Working Designs - Variant Catalog
The most comprehensive visual reference for all things that go to 11.

ABOUT THIS LIST:
This is a photographical archive of all known Working Designs game releases and their variation re-releases. All games presented in this catalog are in my personal collection, so they are obviously verified to exist. More importantly, this doubles as a checklist and a want list. If you have a release that is not represented here, I would love for you to provide photographical proof, and more importantly, I would love to buy it off of you. You can contact me here!

HOW THE LIST WORKS: Each game features their respective variant releases. I have photographed in both cover, back, insert, and all CDs to cover all bases. If you see something missing, please let me know.

ID TYPES:
SLUS - This is the game's ID number. You can find it on the lower left side of the CD's cover artwork. Usually (and I use that term loosely here), a game's first print run with have a 5 digit SLUS number. If there were variants to the disc, each successive variant would be lettered. As in SLUS-12345 would be SLUS-12345a, 12345b, etc. However, not all of Working Designs variants follow that rule.

PSRM - This is the US exclusive printer's mark. You can find it at the very end of the Copyright information that encircles the outside edge of the cover art work. This number has helped with various Variant hunts, and has been used in different ways through-out the PSX history. More research is being done on it.

 

SPECIAL NOTES:
Let me first thank my friend Steve (aka PapaStu) for all the help early on in this adventure. It is in fact his very quest that started me down the dark and dirty path of Variant hunting. Without him this list would be nothing. Also special thanks to all the readers who have e-mailed me and gave me amazing tips and leads to help further along all the various projects we have cooking up.

Note 1: Several e-mails with Victor Ireland, the once president of now defunct Working Designs, seem to show that there were only the 8 found disc variants for the Alundra set. According to Mr. Ireland, sometimes for whatever reasons, Sony would not print certain runs. This would make sense, especially with some of the sets that bounce around all over the ID board.

Note 2: Several variant sets have inserts that match up to them (Alundra, ThunderForce V, etc) by a corresponding PSRM number located in the bottom right corner of the back insert.

Alundra uses this technique up to a point. Two of the same-style CD artworks have no matching insert. It is assumed that since they share the same illustrative pattern (blue background with one character in front), that they simply shared the same insert sans PSRM notation. If anyone has the "Stairs" insert image, and it does NOT have 008943 in the lower right corner, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

That said, on to the variants!


Alundra Collecting Notes:
The inserts are tagged to their discs via the PSRM number. However, through many trials, only 6 inserts have been found. It's been theorized that the same insert was used for the 3 CDs with the same concept; the characters with the end boss. Also important to point out, is that there is a missing variant. What would be the F disc does not exist, and according to Vic Ireland (president of Working Designs), it was never made.
SLUS-00553 / PSRM-008940 (Tray Insert = 008940) SLUS-00553d / PSRM-008944 (Tray Insert = 008944)
SLUS-00553a / PSRM-008941 (Tray Insert = 008941) SLUS-00553e / PSRM-008945 (Tray Insert = 008945)
SLUS-00553b / PSRM-008942 (Tray Insert = 008942) SLUS-00553g / PSRM-008947 (Tray Insert = 008943)
SLUS-00553c / PSRM-008943 (Tray Insert = 008943) SLUS-00553h / PSRM-008948 (Tray Insert = 008943)


Arc the Lad Collection Collecting Notes:
This one was truly the beast of all the burdens. The 3 Memory Card holders were the biggest surprise and pain to track down, and to this day there is no proven SLUS 'blank' or SLUS 'A' variant to rise from the eBay depths.

There are no proper links to each other other than the SLUS use of B and C. PSRM numbers are consistent with multi-disc releases but do not account for the variant. Considering only 2 known CD sets exist, it is assumed the Memory Card holders were randomly inserted
Arc the Lad - Variant B "Color"
Arc the Lad - Variant C "Monochromatic"


Elemental Gearbolt Collecting Notes:
PSRM numbers are the vital evidence pieces when tracking down variants. Since the discs SLUS numbers aren't sequential (it should go 'nothing, a, b, c, etc), the PSRM proves the B variant is indeed the 2nd disc in order.

The set is broken up into the two main female leads; Nell and Seana. They are in their armor on the discs, and inside their confinement in the insert

The two inserts can be aligned to become one picture - the two girls are looking at each other. 

 "Nell in Armor / Confinement" / SLUS - 00654 / PSRM - 010140  "Seana in Armor / Confinement" / SLUS - 00654b / PSRM - 010141


Lunar: The Silver Star Story Collecting Notes:
The "Fan Edition" is named so due to Working Designs using a consumer's artwork on the CD illustrations. The artist was very popular in the old days when Working Designs would have art contests and the like. It was released last as an EB Games exclusive. It is the complete game sans the Omake Box and outer box. The manual is now a standard version rather than the hard bound book.

The other 4 come with a Hardbound Book, a cloth map, and a large outer box. Within the case is also a "Making of" CD and a Music CD. Please refer to the game's main page for all details concerning the pack ins
.
"Regular Edition" / SLUS - 00628, 00899 / 0140150, 014160 "Regular Edition A" / SLUS - 00628a, 00899a / 0140151, 014161
"Regular Edition B" / SLUS - 00628b, 00899b / 0140152, 014162 "Regular Edition C" / SLUS - 00628c, 00899c / 014153, 014163
"Fan Edition" / SLUS - 00628,00899 / PSRM - 024010, 024020


Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Collecting Notes:
Nothing really bad here, just the usual non-conformist hi-jinx we've come to know and love. PSRMs are numbered as extra discs, not variants. No known 'non lettered' SLUS variant.
Only 2 variants are known at this time, and there are no insert variants, be it the cardboard or the Omake box.
"Main Cast" Variant A / SLUS - 01071a, 01239a, 01240a / PSRM - 017510, 019780, 019790
"Support Cast" Variant B / SLUS - 01071b, 01239b, 01240b / PSRM - 021510, 021520, 021530


RayCrisis Collecting Notes:
The game disc is the only true variant, as the insert seems to be the same across all copies. There are two known variants, however, they have peculiar issues.

The SLUS numbers are A and B (there should be a letter-less version), but when the PSRM numbers are referenced, they are not sequential nor variant sequential. The A Disc is the rarer of the two to track down. More importantly though, is that this set does not adhere to any WD rule of variants.
"4 Image Disc" / SLUS - 01217a / PSRM - 019620 "Blue Boss Mech" / SLUS - 01217b / PSRM - 020490


RayStorm Collecting Notes:
Due to the first disc's SLUS number not having a letter designation, I spent many a year believing this was a variant-free game release from Working Designs. Silly me; thanks to a helpful reader's tip, the red version was eventually retrieved.

Interestingly, the ships designation numbers are the opposite of their PSRM designations. 1 is 2 and vice versa.

The Red Ship version is far and away the rarer of the two; in my many trails I have only come across a handful of them, maybe 5 tops.

"R~Gray 2" (Blue Ship) / SLUS - 00482 / PSRM - 006830 "R~Gray 1" (Red Ship) / SLUS - 00482(??) / PSRM - 006831


Silhouette Mirage Collecting Notes:
There is a very large mystery to this particular one. Where RayCrisis' ID tags were all over the place, SM's are correctly sequential, but the 'first' in the series is missing. By generic default, all PSX game's first print run would have a standard SLUS number (i.e. no letters after it) and a PSRM number that ends in 0. SM's two variants are lettered B and C, with PSRM numbers ending in 1 and 2 respectively. That means that, unless there was a print run not accepted by Sony, there should be a 3rd variant somewhere, with a standard PSRM and SLUS number. So far nothing has turned up.
"Blue Guy" / SLUS - 00728b / PSRM - 015991 "White Guy" / SLUS - 00728c / PSRM - 015992


Thunder Force V: Perfect System Collecting Notes:
One of the easier variants to track down. These actually adhere to the rules of the SLUS and PSRM, so no frustrations from me.

Like Silhouette Mirage, these are pretty easy to collect. I nabbed the 2nd variant on my first hunt for it.
 

"Main Ship with Moon" / SLUS - 00727 / PSRM - 010690 "White Ship with Red Planet" / SLUS - 00727a / PSRM - 010691


Vanguard Bandits

Collecting Notes:
The yellow robot seems to be the harder to find one. The discs' PSRM numbers are sequential, but not variant based. They're numbered as if they were parts of the same game.

The game features a slightly typo ESRB font. This game was originally supposed to be called "Detonator Gauntlet" but Midway complained about the Trademark on "Gauntlet". Thus, Working Designs simply renamed it Vanguard Bandits, from the original Epica Stella.
 

"White Robot" Variant / SLUS - 01070a / PSRM - 017780 "Yellow Robot" Variant / SLUS - 01070b / PSRM - 017790

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