118th and 119th NWC carts discovered

[rbudrick]

Hey folks,

A lot of you read my threads on former Nintendo Game Play Counsellor Ben Smith, where a 117th cart was revealed. I was meaning to post this sooner (after some scans), but in light of the recent "Vancouver" NWC cart auction, I figured I'd post now and put up pics later tonight...at least if I make the thread first it'll force me to get off my lazy ass tonight and actually post the pics,

So, here's the story. I got in touch with an anonymous collector. He truly doesn't want anyone to know who he is, but I can assure you he was not a finalist and he is the original owner of the cart (which he got around 1990). He was willing to sell me his cart, and I am happy to say it is in MINT condition (no peeling label or actiplaque going on).

Some of you may not know this, but the technicians at the NWC (no, he was not one of the technicians, nor am I even saying he worked at the NWC) carried around a red box full of NWC carts, which they would swap out of the systems as they set up each "kiosk," for lack of a better word. This is info I gathered from Ben Smith in further speaking with him. Each cart in the box was placed in a bag identical to the bags commercial NES games came in when you opened the box. I was psyched to find out I have the original bag on mine, not that it is provable....it's very cool, but unprovable, unfortunately. Yay! I own the 118th cart. Mmmm, history, droooll... lol!

Now, Ben Smith emailed again recently and he was quite happy to inform me he found another NWC cart (he is not selling...at least not currently) in a box of things he was rummaging through during a recent move. He thought he had a 2nd cart, but he wasn't quite sure. He actually almost threw the box of junk out! Luckily, he did not, and history is preserved.

I'll post pics of my cart tonight and I'm waiting on Ben for a pic of his...he's just gotta get his scanner up and running, and he's been super-busy lately.

In light of my recent discoveries, I would imagine (and hope) that NWC carts would go DOWN in price...but we'll wait and see how that "Vancouver" auction goes (they reek of bull, those damn bidders...but we'll see). Or, I suppose it could have the opposite effect and start a bidding frenzies everywhere.

I'm seriously wondering if that Vancouver cart is the 120th cart, being so close to Redmond (2.5 hour drive or so), but who knows. He found it in a shop for next to nothing, lucky dog.

I'll have another very cool Ben Smith thread soon (gotta get a bunch of pics together). :-)

Here's to finding hundreds more NWC carts!

-Rob

[anagrama]

So, with at least 119 known to exist (and probably more still unknown), can we expect to see this marked down to an R9 anytime soon?

[rbudrick]

Well....with only 3 confirmed extras discovered, I bet it's hard to say at this point. Hmmm...DP's call, I guess.

I'll keep researching if you guys can keep throwing me leads. Hopefully more will turn up. Oh, and send me any pics of NWC carts you folks may have for archiving (or any NWC-related info). NWC owners, care to volunteer me pics of your carts and your stories behind them? I would very, very much appreciate it, as it would be incredibly useful to collectors to have an archive of these and who owns them...it would also protect your investment by preventing future fraud...that is, future faked NWC carts, as unlikely as that may seem. I have a lot of info on the NWC now, and it has become a full-fledged side-hobby to collecting...researching the NWC, that is. Anything you can throw my way would be awesome. I'd like to help preserve the history of the event before it is gone or forgotten. Hell, maybe if I get enough info I can do a book someday on the event.

-Rob

[BrokenFlight]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's an NWC cartridge?

[anagrama]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's an NWC cartridge?

Do a search.

[K3V]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's an NWC cartridge?

Do a search.

You could have just said "Nintendo World Championship."

It's the same number of words, just a few more letters. Not too hard.

[snes_collector]

I'm confused, does the cart say on it what number you have?

[poloplayr]

yes, in a southern accent.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Forgive my ignorance, but what's an NWC cartridge?

Do a search.

You could have just said "Nintendo World Championship."

It's the same number of words, just a few more letters. Not too hard.

Ease up. (Not the second guy).
It was a cartidge used to play a contest that Nintendo held called "Nintendo World Championships." They were never sold publicly but, after the competition finished, Nintendo gave out the carts to lucky Nintendo Power contest winners. Some are in a gold cart (I think only given out to contest winners) and some are in a grey cart; which I think they used for the contest.
I think thats right.

I'm confused, does the cart say on it what number you have?

I don't think it does. I beleive the grey ones do, but the gold ones don't. The gold ones have a tiny label about an inch in area (from what I can see from pictures) that says "NWC."

correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.

Also, I can't imagine owning a copy of this. Amazing find you got. Owning a game is one thing, but this is a piece of history. How much did you pay for it?

[portnoyd]

I found a guy a loooong time ago, who had worked as an engineer on the NWC show, and he took a grey home with him. Believe me, I tried to get it, but he lost it on one of the 3 times he had moved since the show and then. Dunno if you want to confirm #120 off that info.

And wouldn't there be at least 330 of them in existence? Or is this ones that could possibly be in non-NOA hands?

dave

[Zing]

I'm not quite sure how 3 recently discovered carts that will most likely never leave the current owner's hands will lower the value of other publicly available carts.

[rbudrick]

Ok here's my cart. :-) I had to thumbnail this one because it's huge when you see the full size...too big for the forums, as it messes up the screen and hogs DP's bandwidth.



For reference, here is a pic of a gold cart (random one). I reckon these will solely be indentifiable via tiny noticeable markings on them, which I one day intend to make careful note of, once i get enough pics. I know one dude owns a few of them There is a thread somewhere with him posting....I should try to track him down.

As for them leaving the collector's hands, I know mine won't but the various auctions I've seen over the years are proof enough that they do indeed leave collectors' hands often enough.

Oh, and the 330 proves nothing, really. There is no direct proof that these numbers are not random or that they indiicate a sequence of any kind....yet. I am tryiing to gather evidence to prove it one way or the other. Until then, the numbers are merely unique identifiers (only because I haven't seen a number repeated, lol, but even that's an assumption). I believe I once saw a cart with a 0895 on it once, but I could be quite wrong.

Portnoyd, if you have this guy's contact info, or any additional info that I may be able to use to find him, I'll get you really drunk should we happen to be around beer at the same time someday. Free drinks for Portnoyd!!

-Rob

[Dr. Morbis]

I believe I once saw a cart with a 0895 on it once, but I could be quite wrong.

I remember that discussion, but I'm pretty sure it was 0095.

Anyway, I think it's more important to catalogue known surviving NWC carts. To say the "119th has been found" makes it sound like there are 118 others already accounted for in collectors hands, which I'm sure is not the case. It would be nice if there was an ownership list similar to the cubicolor list that was in th earlier DP guides.

The numbers on the gray carts tells us how many were manufactured. It looks like there were 300+ made, if they started at 0001. Has anyone seen one below 0009, or one in the high 300's?

[Leo_A]

I never understood the fascination so many members of DP have with this game.

I don't see it at other classic gaming forums, including those with lots of NES fans.

[rbudrick]

Well, they are pieces of history, Leo. If we aren't to preserve it, then who?

Sure, the other 116 are not accounted for, but we know now at least 119 were made. That is just as important...it's just another piece of "The Great NWC Cart Mystery," as I like to call it.

-Rob

[anagrama]

I'm not quite sure how 3 recently discovered carts that will most likely never leave the current owner's hands will lower the value of other publicly available carts.

No-one is suggesting it will. However, rarity and value are two seperate things, and the DP database FAQ states:

R10 Not only is this the centerpiece of a collection, but a ten also means you could be holding a one-of-a-kind (certainly no more than a dozen or so) there- kind of like owning a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle , or Issue #1 of DC's Action Comics.

119 is certainly more than a dozen. Therefore, the NWC should not be R10.

[portnoyd]

Portnoyd, if you have this guy's contact info, or any additional info that I may be able to use to find him, I'll get you really drunk should we happen to be around beer at the same time someday. Free drinks for Portnoyd!!

*dusts off his copy of Eudora*

Well, shit, apparently, last year, the 11 and under winner for Phoenix emailed me saying he likes my site. He said he got a small cup-shaped trophy and a plaQue (har har), both of which he couldn't find at the time. He sent me a cart scan, which was #166.

Here's the engineer email:

From: That Guy
To: 'Dave Warmington' <schwillz@sexmagnet.com>
Subject: RE: About the NWC you worked on...
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 07:15:00 -0700

Sorry it took so long to reply.

I HAD on of the competition cartridges but I've moved 4 time in the last 6 years and only God know where it might be.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Warmington [mailto:schwillz@sexmagnet.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 4:59 AM
To: That Guy
Subject: About the NWC you worked on...

Hey,

You wouldn't happen to have one of the carts that was used in the competition? Just curious... figured it be worth a shot to ask..

[anagrama]

He said he got a small cup-shaped trophy and a plague

Jesus! You'd have thought they would treat the winners a bit better than that!

[portnoyd]

And oh yeah, it's still an R10, because they were never sold. That sets it apart from a R9. And I don't buy the random numbering at all, we'll agree to disagree, but I stand by that there are 330 carts, at least.

[Speedy_NES]

And oh yeah, it's still an R10, because they were never sold. That sets it apart from a R9. And I don't buy the random numbering at all, we'll agree to disagree, but I stand by that there are 330 carts, at least.

343:

http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/...027-S-04590-A&



-Speedy