If it looks as good as the original, and no one then tell, then whats the difference?  I know I wouldn't care.

In that case I will sell you a gold one for the amazingly low price of just $4k!  I also have the signature of every president and every athlete ever, just name your price.    If you don't care if its original, you likely aren't the target market and wouldn't pay for the real thing anyways.

Well 8bitking, this is what you have to be able to fake:

I've already seen a perfect replica, OCDsteeldor made a perfect copy of a grey and gold cart, they both look so good, that I couldnt tell they were fake, but he did label the gray one 666 so no one would pass it off as real

SNES-VB-N64 software libraries complete 

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/...

SNES-VB-N64 software libraries complete 

A perfect replica would be one that you can't tell when you have it in person. A couple seconds looking at the pin connector for his, a minute to open it up, or a few minutes to play with the dip switches would all show its fake. If you are trying to fool someone who doesn't have physical access then a stolen pict is just as good.

sure, sure I agree, I just meant from the photo's, and outside appearance, and what not

SNES-VB-N64 software libraries complete 

Hello Rob,

I looked at my cart yesterday. It's number 0346, which is higher than the previous highest number you mentioned. Here's a photo I just took:



And before anyone asks, no, I'm not the slightest bit interested in selling it. I suggest you contact my heirs once I die.

I have a ton of other memorabilia from the event, including pretty much every piece of paper they sent to finalists and champions, newspaper articles, prize notifications, the Rogers and Cowan press kit, a thick photo album, and even a copy of the official B reel footage from the event.

      -Bob Whiteman

Welcome to the forum Champion.

hey, i just wanted to share a little information on the NWC.  not sure if this matters or not.

i went to 3 regionals, portland, oakland and tampa bay. then of course hollywood.

the person who said  there were 90 machines to practice on in hollywood, im not sure if it was 90, it might have been 30 with a rotating deal (i have pics at home i can check later). 

as far as 300 copies or whatever, i highly doubt it.

i talked to some tipsy NWC crew one night (in 1990). they said that a MAJOR crew member was fired because it was found that he had stolen a copy to give to his girlfriend (for her son).  The games and keeping them out of peoples hands was taken very seriously. 

also, sometimes you would see a machine or two (out of the 90 or 100 for quarter-finalist qualification, plus the 7 on stage, not hundreds) that was out of order for an entire day.  this leads me to believe that there weren't lots extra ready to repair "faulty carts".  especially in a place like oakland where you sometimes had to wait for 3 waves of people before you got to pay your 3 bucks.  youd think theyd pop in a new one if they had them on stand by.

anyways.... cant prove anything, but thats my opinion

Maybe they only had a hundred per city, but how many CITIES were there? I'm sure they had 2 or 3 sets of 100 to make it easier to get the carts cross-country. Just my two cents.

there were 29 cities (they did LA in back to back weeks)
there was only 1 tour.  it was like 20 trailer trucks or something.  terry lee was the announcer.  there is an itinerary of week by week where the tour was in every given week. (with a hiatus in between)
i can try to find that itinerary if youd like.

so 90 or 100 machines (plus the 7 on stage) and that was it.  plus maybe 1 in the control room for the crew to screw around with.  im positive of those numbers. (positive of the 90 + 7 + maybe 1) not sure about if they had extras)

Any chance of finding the names of anyone who worked behind the scenes at the NWC? Might be able to chase one down and send out an email...longshot at best, but you never know.

lisa hartman.  if you contact her tell her robin mihara says hi please.

Lisa Hartman the actress? If not, that won't help much...there's a Lisa Hartman-Black on Knots Landing, so it's gonna be one hell of a goose chase.

uh. i dont think this was her.  youll see a pic of lisa in my article in dec.

I'll probably lose interest by then. Ah well

how many greys are known to exisit right now?

Officially, the number is 116, with 90 being grey and 26 being gold. However, it has been confirmed that a few former employees had gotten some as well. There is no official number, but there could be a couple hundred potentially. There is no way to know for sure as some had probably been tossed in the landfill a long time ago.

Just a quick reply to an ancient thread. At least 6 are confirmed to exist in non-finalists' hands (staff members). Two were owned by Ben Smith, another by a friend of his (another staffer) who wished to remain anonymous (I own this one, #273), one was owned by the nephew of the VP of Mega, Inc., the event organizer company, and I think one was found by (iirc) jollerancher. The 345 cart on ebay now is another. Also, 3 additional carts were owned by one staffer, who gave them to some family members. They are all believed lost, possibly in a fire, or at least one or two were, maybe all...I don't remember. I'd have to check my notes.

OK, notes checked...one was lost in a fire, two given to nephews, but those two are long lost to goodwill or yardsales or some other unknows of the like.

So yeah, that's 9 that were outside the original 116. This source mentioned to me that he *believes* the carts were sequential. He said, according to my notes:

"Damaged NWC carts often sent back to NOA, who were stingy in giving them out to
the NWC staff who needed them. Eventually, they demanded a supply of them, enough
to keep on hand for failures. NOA finally loosened up and did so. This was taken
advantage of by many staff who wanted copies of the carts for themselves to keep, and
more carts were ordered just for this!, unbeknownst to NOA!!. MANY staff
members kept copies of the carts. He estimated there are around 300, but not
really sure. Told him about #343 is highest known [now 346]. He also said they are likely sequential."

To be fair, Ben Smith and probably his friend too, and possibly others, needed these carts to practice in their hotel rooms at night.  When the event started, Ben bombed in a demo in front of many people and  requested, rightfully so, carts to practice on to prevent this from happening again.  NOA never asked for the carts back, so he owned these legitimately, unlike some other staffers.  Of course, the best players developed strategies far beyond what the the staffers could do, so the demos were probably nolonger needed.

-Rob

1st of all there were at least 107 in the contest not 90. 100 machines on the floor and 7 on stage (many times i heard about another that the staff got to mess around with). secondly, how on earth do you break a NES game? they arent delicate or anything. you mean to tell me that more than 200 were either "broken" or the staff got them? how many staff members were there? 25?
also rob, not sure if you read my info on a different thread, but when i was in oakland someone had just gotten fired for taking a cart and giving it to his GF's son (i wont mention his name, but lets just say after that terry lee torak was solo). it was serious business.

I remember you telling me about the umm, person who was booted for taking a cart. Wasn't TLT in the finals emceeing? Maybe my memory is just bad. ANyone know which tour date he was booted? I remember there were other emcees (or maybe just one other), but I don't know his/their name(s).

-Rob

by solo i meant he was emceeing by himself, meaning the other guy got canned. it was in between portland and oakland. dont remember his name, but they asked him back for the actual finals in universal city, which was a nice surprise.... terry did most of the announcing.

Ahhh, I see. Any finalists wish to elaborate more? Better yet, any staff? Lol. I know fat chance.

-Rob

the guy whos selling the NWC currently says his dad was staff, and although he claims his dad has no memory, i bet pops would know someone. I could ask him, ive already contacted him and i could give it a shot for you. he may actually be on NA now that like 30 of us have written him