What's the Deal with 5 Screw Carts?

gavmasterflash

Does anyone know what is up with these cartridges. They have 5 screws in the back and don't have those little.....ummm things on the top of the cart. Are they any more rare or collectable or valuable because of this? I see people advertise their ebay auctions saying it is a 5 screw from time to time, but I always figured they were just trying to milk it to make it seem more rare or valuable. As of right now, I have a Super C 5 screw cart, and 3D world runner 5 screw. Does this really mean anything?

Braveheart69

Well if you have a Super C cart that is truly a 5 screw then that would be worth something because I don't think that truly exists!! Can you post some pics?

gavmasterflash

Yeah I thought it was strange too that I have a Super C five screw cart with the top part being flat. It is the real super c, I played it, and its not in some crazy language or anything, it has the sticker, and I know that the back was not switched because both the front and back portions of the cart are flat on the top. It has the seal of quality on the front sticker, but another oddity is that the back part does not have the sticker with the caution label. So is this some kind of rare prototype of the game or something, I played through the first and part of the second level and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The pics are coming soon, I was able to get the top part with the label and the five screws in a good angle.

NationalGameDepot

no way this game should have a 5 screw. Someone had to swap it. I can't wait to see the pics.

~~NGD

Braveheart69

Either someone swaped it or this is truly a rarity one off item?????

NOFRIENDO-banned

Im 99% sure its a swap job.

Dain

I'll 1-up ya: I'm 100% sure it's not a legit 5 screw cart



The latest found are in 1988 and Super C was released in 1990. Not sure what the deal is, but if I had to guess, either a new label was made or an existing label was placed on the cart.



-Dain

gavmasterflash

I thought it was a swap job at first, but that doesn't make sense. Because both of the top screws are still in, like screwed in, the standard carts wouldn't have a spot for them to be screwed in. And the top part of the cart is flat without those little ridges that are on the top of most carts, and it is flat on both sides, the front and back so it is a real 5 screw. But the pics will be up in moments.

NOFRIENDO-banned

Maybe a pic with a close up of the label aligment might solve this re-label theroy.

gavmasterflash

Okay, here it is, please notice the flatness of the top part of the cart on both sides. I don't know what to make of this, I don't think it is a swap because of the flat top, the fact that it has the original sticker and is the original game. I still don't know what to make of this, could anybody provide an explanation, or an appraisal?

gavmasterflash

Damn, that didn't take, anybody wanna provide tech support? I have never uploaded a pic on this site before

gavmasterflash

NOFRIENDO-banned

All I can see is a red X talk to NGD if hes on he is very helpfull to us noobs.

NationalGameDepot

just email the pic to me and I will upload it. Or sign up for a free account at photobucket.com, upload it there and copy paste the [IMG] code into a reply box.

~~NGD



nationalgamedepot@gmail.com

Braveheart69

Gavmaster... we aren't doubting that you have this. What we are saying is someone put the chip into a 5 screw cart and slapped a Super C label on the cart. That is the only thing that would make sense here unless this was some wierd proto or something and they for some strange reason used a 5 screw cart. But I highly doubt that!

gavmasterflash

Yeah I don't think people would doubt me, but it just seems strange to me, because if somone switched the back, the top portion of the front would not be flat. I am just trying to explain it as best as possible because I think there is another explanation.

gavmasterflash

Well why would somebody take all the time and effort to switch everything around into a new cartridge, especially the sticker. The sticker is on in perfect condition, it looks like it has never been removed.

Hogie1418

I just did it to a Hillsfar. I got the game in the mail but it was damaged during shipping (There was a huge crack in the front of the cartridge but the label wasnt hurt. So I took an Ice hockey, Stripped it of its label, I then applied the hillsfar label that I removed from the broken game. It turned out perfect!!!

Sivak

Originally posted by: gavmasterflash

Well why would somebody take all the time and effort to switch everything around into a new cartridge, especially the sticker. The sticker is on in perfect condition, it looks like it has never been removed.

To create a faux rarity on something that isn't truly rare.

NationalGameDepot

Here is the pic

~~NGD

Battymo

Let the speculation begin!

NOFRIENDO-banned

The label looks a little crooked on the right side of the cart.Not that all stickers are placed perfectly to begin with.

Hogie1418

Is there any way to get a picture of the front as well?

Braveheart69

To me it looks like the label is coming loose on the top... which is where it most likely would come loose first if it were transfered!

Bratwurst

Originally posted by: Braveheart69

To me it looks like the label is coming loose on the top... which is where it most likely would come loose first if it were transfered!

NES labels almost always start coming loose at the top corners, that's just my experience though. There's a bit of tension going on there at the fold and the shortest end tends to give out, usually due to warm weather or dirty conditions like a flea market.

My guess is that it could be a preview/review copy some guy at Konami North America threw together from whatever cart shell was handy, and used an official sticker. Just a guess there.

NOFRIENDO-banned

I will give you $1 shipped for it!!

gavmasterflash

Okay, well the label isn't coming loose, but as I look further, it is a little bit off to the left, that is if you are looking at it from the front of the cartridge. (Would be off to the right if you are looking at the pic.) Is swaping out stickers and chips into new cartridges common, especially if its a cool game like super c, into the shell of a lesser game? Someone else mentioned that it could be an early prototype that someone from Konami had. This may make sense because I am in Chicago, I aquired this game locally (I forget if it was at the flea market or a craigslist purchase because I came across like 2 or 3 copies of super c recently.) But the point is, Konami USA headquarters are located just outside of Chicago in the suburbs, at least when Super C was released. But either way, I'll put it on ebay and milk it for all its worth, and let the market decide the value.

dangevin

Super C wasn't released until 1990. This is YEARS after the last games that had a 5-screw cartridge were released. There's no way this is even a preview copy. It's a swap. I'd be curious to see if the screws have any stripping on them. BTW, if the screws are flathead and not security screws, or a mix of the two, that would be another tipoff as security screws weren't in use this late. It's ridiculous that this would not only have the old cart style AND have flathead screws. Also, the label looks like the final release label, which is one of the last things to be put together for production carts...if this was a preview/demo, it would date the cart at 89 at the earliest, still 2 years after flat-tops went out of production.



Sorry, it's cool but it's fake.



I'd also be curious if there's telltale stripping on the screws from some hamfisted goit wrestling with it.

gavmasterflash

All the screws are flathead with no stripping.