Pokemon generations I to III US box print/variant guide, with contents and population survey

[AdamW | 713]

Onto Red and Blue manuals!

For Blue I have two copies of U/DMG-APEE-USA, two of DMG-APEE-USA-1, and one U/DMG-APEE-USA-1.

For Red I have a U/DMG-APAE-USA from a first print box, and a DMG-APAE-USA-1 from a third print box (black ESRB logo).

The U/ manuals don't have production codes on the last inside page. The non-U/ manuals do have a code. For Blue I have a 991020 and a 991027. The 991020 manual came in a 991020 box. I don't have the box the 991027 manual came with (it came with a copy of Red or Yellow, I forget which). For Red, I have a 991020 manual in a 991020 box.

So, to build onto my castle-in-the-sky of production theories: this all backs up the idea that y-fold boxes and non-U/ manuals go together and were made in Japan (and have print run identifier codes), double-ended boxes and U/ manuals go together and were made in the US (and don't have print run identifier codes). Also starts to look like if you want a truly authentic CIB y-fold variant, you want the manual and box print run codes to match...

It also looks like the white-ESRB Yellow variant and the black-ESRB Red and Blue variants were printed close together, with white-ESRB Yellow coming first (we have codes 990729 and 990817 for white-ESRB Yellow, and codes 991020 and 991027 for black-ESRB Red and Blue).

The obvious difference between the OG and -1 manuals for Red and Blue is, not surprisingly, the ESRB logo. It's white on OG, black on -1.

They also have the same difference in the Game Link Cable pages (36 and 37 in these manuals, not 38 and 39) as Yellow does. The OG manual has steps 1-3 on page 36, 4-6 and Exeggcute on 37. The -1 manual has steps 1-2 on page 36, 3-6 and no Exeggcute on 37. That's kinda interesting actually, since we're figuring the Red/Blue -1 manuals were printed not long after the Yellow OG manuals, but this was changed in the Red/Blue -1 manuals but not in the Yellow OG manuals...

Hey, this is fun - Nintendo Power price is $13 / C$17 in U/DMG-APEE-USA and DMG-APEE-USA-1, but $14.95 / C$17.95 in U/DMG-APEE-USA-1. So seems like they snuck the price change into the US-printed version of -1 without bumping the revision number. Huh.

[AdamW | 713]

My gold has tab code 000811 and manual code 000823. My Yellow / black-ESRB / y-fold box has code 010409, remember, suggesting it was printed *after* this Gold. For Silver I have 000731 (box) and 001102 (manual) - pretty big difference there, I'm not the original owner so don't know if that's how it came. My Crystal y-fold has 011102 (box) and 011023 (manual). I'm not the original owner of that copy but I bought it locally off someone who said it was their childhood copy, so either they're lying or the box and manual codes at that point didn't necessarily match...

So, assuming the codes are sequential and wrapped around from 999999 to 000000 or 000001, it looks like white-ESRB Yellow and black-ESRB Red/Blue were printed very close together. Yellow / black-ESRB / y-fold came between Gold/Silver and Crystal, closer to Crystal, suggesting it was a late-life reprint perhaps when stocks were running low but people were still buying it alongside those games, or was even done more or less alongside Crystal.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Maybe I'm off on this, but that Pokemon Yellow seal in the back looks like pure garbage, doesn't look Nintendo standard in the least bit.

[AdamW | 713]

Yeah, I agree on the seal. It might've been a copy imported to the UK and resealed there or something (the guy's clearly English). But the contents look pretty clean and exactly match the other copy that's on eBay right now, so I'm kinda inclined to go with those as the right contents for no-ESRB, at least unless anything else shows up to contradict it.

edit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Yellow-Version-Special-Pikachu-Edition/265044720861 is another current no-ESRB listing which also has black-ESRB cart and U/ -2 manual.

edit: and https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Yellow-Version-For-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Excellent-Cond-Free-Shipping-/254793715990, which seller claims is a personal copy.

Edited February 14, 2021 by AdamW

[Renmauzo | 1,196]

7 hours ago, AdamW said:

So Yellow just continues to get more mysterious.

I've been talking to the seller of a copy of Yellow with no ESRB logo that went up recently. He remembers most likely getting the game as a Christmas gift in 1999 (he says birthday or Christmas, but his birthday was before the game came out); he's sure he got it before the game came out in the UK in June 2000, as he imported it and remembers boasting about getting it early. So that suggests it's a fairly early copy.

However, his cart has a black ESRB logo and his manual is the -2 (third) revision, both of which suggest later.

So, I'm wondering if at least the white-ESRB and no-ESRB prints were contemporaneous or very close together. There is a no-ESRB theory out there that the no-ESRB copies came from a *particular store* for some reason - I think Toys 'R' Us was cited - but haven't found anything authoritative or detailed about that.

I did some research on the ESRB logo change (I know, my life is just full of excitement, right?) Broadly speaking, it did indeed happen right around the time Pokemon Yellow was released, which does allow for all the prints to have come very close together, potentially. The earliest black ESRB logo I have found is Jet Force Gemini for N64; multiple sources give the release date as 1999-10-11, and multiple listings of it with no indication of being reprints have black logo on both box and cart. Rayman 2 for Nintendo 64 is another interesting case. It came out 1999-10-29. The box and manual have the white ESRB logo, but the cart label has the black ESRB logo. I've seen four CIB copies in this state and every single cart I've seen has a black logo label, so this seems to be correct and not some kind of fake situation.

There's definitely a lot of overlap. Ultima IX for PC came out 1999-11-24 with a white ESRB logo. The Home World GOTY edition for PC is listed with a release date of 2000 and has the white logo. An interesting late console case is Gran Turismo 2 for PS1, which came out 1999-12-11 (again, per multiple sources) with white logo on both the inlay and the disc (per zillions of listings).

So the transition started at least as early as early October 1999, going by release dates (of course, artwork would be finalized some time ahead of release, and publishers might I guess be more or less amenable to changing the ESRB logo at the last minute, accounting for a lot of the fuzz) and wasn't entirely complete until at least December and possibly early 2000.

Hi Adam, sorry I haven't been keeping up with things, but have been going through the thread this evening and thought I'd help out where I can. I've pre-ordered - and subsequently - bought ever Pokémon mainline game (from Red/Blue all the way up to Sword/Shield) before/on release day with the exception of Crystal (dropped the ball on that one), so I can confirm that the Pokémon Yellow 'white ESRB' variant was out on launch day. I don't have my receipts any longer to prove it but assure you that it - like all the rest - was pre-ordered and picked up day 1. I'll reply to some of your other posts in turn, specifically regarding inserts.

[Renmauzo | 1,196]

On 2/11/2021 at 4:55 PM, AdamW said:

So on the topic of inserts...well, it's difficult to be sure since so many listings are clearly put-together jobs. But this is my best attempt to figure it out based on consistent patterns and listings that seem the most authentic.

* Red and Blue Sandshrew prints (so Blue -1 and -2 and Red -1)  came with manual U/DMG-APAE-USA (Red) or U/DMG-APEE-USA (Blue). They included the "Consumer Information" booklet; I think earlier copies have DMG-USA-6 and later have DMG-USA-7, at least CIB copies of Blue -1 (the error print) always seem to have -6. They also included the "Pokemon Times" Nintendo Power ad; that's the one that's often folded to show a red/blue page with "FREE PLAYER'S GUIDE OFFER INSIDE" but can also be folded to show a white page with the Pokemon and Nintendo logos, these are *the same thing* (can be confusing if you don't realize). The same version was used in Red and Blue, with code U/DMG-APAE-USA in both (even though that's the Red product code).

* Red and Blue white-ESRB Rattata prints (Blue -3, Red -2) usually(?) came with manual DMG-APAE-USA (Red) or DMG-APEE-USA (Blue). They came with the consumer information booklet (I think always DMG-USA-7 rev) and the "Hungry?" Nintendo Power ad. I *think* some but NOT all came with the "Pokemon Stadium March 2000" ad, code CGB-S-UCPS-USA (sometimes J-CGB-S-UCPS-USA). They have the CGB(W) tray.

* Red and Blue black-ESRB Rattata prints (Blue -4, Red -3) came with manual DMG-APAE-USA-1 or -2 (Red) or DMG-APEE-USA-1 or -2 (Blue). They came with the consumer information booklet (I think always DMG-USA-7 rev) and the "Hungry?" Nintendo Power ad. I *think* some but NOT all came with the "Pokemon Stadium March 2000" ad, code CGB-S-UCPS-USA (sometimes J-CGB-S-UCPS-USA). They have the CGB(W) tray.

Things I'm not sure of:

* There are three revisions of the Red/Blue manuals (original, -1 and -2) and there seem to be U/ prefix and non-U/ prefix versions of each (FWIW I believe the U/ prefix indicates "printed in USA"), at least of original and -1. It *seems* like Sandshrew prints always had the U/ original-revision manuals, but I'm not 100% sure none came with a non-U/ manual. Similarly the white-ESRB Rattata prints seem to *usually* come with a non-U/ original revision manual but I don't know if they always did. I think the -1 and -2 revised manuals mainly came with black-ESRB boxes but I'm not 100% sure some white-ESRB Rattata boxes didn't come with -1 manuals. I'm not sure what actually changed in the -1 and -2 revisions; I have original and -1 manuals here so I can look carefully through and check at some point, but I don't have a -2 manual at all.

* I'm not 100% sure about the Pokemon Stadium March 2000 ad. I've definitely seen multiple credible listings of the Rattata prints that include it, but I've also seen pretty credible ones that *don't*. I'm inclined to believe it was included at least sometimes, but possibly not always.

Yellow is kind of a nightmare because there's four variants and not much data on three of them. The white-ESRB logo print of Yellow seems to be by a distance the most common. I'm pretty sure it came with manual DMG-APSE-USA, the consumer information booklet (DMG-USA-7 rev), and the Yellow version of the "Pokemon Times" Nintendo Power ad - it's very similar to the Red/Blue one but the "FREE PLAYER'S GUIDE OFFER INSIDE" page (often shown on listings) is yellow with a big picture of Pikachu on it and the "Pokemon Times" page claims to be "Volume no. 2, Issue no. 1" and there are obvious updates to the actual Nintendo Power issue and player's guide featured.

For the other variants I just don't have enough data. I've seen manual revisions all the way to -3 but I'm not sure which boxes may have had which manual revisions. You'd think later prints might have the "Hungry?" ad instead of the Pokemon Times ad, but I'm not sure. And I'm not sure which if any revisions may have had the "Pokemon Stadium March 2000" ad.

Researching this stuff makes it clear that lots of "complete" and "CIB" listings are not. They either just don't have all the stuff or they flat out have wrong stuff (i.e. the seller tried to put together a "CIB" listing but didn't know enough about exactly what should be in it). Buyer beware.

If anyone has a personal copy of Red/Blue/Yellow they're 100% certain is complete with the original inserts, it'd be great if you can check and see what print of the box you have and what the inserts are Thanks!

As I had mentioned before, my Red, Blue and Yellow were pre-order pick ups on their respective launch days, and here's a list of the inserts for each:

Pokémon Red – U/DMG-APAE-USA, DMG-USA-7, Pokémon Times ad

Pokémon Blue (corrected text/Sandshrew print) – U/DMG-APEE-USA, DMG-USA-6, Pokémon Times ad

Pokémon Yellow (White ESRB) - The numbers you posted all match.

[AdamW | 713]

@Renmauzothat would help hugely! If we can identify your box variant, inserts, manual and cart revision and print run numbers (for copies that have them) it'd be awesome, thanks so much

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the white-ESRB copies were around at release time. What I'm less sure of is whether some of the no-ESRB copies were also out at launch or if they really did come a bit later. The apparent manual associations (no rev for white-ESRB, -2 (with black ESRB logo) for no-ESRB) and the way no-ESRB copies boxes usually come with black-ESRB carts also suggest white-ESRBs came first in some sense, but it's still possible the manual revisions all happened before or right around launch time.

Edited February 14, 2021 by AdamW

[AdamW | 713]

2 minutes ago, Renmauzo said:

As I had mentioned before, my Red, Blue and Yellow were pre-order pick ups on their respective launch days, and here's a list of the inserts for each:

Pokémon Red – U/DMG-APAE-USA, DMG-USA-7, Pokémon Times ad

 

Pokémon Blue (corrected text/Sandshrew print) – U/DMG-APEE-USA, DMG-USA-6, Pokémon Times ad

 

Pokémon Yellow (White ESRB) - The numbers you posted all match.

Thanks! Do your Yellow inserts match what I expected (DMG-APSE-USA manual, DMG-USA-7, "Pokemon Times" pikachu version ad)? Does your copy have the "Pokemon Stadium March 2000" ad?

[Renmauzo | 1,196]

1 hour ago, AdamW said:

Thanks! Do your Yellow inserts match what I expected (DMG-APSE-USA manual, DMG-USA-7, "Pokemon Times" pikachu version ad)? Does your copy have the "Pokemon Stadium March 2000" ad?

Yep, all the inserts are as you listed. There's isn't a 'Pokémon Stadium March 2000' ad in mine.

[AdamW | 713]

Thanks again! Super useful stuff.

[Renmauzo | 1,196]

On 2/11/2021 at 6:55 PM, AdamW said:

Gold and Silver came with: manual DMG-AAUE-USA (Gold) or DMG-AAXE-USA (Silver), tray CGB(W), inserts: ad for "NEW! Pikachu Nintendo 64", "Player's Guide Offer" (Nintendo Power/guide ad like the Pokemon Times thing pretty much, code DMG-AAUE/AAXE-USA), "consumer info" DMG-USA-7.

Crystal 1st print came with: manual CGB-BYTE-USA, tray CGB(W), inserts: "Pokemon Power" Nintendo Power/guide ad (CGB-BYTE-USA), "consumer info" DMG-USA-8.

Crystal 2nd print came with: manual U/CGB-BYTE-USA, inserts: "Pokemon Power" ad (U/CGB-BYTE-USA or U/CGB-BYTE-USA-1 - I've seen both, I don't know what changed, my copy is missing this insert), "consumer info" U/DMG-USA-8. Some copies at least came with a "get $3 back by mail when you purchase Pokemon the movie 3" ad; the ad notes the movie is available August 21, 2001 and the offer expires 1/31/02 (January 31, 2002) so possibly this was omitted in later copies.

I have not seen a copy of Crystal 1st print with the movie flyer in it. With more data the movie ad *might* give some clarity to dates of the two Crystal prints, but I'm not sure. I guess at least we know there were second print copies out there before January 31, 2002 at a minimum.

An interesting tidbit on U/ and non-U/: the more research I do the more U/ manuals and flyers seem to correspond with double-ended boxes. I've got a tentative theory that Nintendo basically had two box production lines, one in Japan that made y-fold boxes and one in the US that made double-ended boxes, and usually the inserts would be produced alongside the boxes.

I've got an *even more tentative* theory that the U/ -1 and -2 revision manuals for Red and Blue never actually came in boxes, but were *replacement copies*. For quite a long time you could call or write Nintendo and order replacement manuals. I think it's possible that this is where the later revision U/ manuals came from (since the later print boxes were all y-fold and seem to normally have come with non-U/ manuals).

This may be interesting for your Gold/Silver research, here's what I have included as well as the tab and manual numbers:

Gold: 000823 tab (printed in black), 000718 manual (DMG-AAUE-USA), 'consumer info' DMG-USA-7, Rev-A 43427 (Pikachu N64 ad), Player’s Guide offer

Silver: 000731 tab (printed in red), 000718 manual (DMG-AAXE-USA), 'consumer info' DMG-USA-7, Player’s Guide offer

It's interesting that the SIlver copy doesn't have the Pikachu N64 ad, but then - if the tab numbers are meant to indicate print run timing - the run could pre-date those inserts' existence. Both manual numbers are the same w/000718, so it's odd that your Gold tab number is lower but manual number matches my tab number w/000823.

You know, I honestly never thought we'd be here 20+years later with gaming being such a collectible hobby where these details would be catalogued and studied, or I would have scanned my receipts for archival purposes. I kept them for a long time, but they were from Microplay who used that yellow and pink transfer paper used a lot for credit card purchases back in the day, and I tossed them in the recycle once they faded. *sigh* It'd just be nice to be able to show the proof.

[AdamW | 713]

Haha that's cool, I'm fine trusting you on this! The only one of mine that I'm the original owner of is Emerald, so it's great to have you as a reference. It does seem pretty likely the numbers are print run identifiers and they are in order - they just correlate so well it would be weird if they *weren't*. If they weren't sequential you'd expect, just by chance, to see something clearly wrong like a second red print with a higher number than a crystal print or something, but so far nothing like that. Cart stamp codes are an example of the opposite - I'm coming around to the theory that they're factory identifiers or similar, not some kind of sequential order, because there doesn't seem to be a really clear correlation of lower numbered cart stamps and earlier boxes.

[AdamW | 713]

FWIW I just did a sampling of other y-fold boxes I have. They don't all have codes - some have manual codes but not tab codes, some have neither - but the ones that do all are 'correct' sequentially for their release dates. Tomorrow I'll chart them all out and see if I can come up with some kinda approximate pattern to how fast the numbers incremented, which might give us some tentative dates for the y-fold Pokemon prints...

[AdamW | 713]

Uhhh, hey. This is kinda simple but also kinda cool, I think?

I don't know why I didn't see this before, but, the tab and manual 'codes'? They're not codes. They're *dates*. They're just straight up YYMMDD production dates.

One of my white ESRB Yellows was printed 29th July 1999 - that's 990729. The other was printed 17th August 1999 - 990817. My black-ESRB y-fold Yellow was printed in April 2001. My later print Blues and Red are from October 1999.

My Gold is from August 2000 and my Silver box is from July while the manual's from November (so maybe I bought a put-together job there). My Crystal manual is from October 2001 and the box from November 2001.

This is super useful in fact because we can see almost exactly where Nintendo switched over from white ESRB to black ESRB, at least in Japan: white ESRB Yellows were printed in July and August 1999, then black ESRB Reds and Blues in October 1999...

Just checked the box code on my white ESRB Rattata Red - it's 990820. 20th August 1999. So it looks like there was a run of white ESRB / Rattata Reds and Blues along with the white ESRB Yellows in July-August, and then some black ESRB Reds and Blues printed in October. That's kinda awesome to know! I wonder if there are earlier black ESRB Yellows, and later black ESRB Reds and Blues? I need to start drawing out timelines here.

edit: frustratingly, firered and leafgreen don't have date codes for some reason, even though they're y-fold boxes. They would've been really useful to establish the dates of the three variants. Gr.

Edited February 15, 2021 by AdamW

[AdamW | 713]

Checking my Leafgreens more closely, my first print manual *does* have a date code (040706, July 6 2004) but the -2 manual from my Player's Choice box does not. AFAICT the manual differences are that the original manual refers to the wireless adapter as "(included)" or doesn't qualify it at all, the -2 manual consistently refers to it as "(sold separately)"; also, the -2 manual has two extra bullet points in a list of factors that can affect wifi connections on the right-hand side of page 57. Now I need to get a hold of a -1 manual...

[AdamW | 713]

Oh, boy. New info: there are at least four, possibly five variants of FireRed and LeafGreen.

My copy of the FireRed "first print" has tab code (WA)AGB-BPRE USA. This listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Firered-GameBoy-Advance-with-Wireless-Adapter-amp-Pocket-Trainer-Guide-CIB-/184643570065

has code (WA)AGB-BPRE USA-2. The only difference I can see is in the top flap: on mine it says "MADE IN JAPAN AND PHILIPPINES". On the -2 one it says "GAME MADE IN JAPAN; ADAPTER MADE IN PHILIPPINES".

If the -1 variant exists in the wild, we have at least *five* variants each of FR/LG. I'm gonna try and find one and see what its top flap says...

edit: man, this rabbit hole is deep. This listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-FireRed-Version-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Advance-GBA-Complete-in-box-/203237450273

has the "GAME MADE IN JAPAN; ADAPTER MADE IN PHILIPPINES" text on what looks to be a *label pasted over* the original box text. There's no visible picture of the flap code so can't tell if it's the OG or the presumed -1 variant (still haven't caught one of those yet). That must be original. So, they were required by some kind of law or rule or policy to clarify that text, and I guess after that requirement was made, those labels got slapped on some existing boxes before new ones could be printed? Wild.

Oh boy, OK, so I think I've got it. Here are the prints for FireRed and LeafGreen:

1. Flap code (WA)AGB-BPRE USA (FireRed) or (WA)AGB-BPGE USA (LeafGreen). Wireless adapter included. Top flap states "MADE IN JAPAN AND PHILIPPINES", *may* be taped over with a "GAME MADE IN JAPAN; ADAPTER MADE IN PHILIPPINES" sticker. Back text fourth bullet point reads "...or a Game Boy Wireless Adapter accessory (included)."

2. Flap code (WA)AGB-BPRE USA-1 (FireRed) or (WA)AGB-BPGE USA-1 (LeafGreen). Wireless adapter included. Top flap presumed to state "MADE IN JAPAN AND PHILIPPINES" (haven't yet found a non-taped copy to confirm), *may* be taped over with a "GAME MADE IN JAPAN; ADAPTER MADE IN PHILIPPINES" sticker. Back text fourth bullet point reads "...or a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter accessory (included)."

3. Flap code (WA)AGB-BPRE USA-2 (FireRed) or (WA)AGB-BPGE USA-2 (LeafGreen). Wireless adapter included. Top flap states "GAME MADE IN JAPAN; ADAPTER MADE IN PHILIPPINES" directly on the box (*not* on a sticker). Back text fourth bullet point reads "...or a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter accessory (included)."

4. Flap code (presumed) AGB-BPRE USA (FireRed) or AGB-BPGE USA (LeafGreen). Wireless adapter not included. Not Player's Choice. Top flap states "MADE IN JAPAN". Back text fourth bullet point reads "...or a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter accessory (each sold separately)."

5. Flap code AGB-BPRE USA-1 (FireRed) or AGB-BPGE USA-1 (LeafGreen). Wireless adapter not included. Player's Choice. Top flap states "MADE IN JAPAN". Back text fourth bullet point reads "...or a Game Boy Wireless Adapter accessory (both sold separately)."

So basically in the first print the top text is the short version and the wireless adapter is called the "Game Boy Wireless Adapter". Second print they changed the wireless adapter's name to "Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter" but didn't change the top text. Third print they changed the top text and kept the adapter name the same. Fourth print they ditched the included wireless adapter, changed the top text to just "MADE IN JAPAN", and changed the back text to say "each sold separately" but left the adapter name "Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter". Fifth print was made Player's Choice, still says "MADE IN JAPAN", but for some weird reason the wireless adapter name is back to "Game Boy Wireless Adapter" (as in the first print) and it's "both sold separately" not "each sold separately". Wild.

The flap code for 4th print is "presumed" because I don't have a 4th print of either game here (one's on its way to me) and can't find any listings with flap pictures, but I'm pretty sure that's what it should be.

Haven't yet established how many copies of OG (if any) and how many of -1 had the top text sticker pasted on. Now I've figured out the keys to identify each variant I'll see if any patterns emerge...

Edited February 15, 2021 by AdamW

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Just a bit of advice as you're going to drive yourself mad and probably some people from trying to make sense of all this...I'm sure you have a google account.  Use their spreadsheet, make it public view (but not edit) and tab off each generation and put  your notes in there.  It would be far easier to then just discuss them lightly, tie back to the document, and refer to that as it'll make following and discussion easier.  Pokemon has more variants than eevee has evolutions at this point.

[AdamW | 713]

Pfft, spreadsheets? I wrote a database schema and CLI:

https://pagure.io/gvt

still working on it and entering data, but I've input FireRed sales data from the last few months (more or less complete, except for sealed listings and sales of multiple games together as I need to tweak the thing to handle those better), and that shows prints 1 and 5 as the most common, 2, 3 and 4 are each pretty rare (there are three copies of print #2, four of print #3, and two of print #4 in the data). My db isn't in the git repo currently, I'll probably add it or put it in another one.

[AdamW | 713]

So I'm inputting Blue data into my DB atm, and came across this really fascinating old listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Blue-Version-Nintendo-GameBoy-Boxed-with-Manual-GC-with-Working-Save/193841292691

It looks to me like a really unusual fake box, based on the "red text" error print. It seems very detailed and accurate in a lot of ways - the actual internal cardboard of the box looks pretty realistic, and they even put codes on the bottom tabs. But the box is a y-fold (I don't think there are any legit US y-fold box Sandshrew screenshot prints), and the fonts on the "VALUABLE LIMITED WARRANTY" text and the text below it look wrong (bit hard to see from the photo angles, but I'm pretty sure they're off), as well as obviously the whole back content being off to the side (which could be a legit printing error if not for the other things).

The listing's from the UK, and the *contents* are clearly from a PAL copy, but it's not a PAL box, or any other regional variant I know of. Only US ones have the ESRB logo.

Never seen a fake like that before. Just thought it was worth noting.

Edited February 18, 2021 by AdamW

[AdamW | 713]

So I just finished entering the first batch of Blue data (sold listings, viewed on ebay.com with delivery to a US zip code - the delivery location affects which listings you see, eBay won't show listings that aren't deliverable to the location specified) and hacked up a quick prevalence survey function. With the data so far, these are the scores on the doors:

Prevalence survey for Pokémon: FireRed Version
 
Print #1: 30/96 (31.25%)
Print #2: 9/96 (9.38%)*
Print #3: 6/96 (6.25%)*
Print #4: 8/96 (8.33%)
Print #5: 43/96 (44.79%)

Prevalence survey for Pokémon LeafGreen Version
 
Print #1: 25/50 (50.0%)
Print #2: 5/50 (10.0%)
Print #4: 1/50 (2.0%)
Print #5: 19/50 (38.0%)
 
Prevalence survey for Pokémon Blue Version
 
Print #1: 17/171 (9.94%)
Print #2: 93/171 (54.39%)
Print #3: 39/171 (22.81%)
Print #4: 22/171 (12.87%)

So the "error text" print (and the fourth print) of Blue come out a mite more common than in my previous, smaller survey. Still fairly uncommon. Will post again when I have more data for...everything. Ugh. I should hire someone to do this except I wouldn't trust them.

A note on FireRed 2nd and 3rd prints: there are a couple of listings that I can tell are definitely one or the other, but I can't tell *which*, because the listing has no pictures of the box top or top tabs. I assigned them both as 2nd prints based on a hunch, more or less, but either or both could be 3rd prints, so those numbers are in a range. I didn't want to leave those listings out because that would under-represent those prints - all other prints can be recognized with just front and back pics (or just front, for 4th and 5th) so leaving out 2nd/3rd prints that we can't distinguish would be a misrepresentation.

Edited February 19, 2021 by AdamW

[AdamW | 713]

So I'm still populating my database; I've got more data on FR and LG now, and I've entered Yellow and Red. But I'll update the numbers after I do all the others.

My copy of the U/DMG-APSE-USA-1 manual arrived today - that's the Yellow manual, printed in US, allegedly second revision (which I currently believe shipped in earlier no-ESRB boxes; I'm starting to think that there are two sets of legit contents for no-ESRB boxes, earlier ones had a white ESRB logo cart and a -1 rev manual, later ones has a black ESRB logo cart and a -2 rev manual). The ESRB logo in the manual is black. It has steps 1+2 on Page 38 and steps 3-6 on Page 39, like DMG-APSE-USA-2 and later Blue/Red prints. It also, interestingly, does *not* have the two pages that advertise Nintendo Power, nor the two Notes pages that follow those (in DMG-APSE-USA and DMG-APSE-USA-2).

Now I'm curious for my U/DMG-APSE-USA-2 to show up...

Edited February 22, 2021 by AdamW

[AdamW | 713]

So I'm still around, I've just been focusing on completing my collection as inventory is low and prices are nuts lately

Small tidbits:

* My U/DMG-APSE-USA-2 Pokemon Yellow manual came in (that's the revision that comes in most no-ESRB boxes, and double-ended black ESRB boxes). It looks like the difference to U/DMG-APSE-USA-1 is that it *does* include the Nintendo Power ad (prices $14.95 / C$17.95) and the Notes pages. Basically I think them being left out of U/DMG-APSE-USA-1 was a mistake, and the -2 revision just fixed it.

* I've been checking Gold and Silver this morning and I'm pretty sure there is only one box print for each.

* I have some pretty interesting (to me, anyway) data on packins for Gen 1 and FireRed/LeafGreen, but I want to add the data for all the other games first before posting that. But if you're curious about what the 'canonical' packins for a specific print of Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed or LeafGreen were, hit me up and I can give you my best estimate.

[AdamW | 713]

Back with another extremely niche but very bizarre finding!

Reviewing FireRed / LeafGreen manuals today, I noted the first version manuals have two odd differences - even though my copies were printed on the very same day (040706, 6th July 2004). On page 57, there's a list of bullet points about how to avoid issues with wireless transmission. In the first print FireRed manual - code AGB-BPRE-USA - that list has 9 points (it's the same in all later revisions of both manuals, too). In the first print LeafGreen manual - code AGB-BPGE-USA - the list has only *7* bullet points. That's the only revision of any (US) FR/LG manual with only 7 bullet points there.

On Page 61, however, the tables are turned. There's a list of 4 bullet points there about potential issues with link cable connections. In the first print FireRed manual, the bullets are misaligned with the text, and the final point is missing its full stop. In the first print LeafGreen manual, and all other US prints of both manuals, the bullets are aligned with the text, and the final point has a full stop.

Here are pictures. In both pictures, the manuals shown from top to bottom are:

1. AGB-BPGE-USA date 040706
2. AGB-BPRE-USA date 040706
3. AGB-BPRE-USA-1 date 040803 (this came in second and third print boxes)
4. AGB-BPGE-USA-2 date unknown (this came in fourth and later print boxes)

In both -1 and -2 manuals there are 9 bullet points and the page 61 bullets are aligned. The difference between -1 and -2 is that -1 refers to the wireless adapter as "(included)" when mentioning it, -2 refers to it as "(sold separately)".

Edited March 16, 2021 by AdamW

[Gloves | 11,759]

I've not bothered to read the first post regarding "left Bros" until now, but am happy to report that both my red and blue are first prints, including a blue with "red" text. Nice! 

At long last, I can cash out! Right!? 

[AdamW | 713]

If it's sealed, you can probably send your next reply from your private island after a quick phone call to Heritage Auctions

Otherwise - I've only seen one person try to sell the "Red text" variant (BTW I'm now inclined to count it as a variant of the first print, rather than a separate print, because Nintendo didn't change the official print code on the box), described correctly, at a premium. I don't think it's sold yet. The copies that have been listed since I started this thread where the seller *doesn't* know what it is do seem like they might have attracted a bit more attention, but they aren't selling at much of a premium if any (hard to tell with the general variability of prices and other factors like condition and missing bits).

What I'm really curious to see happen - I'm sure it will some time, as WATA and HA definitely know about this - is for HA to sell a sealed copy and make a big hullabaloo about it. If they do that and it sells for crazy money, it might affect the non-sealed market a bit too. Still, I think it'll be like Left Bros. again - sealed Left Bros. is clearly a lot more valuable than equivalent condition sealed Right Bros., but cart-only or CIB Left Bros. isn't really *that* much more than equivalent Right Bros. The "red text" variant isn't vanishingly rare, as I'm updating my DB, its prevalance is staying right around 10% of copies, which is not like "one copy a year" kind of rarity, more like one a week or so. But sealed copies of it are likely very rare. I've still only seen evidence of two sealed copies of it existing so far.

Also, the market just doesn't like Blue much I've no idea why. Red and Yellow are selling like hotcakes lately, there've been some crazy sales of Yellow especially, well over $500. But Blue isn't doing the same, decent copies are still selling well under $300 sometimes. I guess nobody loves Blastoise.

Edited March 16, 2021 by AdamW