Further Investigations Over $10k of Super Nintendo Games Lost in Post

A game archivist, known as Byuu, who is working on a project to digitise every Super Nintendo game ever made was expecting a parcel of around 100 SNES cartridges – a loan from a kind supporter, keen to help him on his mission – from Germany worth between $7,500 and $10,000. Once the parcel hit New Jersey, though, it disappeared without a trace, courtesy of the US Postal Service. The parcel insurance only covered international shipping – loss or damage during the journey – so became void the moment the items hit US soil.

After being stonewalled in his efforts to get an answer about the errant games, Byuu appealed on reddit for help from anyone who worked for USPS in New Jersey, but to no avail. In one reddit post, he revealed that he did receive part of the shipment – a label ripped from the box. An angry Byuu wrote:

“They shipped me the mother f***ing box label and nothing else, claiming the machine ate it. BULL***T. If the label came off, it’d belong to the box right next to it without a label.

The USPS employees in Jersey City just stole a $10,000 package of games. This is felony theft.”

Destructoid reached out to Byuu to ask for a progress report, and he revealed that the internet coverage the story has received has thankfully motivated USPS staff to open a full investigation into the incident. He said:

“Basically, the letter claims that the USPS’ machine ate my package and tore off the label, which they sent back in an envelope without the package or the games. Seeing this, last night I rather angrily posted about this and presumed it to be blatant theft. While I do still have a very bad feeling, the truth is I can’t know for certainty what actually happened. But the circumstances are intensely suspicious. The top and bottom of the label is cut cleanly, which doesn’t seem likely for a package being ripped open by a machine.”

Regarding what happens next, Byuu says that the matter is in the hands of a USPS Consumer Affairs officer:

“He has opened an investigation case for me, and I’ve provided him with all of the information that I have. So now I am waiting for the results of the investigation. I do not know how long it will take. They have many possible places the package could have gone that will need to be searched. My pessimism is rather significant, so my hopes are not high. But, there is at least a possibility that they can locate the package. So, fingers crossed.”

For the love of games, let’s hope those cartridges turn up. In case they don’t, Byuu has launched a Patreon to help replace the missing cartridges.