Parker Brothers Box Insert Variants?

[SpotAnime]

I'm trying to collect as many CIB Parker Brothers releases as I can. They were my favorite publisher back when I was a kid, and to this day I'm still drawn toward the beauty of the box art for their arcade ports and licensed games.

 

I've been seeing a few different variants for the box inserts, however, and I want to know if any are repros. For example, I have seen some which have the game title and info printed on the box insert, as in the picture below:

 

 

And then I've seen some that have no printing at all. For example, I just picked up this Spider-Man box which has no printing whatsoever.

 

 

I've even seen one in the Marketplace with Amidar that is a plastic insert. Were variations of these boxes released in the US, or are some of these repros/frankensteins from non-PB releases?

[toiletunes]

There were variations in the U.S., cardboard or plastic inserts, with or without printing. Some games only have one variant, but more common games may have several.

[Schitti]

Do you collect only US-Versions, or other ntsc and pal too?

[Flojomojo]

I would guess the no-printing variants came later, as an effort to cut costs, ship more product, and maybe respond to lower prices. In my limited personal experience, I've never seen any printed PB inserts, but I bought all my games at crash prices in 1983 and later.

[SpotAnime]

Do you collect only US-Versions, or other ntsc and pal too?

 

Well I just started, so I only have a few. I'd started out with only US in mind, however, and assuming the ones I was picking up were as such. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with a Canadian release unknowingly, however.

 

And, no reason for US-only, just my own personal nostalgia.

 

With all the podcasts that folks have started to document the second and third (8-bit) era of video games, there's a surprising lack of coverage on the history of Parker Brothers video games. I'd love to see someone do a dedicated podcast to go through all those releases one by one, and interview the developers associated. I think it would be a fascinating story, with PB being one of the first huge third-party publishers, and they must have thrown a ton of money around to get those big-name coin-op conversions and pop licenses.