FDS disk labels

[franky]

I just got my first FDS games, and was wondering if people could buy new disk labels for the games they bought in the official disk writers. I ask because a few of the disks I got have labels that have obviously been glued on on top of residue from the label that was originally on the disk. The new labels do look genuine apart from that though.

[manuel]

When you got a new game written on your disk in a Disk Writer you also got the corresponding label (and I think an instruction booklet...).

[Xious]

Correct! Stores packaged the labels and manual in a small plastic, folded baggie, and handed that to the customer after writing the disk. (THe customer did not operate the Disk Writer themselves, but rather, handed the clerk a disk to use and some Yen, and then the clerk would write the disk for them.)

Of interest to some is that shoppes also had special 'blank' labels that Nintendo provided, that they could use if they used up all the normal, colour labels. These are the 'white labels' that I have mentioned on occasion. Additionally, stores would merely photocopy manuals if they depleted their stock, often on pastel paper.

Sometimes you could buy a game with an original label and copied manual, or an original manual with a 'white label', or any combination thereof. The white labels were not generic, but rather white, pre-printed labels that look like this: (first example) ; (second example).

Interestingly, there could occur a time when a dealer would run out of only one side disk label (such as Side-B label), and would include the original label for one side, and white labels for the other side, like this

Therefore, it is possible that a disk may have a standard label on one side and a hand-written, white label on the other. I will eventually take photos of my white-label disks to show you what they look like.

You can peruse the 'Manuals and Literature' section of my catalogue to see how FDS Disk Writer manuals and labels were packaged by dealers. I think that Nintendo may also have photocopied the manuals for the dealers, as I have copy manuals with original labels in exactly the same bags as colour manuals and colour labels, but the manuals, bags and labels may have come as separate stock to dealers.