Rockman 2 catridge label - gray stripe disappearing?

[jpx72]

Hi everyone
is it normal that the gray stripe on the Rockman 2 cartridge disappears over time or are there multiple versions of the cart? As you can see in the attachment - original has it but mine hasn't. Also on eBay is one faded and other not... hope it's not pirate...

[MS-DOS4]

I don't have that cartridge, but perhaps that strip is dull shiny like sort of like foil? Different lights and angles will have an effect on what it looks like. Maybe I'm crazy.

[manuel]

Maybe the stripe on your cart faded.
I've seen several Rockman 2s and some of those had slightly faded stripes, too.

[Epic_Lotus]

Looking on YHJ, it would seem there's a pretty fair distribution of both.  I'm going to say it's probably a printing variation.  If it was fading, you'd likely see evidence of it elsewhere on the label, but you don't.

[jpx72]

Thanks for the comments, as it was said, the rest of the colors is not faded, just the stripe, maybe the gray color used for the print is somewhat different and does fade over time. Printing variation could mean that there are two versions of the cart, maybe revisions, and in this case, I want both for my rockman collection .

[satoshi_matrix]

My Rockman 2 cart has the stripe clearly visible. I dunno what to tell you.

[zappi]

i have both carts, its definitely a case of different labels being used on different print runs

[Medisinyl]

i have both carts, its definitely a case of different labels being used on different print runs

Would be interesting to see if there are any differences on the board for each variation. 

[jpx72]

Would be interesting to see if there are any differences on the board for each variation

Although I've opened several famicom games, 50% openings ended with broken plastic flaps inside. I am not trying my luck on Rockman 2 (it wasn't that cheap you know...), although I am very curious about the differences.

[arfink]

I recently talked with Bootgod, who maintains a NES and Famicom cartridge database online, about how he opens Famicom cartridges without breaking them. It looks like a fairly simple process.

http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=42268#42268

The basic idea is, the plastic can bend only so far before it breaks, and something has to be bent in order to get the cart open. So, instead of bending the fragile tabs themselves, bend the entire front of the casing to turn the tabs, then pop it open. It's a pretty effective opening method. I haven't tried it myself yes (don't own any Famicom games), but the hundreds of unharmed Famicom games which have been opened for the database would suggest this is a very effective method.

The database is here:
http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/

EDIT: somebody with a cheap Famicom game want to try this out? See if it works?

[satoshi_matrix]

Smart. Anyone want to test this out and see how well it works?

[jpx72]

I tried that without any tools on some old cart, by bare hands and it worked I just squeezed the front part simultaneously pulling it forward in the middle of the cartridge.
Neat idea but you know...there is still the possibility that it breaks.

[Drakon]

mine has the grey stripe.  Have you tried opening up the cart?  (I know it's a friggen pain the in arse)

Here's the inside of mine.  I'm pretty sure it's legit so if you ever open yours you can compare to my pic

(don't feel so bad, I only broke 1 plastic tab and this cart cost me 15$ shipped which's why I wanted to open it and make sure it's the real deal)

you either have a very nice looking bootleg you have or their printer temporarily ran out of grey ink or they changed the graphic during the print run

*edit* yeah my pcb is the same as the one in bootgods database.  Would be a very useful site if it wasn't so anal with being used on internet explorer.  Also....rockman 2 is the best!

[arfink]

Smart. Anyone want to test this out and see how well it works?

I just tried this myself, using the clamp. I really don't see how the cart could possibly break, unless you were really rough or if the cartridge was very worn and had an exceptionally brittle case. I am uploading a video of the process as I write this. It's not that hard to do properly, and I have tried it on multiple cartridges with good success.