I decided to make it have it's own thread so it wouldn't be hard for people to find later. As Dain said I found this when I visited him about a year ago in NC. I think he wanted to stab me and take it a little bit but he restrained thankfully.

There are actually 3 versions of this game. Pink, Red, and White text.



Here is the white one: white text/end label, white laser out of the zapper


Here is the red one: Red title/end label and has red laser coming out of the zapper


Here is the pink one: I know some of you will be skeptical of the pink saying it is sun fadding, I thought so as well until closer inspection. I compared the Red Bandai logo on the front of all 3 carts and it is the exact same color. So if the pink was fadding that Bandai logo would also have to be fadded casue red seems to fad much worse than other colors do. The pink one also shows up much better in person, the scanner doesn't make it stand out as much. Also, the beam coming out of the laser is pink and not red.



I also have a white end label Dr. Mario as well if anyone wants me to post pics on that one I will as well.
~~NGD

I amazed.....

What else can I say? Jason, you are the shit.

To make matters worse, I've had a saved search on ebay *since* that time (over a year ago) and have yet to see another one

-Dain

Anyone know if similar box variations exist?

Hey NGD if you are the guy who lives in knoxville I am like 45 minutes away from ya. We should go NES hunting sometime. I know where the places are in Chatt but but not Knox.

Hard to say really. As it stands now, we've yet to see one (Jason and I). But, who knows, considering there hasn't been a white label version up for over a year, making it damn tough to find that out.

-Dain

Fair enough. I should go back and check the color of mine.

This is a tough one.... I would say my cart is red. But the box is definetly pink, like you said the red bandai is definetly red while the writing on the box and the laser fire is pink? Here is a scan:

This was a Bandai one that I opened from a sealed copy, but this was a couple years ago, hence the dirty plastic wrap still on it.

Mine's a pinky. I wonder what the distribution across the board is of these different versions. Obviously the white is one out of thousands, but how about pink vs red...

And before anyone starts crying about another label variant, I use a mirror on the scan bed as my capture method to get both front+top at same time. It's a trick I use on ebay when I list stuff. Works well.

I think there is a white box also, but I have never seen it. I know there is a red and a pink box cause I have 2 pink and 1 red one. This was one of those titles I was just about to give up hope on when I found it. I was damn lucky too, Dain actually saw it first and walked away. I walked around the table to see the top label for whatever reason. I had to pay 15 bucks for it I think, but well worth it considering how damn rare this bitch. I think this may be one of the rarest varaints around. I keep a eye out also, and I know Dain has been watching it like a hawk. I looked everyday for nearly 2 years before I found this one, so it is very tuff to find. I think the pink is the most common cart from my experience and then red and last is of course white.

I do live in Knoxville, I would be game to get together sometime. There are lots of places to look for games here in Knox-Vegas.
~~NGD

One other thing, the box code on the different color boxes are the same and I can't find any differences besides the colors.
~~NGD

Since there are no -1's anywhere, it looks to me like they had some sort of problem with the dye in their machine for that particular color/section and, for whatever reason, allowed the print run to continue right to the end, even after the machine was spitting out white ones. The problem with this being a "variant" is that it's probably not cut and dried ie: they are either red or their white. You can probably find labels that run the entire gamut from proper color all the way down to white. That's my theory, anyway, based on the pics above.

I'm going to have to agree with Dr. Morbis about this. Take a look at mine for example, the top part is from my scanner, the bottom is from my camera. To the naked eye, the text is barely discernible from the yellow background.

It would certainly explain why I haven't seen another one in a year and makes sense. I'd still like to find one though!

-Dain

Even if that is the cause, that still makes this a legit variant in my eyes. Whether it was intended or not, it is still different. Nintendo didn't probably think anyone would collecto 3 vs 5 screws or even notice the difference, but us freaks have...
~~NGD

Of course! I don't know why I didn't think about this before. Happened on vintage comic books a lot too. Hulk 181 (1st wolverine) is one that some people may be familiar with. Most issues are a medium red, but some (the ones at the beginning) are a dark blood red while the ones at the end are more like pumpkin orange. Good call Morbis. If that's the case, Jason, I wouldn't call it a variant personally because there's going to be a whole range of color strikes, so where do you draw the line. More of an accidental production error than a deliberate variant.

Problem is with the Bandai logo. This was the first thing that occurred to me was the dye running low but the other reds and in fact ALL other colors on the cart are pure along other carts with varying shades. And if we're talking about production problems, is Cap'n Comic upside-down a legit variant?

That is true Dan. If it was like you all are suggesting then the the Bandai logo would have it also, but it doesn't. Plus with 2 box variants that seems to make it more legit in my eyes. Thoughts?
~~NGD

The Bandai logo is a different color from the sections we're talking about. Sure you can say one is "red" and the other is also "red", but that's just a flaw with our semantics. There are more than just the seven colors of the rainbow. Those two reds don't even look close (to me) in the most ruddy box pic posted above.

As mentioned above, where do you draw the line in terms of which ones are variants and which aren't? Do you have just three (red, pink-ish, white) or do you have 5? 10? I mean, after the red ink started running low, no two would technically be alike. You're gonna have to whip out your thesaurus to come up with names for all the variants you could possibly have.

I do envy you for having an all-white one though, NGD.

BTW, I don't consider Captain Comic a variant myself, just a printing error. However, even if you do, you can't really compare that incident to this for one simple reason: all CC upside down labels are the same. There are only two runs (not considering case color) an upside down error run and a proper run. Every cart will fall into one of the two categories.

(sorry for the double post)

You're just saying that because I snagged that upside down one and you didn't

Yes but a 4-color offset printer only uses...well 4. Black, cyan, magenta and yellow. If you're low on magenta, everything that uses it looks wrong. Sometimes, rarely, a printer will use a separate "touchplate" to add a special color - an enhanced yellow, or a gold or silver...something that can't normally be simulated with pigment mixing. This could be the case that the true intended color was a hot neon pink, and it's a strong enough color that a touchplate may have been used--but it costs quite a bit extra, and to have so many defects (i.e. too strong a red) seems ludicrous. IF this is the case, more likely Bandai opted for the service, reviewed the first wave, asked to adjust the color to a lighter pink, and all subsequent ones were the "correct" color. Poor QC (colorblind kids on the line!!!) could account for progressively lighter boxes.

But taking a step back...I can understand Nintendo footing the bill for their big Xmas releases like Rad Racer and Kid Icarus to get a silver touchplate. But Bandai doing it for Shooting Range? I guess they could have considered it an advertising expense, to have the only hot pink title on the shelf with the others. Also they may have been concerned that it was a gender-neutral game, but the fact that it included a gun peripheral would immediate turn girls off, so they'd attract in this manner.

Sorry I always tend towards the marketing explanation for things Good convo. everyone.

Not just the bandai logo either... if you look at the background behind the gun on the label, the walking figure is in a red suit and has a red and white pinwheel above his head.

Those reds aren't affected either. So if these white copies are as a result of dye running low, the red in the logo and emanating from the gun had to be part of a separate color strike (I assume that's what dangevin means by touchplate).

So you're right that there are some problems with the theory... although personally I think its the most likely explanation. Its hard to know for sure, but I bet if we looked hard enough we'd see different levels of pinkness on certain carts.

Note also that the unaffected reds on the white labels are all flat patches of color whereas the logo is in a gradient scale. Maybe the gradient scale is why they needed a separate plate and why the colors ran dry there only? Although if that's the case why would they need to make the beam emanating from the gun part of the same plate, unless they wanted it to look especially RAD, this was the 80s after all..

So accepting that this is a more likely explanation, this would fall into the category of an error, rather than a variant. Albeit a scarce one, on the level of a (real) upside-down licensed cart label, but just an error. I think I agree with the good Doctor that factory errors, even widely accepted collectible ones, are incredibly fun to catalogue and collect...and potentially very valuable...but simply aren't variants in the traditional sense.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Anyway, it definitely needs to be noted on this site; it's just a matter of whether or not it goes in as an official "variant" or into some other category. Personally, I don't consider it a variant in the "needed for a complete set" sense, but, in the final analysis, the decision of whether or not to "count" it is going to be up to each individual collector, just like with everything else.