Hell, at least with those ripped lables, you know it's bound to be legit (ie not have a bunch of wires bunched up and an EPROM inside)! BTW, your argument is moot since Shantea and Earthbound are both available on Virtual Console as of summer 2013. Plus, there's plenty of retro games to enjoy for around $5-$10 bucks or so.

I know I argued that downloading ROMs is illegal; that doesn't mean i don't brake the law from time to time. I also have a few repros of unreleased, translation, hacks, bootleg multicarts, etc, and I do occasionally use flash carts to play "unobtainable" games.

Can people just accept the fact that I prefer to game on actual carts if/when I have the option and my space/budget allows it?

Carts are a special part of history meant to be enjoyed but also preserved. I once lovingly restored a roach feces covered Panic Restaurant that I picked up at game-X-Change for $5. See here:
http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...hreadid=100979

The game required a donor PCB to work in the end so I sacrificed a Home Alone 2. Was happy to get it working in the end and it's a great charming game. Eventually I sold it along with a Bucky-O-Hare for $230. Had I not picked up this dirty cart despite being only $5, it would have likely ended up in a landfill. Instead it went to a good home in Canada.