Final prototype cartridge for Nintendo’s hugely anticipated Star Wars sequel

8050. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage Unopened Box Set (Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis). Unopened limited edition box set for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Sega Genesis video game Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, one of 5000 unnumbered copies that were sold exclusively through the QVC television shopping network in 1994. The red-and-black Symbiote-style box, 15.25˝ x 12.5˝ x 1.5˝, features the game title in gold lettering to cover, which bears Marvel Comics and Acclaim logos to the upper corners. Although sealed in its original cellophane wrapper, it is known that the box contains either the SNES or Sega Genesis version of the game, three pins, a hardcover Spider-Man: Carnage book, and a COA from Marvel attesting to the limited edition run. In fine, never-opened condition, with some bending and creasing to the left side of the box, which also bears a small surface tear. A sought-after, still-sealed copy of one of the most popular video game crossovers in console history. Starting Bid $300

8051. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Nintendo (NES) Development Prototype Car-

tridge - Wata PRO. Exceedingly rare final prototype of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, which was released in North America in March 1992. The NES cartridge features excised windows to the front that expose the interior socketed IC chips, the top and bottom shells bear no labels, and the inside of the cartridge contains a Nintendo development PCB with the part number “NES-TKEPROM-02,” which is populated by four EPROM chips. These chips bear affixed stickers with printed “Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back” designs, as well as what appear to be handwritten dates of “1-7.” Encapsulated in a Wata certification holder with label details: “Nintendo Development board, Printed EPROM Stickers, Final Version.” Accompanied by a prototype evaluation report from Wata, which grades the cartridge as “PRO.” Starting Bid $500

8052. The Adventures of Batman & Robin - Super Nintendo (SNES) Sample Prototype Video Game - Wata PRO. Rare ‘sample’ prototype of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game The Adventures of Batman & Robin, which was released in North America in December 1994. The game is housed in a Super Famicom cartridge shell that bears a blue-and-white Super Nintendo prototype label, which likely originated from Nintendo as a generic label to use for prototype and sample cartridges for both Japanese and PAL Super Nintendo games. An additional overlapping label with caption text reads “Sample, (RHO27), The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Sep. 1994.” The PVC inside of the shell is a well-documented Nintendo prototyping board, SHVC-4PV58-01, and all discernible manufacturing dates predate the game’s commercial release; stickers on the EPROM identify the label’s same product code (“027”) and the order of the chips (1 through 4). Encapsulated in a Wata certification holder, which grades the cartridge as “PRO.” Accompanied by a prototype evaluation report from Wata, which reads, in part: “The data is identical to the European release of the game, with the exception of a one-byte difference: 00007FAF is 0E on this cartridge, versus 00 on the retail game. This is the last byte before the game’s header and is extremely unlikely to affect gameplay. A logical explanation is that this is either an artifact of the chip burning process or is a watermark to prevent copying of the data by the recipient.” Starting Bid $200