97 Undocumented Super Mario Bros. Cartridges Saved From Scrap Heap

A collection of 97 undocumented, completely unknown variant copies of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt has been discovered in Wisconsin, narrowly escaping a date with a scrap-metal furnace. The cartridges were originally scheduled to be melted down for the scrap value of the gold they contained. It is the kind of close call that makes archivists break out in a cold sweat.

Instead of being reduced to liquid metal, the cartridges were saved when retro gaming collectors and historians intervened. According to those involved, the physical cartridges are worth thousands of dollars in their original, intact form, making the plan to melt them down a bit like burning a rare painting for the warmth of the canvas.

The discovery of an entirely undocumented variant of a game as thoroughly cataloged as Super Mario Bros. is already a rare event. Finding nearly a hundred of them sitting in a Wisconsin retro store, moments away from being destroyed for their raw materials, adds an extra layer of absurdity to the preservation effort.

The details

• Quantity found: 97 cartridges
• Game: Undocumented variant of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt
• Location: A Wisconsin retro store
• Rescue method: Historians and collectors intervened before melting occurred

For physical media, survival is often a matter of pure luck. In this case, 97 pieces of history managed to dodge the refinery because someone paused to look closely at the plastic. The cartridges remain intact, proving that sometimes the packaging is worth far more than the gold inside.