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Is this Snake's Revenge NES box fake?


enix2093

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Something just looks suspicious about it to me. Maybe because its just in too near-perfect condition, and the seller just so happened to be missing the manual...and I got it for really cheap from a best offer on ebay.

The Nintendo seal is gold ink with the expected sheen to it, which is literally the only thing that's making me still think its legit.  I know fakes have started using better print and grey paper and such so it can be hard to tell aside from some ink quality issues like cracking on the edges and the Nintendo seal, but I wonder if they're getting even more sly...

Did I manage to get a great deal, or are the bootlegs getting even better now?

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It looks legit. The inside folds in this picture look exactly as they should and the way the cardboard is peeling away in layers is typical of NES boxes.

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On the bottom, you can see the front flap is bowing out a little bit. Additionally, the back right side is folded awkwardly. I don't think these are signs of a reproduction as much as they indicate the box was stored flat for a while and then reassembled for sale.

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The colors and detail also look great. If you're still concerned, check for a faint 5 digit code on the top right flap. That is the box production code which tells when it was manufactured. In most cases it is very subtle and isn't visible on scans/reproductions.

My suspicion is this was opened a long time ago and immediately flattened and stored. Or it was opened very recently and flattened, then re-assembled.

Edited by DoctorEncore
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  • 1 month later...
On 12/8/2020 at 11:11 PM, guitarzombie said:

I just wanted to ask from someone whos never done Box stuff, how common are fake boxes actually?  I would suspect MUCH more uncommon than fake carts.  And even those fake carts are usually obvious, not to be passed as genuine.

Repro boxes are fairly common, you can buy them for $12 each on eBay. But they are usually easy to tell the difference in person. The cardboard is slightly thicker, the coat is shinier, and the printing is not as sharp next to a legit copy. I also have a SNES repro box that apparently already got sun faded on the side facing out and is eggplant color instead of black

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On 12/8/2020 at 11:11 PM, guitarzombie said:

I just wanted to ask from someone whos never done Box stuff, how common are fake boxes actually?  I would suspect MUCH more uncommon than fake carts.  And even those fake carts are usually obvious, not to be passed as genuine.

 

57 minutes ago, mideast said:

Repro boxes are fairly common, you can buy them for $12 each on eBay. But they are usually easy to tell the difference in person. The cardboard is slightly thicker, the coat is shinier, and the printing is not as sharp next to a legit copy. I also have a SNES repro box that apparently already got sun faded on the side facing out and is eggplant color instead of black

I agree with Mideast in saying they are very common, but almost never used to scam people, at least when talking about NES and SNES. In my experience, sellers are very up front about repro boxes or at least include the info in the description. I'm not sure if this is because repros are easy to spot once obtained or if there is some small sliver of ethical conduct left in this world.

I purchased about 1000 NES & SNES boxes over the past five years and only received unadvertised repros once or twice. One was a copy of FF3 and the other was Rambo for NES, which remains debatable (ink and detail were accurate, but cardboard was white; there are some reports of early Acclaim games with white cardboard, but has never been confirmed).

Edited by DoctorEncore
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46 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

 

I agree with Mideast in saying they are very common, but almost never used to scam people, at least when talking about NES and SNES. In my experience, sellers are very up front about repro boxes or at least include the info in the description. I'm not sure if this is because repros are easy to spot once obtained or if there is some small sliver of ethical conduct left in this world.

I purchased about 1000 NES & SNES boxes over the past five years and only received unadvertised repros once or twice. One was a copy of FF3 and the other was Rambo for NES, which remains debatable (ink and detail were accurate, but cardboard was white; there are some reports of early Acclaim games with white cardboard, but has never been confirmed).

Yeah I haven't had a problem on eBay getting a repro when it wasn't expected except two different Genesis carts I didn't see the 16-Bit written on the back instead of Sega. I thought this Excitebike box might have been a repro when it first came in the mail because it looked off to me. But after checking the Wata black box guide it's just one of the latest variants from 89-90, so maybe I'm not used to it. You can see in the back where they collaged the "This official seal... " text, there's a faint line around it and other areas they collaged.

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