ThePhleo

Pre-Ordered Can't wait to get it. Looks pretty insightful on a topic I'm almost blind to.

But...I wanna see it! Although, I know exactly how you feel.

Just....re-cataloguing the entire Black Box library based on this new discovery. Don't mind me. 3 down, 27 to go (plus Kid Icarus, Metroid, Rad Racer, Zelda, and MTPO) 10-Yard Fight Confirmation Front Back Side Top Flaps Visual Nickname Seal Type Title™ NES™ SoQ REV-A NES P TY Hangtab NES-GP Layout UPC Warranty Zip Code Code Date Yes Matte Matte No No Circle No No Yes No Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes Gloss Gloss No No Circle No No Yes No Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Theoretical Gloss GP Gloss No No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes Cello GP Cellophane No No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes NES P XX Cellophane No No Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes NES™ Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes No HT Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes REV-A Cellophane No ™ Circle Yes Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes REV-A Flap Cellophane No ™ Circle Yes Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 NES-TY-USA ??? Balloon Fight Confirmation Front Back Side Top Flaps Visual Nickname Seal Type Title™ NES™ SoQ REV-A NES P BF Hangtab NES-GP Layout UPC Warranty Zip Code Code Date Yes Gloss Gloss Yes No Circle No No Yes No Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Theoretical Gloss GP Gloss Yes No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes Cello GP Cellophane Yes No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes NES P XX Cellophane Yes No Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Unlikely NES™ Cellophane Yes ™ Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Unlikely No HT Cellophane Yes ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Certain REV-A Cellophane Yes ™ Circle Yes Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes REV-A Flap Cellophane Yes ™ Circle Yes Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 NES-BF-USA ??? Baseball Confirmation Front Back Side Top Flaps Visual Nickname Seal Type Title™ NES™ SoQ REV-A NES P BA Hangtab NES-GP Layout UPC Warranty Zip Code Code Date Yes Matte Matte No No Circle No No Yes No Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes Gloss Gloss No No Circle No No Yes No Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Theoretical Gloss GP Gloss No No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes Cello GP Cellophane No No Circle No No Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes NES P XX Cellophane No No Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes NES™ Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes Yes Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes No HT Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 None None Yes REV-A ??? Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Sides 90° ??? 98052 ??? ??? Theoretical REV-A Flap Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Sides 90° 3-Line 98052 NES-BA-USA None Theoretical REV-A Flap Cellophane No ™ Circle No Yes No Yes Standard Flat 90° 3-Line 98052 NES-BA-USA None

I hate generalizing, but my theory is they’re the initials of the QC manager on duty that day. As for why they aren’t always on there, or why even some things with the exact same dates have them while others don’t? No idea.

Wait until you discover the zip code on the top of the box! Or the numbers on the bottom flaps … and date codes didn’t matter until @0xDEAFC0DE cracked them.

I know…just scrolling through eBay I found a couple FML. Oh, PS. No consistency in the UPC stuff. DK Math, all flat lines….SMB didn’t get flat line until Oval TM seal. But excitebike? Well got it at REV-A So, good luck mapping that on a easy to read WATA style chart.

It's not even my thumb @Gloves & @inasuma ... it's some random eBay person's. But yeah, I'm pretty sure they're aware of the variant to a degree since a lot of their cases say "Staggered UPC" versus, whatever they call the straight line of numbers instead. I just wonder if they realize both exist as a unique variant.

Multiple have surfaced over the years, but they're all exceedingly rare. Someone owns a Super Mario Bros. with gloss sticker and NES-GP for example. More research is still needed.

Well crap. Just as soon as I think I've figured it out, I realize that there's an entire layer of black box variant I never noticed before. It turns out, the way the barcode on the box looks like matters. Oh, and to make matters worst, REV-A is when Nintendo introduced the "Flap Codes" to the boxes. So you might have a REV-A box with NES-EB-USA on the flaps, or without. So it might be not just one, but two extra CIBs to the so called "pattern" @Braveheart69 why did I want to follow in your footsteps. You did this to me.

@wu1fyy just wanted to say, I regret not teaming up with you when you contacted me during covid times. The site is great and it's something I always wanted to see done. Good job so far! One thing I suggest, is make the variants easier to read. If I go into Super Mario Bros. 1 page, I'm greeted with a 'VERY RARE" rating as the first thing and that, at a glace from a beginners perspective would make them think you're nuts, when in reality, the matte sticker is in fact very rare. I think it would be a wise idea to allow at least two, maybe even three lines of text before adding the ellipsis to cut off a title...that, or list the variant underneath the title.

Stadium Events sux.

Wolfenstein, and Ultima come to mind. Wolfenstein 3-D isn’t the first Wolfenstein, it’s actually the THIRD. The other two games are collectible for sure, but they aren’t exactly known games. (ps, Wolfenstein isn’t even the first 3D game iD made either) Same situation with Ultima. Akalabeth is considered “Ultima 0” in the collector scene. Granted I’m just a sapling in that sector of the hobby…

Wolfenstein, and Ultima come to mind. Wolfenstein 3-D isn’t the first Wolfenstein, it’s actually the THIRD. The other two games are collectible for sure, but they aren’t exactly known games. (ps, Wolfenstein isn’t even the first 3D game iD made either) Same situation with Ultima. Akalabeth is considered “Ultima 0” in the collector scene. Granted I’m just a sapling in that sector of the hobby…

Maybe that’s true, but yeah, I guess my own interactions with him don’t count. I recast my vote for @Gloves then. Somehow pushing through and sticking with it even after Google effed up the community during a growth phase.

NICE! At least it’s in the community Put me second in line for it

@DK you REALLY need to track down who you sold that Stinger to one day. I still haven’t seen another CIB surface in all these years, and only three or four loose carts have popped up in all this time too…I missed them all too

@DefaultGen is my nomination for find of the year for potentially finding a US NES Super Mario Bros., prototype? It’s something for sure if not a proto. @fcgamer is my choice for best collection. Display doesn’t mean anything, anyone can just buy stuff and make it look shiny with money, but no one can amass and catalog a collection as unique as his. @OptOut is just the dude of the year. Honestly, we need a “Dude of the year except Optout” category, so my second runner up is @K.Thrower … maybe some of y’all don’t love the company he’s involved with, but this man still loves the hobby and elevated it to a new level, keeping it fresh for at least one more generation of new collectors. Thanks for the nomination @CasualCart the check is in mail.

After about 10 years of documenting NES data, I'm finally nearing the end of my journey. Yes there are a ton of variants I don't own, but there are also just a few variant I don't know if they even EXISTSo, here's my wishlist. Do you have any proof of the following. Alpha Mission REV-A Lode Runner REV-A Sky Kid REV-A Stinger REV-A Zanac REV-A, Circle Seal of Quality BurgerTime No REV-A, No Hangtab Ninja Kid No REV-A, No Hangtab 1942 Made in Japan Printed, Hangtab Solomon's Key Made in Japan Printed, Hangtab Gradius Made in Japan Sticker Mega Man No Captain Commando Sticker, Dr. Wright Text Mega Man 6 Capcom Box Now, I realize that Mega Man 6 has a known sealed copy, but all these years later not a single CIB has popped up. Same goes for REV-A Stinger. WATA's population report confirms that Gradius, and Solomon's Key exists, so I'm highly confident in its existence. But I've never seen it. There is currently a Mega Man 1 without the sticker WITH the Dr. Wright typo on eBay, but it has some damage that indicates the sticker might have been removed. ...hell, maybe I'll get lucky and @Braveheart69 can chime in. Oh and here's a photo of the theoretical Mega Man 1...that's sticker residue I think...and circular artwork damage. Lastly here's photos of Stinger REV-A, and Capcom Mega Man 6...

Gimme NES game.

@Forte is the guy who discovered the sealed copy. But I’ve never seen a loose box yet.

....10 outta 10

New Year, Same Goal. Bump

Yeah, I don't even see some staple "grails" like -HOL coded Big Box Gyromite. It was great for the time, but the list really needed work.

OK ok, I know forum topics USUALLY go off the rails. But what the heck is going on in here now...and how can I get involved.