Help Authenticating Halloween cart?

[JTomB]

Could use the help of some experts/Halloween owners here. Purchased a copy of Halloween off eBay and it just arrived. Ridges are present, the label isn't glossy, and it's got the white board (smells like an ashtray to boot). So far so good. And while there is a line on the edge of the label, it's red instead of white. However, the board itself isn't stable--you can slide it around in the slot (see photo #4), and the plastic around the board looks minty-fresh. Any thoughts? If it is legit, do others with copies have the same wobbly board issue? Thanks in advance, all.

[+groundtrooper]

As crooked as that pcb is sitting in there the chances are high that it is authentic. [emoji12]

 

I am not an expert of the full face label version as I have one of the late hand written end label versions.

 

I am sure others can chime in with their thoughts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rom Hunter]

Looks genuine to me.

[Stage_1_Boss]

My copy of Halloween is also jiggly so you're not alone!

[JTomB]

Thanks, all, for chiming in so quickly. Consider my mind at ease.

[JTomB]

Next step: Stabilize the board so I can actually play the thing.

 

Found a great thread on wobbly Wizard PCBs in which a couple folks mention opening these carts, but can anyone provide tips on how to do so? From what I gather, there aren't any screws to deal with, but I don't want to assume anything with a cart this rare. Are there other games using the same shell that I could practice on? The Wizard carts look Apollo-style, but Apollo carts have a couple of screws in the front, correct?

 

Thanks for your patience with all the questions!

[JTomB]

Bump.

 

Anyone find a reliable (and straightforward?) way to secure their Halloween board?

[+Psionic]

On 3/4/2020 at 10:05 AM, JTomB said:

Anyone find a reliable (and straightforward?) way to secure their Halloween board?

The housing inside those cartridges simply doesn't do a very good job of holding the PCB in place and there's really no 100% foolproof way to permanently fix the issue.   To get the board back in place on your Halloween cartridge without opening it up, carefully pry the two halves of the cartridge slightly apart by hand until you can move the board around freely.  Then properly reseat the board on the housing and press the two halves back together again slowly and extremely firmly using the palms of your hands.  With the two halves back together again, attempt to wiggle the board extremely gently with your finger to confirm that it's wobble free.  After that, whenever the cartridge is inserted into your console you must always use your fingers to apply firm pressure to the top and bottom halves of the shell equally to prevent the board from dislodging again.  It's worked pretty well for me, although I honestly don't use the cartridge very often.

[JTomB]

Thanks, Psionic. That's really helpful. I don't take any comfort in knowing that so many Wizard carts have this particular "charm," but glad to know there's a reliable (if not permanent) solution to get the game working.

Edited June 30, 2020 by JTomB

[+Psionic]

Even using the process I described above for cartridge insertion you may still find the PCB jarring loose occasionally.  It's just a result of poor design and there's not much you can really do about it unless you're willing to do something more permanent like gluing the board in place.

In reference to your earlier comment, there are no screws in Wizard cartridges and as such they can be disassembled fairly easily without doing damage as long as you pull the two halves of the shell apart slowly and carefully.  That being the case, you might as well just take your cartridge apart completely and give it a thorough cleaning before reseating the PCB if it has a strong odor of smoke.  Or at least open it up enough that you can clean the board and the inside of the shell with some alcohol on a cotton swab.