 
 

Interesting and cool to read about. 

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

2 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

When you talk about how 2 years ago you were only collecting transformers, and now openly brag about spending 5 figures constantly, it puts many people who been collecting 10+ years off. Whether is “right” or not doesn’t really matter, its the majority opinion in most game collecting communities (id imagine other retro collectible communities too). 

I've been actively collecting NES games for 13 years and I've been a member on Nintendo Age since 2013.

I've been actively collecting Transformers for 14 years.

I've only spent 5 figures on a game once and didn't realise it appeared as bragging since I only really mentioned it in a context such as this. I won't mention it again.

[Gloves | 11,771]

1 minute ago, Code Monkey said:

I've been actively collecting NES games for 13 years and I've been a member on Nintendo Age since 2013.

I've been actively collecting Transformers for 14 years.

I've only spent 5 figures on a game once and didn't realise it appeared as bragging since I only really mentioned it in a context such as this. I won't mention it again.

It's the public nature of it. It might seem backwards (surely operating publicly = transparency = good, right?), but when money gets involved people tend toward jealousy, and so more often than not talking about spending high amounts of money (thus having a LOT of expendable income) makes most people go "we get it bro, you're rich". 

Then you get people like Fcgamer who see "sending you a DM" and think "this guy is definitely gonna rip off the seller". You literally can't win. 

The key is to either not say anything at all publicly, or pick which of the above two groups you don't care about whining at you. 

[Tyree_Cooper | 752]

Why is nobody asking to see the the board?

[fcgamer | 4,722]

5 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

Why is nobody asking to see the the board?

Seen it a year ago. If you bought my magazine, you could have seen it a year ago too. 

[Tyree_Cooper | 752]

im not buying your magazine sorry

[fcgamer | 4,722]

1 minute ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

im not buying your magazine sorry

That's fine, but with the latest and greatest in weird gaming stuff, seems like a much better purchase than Musclevania statues Next time you wouldn't miss out on such information 

[wyansas | 131]

[Tyree_Cooper | 752]

now show me the board man

[fcgamer | 4,722]

I hate to say it but I have to agree with both what @Gloves and @MrWunderful stated.

Other thoughts, the hobby has gotten to a point money wise where I personally don't feel right with what I'll call the "unintentional" low-ball, i.e. the collector is from a different region using a much poorer currency, in a region that hasn't developed to the point of the western market, so he or she doesn't even know to realize that a cart might be worth 4, 5, even 6 figures. Can't be ripped off if in your reality, this doesn't exist, right? Wrong.

Both the OP and Code, I don't believe it for a moment that either of you would have told the owner about potential value when throwing out an initial offer, sorry. 

 

[wyansas | 131]

1 minute ago, fcgamer said:

I hate to say it but I have to agree with both what @Gloves and @MrWunderful stated.

Other thoughts, the hobby has gotten to a point money wise where I personally don't feel right with what I'll call the "unintentional" low-ball, i.e. the collector is from a different region using a much poorer currency, in a region that hasn't developed to the point of the western market, so he or she doesn't even know to realize that a cart might be worth 4, 5, even 6 figures. Can't be ripped off if in your reality, this doesn't exist, right? Wrong.

Both the OP and Code, I don't believe it for a moment that either of you would have told the owner about potential value when throwing out an initial offer, sorry. 

 

You don't know that, and you also don't know that I knew it could be as expensive as you say it is.  Hard to fathom six figures.  We've interacted maybe once or twice on here before this, you don't know me at all.  So maybe just don't presume the worst next time.