A significant discovery has emerged from a Wisconsin retro gaming store, where nearly 100 previously unknown Nintendo cartridges have surfaced. The Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combinations were found by Kevin Braun, owner of OneStopWonders in Waukesha, with assistance from Nintendo Wire editor Jason Ganos in authenticating the find. The cartridges had been languishing in storage after Braun purchased them from the grandson of a precious metal recovery service owner, whom Nintendo had apparently contracted to dismantle the games years earlier.
What makes this discovery extraordinary is that the cartridges represent an entirely unknown production variant. Manufacturing codes indicate these were produced in 1993, significantly later than any previously documented Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt bundle release. While the original games themselves are common, having shipped with the NES in 1985 and again bundled together in 1988, this particular run had escaped collector awareness entirely until now. The cartridges feature distinct back labels and instruction manuals that differentiate them from known versions.
Authentication company PSA has verified the cartridges’ legitimacy and graded their condition exceptionally high. Five cartridges earned perfect PSA 10 scores—a milestone that had never been achieved for any NES cartridge previously. Additional units scored between PSA 9.6 and 9.8. Three items from the collection will go to auction through Goldin Auctions this week, with Braun and Ganos retaining some examples and planning future sales, including charity auctions. Given that a single Super Mario Bros. cartridge with a 9.6 rating recently sold for $3 million, values for these pristine variants are expected to be substantial.
Originally reported by Mashable →
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