Commodore 64 Cassette Tape Cases-UK

[rbudrick]

Hi Folks,

I recently got in the mail a Commodore 64 Cassette of 'Star Force Nova' from an ebayer in the UK.

This is my second copy of this tape, and I have gotten it in 2 diifferent cases. I am trying to figure out which one of these has an original case.

One is a standard cassette case in which the front and back are just clear plastic.

The other is also pretty standard and has a clear front and a black back to the case.

Anyone know which one is the official/original case?

Thanks, everyone!

Yours,

Rob

[Mayhem]

Things would often go like that... just depends what the packaging company had stock wise when putting the game together. I've got games in both those sorts of case, so both were quite common.

[rbudrick]

Hmmm...strange. So no idea which Mastertronic usually used for theirs? I have a feeling that one of these is not the original case...

Thanks again!

Yours,
Rob

[Mayhem]

Simple question to ask here... the inlay to the cassette... where it bends into the "holding area" as I call it... is the end of it a straight rectangle, or are the corners slightly clipped? Most of the black backed single tape cases here in the UK would reveal a clear trapezium type shape than a proper rectangle. Or maybe you can take a couple of pics and show me ;)

[rbudrick]

Hi Mayhem,

I couls do some scans, but I don't own a digital camera. So you say most of the C64 tapes in the UK were black-backed or just most cassettes in general (music, etc.)?

Thanks!
-Rob

[rbudrick]

Hey Joe,

Mastertronic isn't in the Psychopedia...hmmm...

-Rob

[Mayhem]

That's because they didn't release anything on cartridge ;)

As for the thread subject, it really depended what the publisher used. I've got tons of full price original and budget C64 software here at home, and there's really no discernable pattern. I've got clear backs and black backs on both single and double sized tape cases in fairly equal numbers. Of course having a clear back meant you could extend the inlay all the way across it and have comments and screenshots to promote more :)

[rbudrick]

So , Mayhem....do you have copies of the same game with different cases?


-Rob

[rbudrick]

Mayhem,

I think I see what you are talking about concerning the trapezium shape of where the black meets the clear on the back. Since the clear one has the paper inlay and the black doesn't, I wonder if it is safe to assume that the clear one is probably the original...or is it a replacement too?! It's a mystery... LOL The black backed one has no paper inlay....if it did, you wouldn't be able to read it all...

Yours,
Rob

[Mayhem]

Well that's because the paper bit would only extend as far as the clear would allow. In essence a very small back, only enough to poke through the clear ;)

To demonstrate, here's a couple of pictures (my digital camera is away being repaired so I'm having to try direct to the scanner here!)...

http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/images/boxclear.jpg

Spellbound, with clear back (on the right, rather "blacked up" on the scanner). As you can see the inlay covers the entire clear back of the case.

http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/images/boxblack.jpg

Raid Over Moscow, with black back and a small opening (colouring accentuated to make it obvious!). The yellow part of the inlay you can see is at the front and the reverse of what would be shown out the front cover of the case. Whereas the bit of the right is the small area shown in the hole in the black back of the case.

As for owning both of the same game, I only own one copy of most games, so that's not really gonna happen in my collection ;)

[rbudrick]

Thanks, Mayhem!

One final thing, do you find that original commodore cassettes only come in these two types? Are there variations on these themes? For example, I noticed the clear case has these vertical lines all along the two short sides and the longer side where it opens only has these lines on the left and right thirds of that side. Hate to be nitpicky (lol, it IS the DP forum, heh heh), but just trying to get a feel for this new realm (for me). I sorta consider this kind of thing label variation, if you will, if there is indeed different types of cases for similar brands and such.

Thanks! Talk soon!

-Rob.

[Mayhem]

Took me a few seconds to understand what you meant there LOL

It's just plain random... as I said, it's just what was in stock when the games were cased. There would obviously be batches made of various games from the same publisher at the same time, and they would likely have all the same type of case, but there's no overriding rule saying that case type XXXXX means that it is going to be used with publishers A, B and C.