Overview
- The cartridges were found in long‑stored inventory that OneStopWonders owner Kevin Braun purchased years earlier and were identified this month as 97 individually wrapped Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt NES units.
- Examination showed multiple physical differences from known runs — different screws, back labels, instruction manuals and motherboards — and a production code dated 1993, which postdates the last documented printings.
- Professional Sports Authenticator examined and confirmed the carts as genuine, grading five as PSA 10 and assigning many 9.8 and 9.6 scores with one at 9.4, marking unusually high condition results for NES cartridges.
- Braun and Nintendo Wire editor Jason Ganos plan to keep some examples, list a small number for sale at Goldin Auctions in mid‑August, and reserve others for future and charity auctions.
- The cartridges could fetch high prices given recent market records and collector demand, but the origin story — including an unverified account that Nintendo sent units to a metal‑recovery service — remains unresolved and debated by preservationists.