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A box of ninety-seven brand new Super Mario Bros./ Duck Hunt cartridges has been found. They're interesting in that they were produced in or after 1993. At first, I was blown away by the logistics of this. Why were they produced so late? Well, it's simple: Nintendo used to outsource repairs to random electronics stores. Technicians within had the option to order these as replacement parts.

I'm not going to bullshit you; it's a stretch to consider these carts a variant. The differences between this and the one on your shelf are as follows:

• Post 1993 bilingual backplate label is used.
• Date code on the PCB indicates late production

The board is no different from what you'll probably find in your own copy. The same is true for the front label.

Unlike the cartridge, the manuals ARE a meaningful variant. Some SMB/DH manuals have a blurb on the back cover. This newly discovered variant replaces the word "maintenance" with "service". Since people have already found manuals like this in the wild, it's safe to assume that the matching carts are out there too.

No matter how minor, this whole thing is really cool. I'm looking forward to seeing how many more of these pop up. You may have one and don't even realize it.

I like the idea of such primitive games still being manufactured in the age of games like Doom and Sonic The Hedgehog 3. It's got a very "Fatal Run for Atari" vibe.

parody come to life

Absurdly, the article that announced this is more or less an advertisement. It's a good thing that researching these is pointless, because they're being graded and auctioned off. Desperate grifters have once again turned something minor into justification to speculate. And speculate they did! They claim these are worth at least "four digits". I mean yeah, if we're counting cents as digits, I agree. Anyone paying over 2000 cents for one of these is an idiot. That includes you.

Most rare cartridge variants (if this SMB/DH even counts) feature something about them that's difficult to replicate. Five screw Mega Man is a great example. It's a five screw Mega Man cartridge. No matter how hard you try, you can't fake that easily. With this new find, neither the front label or cartridge shell are unique. Creating a convincing fake is trivial since all you need to do is replace the back plating. The board circuity is the exact same too. Its only distinguishing factor is an easily fakable date code stamp.

I have an idea for you eBay sellers out there struggling to sell your copies of Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt:

• Step 1: Find a game with the same back label as this "variant"
• Step 2: Remove the back casing of that game
• Step 3: Replace the back casing on your Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt with it.
• Step 4: List on eBay for $10 + shipping. Do not mention the variant, just post front and back pictures.
• Step 5: Ignore any inquiries about board pics. Legit buyers will spend the $10 and hope for the best.
• Optional step: Replace the back plating with the original before shipping. No sane person will care.


• Notice: Don't waste time disclosing that you replaced the back. Like I just said: no sane person will care. The fact that someone paid you $10 for a copy of Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt is the real crime here.

There's nothing deceptive about this unless you claim it's a variant or try to charge massive amounts of money for it. People looking to play the game will get the game, and you'll sell something most people don't need or want.

I think the auction surrounding these ninety-seven carts is a scam. No knowledgable person would stretch the concept as thin as they have. If you're stupid enough to fall for it, you deserve to lose your money. Don't fall prey to these predators.