Mega Man 1 variant box colors?

[dogbowl | 150]

I've have a MM1 that I've always assumed had some sun fading and recently picked up a 'good' copy without the fading.  Watching auctions on Heritage the other night, I noticed something odd -- they had a circle seal and oval seal variants back to back and those also both had the same color differences.

Did the later, oval seal prints have lighter colors or is this just an odd coincidence with 2 sun faded copies?

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by dogbowl

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Slightly different ink recipe at another printing plant?

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

1 hour ago, MrWunderful said:

Slightly different ink recipe at another printing plant?

Impossible. Have you ever seen the RGB squares on printed cardboard when you unfold it? Those are read by the scanner after it's printed and if the RGB base lines aren't exact, the box is rejected and ink changed. You can see it on any printed cardboard, even juice boxes if you open the bottom flaps.

Mine are the same way.

 

[dogbowl | 150]

For the record, the date code on my darker, circle seal box is 00405 and the date code on the lighter, oval seal box is 20118

 

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

49 minutes ago, dogbowl said:

For the record, the date code on my darker, circle seal box is 00405 and the date code on the lighter, oval seal box is 20118

 

Thanks, mine are 00405 and 20924, I'll add yours to the list. Is it USA-1 as well?

[dogbowl | 150]

Yes, as is the manual too (which also has a 20118 date code)

Edited August 15, 2023 by dogbowl