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Thread: Would you rather have the boxes for your incomplete games, or the manuals?

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Emperor Megas's Avatar
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    Question Would you rather have the boxes for your incomplete games, or the manuals?

    I was rearranging some media in my game room and I starting wondering what other collectors valued more for incomplete games: the cases/boxes, or the manuals?

    NES and SNES are really the only systems I collect for that I don't care about having the boxes. It's cool if I come across boxed games in my searches, but honestly, it's not a big deal. I DO like to have the manuals, however. I usually find my NES and SNES carts lose, and later, if I come across them, I'll acquire manuals for them separately. I'd never do this for boxes though (unless they were virtually free).

    I put my NES games into those black sleeves, and I put the manuals in with them. SNES manuals I keep together in a stack on a shelf under them.

    With other incomplete games, however, I care more about the boxes/cases than the manuals. It's a no brainer for disc based media (who wants loose discs laying around), but pretty much every type of cartridge or card (post Atari generation) looks like crap on a shelf loose. It has a lot to do with the way they don't put the titles on the tops of the carts. Genesis carts are the exception, but Genesis cases are so abundant I wouldn't even consider collecting/displaying them loose. Nintendo definitely got cartridge and label design right for their first two consoles, I'll give 'em that.

    There's also the issue of uniformity. All loose carts look the same displayed, whether they all have a manual or not. Having some games boxed and others not though means having mixed media on the shelf.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) jcalder8's Avatar
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    If they are disc based I must have the case but if it's cartridge only I'd rather have the manual.

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    Honestly, I find the manuals are a bigger deal than boxes. The boxes are nice for nostalgia purposes, the feeling of "oh yeah I remember when games came packaged like this," but oftentimes the manual is almost necessary if you don't want to figure out a game just by mucking around. Especially with like strategy games and the like, where not everything is self-explanatory.

    So I'd rather have manuals.

    For CDs and DVDs I absolutely will NOT buy non-CIB copies, unless they come really cheap. I only have two games that are missing manuals (Strider 2 and Xenogears) and both of those were basically given to me. Incidentally, if someone has some loose manuals...
    Last edited by Edmond Dantes; 09-12-2011 at 12:10 AM.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Snapple's Avatar
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    It depends on the system, I think.

    Back in the "golden age of manuals" around the SNES/Genesis days, absolutely the manuals.

    Disc based games, I want the case.

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    Peach (Level 3) Koa Zo's Avatar
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    Tough decision.
    My first choice would be complete games.
    Barring that and having to pick one or the other, I'd probably go with the manual.

    Boxes are certainly nice for storage, but there is something painfully missing when I have a box and no manual.
    Paging through a manual and reading whatever information and examining any images or artwork is a big appeal to collecting physical media. Of course box art and back of the box descriptions are nice to look at and read too. Flipping pages just has a certain charm.

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    That would depend on whether or not the manual has lots of pretty pictures for me to look at. If so, then I would definitely prefer the manual; if not then give me the box.
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    Cherry (Level 1) Casati's Avatar
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    I'd rather have the manual unless it's two pages. I used to search Ebay for boxed NES/SNES games a couple years ago, but cart and manual is sufficient for me because I no longer store the games in their boxes. Also, the prices for CIB games are getting crazy. Most of the NES commons are going for over $10 CIB now. I buy games for playing, not investments, so there's no reason for me to spend money on boxes. The cardboard ones usually have a lot of wear that doesn't show in online photos so it's not worth the bother. Most of my Genesis games are boxed though, and I keep them stored in the boxes.

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    Pretzel (Level 4) dao2's Avatar
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    Boxes for me.

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    Peach (Level 3) AceAerosmith's Avatar
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    Boxes.
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    If it's a disc-based game, absolutely must be complete. Yes, even rare ones like PC Engine/Turbo Duo. Very few disc-based games in my collection are game and case only (in fact, I can recall only one).

    Cartridges, it really depends on the console. Commodore 64, back when I owned it, always CIB. Atari 2600/Intellivision games I don't need boxed; NES/SNES it really depends on how rare the game is, and Genesis carts I generally want them boxed. N64 I prefer boxed, but I'm willed to take them loose if it's a rare/high-demand title. Sega Master System, if I ever get one in the future, I'd want boxed. NEC AES I can't speculate since I've never been able to afford one of those.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Snapple View Post
    Back in the "golden age of manuals" around the SNES/Genesis days, absolutely the manuals.
    Disc based games, I want the case.
    I wouldn't even buy a disk without the case, those are essential. Buying one without the case would feel a bit like buying only the board thing of a cartridge. But when it comes to box vs manual i rather have the manual, and actually i thought about collecting those too, since they only cost roughly 2eur per piece. I know those games from yesteryear are often much simpler, but sometimes if i play something i didn't even had as a child, a manual would come in very handy, since they are also much more abstract. But of just a view i would actually like the box, because of the big cover-art, like for super mario land for the gameboy, those artworks been awesome, and often aren't on the manual. :<

    I meant to ask for a while, but didn't got to do it: Does anyone know if there is a thing like a database with scans of manuals?


    Last edited by Ludwig; 09-12-2011 at 01:40 AM.

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) NBaco's Avatar
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    Why can't I have both?

    Anyway I'd say boxes simply for the fact I can slip the manual into the boxes. Without the boxes, I find the manuals to be one more hassle I don't need. I used to store all my manuals in a shoe box just to keep them out of the way.

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    Boxes.

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    Manuals definitely. Even though I wish I had saved everything, I kept manuals as a kid because I knew they served a worthwhile purpose, while boxes ended up in the recycle. While I agree that it can be a pain to have a loose disc with a manual, I still have to recognize manuals as having greater worth.

    I've never been a huge tight ass about these things anyway. I have probably at least a couple dozen disc-only games. Big whoop. If a cheap Suikoden 2 was disc-only, would you still pass on it? I ideally want all of the packaging, but I'm not going to toss loose discs in the garbage. I just put them in a generic jewel case or stick them in a CD folder (depending on how scratched up they are to begin with). And if I have the manual, then that can just as well go in the generic case.

    Although, outside of disc-based stuff, I'm not even that crazy about keeping all of the game's pieces together. Cardboard boxes suck for storage. Even if I have all of a cart-based game's packaging, I'll probably store the loose cart in one place, the manual in a tub where I keep those, and the box somewhere else. Honestly, I think everything will stay in better condition that way than constantly opening a cardboard flap, wearing it out, and potentially messing up the manual every time you pull the game out or put it back in.

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    Always the box, very important to look good on the gaming shelf

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    If I pick..I chose Manuals

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    ServBot (Level 11) Steven's Avatar
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    manuals for (action) RPG's. Boxes for most other genres

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    I'd rather have the boxes than the manual for a rare game for display purposes, but I dont even want those incomplete either. All or nothing baby or it gets played on the flashcart.
    [quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
    I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
    Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]


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    Boxes, cause you can display them.

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    For cartridges boxed but it depends on the price.If a game on cart is realy expensive cib then i'll buy it loose.Still for any thing on disc it must be cib to me.I prefer not to,have any game on disc without it's case and manual.

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