Introduction
A surprising discovery in a small Wisconsin retro shop has produced what experts are calling an undocumented variant of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt for the NES.
The find centers on a box of 97 factory-sealed cartridges recovered from storage at OneStopWonders in Waukesha, owned by Kevin Braun.
The cartridges and manuals carry manufacturing codes that point to late 1993, and the lot has since been authenticated and graded by PSA.
The discovery
The collector who found the box has two decades of buying at garage sales, estate sales, and thrift shops.
While assisting Braun with a broken pinball machine and later helping sell inventory online, the collector heard a story about a shipment of NES titles that had been slated for salvage.
Braun led the collector to a storage unit where a cardboard shipping box labeled NES and bearing a Nintendo of America P.O. Box sat under seasonal decorations.
Inside were 97 individually bagged, factory-new Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridges and matching manuals.
Box details and dates
The box carried multiple stickers, including a Japanese shipping label and a Nintendo of America inventory sticker.
The inventory sticker listed the description as Mario – Hunt Remanufactured NES and showed a quantity of 100 with a shipping date of 12/19/95.
Individual manufacturing codes on the cartridges and manuals include 9340, which corresponds to the 40th week of 1993.
The newly found manuals differ subtly from known examples: where known manuals read maintenance or repairs the discovered manuals read maintenance or service.
These discrepancies suggested a previously undocumented production run.
Authentication and grading
After posting images to a high-end collecting group, the finder was contacted by directors at grading firms who requested additional photos and an inspection of the boards.
One cartridge was opened for internal inspection at their request.
PSA agreed to perform full authentication and grading.
Initial grading reports arrived within days: an initial batch of 12 cartridges included multiple 9.8 grades, several 9.6 grades, and one PSA 10.
Ultimately five cartridges received PSA 10 certification.
Next steps and auction
The finder delivered the collection in person to PSA and later received the graded returns in batches.
Kevin Braun and the collector plan to retain an undecided number, and several cartridges will be offered at auction and charity sales.
The first three graded cartridges, including one PSA 10, are scheduled to be auctioned on August 12 at Goldin Auctions.
Full scans of the instruction manual and detailed photos of each cartridge will be published online for documentation.
Conclusion
This discovery adds a new footnote to NES history and to the collecting community's understanding of late-era Nintendo production.
The precise reason for this production run remains unconfirmed, and the community will look to the released scans and PSA documentation for further study.
A surprising discovery in a small Wisconsin retro shop has produced what experts are calling an undocumented variant of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt for the NES.
The find centers on a box of 97 factory-sealed cartridges recovered from storage at OneStopWonders in Waukesha, owned by Kevin Braun.
The cartridges and manuals carry manufacturing codes that point to late 1993, and the lot has since been authenticated and graded by PSA.
The discovery
The collector who found the box has two decades of buying at garage sales, estate sales, and thrift shops.
While assisting Braun with a broken pinball machine and later helping sell inventory online, the collector heard a story about a shipment of NES titles that had been slated for salvage.
Braun led the collector to a storage unit where a cardboard shipping box labeled NES and bearing a Nintendo of America P.O. Box sat under seasonal decorations.
Inside were 97 individually bagged, factory-new Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridges and matching manuals.
Box details and dates
The box carried multiple stickers, including a Japanese shipping label and a Nintendo of America inventory sticker.
The inventory sticker listed the description as Mario – Hunt Remanufactured NES and showed a quantity of 100 with a shipping date of 12/19/95.
Individual manufacturing codes on the cartridges and manuals include 9340, which corresponds to the 40th week of 1993.
The newly found manuals differ subtly from known examples: where known manuals read maintenance or repairs the discovered manuals read maintenance or service.
These discrepancies suggested a previously undocumented production run.
Authentication and grading
After posting images to a high-end collecting group, the finder was contacted by directors at grading firms who requested additional photos and an inspection of the boards.
One cartridge was opened for internal inspection at their request.
PSA agreed to perform full authentication and grading.
Initial grading reports arrived within days: an initial batch of 12 cartridges included multiple 9.8 grades, several 9.6 grades, and one PSA 10.
Ultimately five cartridges received PSA 10 certification.
Next steps and auction
The finder delivered the collection in person to PSA and later received the graded returns in batches.
Kevin Braun and the collector plan to retain an undecided number, and several cartridges will be offered at auction and charity sales.
The first three graded cartridges, including one PSA 10, are scheduled to be auctioned on August 12 at Goldin Auctions.
Full scans of the instruction manual and detailed photos of each cartridge will be published online for documentation.
Conclusion
This discovery adds a new footnote to NES history and to the collecting community's understanding of late-era Nintendo production.
The precise reason for this production run remains unconfirmed, and the community will look to the released scans and PSA documentation for further study.
