Clear Plastic NES Clamshell Cases

[Cambot]

[img width=480 height=640]http://i.imgur.com/WiE7WDTl.jpg[/img]

A while back I found these games & instructions with clear plastic NES clamshell cases.

Does anyone know where these cases were first sold?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I don't know offhand, but they're definitely third-party licensed and were popular with rental shops at the time.

[Cambot]

I don't know offhand, but they're definitely third-party licensed and were popular with rental shops at the time.

That's what I thought as well, but I never remember renting a game that had this particular case, emblazoned with the Nintendo logo. Also, these don't have any rental stickers or anything. But you're most likely right.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I had a mixture of those, as well as unlicensed third-party cases that were blue, "red" (pink, really), and clear. Not sure how I came across them as a kid, but I remember them being sold at retail.

[Duke.Togo]

I have quite a few of these, and around here most of them came from Mom & Pop rental stores. I've found a few with labels on them.

[nupoile]

I have some colored ones, see through pink/blue/yellow, that I remember buying new at Toys R Us in either the late 80's or early 90's.

[Addicted]

I have some colored ones, see through pink/blue/yellow, that I remember buying new at Toys R Us in either the late 80's or early 90's.

I also bought some from Toys R Us back in the late 80's.  I'd imagine you could search through old issues of Nintendo Power to get a better idea of when they first appeared.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I remember them being sold in packs of 3, though incidentally I remember picking them up from PlayWorld before they went bankrupt.

[Addicted]

I was packing up some more games and I noticed this on the back of one of the cases: (This is has the Nintendo logo on the front)

[img width=700 height=525]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/cisco678/case_zps2iquajo2.jpg[/img]

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Based on that information, here's the manufacturer:

Pride Plastics, Inc.
CA
2100 S Fairview St.

92704  Santa Ana
United States

They produced licensed plastic protectors for all of Nintendo's cartridge-based consoles:
Game Boy: http://www.nintendoage.co...tid=29&threadid=12573
Nintendo 64: http://www.amazon.com/Nin...e-Case-pack/dp/B00004YV84

Since we've cleared that up, they were likely available for most retailers to order, but if I'd have to guess most toy stores like TRU and KB Toys.
It's amazing what you can do with just a UPC these days.