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Kevin Braun, the owner of the retro shop OneStopWonders, said that a person sold him the cartridges years ago and that they’ve just been sitting untouched in his storage unit. The man said that his grandfather owned a business that recovered precious metals from circuit boards, and that this box was supposedly sold to him for salvaging. It’s unknown how it ended up in storage instead of recycling, but Braun bought it from the seller, thinking he could resell it in his shop for around $10 to $15 each.
Thankfully, he forgot about these cartridges until his friend and EIC of Nintendo Wire, Jason Ganos, got a chance to look at them. When he saw the carts for the first time, Ganos knew that he was looking at something special but didn’t realize how exceptional they were until he shared the find on a high-end gaming Facebook group. Two different people working as directors at different grading companies then reached out to him, telling him that there was something strange about these cartridges. They then asked for more photos of one cartridge and the manual and even told him to disassemble one unit for a deeper inspection.
This is where he discovered that these cartridges were some of the last produced units made during the 40th week of 1993. The manuals weren’t seen before, either, with the back page saying, “maintenance or service,” whereas previous known versions said, “maintenance or repair.” Because of these finds, he proceeded to take a flight to PSA in California early the next morning, where the grading company confirmed its authenticity.
It seems that the cartridges in the box were made as replacements for warranty repairs or refurbished consoles, or as part of a bundle that never saw release. We would never know which is true, though, unless Nintendo of America confirms why they were made. If you’re an avid collector or simply want to get your hands on an original Nintendo game that hasn’t been released, three carts will be auctioned off at Goldin Auctions starting August 12.
Lost one-of-a-kind Nintendo DS cartridge hits eBay for $9,100
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/97-untouched-duck-hunt-and-super-mario-bros-cartridges-worth-thousands-discovered-in-retro-shop-storage-room-never-before-seen-version-of-popular-nes-games-include-five-perfect-10-psa-items#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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