A retro video-game store in Waukesha, Wisconsin, discovered 97 [1] copies of a previously unknown variant of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.
The find is significant for collectors because the cartridges originate from a production run that occurred after the original bundle was officially discontinued.
Nintendo discontinued the original Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt bundle in 1991 [3]. However, these specific cartridges were manufactured in 1993 [3], making them ultra-rare items from a production cycle that was previously unknown to the public.
The discovery occurred at a facility in Waukesha, described as either a retro store or a warehouse [1, 2]. Among the 97 [1] discovered copies, five have been graded as perfect 10s by PSA [4].
An auction for the collection begins Friday, Aug. 12, 2026 [5], and is scheduled to run through September 2026 [6]. The items are expected to draw significant interest from the retro gaming community due to their rarity and the unexpected nature of their manufacture date.
Because the 1993 [3] run happened two years after the 1991 [3] discontinuation, these cartridges represent a gap in the known history of Nintendo's early hardware distribution. The high number of professional grades for some of the copies suggests they were stored in a controlled environment for decades before being found in the Wisconsin facility.
“97 copies of a previously unknown variant of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.”
This discovery challenges the established timeline of NES software production and provides a rare influx of high-grade assets into the collectors' market. The existence of a 1993 production run suggests that Nintendo may have produced small, undocumented batches of legacy titles long after their official retail lifespan ended.
