What is a Slash Release you ask? A Slash Release is a "discount" packaged version of a game that was released by a company in Minneapolis called Slash. Somehow Slash got the rights to distribute many of the old Sierra, LucasArts, Infocom, etc games in the late 1990s. The releases are not original, everything was made from second-rate materials (sometimes even photocopies) packaged up and sold at dollar stores, Wallmarts, and various grocery stores.

These games have been a plague of new and old collectors everywhere! The main problem with these releases is they are often sold on ebay and various on-line stores "shrink wrapped." This of course causes their prices to go well beyond what they are worth. Through this article I hope to point out tell-tale signs of Slash releases so that while you are out there hunting you don't fall into this trap.

First, lets talk about shrink wrap. Keep in mind this discussion pertains to all AGI, SCI0 and SCI1 games by Sierra. Games produced prior to 1985 aren't likely to have Slash releases.

True Factory-sealed Sierra games looks like these:





Notice how the wrap is placed kind of like how a present is wrapped. Not what you get with a normal everyday shrink-wrapper.