@KingMike @sdelfin The US Copyright database has the Date of Publication for the first NES "Control Deck" packaging as 5/1/1986. That's obviously not an exact date, but it's in the ballpark of when it was released. There are contemporaneous news articles that mention it as well from the first half of 1986.
ETA: You can also hold your nose and go to HA, find this auction, and look at the pictures. They have nice photos of the Control Deck packaging. You can zoom in and see the 1986 copyright date, etc.
ETA again: The "glossy sticker" is a reference to the sticker that seals the game's box itself, not the label on the game cartridge. The earliest NES games, like this one, weren't shrink-wrapped at all. They just had the top flap sealed with a small round sticker. The first wave from the 1985 NYC release used a matte-finish sticker. Then in 1986, that sticker was changed to one with a glossy finish, which is what this copy has.
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Re: "Not Touched For Nearly 40 Years" - Rare Copy Of Super Mario Bros. Sells For $3 Million
@KingMike @sdelfin The US Copyright database has the Date of Publication for the first NES "Control Deck" packaging as 5/1/1986. That's obviously not an exact date, but it's in the ballpark of when it was released. There are contemporaneous news articles that mention it as well from the first half of 1986.
ETA: You can also hold your nose and go to HA, find this auction, and look at the pictures. They have nice photos of the Control Deck packaging. You can zoom in and see the 1986 copyright date, etc.
ETA again: The "glossy sticker" is a reference to the sticker that seals the game's box itself, not the label on the game cartridge. The earliest NES games, like this one, weren't shrink-wrapped at all. They just had the top flap sealed with a small round sticker. The first wave from the 1985 NYC release used a matte-finish sticker. Then in 1986, that sticker was changed to one with a glossy finish, which is what this copy has.