game boy Work In Progress: Complete List of NA(US) Game Boy Cartridge Variants

[RH | 4,898]

As luck would have it someone in Canada has posted A Rated E SML2. I got my copy, so here you guys go if you need it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mario-Land-2-6-Golden-Coins-Players-Choice-Nintendo-Game-Boy-GB-GameBoy-/363025912011?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

What do all of your GB variant collections look like? I've been picking up a bunch in the past couple of weeks from various places but there are still some I have never even seen. I did grab that sml that was up a few days ago. If anyone collects the variant manuals, I just got a really nice Sunsoft Daedalian Opus that I dont care to keep. I am pretty content with the condition of most of the games but there will need to be a few upgrades. My Aerostar is pretty trashed (should of seen it before I cleaned it) but I found it at my local game shop for cheap so it was hard to say no. Here's what I got in the mail so far: http://imgur.com/a/YdSCiuX

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by samsamsamsmasmasma

[Splain | 2,561]

Nice, I like seeing them all paired up like that. I'm surprised how often I see pics from this exact thread popping up in Google searches. I have my variants in their own box, but anything that I only have one of (even if it's a rev-1 or whatever) is in with my regular fullset games. I've been pretty passive about looking for variants, but I've started ramping it up more recently, with the idea that I don't want to be caught at the end, looking for something I should have been looking for all along. My local shop had a rev-1 FF Legend, in good shape too, but they wanted $30 for it.

I actually have a Sunsoft Daedalian Opus manual already, I bought it as soon as I saw it, but now I guess I could have waited lol. When I finally saw a rev-3 SML manual, I bought it immediately, since I've been looking for one for several months. Then, no joke, I saw 2 more pop up on ebay within the following week. That's just how it goes, I guess. Still need a rev-5 Tetris manual, and, uh, a few hundred other manuals + variants. I have 312 unique manuals, 386 counting variants. As soon as I come up with a good way to compare the manuals, I want to start a separate thread to document all the changes.

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

That would be cool to see all the manuals. I have to cut myself off somewhere though. If not manuals, then boxes, if not boxes than sealed boxes, if not sealed boxes then anxiety over a little tear in one of my sealed boxes. I'm happy with just the cartriges at this point. It is acceptable to see other people filling in the gaps.

I was curious to see what other cartridges people were looking for in case I ever located one that I already have and also just to see some pictures of ones I have yet to see.

 

[Splain | 2,561]

30 minutes ago, samsamsamsmasmasma said:

I have to cut myself off somewhere though. If not manuals, then boxes, if not boxes than sealed boxes, if not sealed boxes then anxiety over a little tear in one of my sealed boxes.

I hear that. Part of me is afraid I'll start on boxes after I finish manuals, but I have a few reasons to think that won't happen. It's been fun to collect manuals and research/build my own database of manual variants. After I finished the cartridge fullset, collecting manuals has been a great way to re-use all my knowledge of the GB library (what do I do now?? Collect ANOTHER fullset?) and of course collecting cartridge variants with you guys is its own level of fun. I also ALMOST recommend collecting PAL exclusives, but so far the best way has been to secure an ally in Europe to do international trades with. Which means he gets to do all the hunting, and I hunt for things that HE wants. Doesn't hit the same way at all. But I like having the games. (just a few more to go.)

Yeah, if anyone is having trouble, we can help each other out. I have an extra SML2 rated-E but it's in awful condition. And I think an extra rev-2 Zelda, but those aren't hard to find.

[RH | 4,898]

I keep all of what I consider first-version titles in a main box and all subsequent variants in a separate one.  The most interesting/odd one is that I do keep the Bill & Ted error in the main box because even though it's an error, 99.99% of all B&T Game Boy games are this version and, in fact, since most of the correct ones have been found in Europe, I think it was a Euro release with a fixed logo but they forgot to update the serial code.  Still, it's a "USA" serial, so we all count it.

Anyway, this does mean that my main collection has about 6 holes, because the only copy of a game I have is a Rev-1 copy, which is in my side box.

I also got the SML 1, Rated E cart in.  I will post photos but I have lost my bottle of alcohol and this cart is soooo dirty.  I have to clean this thing up before I show it off.  But, spoiler... the internal date code on the ROM chip is 9946?!  Who in the world was buying Game Boy games (other than Pokemon) in 1999/2000?  No wonder these things are rare.  I was already in college!

[acidjaguar | 258]

Yeah We are guessing that all these late release variants came out in the big 1999 Pokémon / game boy push 

[Hybrid | 424]

 

Got one of these coming in soon

[Splain | 2,561]

13 hours ago, Hybrid said:

Got one of these coming in soon

Sweet. I've got an upside down label GB game, but no double label. YET.

[Hybrid | 424]

3 minutes ago, Splain said:

Sweet. I've got an upside down label GB game, but no double label. YET.

Nice I don't have any upside down labels for Gameboy yet. I will have two double labels though and one for GBC

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

Would anyone be willing to share a picture of raging fighter -1? I think it's the only one I've never actually seen before.

 

[Splain | 2,561]

17 hours ago, samsamsamsmasmasma said:

Would anyone be willing to share a picture of raging fighter -1? I think it's the only one I've never actually seen before.

I was about to say that there was a picture linked in the old NA thread, but that the link is dead now. But I tried it on archive.org and it totally shows up.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191023222636/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/b7sAAOSwc49Y7Y33/s-l1600.jpg

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

2 hours ago, Splain said:

I was about to say that there was a picture linked in the old NA thread, but that the link is dead now. But I tried it on archive.org and it totally shows up.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191023222636/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/b7sAAOSwc49Y7Y33/s-l1600.jpg

Thanks. I wanted to believe it wasn't real.. but okay I will find one.

[RH | 4,898]

I've not thoroughly searched for every variant that I have left, though I am aware of some rare ones.  I do know that when I created this list, it started from the master list on the old Nintendo Age site.  I had to clean it up a little because some of the numbering that was used for items was shared with labels.  Meaning, a manual could have the same serial number as a cart, so if there was a manual revision, one of two of those showed up on my cartridge list.

Anyway, I think all of those have been cleaned off.  As for the remaining, super-rare variants.  Supposedly all we know about those variants is that some time a loooooong time ago (well before 2016 which is when I joined NintendoAge) the community had scoured collections and the internet and all that was known was a potato-photo of a specific variant found on the internet.

I'm 99% confident in my list.  I intend to keep adding and tracking photos of these variants as we get them, or are willing to show them off.  I probably could clean up the first post and add some more photos but it's just not a high priority right now.  Anyway, that's the status of where we were.  It looks like you've pointed to one that seems to be pretty rare.  Who knows when someone has seen a square-labeled Konami copy of Raging Fighter.  There doesn't appear to be on one eBay now, which is fine, but who knows when another will surface.

[Splain | 2,561]

I can take some more pictures of some of my variants, in cases where all involved copies are clean enough to be presentable, lol. But most of my slightly-rare ones are already posted in the thread, so it would just be for the sake of record keeping/completeness.

@RH I know that we had discussed the missing dash in the full product code for Rescue of Princess Blobette, but we should also note that the rev-0 shows a logo for Absolute Entertainment, and the rev-1 shows Electro Brain. The rev-1 wasn't likely created to "fix" the error. If a rev-0 exists that DOES include the missing dash, then that will be another entry for the list.

[RH | 4,898]

On 6/28/2020 at 6:34 PM, samsamsamsmasmasma said:

Would anyone be willing to share a picture of raging fighter -1? I think it's the only one I've never actually seen before.

 

 

22 hours ago, Splain said:

I was about to say that there was a picture linked in the old NA thread, but that the link is dead now. But I tried it on archive.org and it totally shows up.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191023222636/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/b7sAAOSwc49Y7Y33/s-l1600.jpg

Well dang... I wish you had pointed this game out, so I could have seen how rare it was just a couple of weeks ago.  Check this auction out.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Raging-Fighter-Nintendo-Game-Boy-1993-Factory-Sealed-H-seam-New-Unopened-/264767079914?nma=true&si=OqV22YgMzQtXMYzDCxObI6xu%2FLs%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Look for other CIB examples.  This one has the Square Konami logo.  No doubt it was the updated version.  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.

[phart010 | 1,706]

On 6/19/2020 at 2:07 PM, RH said:

Well, it's taken years, but I've finally checked this one off, assuming no snafus with the mail.

Well, it's an ugly sonofagun, but it allows me to check it off until I can get a better conditioned one.  I'll try to take photos of the board when it arrives.

I had no idea this was rare. I’ve had one in my collection forever, and to be honest always didn’t really like it.. now knowing it’s rare, I better take good care of it

[RH | 4,898]

Just now, phart010 said:

I had no idea this was rare. I’ve had one in my collection forever, and to be honest always didn’t really like it.. now knowing it’s rare, I better take good care of it

Are you the original owner? As I mentioned later after my post, this variant was manufactured in late 1999, and might have likely been sold in early 2000.

I know it"s a bit of a stretch to remember buying a game 20+ years ago, but do you remember seeing any other OG Game Boy games on the shelf at that time? We all know about SML, SML2 and possibly Dr. Mario were all part of this re-release set. Any chance you can recall seeing any others?

[phart010 | 1,706]

1 minute ago, RH said:

Are you the original owner? As I mentioned later after my post, this variant was manufactured in late 1999, and might have likely been sold in early 2000.

I know it"s a bit of a stretch to remember buying a game 20+ years ago, but do you remember seeing any other OG Game Boy games on the shelf at that time? We all know about SML, SML2 and possibly Dr. Mario were all part of this re-release set. Any chance you can recall seeing any others?

 No I’m not. Just really started getting into collecting around 2014.. so forever means like 6 years

[RH | 4,898]

1 minute ago, phart010 said:

 No I’m not. Just really started getting into collecting around 2014.. so forever means like 6 years

Well, it was worth asking. We know of the 3 late run titles. My gut tells me that Nintendo probably re-released 5 games. Just as they thought making the recent NES mini would be a nice, small nod to the fans, I could have seen them thinking the GB had a really nice 12 year run up to that point, which is why they released these first party titles one last time. Sort of a "last hurrah".

I need to check my carts date codes but I also know that Wario's World 2 was a late run GB title, so if they had five games in a group of releases, maybe Wario and one other late run titles was part of the set. Still, I've not heard or seen any marketing relating to these titles, so that furthers the mystery of why they even exist to begin with.

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

Are these final fantasy adventure cartridges just sun faded or is it the camera lighting? Or are some just blue as opposed to green?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-Game-Boy-1991/274401195660?epid=3777&hash=item3fe395f68c:g:8awAAOSwBuVe6471

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Authentic-Fast-Shipping/274336802815?epid=3777&hash=item3fdfbf67ff:g:8S8AAOSwlBteliY4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-GameBoy-Authentic-w-Protective-Case-/113824745941?hash=item1a807bc9d5%3Ag%3A1k8AAOSwRolcaOEu&nma=true&si=TLguy9DnYAGcSVYJqmOLAWWs18U%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

[RH | 4,898]

8 hours ago, samsamsamsmasmasma said:

Are these final fantasy adventure cartridges just sun faded or is it the camera lighting? Or are some just blue as opposed to green?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-Game-Boy-1991/274401195660?epid=3777&hash=item3fe395f68c:g:8awAAOSwBuVe6471

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Authentic-Fast-Shipping/274336802815?epid=3777&hash=item3fdfbf67ff:g:8S8AAOSwlBteliY4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Final-Fantasy-Adventure-Nintendo-GameBoy-Authentic-w-Protective-Case-/113824745941?hash=item1a807bc9d5%3Ag%3A1k8AAOSwRolcaOEu&nma=true&si=TLguy9DnYAGcSVYJqmOLAWWs18U%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Depending on the item, that's sun fading/bad lighting. Even going way back, I remember seeing some of these in display cases at game shops and something about that color seems to fade quickly.  It's not a variant, it's a problem with the color fading.

[samsamsamsmasmasma | 16]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mario-Land-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-Game-Cartridge-Only/303622649235?hash=item46b151f593:g:IsIAAOSwCHdfDNVv

 

had me jumping for a second. I haven't seen this fake before though.

Edited July 14, 2020 by samsamsamsmasmasma

[Splain | 2,561]

Just to shine more light on "does a Ducktales rev-1 cart (with a THQ logo) exist?"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Disneys-DuckTales-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Gameboy-GREAT-SHAPE/202633554858

Assuming these are all an originally married set, That's a rev-1 box with THQ logo, rev-1 manual with THQ logo, and the cart is the corrected DMG label, with no incremented revision, and no THQ.

Now, I have seen a rev-2 Ducktales manual at one point, but it wasn't complete with the cart/box it came with. That doesn't mean there's definitely another revision of anything but the manual, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for a Ducktales CIB that has that rev-2 manual.

[RH | 4,898]

1 hour ago, Splain said:

Just to shine more light on "does a Ducktales rev-1 cart (with a THQ logo) exist?"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Disneys-DuckTales-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Gameboy-GREAT-SHAPE/202633554858

Assuming these are all an originally married set, That's a rev-1 box with THQ logo, rev-1 manual with THQ logo, and the cart is the corrected DMG label, with no incremented revision, and no THQ.

Now, I have seen a rev-2 Ducktales manual at one point, but it wasn't complete with the cart/box it came with. That doesn't mean there's definitely another revision of anything but the manual, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for a Ducktales CIB that has that rev-2 manual.

I'm 99% certain it doesn't. The original "rev" was the DMT error. My educated guess is that whomever managed and assigned these serials noticed the mistake when they went to look up the details for the THQ re-release, and just fixed it and considered that to be the updated rev/serial number. I say that because back when I was looking into it, CIB THQ sets had DMG-DT-USA serials, rather than DMG-DT-USA serials.

I've never seen or heard of any form of -1.