NES US Retail System Variants

[Romarqable | 14]

I spoke recently in a different thread about my desire to collect all the NES Us retail release system sets.

In my few years of research, I've discovered 24 system variants in total.

I'll break them down by system type and what variations there are. I will update this post as I gain more information in the future. 

 

Control Deck Systems

1. Standard Control Deck

This came with two controllers and the system. No additional pack ins.

2. Control Deck With Super Mario Bros

This one came with Super Mario Bros. Packed in, system and two controllers.

3. Control Deck with Official Players Guide

The third in the control deck series came with a black cover Official Nintendo Players Guide. Note there are two variants of this guide but from what I've seen only one box variant. Basic system and two controllers included.

4. Control Deck Redesign

Sometime later in the NES life span they went with a Gold font for the system and a top header in read with black lettering saying "Nintendo Entertainment System." Outside of the new box same contents as the rest of the released systems. 

Top Loader Control Deck

5. Control Deck Top Loader

Basic Top Loader system with one dog bone style controller included. The "stars" in the boxes background have a different pattern than a later release. 

6. Control Deck Top Loader

Same exact as above, however the box has slightly different star placement. 

7. Control Deck Top Loader Target Special Offer

Same as previous Top Loaders, only this was sold exclusively at Target and came with a copy of Dr Mario. (Need verification as to whether this was a cart and manual combo or a CIB copy)

Sports Set

8. Sports Set "New"

Sports Set with "new" on the front of the box. Came with 4 controllers, system, 4 player satellite and Super Spike V Ball/World Cup game and manual.

9. Sports Set Non New

Same as previous sports set, box does not have "new" on the front.

Action Set

10. Grey Zapper Action Set

Action set included Grey zapper inside system as well as the front cover; included two controllers, system and Mario/Duck Hunt cart.

11. Orange Zapper Action Set

Same as above contents, but due to toy gun law changes in the late 80s the guns were colored orange and the box was updated to reflect the orange zapper. 

12. Action Set Redesign

As mentioned above, had the new redesigned packing but had same contents as Orange Zapper action sets.

Power Set

13. Grey Zapper Power Set

Contents included system, two controllers, Grey zapper, power pad and Mario/Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet pack in cart.

14. Orange Zapper Powet Set

Same contents as Grey power set except with orange zapper included and changed on the front the box.

Deluxe Set

15. Test Market System

These were the early release versions if the system. They came with the base console, two controllers, ROB accessory, parts for Gyromitw, Gyromite and Duck Hunt CIB. The front of the box does not say "Deluxe Set." I also believe these really early test market systems also came with power cords that were longer than later release systems. 

16. Deluxe Set

Same contents as Test Market system, says "Deluxe Set" on front of the box.

17. Deluxe Set With Stack Up

A later release of the deluxe set that also included Stack Up. The Styrofoam as cut to fit the Stack Up inside the box, and a yellow sticker saying "Contains 3 game packs" is usually affixed to the top left corner. Its been speculated that these system bundles were created to sell off unsold Stack Up stock and the 3 screw Gyromites that pop up came from these sets, but that is unconfirmed and simply conjecture. 

Sharp NES TV

18. If you know what this is, then you know how rare they are. I couldn't even find a picture of the system box to share here so if anyone has one feel free to send it my way and I'll add it to this post. 

Challenge Sets

19. Challenge Set Mario 3 Cart

This challenge set box has a Cart copy of the game on the convert. Includes Mario 3. System and two controllers.

20. Challenge Set Mario 3 Box

Same as above challenge set, but instead has a Mario 3 box on the system box.

21. Challenge Set Extra Sticker

Same as above, shows a boxed copy of Mario 3, but on the left side has an additional sticker saying "the complete system for the first time player."

22. Challenge Set Walmart Special Offer Mario 3 Cart

Same contents as Mario 3 Cart Challenge set, only this one has a Walmart sticker on the front, and included the Nintendo Power strategy guide for Mario 3 as well as Dr. Mario cart as well.

23. Challenge Set Walmart Special Offer Mario 3 Box

Exact same contents as 22, but has a Mario 3 box on the cover instead of the Mario 3 cart.

24. Challenge Set Dr Mario Pill Sticker

This one I have the least information on as I do not currently own one. Picture was provided to be by another collector who has one. I'm actively looking for this variant still.

 

Sorry if this is a bit choppy, I plan to expand and rewrite this with more specifics at a future date. If you know of any variants (US releases) please share i will add them to the list here.

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

@B.A. you collect nes box variants don’t you? 

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

Very nice work!

 I’m trying to track down all -1, -2 etc, variants of these things and see if I can correlate serial numbers to print runs of boxes as my next project.

 This is a great start!

[B.A. | 1,139]

1 hour ago, Foochie776 said:

@B.A. you collect nes box variants don’t you? 

Indeed I do. That challenge set with Dr. Mario is one I don't have. Cool to see something new!

[Romarqable | 14]

58 minutes ago, B.A. said:

Indeed I do. That challenge set with Dr. Mario is one I don't have. Cool to see something new!

I only just discovered its existence in the last month or so. I always thought every site really didn't have a complete picture of what was available in the wild. I'm certain there are probably even more box variants out there I still don't know about. Store exclusives and what have you. 

[JVOSS | 1,762]

Very Nice.  i was unaware of all the variants on the NES.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Great post and thanks for sharing your research. However, I would recommend putting each picture directly below the name/description of the item for easier reference. I'd also consider putting the pics behind spoiler tags to shorten the overall post, but that's more of a personal preference.

[Romarqable | 14]

21 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

Great post and thanks for sharing your research. However, I would recommend putting each picture directly below the name/description of the item for easier reference. I'd also consider putting the pics behind spoiler tags to shorten the overall post, but that's more of a personal preference.

I plan to at some later date. I posted this entirely from my phone (wrote and dropped the pictures in) so I do plan to update this down the road when I have a computer again. I hope for this to be an ongoing document where I can add additional details including manuals and any potential revisions or future discoveries. 

[B.A. | 1,139]

21 hours ago, Romarqable said:

I only just discovered its existence in the last month or so. I always thought every site really didn't have a complete picture of what was available in the wild. I'm certain there are probably even more box variants out there I still don't know about. Store exclusives and what have you. 

Agreed, wouldn't surprise me at all if there are more of the random pack-in sets. Are those all pics of sets you own? I haven't seen many of the top loader with Dr. Mario.

[austin532 | 467]

Surprised Zelda and SMB 2 never got packed in but I suppose that's why they re-printed them.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

On 12/31/2020 at 5:51 PM, ThePhleo said:

Very nice work!

 I’m trying to track down all -1, -2 etc, variants of these things and see if I can correlate serial numbers to print runs of boxes as my next project.

 This is a great start!

Consoles or games? We may be working on the same thing, I'm doing this for game boxes and manuals right now, I'm about 400 deep so far.

The real question with these boxes is whether or not these are variants of Super Mario Bros. 3.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

4 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Consoles or games? We may be working on the same thing, I'm doing this for game boxes and manuals right now, I'm about 400 deep so far.

The real question with these boxes is whether or not these are variants of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Both actually.

Im currently working on boxes and manuals while I plan to literally spend thousands of dollars buying and reselling CIB console bundles to see if there’s any pattern in serial numbers and bundle with bundle -1, -2 etc variants factored in as well.

[Romarqable | 14]

 

15 hours ago, B.A. said:

Agreed, wouldn't surprise me at all if there are more of the random pack-in sets. Are those all pics of sets you own? I haven't seen many of the top loader with Dr. Mario.

This is a mix of some I own and some from another collector I speak to on Facebook who is similarly tracking down the console sets, the Dr. Mario Pill label variant was from yet another collector who had that. Ive been trying to track down that Dr Mario pill variant for awhile. I took some of his and my pics so that way I had the best example of the system and thats included in the images above. The only missing one is a picture of the Sharp NES TV box which from what research I've gathered there doesn't seem to a be a single instance of anyone currently having an example of the box. 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

I don't know if this will help, but I found this website a while ago that might have something interesting for you guys or maybe somewhere OP can contribute too

https://consolevariations.com/database/nintendo/nes?q=eyJ2YXJpYXRpb25fdHlwZV9pZCI6MiwiYnJhbmRfaWQiOjEsInBsYXRmb3JtX2lkIjoxNywic29ydF9ieSI6InJhcml0eV9zY29yZSIsInNvcnRfZGlyZWN0aW9uIjoiYXNjIiwiaW5pdGlhbFBhcmFtcyI6IntcInZhcmlhdGlvbl90eXBlX2lkXCI6MixcImJyYW5kX2lkXCI6MSxcInBsYXRmb3JtX2lkXCI6MTd9IiwicGFnZSI6Mn0=

[B.A. | 1,139]

I imagine the Sharp packaging was just a plain brown cardboard box. They didn't make retail packaging for it.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

10 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

Both actually.

Im currently working on boxes and manuals while I plan to literally spend thousands of dollars buying and reselling CIB console bundles to see if there’s any pattern in serial numbers and bundle with bundle -1, -2 etc variants factored in as well.

I'll include the information on my website if you're releasing it.

[phart010 | 1,707]

Before I started collecting I would have sworn there was an NES variant that had the same color scheme as the red NES Zapper. Now that I have been collecting, I know better... but part of me still believes it’s out there somewhere and everyone else just forgot about it.
 

Seriously remember seeing it with my own two eyes.. Mandela effect

[Stormarov.45 | 32]

I've set up a Facebook group to aid in buying and selling of Nintendo variants. Feel free to check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/510528043272704/announcements

[Divingninja | 47]

Anyone have any idea what order the challenge sets came out? Like game cart on front, then game box etc etc? ANd any idea what years?

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:05 PM, Divingninja said:

Anyone have any idea what order the challenge sets came out? Like game cart on front, then game box etc etc? ANd any idea what years?

I would assume CIB SMB3 came first, then to cut costs, cart-only would be later.  Plus the cart-only one is far less common, leading me to believe it came out at the tail end of the standard Control Deck releases before they switched to the Top Loader...

[AlternatorDelux | 60]

The copyright date on the version with no game box is still 1992.  While it's possible that it was released later, I'm inclined to think it wasn't too far off from the end of 1992 since the games featured on the side and on the included poster fit that time frame better.

[Romarqable | 14]

Been a few years since I last updated this post. Figured for anyone interested, an image of the Sharp NES TV has since surfaced so there is at least one floating around. I've only seen 3 Dr Mario Pill Challenge Set variant so I've come to believe it's likely the rarest of the NES console variations. Still don't have any information as to where it mightve been sold, rumors I've heard were KB Toys and a retailer possibly in Canada. Again, rumors only.