Old Mario-bilia

I decided to pull an X-Entertainment and start cataloging some of my collection for your enjoyment. These are what I could find of my older Mario collectibles (some of these items might be older than you are!). Some things have been lost, broken, or eaten over the years. This page will be updated any time I come across some old Mario stuff (which seems to be scattered through my home). If you see a description with no picture, it means I haven't found that item yet. I may still have it, but it may have been lost. These are items from before the N64 came out. I may do another article with N64 and newer collectibles.

Before anyone asks, no I am not selling anything here. If you see something cool here, you can always look for it on Ebay or do what I did, scope out the flea markets and thrift stores.

Room Decorations
Clothes
Stationery and School Stuff
Stickers
Trading Cards
Books
Puzzles and Games
Videos/DVDs
Figures, Dolls, Statues
Food & Treats
Weird Stuff/Misc.

Room Decorations

"I Saved the Princess" poster

This was a popular phrase on Mario merchandise back in the day. Lots of people never did save her in the original SMB, so this was a major accomplishment. Characters aren't quite defined yet, but this image appears on a lot of early Mario stuff. This poster is shrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard. I remember seeing a larger version of this same poster at a toy store once (for some reason, I remember that you could see Toad's belly button on it). There was a car sun blocker (another 80s thing) that had this picture on it too.

Super Mario RPG Poster
A clerk at K-Mart gave me this off the wall when I asked to have it after they were finished displaying it. Neat promotional item.

"Friend of Princess Toadstool" door hanger

Cut off the back of a Nintendo fruit snacks box. Mom specifically got that box of fruit snacks after checking the backs for a door hanger I'd like (there were various Mario and Zelda designs). The only reason this survived all these years is because my mom put Contac paper over it. Yay for Mom!

Mario "Nintendo Game in Progress" door hanger
Another goodie from the book fair, this is currently MIA.

Mario Room Decorations
I had these on my bedroom door as a kid. I have no idea whether any have survived all this time or where they might be. I remember they were cardboard with Mario pictures on them. There was one with Mario's face in a star, and one with Mario as a cowboy, I think one with Luigi pulling up a veggie... I can't remember any others. I seem to remember a SMB2 theme, though. I think they had blue/aqua borders.

Sheet Set
Featuring Mario and Link, I have no idea where this wound up. Photo coming as soon as I find it!

Nintendo The Power Game Calendars


From 1991 and 1992, these feature pixel-styled scenes from various Nintendo titles. It's very interesting to see how differently the characters evolved graphically since then.

Click to open these images in a new window:
1991 Calendar - Back Cover
Super Mario Bros. 3
Dr. Mario
SMB2 - Princess Toadstool
Metroid
Punch-Out!!
Legend of Zelda
SMB2 - Luigi

Clothes

Nintendo Fruit Snacks T-shirt

This item is somewhat rare. Back when Nintendo had their first fruit snacks line, you could win this shirt if you found a Blue Princess fruit snack (my best friend's little sister actually did find one). You could also get the shirt by saving proofs of purchase and sending a few bucks to the company, which my mom did for me. I loved this shirt to death. My mom helped me jazz it up a little with fabric paint and jewels (to help make it a little more girly). The shirt features 8-bit style Mario and Link, has the Nintendo fruit snacks logo, and says "I Saved the Princess". The original version had four-color printing (red, yellow, green, black) and no glitter.

Mario Madness shirt

Mario Madness was the catch-phrase of the SMB2 era. This was actually made with a kit - these are iron-on pictures that Mom fabric painted for me. I used to wear this with aqua spandex shorts to all the roller-skating birthday parties. My sister had a shirt like this too (in bright pink), but hers got messed up in the wash (the pictures came off). Obviously this was the "girl version" featuring Princess Toadstool, Toad, a Starman, Cheep-Cheep, and Bob-Omb. There were other, more guy-centric ones featuring Mario playing sports.

Super Mario 3 Sweatshirt

Mom found this sweatshirt in the boys' section, but fancied it up with glitter and glow-in-the-dark fabric paint (the eyes and spikes all glow). When I outgrew the shirt, Mom helped me turn it into a pillow. It is currently sitting on my couch.

I had another shirt with Princess Toadstool on it that my mom made using a Nintendo "Pretty Punch" craft kit... thing. They made a whole bunch of Nintendo design books, and I think we had them all. No clue where they wound up.

Mario Hat
I do still have this, but the picture I took turned out blurry. This was sold as a Halloween costume accessory.

Stationery & School Stuff

Mario Bookmarks
I think I have three different designs, but I need to track them down (doubtless they're all in books somewhere).

Keep Jumpin' Pen

Push Mario down, the pen point comes out. Push Mario down again, pen point retracts, Mario goes sailing off the top of the pen and across the room. Always fun to play with in school. A treasure found at World of Values. There were Link pencils and pens too, but I never liked 8-bit Link (probably because of the old Zelda cartoons).

Motorcycle Mario Stationery
This was given to me by an ex-boyfriend. The paper's pretty cool though, featuring a multi-colored background and Mario riding a motorcycle.

Nintendo Folder

Wow, old! Look at purple-faced Bowser! The intentionally-blocky hands and NES Advantage controller are a nice touch.

Party Goods

There are several different versions of these - a regular SMB version with old artwork, a SMB2 version with jars, Cobrats, Mario, and palm trees, and a "Nintendo Power" version with SMB3 graphics and Tetris blocks. Party hats, tablecloth, party horns, napkins...

Mario Lunchboxes w/ Thermos

Red is Mario screens, Blue is Mario & Luigi eating popcorn and playing Zelda II: Adventure of Link. It looks like the stickers on these aren't holding up that well. I only have the Thermos to match the red lunchbox. The blue lunchbox came with a Thermos featuring Mario on one side and Zelda on the other.

Mario Weekly Planner

This was a book club promotion - if you ordered so many items, you got this free. Shows Mario, Toad, and some of the more irritating baddies (Lakitu and Cheep-Cheep).

Mario Greeting Cards

These seem to be based on SMB2 - most of them feature Mario and enemy characters, though some show all four heroes. Two styles: one with color pictures on the front, the other with color pictures inside and a cutout shape on the front. These don't just use stock artwork - there are new poses of the characters. Very fluorescent.

Stickers

The Official Nintendo Sticker Album

Featuring ROB the robot on the cover! There were puffy stickers that had ROB on the packaging headers as well. The book has several pages with game-themed borders (Mario and Zelda), and others where the whole page is a closeup of a game screen.

Stickers

- SMB2 Halloween
Two designs: Mario picking up a Jack o' Lantern, and Beezo with a "Boo" background.

- Small Mario stickers (rectangles)
I still have some of these on the original sheets.

- Large Mello Smello stickers (fluorescent)
There were several different designs based on SMB3.

- Mello Smello Foil stickers
I found these on Ebay, they are mostly Mario, but with a few Zelda designs tossed in.

- Puffy stickers

These stickers were originally found in the clearance bin at K-Mart long ago. When I found an old Nintendo Sticker Album at a flea market years later, I put the Mario ones in the book and I think I tossed the rest (Zelda 1 and Punch-Out!! designs). Wish I hadn't, but I was much younger then. Some have clear-ish backgrounds, others are white.

There is a sticker from this set that always bothered me because it doesn't make sense. Look at the left sticker in the pic above. Bowser is holding a long string of flowers outside the Mushroom Castle. Mario has a look on his face like he messed something up, and Princess and Toad look terrified. There appears to be a 1-up mushroom over Bowser's head, along with a few Goombas. What is going on here? Can anyone explain this?

Finally! A possible answer to the puzzling stickers!

Gauntlet101010 writes: "Hey, I was reading your page.  LOVE the mario-bilia page.  I have an old, ooooool Mario stickerbook that has alot of those images you seem to be curious about (also have the happy biorthday Princess Toadstool book). 

In my stickerbook that very same poster has screens from Mario 2 J on it (like the puzzle also shown on that page). I'm guessing they came from Japanese Mario guides for Mario 2. Note: Red Pirannah Plants (which come from Mario 2J and not Mario 1) and the Blooper outside of water. Mario 2 J is very similar to Mario 1 so they must have recycled the art.

The same posion mushrom appears on the "I saved the Princess" poster .... or it would if it weren't cropped out! You can still see it on that scan of yours. My stickerbook shows a *tiny bit* of that top portion. On the top left corner, there appears to be a picture of Mario in a circle. It also has a coin with a "C" on it right beside Bowser, but it's cropped out of your pics.

I dunno what is with those flowers tho. The stickerbook just says , "Bowser's flowsers smell just delicious. But Mario and Princess are highly suspicious." Which .... doesn't say much.

But knowing it's from Mario 2J does put it into context. And knowing it was probably used in some Japanese guide puts further context into it. After a bit of thought I think it's from the "story" of Mario 2J and how Bowser came back pretending to be peaceful, but just duped everyone.

But that's only a guess."

Trading Cards

Donkey Kong Sticker Cards w/ Gum

These were old when I got them - some with the gum still inside! If you have all the stickers in the set, they made a puzzle picture on the back. I think I'm only missing one. There are also four different scratch-off games based on Donkey Kong. Mario and Pauline aren't named on these - they're called "The Brave Carpenter" and "The Beautiful Girl". Mario doesn't look much like himself - he actually resembles Popeye quite a bit.

Topps Game Packs Trading Cards

Dad found this box of cards for me when he went on a trip. The card packs feature Mario, Link, and Princess Toadstool. There are scratch-off games as well as stickers. There are only 2 stickers from Super Mario 2 - I'm guessing it was brand-new then. One is a bad-quality copy of the box, the other is an unofficial-looking Princess throwing an egg at a little Birdo from a flying carpet. I found another box of these cards at a dollar store years later. Despite the Mario-centric box art, the scratch-off games and stickers are based on the following games: Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2, The Legend of Zelda 1 and 2, Punch-Out!!, and Double Dragon. There seem to be a disproportionate number of Mario and Link stickers, but there are 10 scratch-off cards from each game.

Trading Card Treats

Featuring Super Mario 1, 2, 3, and Legend of Zelda. Some of these pictures also appear on puzzles. I don't know who the girl is supposed to be in the bottom-right Zelda picture (standing on the ledge). Full scans and info can be found on the Trading Card Treats page.

Nintendo Power Trading Cards

I have one from SMB3, and the set from Mario RPG. I also have the set of Mario Kart 64 cards, but they're too new to put in this article.

Books

Nintendo Adventure Books

These are a choose-your-own-adventure series of novels starring the Mario characters. One book came out every month for a year. Some additional characters - such as the dimwitted Mushroom King (Princess Toadstool's father), and the castle attendant Wooster appear in these stories, as well as Bowser's seven Koopalings. Best of all, the hero isn't always Mario - in some stories you control Mario, some you control Luigi, and others you control both Bros. Sometimes you have to solve puzzles to determine what page you turn to next. You can collect items and coins along the way, and you get a score at the end depending on how well you did. These contain lots of outlined pictures of the Mario characters, so I colored some of them in with colored pencils. K-Mart stopped carrying these after volume 8, but I found Volume 12 somewhere later. I think there are only 12 books in all. Books 1-6 are Super Mario (1-3), Books 7, 8, possibly 11, and 12 are Super Mario World, and Books 9 and 10 are Legend of Zelda.

Nintendo Comics System by Valiant

The Mario comics followed the same basic characters as the Nintendo Adventure books - Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool, the Mushroom King, Wooster, Bowser, Wart, the Koopalings, etc. The stories are set more or less in the SMB3 worlds, but Wart and his Subcon minions show up from time to time. Not only were there Mario stories, but also more serious stories featuring Zelda, Metroid, and Captain N. Sometimes there were Super Mario Land comics under the "Game Boy" title, which had Mario popping out of the Game Boy (with the assistance of "real people") to battle Tatanga. Occasionally you'd see a Punch Out comic as well. My dad and I used to read these together all the time. There were other editions of the Mario comics that had a read-along cassette with background music from SMB3.

Mario Coloring Books

I loved the blue one so much that I owned two copies. The yellow one mostly features scenes of Mario doing other things, like cooking, driving, and making snowballs, and I currently can't find it (I'm sure it's somewhere in my stuff). I lost some pages out of the purple one, so I can't complete the story section. There is also a Super Mario Bros. 3 version. There was a peach-colored Sticker Fun version that got thrown out over the years, although I still have some of the parts (like the trading cards). I found the Zelda Sticker Fun at a D&K Discount Store, but sadly the only Mario book they had was based on the terrible live-action film.

How to Win at Super Mario Bros. Guide

I think this is the first Nintendo Power Player's Guide. It's more of a normal-sized book than most game guides, complete with maps and tricks. The best part of this is the Legend of Super Mario Bros. - there is bizarre artwork that depicts Princess Toadstool as an actual mushroom! Interestingly enough, the King (shown in the first panel) looks almost exactly the same in the Mario comics (despite being human). Cover artwork was the original game label for the Famicom version of SMB, also found on a puzzle and several other collectibles (particularly ones from Japan). The second picture above is from the first page of the guide - this is also very different from most Mario artwork.

Click for large view of the entire Legend (will open in new window)

Mario Golden Books

"Escape from the Perilous Pit" and "The Secret Bridge". I know there was another one called "Happy Birthday, Princess Toadstool", but the only time I saw this was on Ebay for about $30. Original artwork based on stock poses from time to time. The stories are cheesy, but not bad.

Let's Play Nintendo Hits Casio Keyboard Songbook

Casio Keyboards were a staple of the 1980s and 1990s, so it's only fitting that there was a songbook based on Nintendo game music. The music is nothing more than the melody line and the chords (sometimes for only part of the song). Contains the main themes from the most popular Nintendo games - Mario (1, 2, 3), Zelda (1, 2), Final Fantasy, Rad Racer, Dr. Mario, and Tetris. There are a few outline pictures inside between songs. The cover artwork is one of the main SMB3 scenes. The book specifies what kind of rhythm and sound setting you should use for each song.

Strategy Guide: Super Mario Bros. 3
I can't find this. I used this constantly when I was younger, but I have no idea where it ended up. There were maps and strategies for SMB3, including all the N-spade game panel combinations.

Strategy Guide: Mario Mania
Not only is this a complete guide to Super Mario World, but it also features a history (to that point) of Mario, an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, profiles of friendly and enemy characters, and lots of trivia.

Strategy Guide: Super Mario All-Stars
This guide features complete maps for all the games on SMAS, as well as comparisons between the original and revamped versions of the games. Strategy details are included for The Lost Levels.

Strategy Guide: Super Mario RPG
Maps, character abilities, and item locations.

Puzzles and Games

Board Games

Donkey Kong and Legend of Zelda. The barrel-dropping action on the DK monkey figure hasn't worked since I got the thing. The pieces and game board are a little worn - the stickers have fallen off of most of the pieces and I'm not sure whether I have all the cards. The best part of these are the cover artwork - very cool and original. I can't find the Zelda one - I promise to post pictures when I find it.

Super Mario Bros. Puzzles

Weird old-school artwork. The bottom left one is the cover artwork from the Famicom version of SMB. The top-right puzzle looks like it's from the same artist - Spiny is on a leash, Peach looks really tiny, Toad has a huge mouth, the Hammer Bros. have orange beaks, and Mario doesn't necessarily look like a good guy. I'm convinced that the one at top-left features a design from the Japanese SMB2 (our "Lost Levels"), especially after looking closely at the screenshots at the top and bottom. No clue why he has that green backpack, or why the coins have a "C" on them. Some of these designs are also found on the Puffy Stickers and Trading Card Treats. There are probably other designs out there as well.

Videos/DVDs

Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
These tapes came from thrift stores and flea markets. I have most of the episodes on VHS (mostly when I taped them off TV in syndication). These feature the live-action Marios as well as the cartoons. Still fun to watch after all these years. One series of the tapes has two live-action spots and 1 cartoon, the other series has just a bunch of cartoons. I have a tape in French too - the episode is "The Great Gladiator Gig" (tape is the top row, 2nd from right).

Super Mario Bros. 3 Cartoon
Not as good as the original, this series features the different worlds of SMB3 as well as the "real world", which Bowser tries to conquer every few episodes. There was also a (terrible) Super Mario World cartoon that starred a bunch of cave people and a baby-talking Yoshi. Thankfully, only a few episodes were ever made.

Figures, Dolls, Statues

PVC Figurines

Most of these were found at flea markets, a few came from Ebay. All Marios except for Luigi and Princess Toadstool. I have no idea whether there were other figures or characters available. Luigi actually looks different than Mario - gold (not yellow) buttons, different 'stache, and a longer face. Knowing Nintendo, there were probably a few Link figures too (although I've never seen any on Ebay).

SMB3 Happy Meal figures
I didn't get any of these from the Happy Meals, which is why the Paratroopa never had the hopping mechanism.

Candy Figures

I think these had Chiclets-like gum in them. There were Mario and Link figures like this in the four primary colors. I was just never into Link back then...

Wind-up w/ Flag

This guy never did what he was supposed to do, but that's the problem with flea market shopping. No clue why he's got the checkered flag.

Dolls

Plastic head, soft body, uglier than a mud fence. Very simian-looking. Comes in two sizes. I think big Mario was supposed to have a hat, but I've never seen one with it except on the "Club Mario" segments of the Super Show.

Plush Mario and Luigi

SMB1 colors on Luigi, made in the era where the Bros. looked identical except for their colors and letters. My sister always used to steal Luigi out of my room and hide him, no clue why. Aren't they cute? Their hats are so tiny!

High-score Trophies

I originally thought these were bookends. Featuring Mario squishing various enemies, and one with Bowser and the Princess. The characters are a bit odd-looking. There are small stickers on the bottom right corner with spots for your name, date, and high score - even though I got these all second-hand, none of these were filled in (though one was missing). Again, I know there were Zelda versions too. I think there were 6 different statues in each set. They're pretty detailed, but it's a pain in the butt to clean the dust out of the little crevices.

Food & Treats

Super Mario Bar
A Mario-shaped ice cream treat with a bubble-gum nose

Super Mario Bros. Macaroni & Cheese (Kraft)
Mario-themed graphics on the box front, special shaped macaroni pieces, and game play tips on the back.

Super Mario Bros. Candy Tarts
Featuring Grape and Cherry candy bits shaped like Mario and Luigi.

Super Mario Bros. 3 Cookies
These originally came in a yellow box with SMB3 graphics. The cookies were these delicious chocolate-swirled things shaped like Mario characters. Sadly, I don't have this box anymore.

Super Mario Bros. Sodas
These were originally made by Faygo, then I found a them later at a Big Lots, made by Shasta. There are four flavors in mini-sized cans: Mario Punch, Luigi Berry, Princess Toadstool Cherry, and Yoshi Apple. These things were delicious, except Yoshi's Apple flavor (which was pretty awful).

Interestingly, most of the flavors could also be found in the 2-liter Faygo bottles:
Mario Punch = Faygo Fruit Punch
Luigi Berry = Faygo Blueberry (possibly Faygo Jazzin' Blueberry)
Princess Toadstool Cherry = Faygo Cherry Festival (NOT regular Cherry)
There was no Faygo equivalent to the Yoshi Apple flavor.

Weird Stuff/Misc.

Puppet Kooler

A weird collectible that is meant to keep soda cold - the hat lifts up, the innermost part comes out (you can use this as a cup for a regular drink), then a sealed layer is filled with liquid that you can freeze to keep the beverage cold. The space inside the sealed-liquid part is sized for a soda can. The arms move up and down and the fabric legs dangle over the side of the table. Mario's face is 3D and sticks out of the container. I guess the idea just didn't catch on. Very weird, yet cool.

SMB2 Wallet

This came from Avon - the front has a moving design of Mario picking up a Mushroom Block. The wallet itself is patterned with SMB2 items - Keys, Starmen, Turtle Shells, POW Blocks, etc.

Super Mario Bros. 2 View-Master Reels

Every kid of the 80s remembers View-Master - the 3D pictures you could watch through a hand-held red device. I found this on Ebay and I was curious. Exactly what kind of pictures would be shown under "Super Mario Bros. 2"? One reel features scenes from the live-action parts of the Super Show. The other reels are based on the Super Show episode "The Bird! The Bird!", but these aren't screenshots from the show. Instead, the artists recreated the episode using stock Mario poses and only drawing new artwork when absolutely necessary. They even have Wart standing in for Bowser (though he's still called "King Koopa" on the descriptions). Very odd.

Super Mario Bros. 3 Walkie-Talkies

I found these (still in the box) at the Super Flea Market I went to back home. The communicators are shaped like Raccoon Mario's head. The back of the box showcases various "Game and Watch" handheld titles.

Donkey Kong Tabletop Arcade

I got this for $20 at a giant outdoor flea market held at the Civic Arena. This was from a set of "home arcade games" designed to look like the actual arcade machine cabinets. The game isn't easy to play, but it does work.

"White Knuckle Scorin'" CD

No clue where this was originally from, I found it at a used CD emporium. Only one song is actually Mario-themed ("Ignorance is Bliss"), where Bowser sings to Princess Toadstool about his plans to turn Dinosaur Land into fossil fuels. Obviously this came out around the time of Super Mario World. The best part of the CD is the accompanying comic by Valiant (the same people who did the Nintendo Comics System) starring SMW characters with a slightly different art style. The underlying message of the comic seems to be promoting literacy, so I'm wondering if this was a promotional item. The cover has nothing to do with the CD or the comic - nowhere do hip 90s teenagers make any appearance.

That's it for my older Mario collection. This article will be updated as I rediscover some of my older Mario stuff. I've learned that my mom still has most of these items in storage, but I don't know when I'll be able to get them back.

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