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  • Joined: 01 May 2011
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SMS in Mexico
Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:01 pm
Last edited by BKK on Thu Mar 24, 2016 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
A couple of commercials;




The first one is an early US commercial with a Spanish dub. "SEGA DE MEXICO" is mentioned.

The second one features SMS1 with 3D glasses, along with Game Gear, Mega Drive, and Sonic. Which dates it to 1991 at the earliest. "SEGA DE MEXICO" and "DISTRIBUIDOR EXCLUSIVO DISAM S.A. DE C.V." are mentioned.

It's interesting that they are still advertising SMS1 in 1991 (SMS2 released in US and Canada in 1990), along with the 3D glasses which were discontinued around 1989/1990 most other places.

On http://www.mercadolibre.com.mx/ there are quite a few SMSs in Mexico.

Here is a SegaScope 3-D system, with standard US documents, but also with one from "SEGA DE MEXICO".





And here's a standard US SMSII, but with a guarantee from "DISAM", also with "SEGA DE MEXICO" on it, so it looks like Disam acted as Sega of Mexico. There doesn't seem to be anything on the internet linking this company with the Master System, or even Sega in general. From the guarantee we can see that that they were an importer/exporter.





I've collated a lot of SMS serial numbers, you can tell quite a bit from them, such as where and when they were made. The second digit is the last digit of the year of assembly. The latest US SMS1s that I've seen were from 1988. I've also seen a small number of Canadian SMS1s from 1990.

In Mexico I've come across two from 1991. It would be interesting to see what bios and VDP these consoles use, as by then PAL SMS1s had Alex Kidd and the newer VDP 315-5246, which aren't documented in NTSC SMS1s. The only other country I've seen 1991 SMS1s is Australia.

1991 SMS1 Serial Numbers:

110003900 3005-03-A China PAL-B (VV) [AU]
110004371 3005-03-A China PAL-B (VV) [AU]
110005519 3005-03-A China PAL-B (VV) [AU]

110006599 3010-A China SEGA SYSTEM POWER BASE (SEGA OF AMERICA. INC) [MX]
110014751 3010-A China SEGA SYSTEM POWER BASE (SEGA OF AMERICA. INC) [MX]



MX SMS.png (1.52 MB)
MX SMS.png

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Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:15 pm
Weren't some Game Gears made in Mexico? Maybe the Majesco ones, so maybe not at all related.
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:30 pm
Yeah, Majesco made Mega Drives in Mexico too, but they were just licensed by Sega in the late 90s (2000 for GG), so a long time after SMS.
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:49 pm
I've just noticed that "DISAM" was a contraction of "DISTRIBUIDORA DE ARTICULOS MODERNOS".

Googling this brings up some documents from 1994 on anti-dumping taxes on imports from China where DISAM are listed as an importer, and Sega of America as an exporter.
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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 9:31 pm
Mexican SMS II instruction manual;


Screenshot (974).png (977.49 KB)
Screenshot (974).png

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:25 am
Maybe some scans of this?)
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:06 pm
I would scan if I had these, unfortunately they're just pictures from Mexican auction sites.
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Post Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:23 pm
Hello; I am from Mexico and this is interesting to me as I had the original Master System (bought in Mexico) and I never knew there was a "SEGA DE MEXICO" maybe I was just to excited to play Black Belt to even notice that!.

Thanks!

Wish I still had my SMS :(
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Post Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 1:27 pm
Welcome, niabi.

I've come across quite a few games with importation stickers on them. They're PAL releases imported from Sega of America by DISAM, I guess that makes sense as the PAL releases include Spanish. I think that Irwin did something similar for French Canada.

Three different types of stickers, the first just gives SoA's address as "San Francisco". These occur on "SEGA ®" releases. Sega dropped the "®" in 1990. The second gives an address of "Forbes BLVD, South San Francisco", whilst the third type gives an address of "Shoreline Drive, Redwood City".

In Sega Visions magazine SoA changes from Forbes BLVD to Shoreline Drive from issue 6, Fall 1991, so they moved at some point in 1991. The latest game I've seen with one of these stickers is Spiderman, which was one of SoA's last releases late in 1991 (also just PAL version in US).

I've also come across US versions of After Burner and Zaxxon 3-D with additional Spanish instructions. These didn't have the importation stickers on them, so maybe from a different period, or a different company.
Fantasy Zone DISAM.jpg (141.96 KB)
Fantasy Zone DISAM.jpg
Spiderman DISAM.jpg (165.71 KB)
Spiderman DISAM.jpg
Transbot DISAM.jpg (147.28 KB)
Transbot DISAM.jpg

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Post Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 8:05 pm
Very interesting.
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 3:55 pm
Here's a fun one found on Mercadolibre Mexico
Link:
https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-786750347

It is the Canadian Hang On & Safari Hunt (with Irwin logo) imported to Mexico.
SMSpHOSHcamx1.jpg (137.79 KB)
Front
SMSpHOSHcamx1.jpg
SMSpHOSHcamx2.jpg (187.76 KB)
Back
SMSpHOSHcamx2.jpg

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Post Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:12 pm
Also I think I have solved the mystery of the games that BKK posted about. The games that have the printed Spanish manual came with the manual sealed to the back of the box. I found a couple sealed examples on Mercadolibre showing this, including this Alien Syndrome:
https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-824416409
ASback1.jpg (143.76 KB)
back
ASback1.jpg
ASback2.jpg (187.25 KB)
Side
ASback2.jpg

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