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Thread: I'm cleaning up a SNES game box, how do you feel about touch ups?

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Default I'm cleaning up a SNES game box, how do you feel about touch ups?

    Over the weekend I got Mario Paint in the box, more or less complete (no flimsy tray) yet the box is pretty worn along all the edges from shelf wear and what not, also had a ripped piece of small cardboard along where the flap in the center folds into the tab.

    I'm not really looking yet I'm sure someone will debate it about resale, but I'm curious how people feel about touch ups and repairs to stuff like this? So far the rip has been sealed with a light brushing of krazy glue to set it back how it was, now I'm looking at using a non-sharpie black marker with a paper towel to blend out al the whiting wear as it's fairly annoying to my eye at least. I've tried it on a flap so far, and rubbing it in makes it damn hard to even notice it was done and probably will need to goings over on it

    Have any of you ever touched up something that needed help so it wouldn't get worse or fail?

    I also found out via a link to a link, something better (easier to use and apply) than retrobrite to get the same effect as the mouse has a little of that sorry SNES ABS yellowing. This stuff: http://i.imgur.com/0WKXqGL.jpg Hairdresser hydrogen peroxide developer creme (40vol.) You squirt it out as a shampoo like creme and just rub it along where you need it and let it sit in the sun for just a little while and it fixes it up better than mixing up retrobrite and not mixing saves time too.

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    Insert Coin (Level 0)
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    I dunno if/how it'd affect value but I don't really see a problem with it for your personal collection or if you let the buyer know what you did.

    Sega was genius for their plastic boxes they're perfect for storage and use, nintendo used cardboard up until the gamecube so it's almost easier finding a sms game cib in good condition than it is to find an n64 one that's 10 years newer

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    No doubt, one thing Sega did was take care of their customers on packaging to an almost overboard degree. It was like the VHS premium of the era, you got the crappy cardboard slip (NES->SNES) or you got the plastic puffy clamshell with the art in it (SMS->Genesis.)

    I just finished it, non-washable black and red marker matched perfectly blending with a few layers as did the blue in the dark Mario Paint emblem area and the gray on the SNES 4 ovals/bars logo on the sides. You totally at a distance can't see it was fixed, but a couple feet away you can.

    I only bought it again mainly for my kid turning 3 on the 23rd. I thought it would be fun for her to have a basic mouse, pad and art program to mess around with once I get her comfy using a mouse so she gets holding the button down as she loves to color. For me, I just like that fly swatter game mainly. I don't much care about the value, I'd imagine it would be no better than had I left it alone, no way it would increase it as the wear is masked not removed. It's just less of an eye sore now.

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    celerystalker is a poindexter celerystalker's Avatar
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    Yeah, I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with doing that for your own collection. It's not entirely unlike replacing cracked jewel cases or re-gluing labels on old carts that have peeled off. Proper sales disclosure is the only thing necessary to keep everything ethical. So far in collecting circles there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to petina that needs to be preserved, but the market is still young.
    Last edited by celerystalker; 10-20-2014 at 05:34 PM.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    That's my feeling about it too, there's nothing wrong or unethical about it. You let the next (if there is one) person know the box was touched up due to shelf wear and point an example out in a picture and they can choose. I think you got it on the jewel case thing because PS1 disc cases were so damn flimsy and common I swapped them too, and I've reglued dozens of NES labels that have curled or lifted up back down and if it wasn't entirely 'perfect' I'd let someone know I did that with a glue stick in case they'd have a fit over some label crease.

    It's just good to be rational about it, and not the internet nazi gestapo about other peoples property like some cracked out control freak collectors are because ultimately it is NOT community property and not communist goods.

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    Key (Level 9) wiggyx's Avatar
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    It's impossible to repair/refurbish/mend/etc. old SNES boxes. Don't even try.

    :P But for real, do it. If it makes you happy, then that's what matters. I've made over 600 covers on TCP. Most people prolly think that sort of thing is a waste of time, but it's what I like to do with my games, and that's my business

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    I haven't tried an actual SNES box, they're kind of cheap and thin, not as bad as the garbage they used for N64. Mario Paint is a full on cardboard box. I know you really can't restore it, I don't have a magic cardboard repair machine nor the ink/process they had to put it to the box. I just went with glue in one spot and various inks to blend away the worst of it.

    I don't think what you did for the TCP was a waste. One could argue I made a big time of wasting my time in the latter half of the 90s. Before people thought to scan manuals or make PDFs, people did text file conversions. I did some of the meatiest ones for the NES, the big one being Final Fantasy, all 80 pages of it and I recreated all of it page for page down to the texts under picture boxes. Faxanadu I did too, even made this pretty damn good looking ASCII world tree with all the names on that too spread over 2 pages. FF1 alone took much of a full weekend to put together. I did quite a few NES manuals and around a dozen for the old GB too. When people thanked me for them now and again that made it worth it, plus it was a good easy reference instead of putting more wear on the originals. Of course when I do have the assets and ability I will do something nicer, like the Faria Mail Away map uploaded here, both in PDF and very large JPG masters to help people who needed it and all to spite the NA members who mocked me when I asked for help getting a copy.

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    Key (Level 9) wiggyx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanooki View Post
    I haven't tried an actual SNES box, they're kind of cheap and thin, not as bad as the garbage they used for N64. Mario Paint is a full on cardboard box. I know you really can't restore it, I don't have a magic cardboard repair machine nor the ink/process they had to put it to the box. I just went with glue in one spot and various inks to blend away the worst of it.

    I don't think what you did for the TCP was a waste. One could argue I made a big time of wasting my time in the latter half of the 90s. Before people thought to scan manuals or make PDFs, people did text file conversions. I did some of the meatiest ones for the NES, the big one being Final Fantasy, all 80 pages of it and I recreated all of it page for page down to the texts under picture boxes. Faxanadu I did too, even made this pretty damn good looking ASCII world tree with all the names on that too spread over 2 pages. FF1 alone took much of a full weekend to put together. I did quite a few NES manuals and around a dozen for the old GB too. When people thanked me for them now and again that made it worth it, plus it was a good easy reference instead of putting more wear on the originals. Of course when I do have the assets and ability I will do something nicer, like the Faria Mail Away map uploaded here, both in PDF and very large JPG masters to help people who needed it and all to spite the NA members who mocked me when I asked for help getting a copy.
    I was just being a smartass about not being able to restore the box as per that sealed game thread

    I just saw your name come up on NA the other day. I think it was actually to say that your being banned was based on sorta iffy and unclear criteria. But I think you already knew that...

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    Ok... so why were you banned? You never post anything remotely incinerary or confrontational. You always seemed like the nicest, most agreeable person on NA.
    Last edited by Daria; 10-20-2014 at 11:09 PM.

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    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
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    If a box is beat up, do whatever you want with it. It's not worth anything to me if it's beat up or "restored", I wouldn't pay anything extra for one. Colouring it with marker is no different than finding a box with a price written on it, or a name, or just some random crayon. Either way it's defaced. Only possible exception is with an autograph of someone who worked on the game. It's still yours to do with as you want, if that's fine for your collection more power to you. At least it's not a really rare game.

    Usually I don't want items to be "restored" as not everyone knows how to do it properly, yet this doesn't stop them from trying.



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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    The ban was them seeing an excuse to get rid of me because of threads like this one. I don't take the hardliner stance on controlling others in what they do with their shit. The comfortable excuse was a nice setup is all. Guy makes thread over a repro(bootleg) genesis game. Maker of said game has relentlessly stalked/trolled me in open threads, private forums on there, and in message for a period of 2 years off and on, even had a staffer there gang up on me with it too. I said (my post was tampered with so no one could see it conveniently) I would love to order this game, but I can not trust the maker of the game with my name and home address, and that's a shame as i played it at louisville arcade expo and loved it and recommend it. Some friend of the other party IMs, calls, texts, whatever the guy and he raises flap over it, as he has been there longer than I, and is friends with a key admin and mods, I'm banned for so called 'picking on someone who hadn't visited the site in awhile' for being 'negative in my comments' basically being a disruptive influence at the site. I know the ban was sketchy, I know it was also a split decision of sorts on shaky ground, but it is what it is, and since that was 3 months ago I honestly don't care really and I'm happy they pulled the trigger since I kept flaking on doing it myself for a period of a couple years (around the time I stopped lurking and signed on here) because I had a few friends there I talked to (which had dwindled down to like 2 which I got added on facebook.) The drama, the communism in collecting, the walking on eggshells for having an opinion that wasn't just buttkissing, I was over it and had been.

    I just know when I got taken out, I got a couple dozen members messaging me via email if they had it, my youtube of all things, google+ notifications, and on here either asking what happend, or talking how shitty and childish the whole thing was like it was a setup. It was iffy and shaky criteria I was removed. I never actually broke one of the printed rules, they tried to say I threadcrapped a sellers thread (he wasn't selling, it was in the brewery with a discussion) or that I flamed/attacked someone, which had the post not been doctored definitely wasn't the case and I never named them either. It should be interesting to see because last time this was publicly brought up on here, he decided to lie about the situation to try and make me look bad in the retron5 thread, got at troll to help, then the NA attack squadron came swooping in to try and lay down some covering fire and the usual DP suspects did the usual fuck NA take a walk routine and it was over. Scroll back to july in that thread if you're curious.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Gameguy, nice one with the old lady jesus restoration. Mine leans far closer to the image on the left than the right. I think if I tried to fix the little bits of 'entertainment system' in a few places in the red it would get more like the alien image on the right so I didn't even try. And you're right the box isn't worth much at all, maybe $10 when you figure the value of the game+mouse, then the mouse pad, and the papers.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Rickstilwell1's Avatar
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    At least there is one temporary solution to restoring shape to crushed boxes - folding the box flat and ironing them with no steam, being careful not to stay on one spot for too long. I learned that trick from someone here linking a youtube video of someone doing that to his Game Gear boxes.
    [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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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    I've seen where very very light steam can help, just not enough where you instantly get damp and then have a problem with the iron or the towel sticking to the box and shredding it. A light bit of moisture can make the damaged box a bit more pliable, but it needs even more care not to wreck it. The box I have really isn't twisted or crushed, just had a lot of whiting wear on all the edges/corners and flaps that just looked like white spots or wrinkles really that was annoying.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) Niku-Sama's Avatar
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    Pro tip on using the developer. Don't use it by it self. It'll strip the plastic and make it brittle and porous. Not as bad as bleaching it but still pretty bad. The mixture of retro bright replaces bits in the plastic that were the reason it discolored any way and keeps it from getting brittle or brings it back from being brittle if it was really bad

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) genesisguy's Avatar
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    I work in a library and part of the collection management is mending boxes. I'm real good at using book tape to keep box sets or single cardboard CD cases together. But I do that more so to keep what is already damaged from falling apart when a patron takes it home. I don't collect SNES or NES boxes but the few Genesis cardboard boxed games I have, I haven't tried to fix them.

    I can see why you'd want to fix them. But you asked how I feel about it. I guess I see it as an artifact from the 90s that's survived this long why mess with it? I'm not taking it to school and friends houses, it's just going to sit on my shelf and take no more damage so I'd just let it be.

    But I love tearing apart any console I get and giving it a proper cleaning.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Feelings and reality aren't always the same thing your post is good from both angles, and i too will never take in a used system or controller without tearing it down and cleaning it too. You never know how funky or not someone is until you get into it and sterlize it. Even if it doesn't look dirty, you never know where they shoved their finger into themselves, someone else, or something else and then held the item.

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    Apple (Level 5) xelement5x's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niku-Sama View Post
    Pro tip on using the developer. Don't use it by it self. It'll strip the plastic and make it brittle and porous. Not as bad as bleaching it but still pretty bad. The mixture of retro bright replaces bits in the plastic that were the reason it discolored any way and keeps it from getting brittle or brings it back from being brittle if it was really bad
    Pro tip. Don't listen to this guy.


    I've used developer by itself many time and it works quite well. The key ingredient in both retrobrite and the developer is the high concentration peroxide which when exposed to UV light reacts with the ABS plastic to "revitalize" it. You can also just soak the plastic in clear high vol peroxide and get the same effect. Oxy is used to speed up the process if one is wants.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    I had a feeling he was off. I got that info off another forum out of a thread with a crap load of posts and there was no complaining about brittle or it backfiring horribly like that. I got a Mario Paint mouse with a few yellowing spots so I'm tempted to go track down a bottle of that stuff. If it works I can apply it to a few SNES games with some crappy backs.

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) genesisguy's Avatar
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    I've used the developer creme (40vol.) on 3 NES consoles (just the top parts of the shells) They don't appear any more brittle than before.

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