How to Spot Foil Versions of Zelda Oracle of Ages/Seasons

[zoiks66 | 72]

Is there an easy way to spot the foil versions of Zelda Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons from pictures?  I’m looking to buy a complete copy of each game, but when I look at listings online I can’t seem to tell whether or not I’m looking at a foil version.

[AdamW | 713]

Check the box style. The foil print is in a double-ended box. The non-foil print is in a y-fold box. Double-ended box - has openable flaps on top and bottom. Y-fold - has an openable flap on the top, but a folded bottom flap that is not meant to be opened. You can usually identify these pretty easily with a bit of practice. e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255071839965 is a double-ended (foil) copy. A good thing to look for are those cuts at either end of the top and bottom flaps; y-fold boxes do not have those. https://www.ebay.com/itm/234113843024 is a y-fold (non-foil) copy - see how it doesn't have those four little cuts.

BTW, if you're looking for "first print", note I don't know if anyone knows for sure which of these prints came first, or whether they may be contemporaneous. There's a general notion that the foil/DE print is first but it's not really based on any factual knowledge I'm aware of. The print code for the y-fold boxes has a -1 on the end which the DE print codes don't, but that doesn't clearly mean a whole lot (in fact it's more mysterious than useful, if you want to go into details...), and IIRC a fairly knowledgeable collector in the WATA games FB group had a reasonable theory that the y-fold print may be first or they may be contemporaneous.

Edited August 3, 2021 by AdamW

[zoiks66 | 72]

21 hours ago, AdamW said:

Check the box style. The foil print is in a double-ended box. The non-foil print is in a y-fold box. Double-ended box - has openable flaps on top and bottom. Y-fold - has an openable flap on the top, but a folded bottom flap that is not meant to be opened. You can usually identify these pretty easily with a bit of practice. e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255071839965 is a double-ended (foil) copy. A good thing to look for are those cuts at either end of the top and bottom flaps; y-fold boxes do not have those. https://www.ebay.com/itm/234113843024 is a y-fold (non-foil) copy - see how it doesn't have those four little cuts.

BTW, if you're looking for "first print", note I don't know if anyone knows for sure which of these prints came first, or whether they may be contemporaneous. There's a general notion that the foil/DE print is first but it's not really based on any factual knowledge I'm aware of. The print code for the y-fold boxes has a -1 on the end which the DE print codes don't, but that doesn't clearly mean a whole lot (in fact it's more mysterious than useful, if you want to go into details...), and IIRC a fairly knowledgeable collector in the WATA games FB group had a reasonable theory that the y-fold print may be first or they may be contemporaneous.

Thanks a lot!  This is exactly the info I was hoping for.