Pocket Monsters Red & Green Variant Guide

[inasuma | 1,203]

Hey all. This is a mirror of a post on my blog - I hit the upload quota part way through adding photos so you can see the full visual reference there. I have more coming soon for Blue & Yellow, then of course gen 2 and 3 after.

I also wrote this guide for early print Red and Green over here, too. Similarly, if you havent already seen it, worth checking out is AdamW's NTSC-U print guide for gen 1-3. I see my post as a sister guide, but large enough to be its own thread.

You can also skip straight to the bottom for my Working Theory™ re: parts correlation. I'm expecting this guide to change over the years as more info comes to light from community sources.

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Box Variants

• First/early prints have large UPC
• Later prints (mid-1996 onward) have smaller UPC

Cartridge Variants

Cartridges can be dated with a combination of label code, chip codes, and the PCB date module.

Label Codes

Label codes have a two or three digit production code on bottom right corner. [source]

	Earliest Known	Early	Mid/Late
Red	22	00, 20	XXA
Green	00	20	XXA

A letter suffix in the code (e.g., A) indicates a software patch revision. Red and Green appear to have never had a 2nd revision (B code). There's a report of an M code but it would be weird to have a random M when B or latter never made an appearance in my research.  So, for now, disregard that unless you have some proof of its legitimacy.

PCB Codes

PCBs use gold blocks to indicate dates.

	Earliest Known	Pre-Launch
Red	Nov. 1995	Jan. 1996
Green	Nov. 1995	Jan. 1996

Game Boy chip boards use the below block format, on the back. Dates go from from top right (January) to bottom left (December). The production date is the last un-punched dot.

Chip Codes

Chip codes use a different date format.

• Newest code across components is nearest time of production (regardless of Mask ROM date)

  • Parts include CIC, SRAM, battery, and Mask ROM

• YY = Year, e.g. 96 (1996)

• WW = Week, e.g. 06 (mid-February)

Manual Variants

• JPN (1996-1999) used until 1999-2000

  • Codes: DMG-APAJ/APBJ-JPN / G972706

• JPN-1 removes G code and changes customer support number

  • Code: DMG-APAJ/APBJ-JPN-1

Inner pages seem to only show the last page as changing. It has a date code for each year it was printed/revised.

Known codes (YYMMDD format):

• No code
• 970530
• 980218
• 990630
• 001122

Although unconfirmed, there are likely multiple date codes used during a given year.

JPN-1 marks the final design used for the manual in 2000.

Inserts

A useful foreword on inserts: Typically, the Red model code (APAJ) is used for both version's game-specific inserts. This includes the map and some ads.

Map

• One-sided, fold-out
• All copies have the same code for both Green and Red
• Codes: DMG-APAJ-JPN / G505910

Postcard

• Two-sided
• Postcard included only for launch copies
• Codes: DMG-APAJ-JPN / G505928

Link Cable Guide

• One-sided
• Included during 1996 print runs
• Survey data indicates inclusion stopped sometime after 1997
• Codes: T-DMG-04A-JPN / G502768

Anti-Tampering Notice

• One-sided
• Included for mid-production copies starting in 1996
• Code: G508989

Cleaning Guide

• One-sided
• Included late-production copies (1999+)
• Coinciding with Pocket Monsters Kin & Gin (Gold and Silver) release
• Code: DMG-JPN

Ads

Super Game Boy

• Accordion fold-out
• All early copies of Red & Green (Pre-GB Pocket) included this ad
• Code: T-DMG-APAJ-JPN

Game Boy Pocket (early)

• Accordion fold-out
• Included for mid-production copies (1996-1997)
• Code: T-DMG-MGB001-JPN-1

Game Boy Pocket (later)

• Accordion fold-out
• Included for mid-production copies (1997-1998)
• Code: T-DMG-MGB001-JPN-3

Game Boy Camera

• Accordion fold-out
• Included for mid-production copies in 1998
• Code: T-DMG-MGB006-JPN

Game Boy Color

• Accordion fold-out
• Included for mid- and late-production copies (1998+)
• Code: T-DMG-CGB001-JPN-2

Correlated Parts

Part combinations apply uniformly between Red and Green. There may still be missing combinations. This is a "best guess" given date codes and approximate time-frame of when the inserts were used, and is based on a large survey of listings on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, Mercari, and eBay.

Box	Cartridge	Manual	Inserts/Ads
Large UPC*	Label codes: 00 (Green) / 22 (Red); Date codes: 9604 - 9606	No code	Map, Postcard, Link Cable Guide, Super Game Boy Ad
Small UPC	Label codes: 00, 20 (Green) / 20 (Red); Date codes: 96XX**	No code	Same as large UPC; no postcard
Small UPC	Label codes: XXA; Date codes: 96XX - 97XX	No code	Map, Anti-Tampering Notice, Game Boy Camera ad, Game Boy Pocket Ad (JPN-1)
Small UPC	Label codes: XXA; Date codes: 97XX - 98XX	97xxxx	Map, Anti-Tampering Notice, Game Boy Camera Ad, Game Boy Pocket Ad (3 code)
Small UPC	Label codes: XXA; Date codes: 98XX - 99XX	98xxxx - 99xxxx	Map, Anti-Tampering Notice, Game Boy Camera Ad, Game Boy Color Ad
Small UPC	Label codes: XXA - XXM; Date codes: 99XX+	JPN-1 (00xxxx)	Map, Cart Cleaning Guide, Game Boy Camera Ad, Game Boy Color ad

*There is some anecdotal evidence at launch for small UPCs made in parallel, however large UPCs are guaranteed for first production.

**X designation is a placeholder for digits. E.g., XXA could be 00A.

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Credits for info/photos/history:

- Mikaifu Collection on Instagram

- Thaane in SACK (Sealed and Collectibles Knowledge) Discord server.

Edited February 26 by inasuma

[JVOSS | 1,762]

dude this need to be more public as this is the same data for not just pokemon's.  love the data.  can i use this format and change for each board?

[RH | 4,924]

On 2/26/2024 at 12:42 PM, inasuma said:

PCB Codes

PCBs use gold blocks to indicate dates.

	Earliest Known	Pre-Launch
Red	Nov. 1995	Jan. 1996
Green	Nov. 1995	Jan. 1996

Game Boy chip boards use the below block format, on the back. Dates go from from top right (January) to bottom left (December). The production date is the last un-punched dot.

What's your source for deciphering the PCB codes?  I've always wondered what those were and this makes sense. Also, is there a way on the PCB to know the date the were printed?  This gives the month, but what about the year?

As @JVOSS mentioned, I'm less interested in this info for Pokemon and just general knowledge for other GB games.  Thanks for sharing.  Thank you.

 

[inasuma | 1,203]

On 4/9/2024 at 1:19 PM, JVOSS said:

dude this need to be more public as this is the same data for not just pokemon's.  love the data.  can i use this format and change for each board?

It should apply for other game boy games minus third party. also different manufacturers format their date codes differently.

11 hours ago, RH said:

What's your source for deciphering the PCB codes?  I've always wondered what those were and this makes sense. Also, is there a way on the PCB to know the date the were printed?  This gives the month, but what about the year?

As @JVOSS mentioned, I'm less interested in this info for Pokemon and just general knowledge for other GB games.  Thanks for sharing.  Thank you.

 

 The year is just above the pcb date squares.

Edited April 10 by inasuma

[inasuma | 1,203]

11 hours ago, RH said:

What's your source for deciphering the PCB codes?  I've always wondered what those were and this makes sense. Also, is there a way on the PCB to know the date the were printed?  This gives the month, but what about the year?

As @JVOSS mentioned, I'm less interested in this info for Pokemon and just general knowledge for other GB games.  Thanks for sharing.  Thank you.

 

Oh and my source is community members but I’m sure you could find some public documentation on game boy pcbs somewhere. I didn’t look super hard though because I had great info from people directly.

I also used snescentral for the chips, which translates directly to game boy. I don’t know if they have anything about the pcb itself though, particularly for the date code module.