The *other* Ben Smith "score." 56k beware

[rbudrick]

Many of you probaby remember the thread where I showed you pics of some really great items Ben sent me.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68555

For over a month, I've been meaning to post about a 2nd box of goodies he sent me a couple weeks later, but I didn't have the time to get the pics together. Enjoy!

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7448/leatherjacketproformainvoice8d.jpg
The actual proforma invoice from Nintendo for the leather jacket in the previous thread. It's almost like having the instruction book that went with a game, heh heh. LOL

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5077/isurviveddragonwarriorpin3ov.jpg
A special pin that was given to NOA employees during the whole Dragon Warrior craze. It was given to GPCs that made it through DW.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1390/e31996nintendoprivatepartytick1.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2606/e31996nintendoprivatepartytick.jpg
Front and back of a ticket to Nintendo's Private Party at E3 '96. In Ben's words, it is a
ticket/invitation to the Nintendo formal private party that I got when I did the E3 show in LA in 1996 where we first showed the N64. I had bought a suit just for that damned show but then we ran behind setting up our huge display area so I ended up working rather than going to the party. I think they had Cir De Sole perform.

Pretty neat!

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5969/killerinstincthat0ao.jpg
A Killer Instinct Gold baseball cap. Doesn't look like it's ever been used at all.

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/4926/nintendogolftowel0vk.jpg

A Nintendo golf towel. It's in great shape, but this next item wasn't:

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7803/golfglove9ch.jpg

LOL It's a golf glove that was in the velcro pocket at the top of the golf towel, the leather had gotten all died up and crusty.

Ok, and now for the crazy stuff:
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2/superfamciomnoa1nh.jpg
A Super Famicom, but look at the number on the box, #49.

And look at the label on the system:
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/642/superfamicomnoainside21wx.jpg

According to Ben, this was used for Nintendo's ELMO cataloging system. This was system #49 that was registered with NOA's ELMO syste. So obviously, there were others, but here's an inside of the box pic:

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/7875/superfamicomnoainside3ji.jpg

In Addition to the SFC, here's some pics more pics of the games he sent with it. To quote Ben,
"If I remember right, those are preproduction protos. We got some advanced
copies from Japan prior to the SNES being released. The labels were for the checkout system. I think it was for the ELMO Team. After we got our production SNES stuff in we stopped using the Japanese
versions.

Super Mario World. Note the EEPROM. Yes, a first party Nintenod proto! Labeled #29.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5516/supermarioworldnoa1om.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/8741/supermarioworldnoaback1xq.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6796/supermarioworldnoainside6zz.jpg

Pilot WIngs. Has production Label, but EEPROM inside. Also Came with commercial box and instructions. WEIRD! Labelled #8

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2390/pilotwongsnoa21of.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5623/pilotwongsnoainside3pu.jpg

F-Zero. No EEPROM, but it did have the commercial box and tray. Labelled #18.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6238/fzeronoa28bb.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3338/fzeronoa8pk.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2699/fzeronoainside7pv.jpg

I think that was everything. I thought you'd like to see these. I'll try to get the games dumped soon so you can test if they are any different.

-Rob

[badinsults]

Awesome, first party snes prototypes.

[Bluteg]

Awsome finds once again!

[mills]

Amazing stuff, I followed all the threads from the interviews to him coming and posting here for the first time and the stuff he sent you, incredible.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Awesome....

[Sam]

All extreamly cool but I gotaa love that pin the most - thats just class!

[zerohero]

Cool!

Man I hope you put all those in a glass case somewhere heh.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Insanity.
This guy seems like a cool guy. Why is he giving you all this stuff anyways? Just because you want them?

[rbudrick]

Jumpman, he just offered them to me, I didn't ask at all. :-) He wouldn't even accept anmy donation on my part. He was just going to throw a lot of this stuff out, so he figured I might want them. He was sort of in the middle of moving when I met up with hom again after 15 years. :)

In fact, I didn't even know he was sending me any SFC games. He just asked me if I wanted a SFC he had lying around. I didn't even know until I got them that they were ELMO tagged and such. :eek 2:

-Rob

[captain nintendo]

Awesome...

That glove looks familular.....

I remember now , "If the glove dont fit , you must ....." :eek 2:

[rbudrick]

Even in its current condition it's more useful than the Power Glove. The main difference being, of course, it doesn't make as satisfying a crunch when you run your car over it.

I kid. Seriously, I love the Power Glove, it's so...never mind.

-Rob

[TheRedEye]

With all the quotation marks in the subject, I thought this was going to be about Ben Smith's latest sexual conquest.

[rbudrick]

Well, that was to differentiate it from a score in a game, like a high score.

Frank, why are you thinking about Ben Smith Pr0n? LOL

-Rob

[TheRedEye]

You mean you don't? :(

[rbudrick]

No need to be sad, Red. There's plenty of more porn out there. Just ask Butta.

-Rob

[AFGiant]

:hail:

I've been following these threads as well. Incedible story! Excellent stuff!
10/10

[Simply Dave]

Very nice score there! 8-)

[§ Gideon §]

Once again, you've shown that Ben Smith is the coolest person on the planet.

[BMF54123]

HOLY CRAP. A Super Mario World proto! I can honestly say that's one item I never, ever expected to show up. @_@

I just noticed that those labels are identical to the one on my Vice: Project Doom cart (http://www.icehouse.net/flory/vpdcart.jpg) I bought at an ex-Nintendo Power employee's yard sale years ago. Everyone I asked told me it was probably tacked on by a video rental store or something...it's nice to finally know it has a little more significance than that. LOL

I just wish my parents hadn't gotten rid of that custom-made "Nintendo Snow Ball Fight" T-shirt I also bought...

[rbudrick]

So how about some pics of that cart, BMF? :)

Nintendo Snow Ball Fight shirt?

-Rob

[Mattiekrome]

@_@

Wow, I gotta get some friends like that! Definitely a nice haul from apparently a pretty good guy. That invitation is pretty sweet, oh and the protos are just :eek 2:

[alec006]

Aw nice man,thats some good stuff,congrats

[qbertandernie]

ben smith, if youre listening, i dont think rob needs porn starring you...just in case. even if its free.

[rbudrick]

QB&E, WTF? x_x :shameful:

-Rob

[Lothars]

that is awesome :)

thank you for sharing with us

[BMF54123]

So how about some pics of that cart, BMF? :)
There's a link magically hidden within the cart name. I forgot these boards don't underline links... :roll:

Here's the picture anyway:

http://www.icehouse.net/flory/vpdcart.jpg

The label says "V-9G.-015 VICE: PROJECT D". So, apparently, I've owned a small piece of Nintendo's library for years and didn't even know it. Awesome.

About that shirt: I don't really remember much about it, since this was back in middle/early high school, and I didn't have it for very long (!@#$% parents!). I'm pretty sure it was a greenish-blue, and had a picture of Mario, Luigi, and some other character(s) throwing snowballs at each other, with the words "Nintendo Snow Ball Fight" or "Nintendo Power Snow Ball Fight" above them. It was pretty obvious that it wasn't a commercial item, somebody had it specially made for that particular occasion.

There's always a chance my parents didn't actually throw/give it away, and it's buried in a bag of old clothes somewhere. I'll have to ask.

[Jorpho]

Keep this up, and people are going to start stalking other ex-Nintendo GPCs.

I wouldn't throw some of that stuff out if I had earned it, but then if I had played games as long as Mr. Smith, I suppose my priorities might be shifted too.

[rbudrick]

Keep this up, and people are going to start stalking other ex-Nintendo GPCs.

Hopefully, yeah (EDIT:I thought you wrote talking, not stalking, heh heh). I'd love to hear more stories from the inside. Talking to (current or ex) NOA employees is one the best ways to preserve the history of the company, since individuals' experiences basically define history, not just physical items like the ones Ben sent me. The interview and other correspondence with Ben are far, far more valuable than anything he sent me. The late 80s and early 90s really was the golden era for Nintendo, and I would imagine it was for most GPCs too. It would be awesome to know as much as possible about this era, since we were really all spectators to it...it's great to see the points of view from the other side of the fence.

So if anyone runs into any ex NOA employees, strike up some conversation. Write down or record what you can (with their permission, of course).

-Rob

[Predatorxs]

i can't believe i missed this and the other thread you started rbudrick? Very nice finds.. even though it was months and months back LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

Talking to (current or ex) NOA employees is one the best ways to preserve the history of the company, since individuals' experiences basically define history, not just physical items like the ones Ben sent me.
True of all companies.

Also, holy cow! If that SFC ever wants a new home... LOL What a find. Hope he soaked you good for it all!

[Predatorxs]

Keep this up, and people are going to start stalking other ex-Nintendo GPCs.

Hopefully, yeah (EDIT:I thought you wrote talking, not stalking, heh heh). I'd love to hear more stories from the inside. Talking to (current or ex) NOA employees is one the best ways to preserve the history of the company, since individuals' experiences basically define history, not just physical items like the ones Ben sent me. The interview and other correspondence with Ben are far, far more valuable than anything he sent me. The late 80s and early 90s really was the golden era for Nintendo, and I would imagine it was for most GPCs too. It would be awesome to know as much as possible about this era, since we were really all spectators to it...it's great to see the points of view from the other side of the fence.

So if anyone runs into any ex NOA employees, strike up some conversation. Write down or record what you can (with their permission, of course).

-Rob

I forgot to ask you a few quick questions, i'm taking it you've played the SWM proto in either a snes ntsc or a super famicom? has it run on both?

i'm just interested, and is it all in english? any japanese in the game at all?

[rbudrick]

Also, holy cow! If that SFC ever wants a new home... What a find. Hope he soaked you good for it all!

No, he gave it to me to get rid of it...he had no further use for any of it.


I forgot to ask you a few quick questions, i'm taking it you've played the SWM proto in either a snes ntsc or a super famicom? has it run on both?

i'm just interested, and is it all in english? any japanese in the game at all?

I've played it on both, and yes, it runs. It appears to be the US version in a FC case (not sure of any differences with the released version yet, if any), but as you can see from the pic, the standard cart label is not there...just the NOA library barcode.

-Rob

[Ed Oscuro]

Also, holy cow! If that SFC ever wants a new home... What a find. Hope he soaked you good for it all!

No, he gave it to me to get rid of it...he had no further use for any of it.
Well, good score for you. @_@