All signs pointed to something good about this. The label looks right, and the owner's location (Seattle WA!) is perfect. Here's what it looks like in my home:
Doesn't look like any funny business, no removed stickum or dirty residue, no scars in the cart plastic where someone used a tool to scrape it off, and the label looks ... well, 15 years old. BUT....
It's the regular production release. The ROMs inside were from the first full-production batch released in October/November 1994, and the back label is standard to the game with the same emboss. There are no marking other than the front to indicate that this is special in any way.
BUT it just seems too perfect. The seller swears up and down that his story's legit, and that he knew an employee. I know a lot of people live in Seattle though...
One more thing got me though, the label itself:
It's dot matrix printer. With really old grease stains and yellowing on the label where the stickum/acid/finger oils has slowly ruined the color over a very long time.
I suppose this brand-new eBay seller with other overpriced common garbage games for sale COULD have a working dot-matrix printer, and some really old address labels from his dad or something, and might have been thorough and meticulous about removing the possibly-damaged sticker and putting this new one one.
But wouldn't he have listed this as an NR auction? Or tried to get a bit more out of it?
So my question is - has anyone seen something like this before? Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't snag my first proto for my collection, but this would still be cool if I can confirm it.
I have seen "Prototypes" in the past that had production roms. I would assume that this is a review copy that was distributed near the release.
In some extremely rare cases, prototypes have been found with masked roms that contained differences from the released copy. I know of at least a Crystalis prototype that falls into this category.
I think you got a good pick-up, and I most certainly would have bought it had I seen it. Very cool.
^If it were a review copy, it would have Nintendo markings on it like the "Return or die, property of your almighty god." This must have been something in-house, which is why I kind of believe his debugging (or as he puts it, de buging) story. Which by the way, if he was trying to scam some money off a game, why Wario's Woods (which is worth money on its own), and why spell it phoenetically like someone told him. That's what really sold me, the fact that he sounds like an idiot. He spelled it the same way in our emails, BTW.
My best guess is this is a "final proof" before they started burning up labels in full production. Although it might be interesting to get this dumped and compared, I think it would be worthless since the codes on both chips exactly match those on my copy, as well as both of Bootgod's copies in his DB.
I have something somewhat similar that happened to me. I had a copy of Gargoyle's Quest 2 that had an oddball label...no sticker residue on front or back, no security screws...but when I opened it (as far as I'm aware by looking at it) it's a regular production board.
The comments share the story, but I'll copy-pasta them for you all who hate Youtube.
------------
I picked this up yesterday 3/6/2010 from a gentleman in NJ near Six Flags for $275. It's in nearly perfect condition with only minor scuffing on the outer case. It will soon be the centerpiece of my game room when it's installed above my gaming TV, close to the ceiling. He originally bought it from Seattle with plans to use it in his basement pinball arcade, but could never find a proper way to mount it safely so it sat in his garage for two years. More have hit the market since Kay Bee Toys closed their doors in 2009, but they still remain one of the rarest -- and largest -- vintage lit Nintendo signs available.
The insides (briefly shown) are ingenious: a color wheel is the "program" for the fiber optic bundle, lit by a high-output projection quality halogen bulb (the same kind found in DLP projectors). Each fiber is placed individually, in sequence, around the sign from the inside out to comprise the stunning light show.
All signs pointed to something good about this. The label looks right, and the owner's location (Seattle WA!) is perfect. Here's what it looks like in my home:
Doesn't look like any funny business, no removed stickum or dirty residue, no scars in the cart plastic where someone used a tool to scrape it off, and the label looks ... well, 15 years old. BUT....
It's the regular production release. The ROMs inside were from the first full-production batch released in October/November 1994, and the back label is standard to the game with the same emboss. There are no marking other than the front to indicate that this is special in any way.
BUT it just seems too perfect. The seller swears up and down that his story's legit, and that he knew an employee. I know a lot of people live in Seattle though...
One more thing got me though, the label itself:
It's dot matrix printer. With really old grease stains and yellowing on the label where the stickum/acid/finger oils has slowly ruined the color over a very long time.
I suppose this brand-new eBay seller with other overpriced common garbage games for sale COULD have a working dot-matrix printer, and some really old address labels from his dad or something, and might have been thorough and meticulous about removing the possibly-damaged sticker and putting this new one one.
But wouldn't he have listed this as an NR auction? Or tried to get a bit more out of it?
So my question is - has anyone seen something like this before? Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't snag my first proto for my collection, but this would still be cool if I can confirm it.
This copy is directly from NOA. AnotherFluke from DP had like 10 or so of these back in the day. He used to work at NOA and bought them at the Nintendo garage sale.
^ Wow Josh that's great to know. Do you have a link to where it's mentioned? I'm glad I held onto it.
Thanks for the grats on my sign as well. Deniz -- the guy I bought it from and I chatted a bit about it when I picked it up, he's been watching the market looking for the right time to sell it, and saw multiples pop up last year. I do remember seeing at least three in the brief searching I'd done, and we figured it had something to do with them being found in back rooms at various Kay Bees as they were cleaning out and closing.
Of course we're not sure what was required of these signs after NOA sent Kay Bee the order to yank them from the sales floor. Probably not a return since they're so big, so they were likely ordered destroyed. Of course this meant staff members were given a crack at it on promise not to resell while employed (so as to not get anyone in trouble). That's the usual deal with displays now, anyway. I'm sure some managers just shoved it in the back and forgot about it, though.
^ Wow Josh that's great to know. Do you have a link to where it's mentioned? I'm glad I held onto it.
No link sorry... maybe somewhere on DP, I can't remember.
Nathan (anotherfluke) had a get together at his house in Seattle , oh say in 2005. I went for a bit and noticed 4 or 5 of these and asked him personally what they were. I could have bought one, kind of wish I did now. Glad to see you have it, and I'm sorry i missed this post originally. There are a few more of them out there, but who knows who ended up getting them?
EDIT: I am 100% certain the person who sold this to you bought it from him and is/was telling you the truth. Hold on to that gem for sure amigo.
I've really outdone myself with this one. 2:30am, nothing better to do than hit the magical "new item search" link and this falls into my lap. Buyer couldn't have been nicer, packaged really well.
The Bubble Bobble CIB is 100% pristine, it was likely sealed until recently too but looks like it was never opened and played. So nice it would qualify for "certified VGA grading" IMO.
Edit: The BIN was $36 with $4 shipping You can kind of tell, but the other three sealed games are Taboo, Marble Madness and Q*Bert.
Instead of "I think I've actually outdone myself" for the title, you should put "I think I've actually soiled myself", because I know that's what I would do if that showed up on my doorstep. Sorry, I just had to come back in and look at it some more.
Comments
All signs pointed to something good about this. The label looks right, and the owner's location (Seattle WA!) is perfect. Here's what it looks like in my home:
Doesn't look like any funny business, no removed stickum or dirty residue, no scars in the cart plastic where someone used a tool to scrape it off, and the label looks ... well, 15 years old. BUT....
It's the regular production release. The ROMs inside were from the first full-production batch released in October/November 1994, and the back label is standard to the game with the same emboss. There are no marking other than the front to indicate that this is special in any way.
BUT it just seems too perfect. The seller swears up and down that his story's legit, and that he knew an employee. I know a lot of people live in Seattle though...
One more thing got me though, the label itself:
It's dot matrix printer. With really old grease stains and yellowing on the label where the stickum/acid/finger oils has slowly ruined the color over a very long time.
I suppose this brand-new eBay seller with other overpriced common garbage games for sale COULD have a working dot-matrix printer, and some really old address labels from his dad or something, and might have been thorough and meticulous about removing the possibly-damaged sticker and putting this new one one.
But wouldn't he have listed this as an NR auction? Or tried to get a bit more out of it?
So my question is - has anyone seen something like this before? Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't snag my first proto for my collection, but this would still be cool if I can confirm it.
In some extremely rare cases, prototypes have been found with masked roms that contained differences from the released copy. I know of at least a Crystalis prototype that falls into this category.
I think you got a good pick-up, and I most certainly would have bought it had I seen it. Very cool.
My best guess is this is a "final proof" before they started burning up labels in full production. Although it might be interesting to get this dumped and compared, I think it would be worthless since the codes on both chips exactly match those on my copy, as well as both of Bootgod's copies in his DB.
I have something somewhat similar that happened to me. I had a copy of Gargoyle's Quest 2 that had an oddball label...no sticker residue on front or back, no security screws...but when I opened it (as far as I'm aware by looking at it) it's a regular production board.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250570009218&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
The comments share the story, but I'll copy-pasta them for you all who hate Youtube.
------------
I picked this up yesterday 3/6/2010 from a gentleman in NJ near Six Flags for $275. It's in nearly perfect condition with only minor scuffing on the outer case. It will soon be the centerpiece of my game room when it's installed above my gaming TV, close to the ceiling. He originally bought it from Seattle with plans to use it in his basement pinball arcade, but could never find a proper way to mount it safely so it sat in his garage for two years. More have hit the market since Kay Bee Toys closed their doors in 2009, but they still remain one of the rarest -- and largest -- vintage lit Nintendo signs available.
The insides (briefly shown) are ingenious: a color wheel is the "program" for the fiber optic bundle, lit by a high-output projection quality halogen bulb (the same kind found in DLP projectors). Each fiber is placed individually, in sequence, around the sign from the inside out to comprise the stunning light show.
Great find!
I wasn't aware of more surfacing since then, do you know if it really was because of Kaybee closing? Were any other NOS Nintendo stuff found after?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=...
All signs pointed to something good about this. The label looks right, and the owner's location (Seattle WA!) is perfect. Here's what it looks like in my home:
Doesn't look like any funny business, no removed stickum or dirty residue, no scars in the cart plastic where someone used a tool to scrape it off, and the label looks ... well, 15 years old. BUT....
It's the regular production release. The ROMs inside were from the first full-production batch released in October/November 1994, and the back label is standard to the game with the same emboss. There are no marking other than the front to indicate that this is special in any way.
BUT it just seems too perfect. The seller swears up and down that his story's legit, and that he knew an employee. I know a lot of people live in Seattle though...
One more thing got me though, the label itself:
It's dot matrix printer. With really old grease stains and yellowing on the label where the stickum/acid/finger oils has slowly ruined the color over a very long time.
I suppose this brand-new eBay seller with other overpriced common garbage games for sale COULD have a working dot-matrix printer, and some really old address labels from his dad or something, and might have been thorough and meticulous about removing the possibly-damaged sticker and putting this new one one.
But wouldn't he have listed this as an NR auction? Or tried to get a bit more out of it?
So my question is - has anyone seen something like this before? Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't snag my first proto for my collection, but this would still be cool if I can confirm it.
This copy is directly from NOA. AnotherFluke from DP had like 10 or so of these back in the day. He used to work at NOA and bought them at the Nintendo garage sale.
Thanks for the grats on my sign as well. Deniz -- the guy I bought it from and I chatted a bit about it when I picked it up, he's been watching the market looking for the right time to sell it, and saw multiples pop up last year. I do remember seeing at least three in the brief searching I'd done, and we figured it had something to do with them being found in back rooms at various Kay Bees as they were cleaning out and closing.
Of course we're not sure what was required of these signs after NOA sent Kay Bee the order to yank them from the sales floor. Probably not a return since they're so big, so they were likely ordered destroyed. Of course this meant staff members were given a crack at it on promise not to resell while employed (so as to not get anyone in trouble). That's the usual deal with displays now, anyway. I'm sure some managers just shoved it in the back and forgot about it, though.
^ Wow Josh that's great to know. Do you have a link to where it's mentioned? I'm glad I held onto it.
No link sorry... maybe somewhere on DP, I can't remember.
Nathan (anotherfluke) had a get together at his house in Seattle , oh say in 2005. I went for a bit and noticed 4 or 5 of these and asked him personally what they were. I could have bought one, kind of wish I did now. Glad to see you have it, and I'm sorry i missed this post originally. There are a few more of them out there, but who knows who ended up getting them?
EDIT: I am 100% certain the person who sold this to you bought it from him and is/was telling you the truth. Hold on to that gem for sure amigo.
The Bubble Bobble CIB is 100% pristine, it was likely sealed until recently too but looks like it was never opened and played. So nice it would qualify for "certified VGA grading" IMO.
Edit: The BIN was $36 with $4 shipping