look... J-channel vinyl siding strips to display carts on my wall

[gameselect]

I started collecting 2600 games since the late 90's when they were still somewhat obtainable at flea markets and yard sales. I got lucky back then and found a Thunderground and Buck Rogers prototype/test cartridges in the wild and traded them to a fellow collector for a BIG box of games. I reached the 200 unique games mark and then lost interest for a while. All my games have been stored in the attic since then.

 

I've wanted to display my games somehow but never liked the idea of them stacked on shelves. I want to see the artwork on the labels instead. After trial end error with plastic gutter leaf guards and velcro strips, I found these strips of vinyl siding at the local home improvement store and they work great. They're called J-channel strips and they are used along with vinyl siding on houses. Most 2600 cartridges fit right in the channel.

 

I cut them to 10' lengths, brushed a few coats of paint on and used an air gun to attach them to the wall of my office with 1.5" staples.

 

(sorry the pics are so big..)

[high voltage]

That is neato

[Antiriad]

Absolutely great!

[Rik]

Wow! that's pretty genius! Part of the fun of this hobby for me is engineering out ideas on how to use existing products to store games, consoles and accessories.

[retroillucid]

The video club I was working in the 80's used this to show the VHS and game boxes

With a long slide of velcro stick to those, where you have to take an octogonal plastic tag to rent the VHS/game

 

Ah, wonderfull memories

[Crazy Climber]

Thats slick!

[+Nathan Strum]

Nice!

[Keatah]

(sorry the pics are so big..)

 

Big displays need big pics..

[onemoretime]

Making the most out of stuff that you already have, can't get any better than that.

[bikeguychicago]

With the carts added it looks very nice and organized. Too bad the Mattel carts distract from the overall presentation. I understand why Mattel designed the carts the way they did but they really should've come up with a better Atari shell than the "let's throw a slot adapter on an Intellivision cart" one they used.

Edited August 25, 2014 by bikeguychicago

[Rik]

I found this a couple days ago at a gaming store. The clerk told me the plastic on the bottom protruded about 2 inches and had Velcro attached on the end of it. I figure it came from a rental store or someone attached it there to store like in the manner similar to this post. He tried to remove it with a hot hair blower but the label started to tear half way through so he left it alone, good judgement call that was!

[gameselect]

Thanks for the positive repies I'm real happy with it. It's been so long since I've had these out, I find myself standing there getting lost in those familiar labels.

 

These strips are sold 12' long for $6.50 each at Lowes if anyone's interested. That room only gets indirect light but I think I'll cover the windows with some clear UV-blocking film to be safe. (yes?)

 

Those have got to be the worst pics I ever took, ha.

[+Nathan Strum]

I found this a couple days ago at a gaming store. The clerk told me the plastic on the bottom protruded about 2 inches and had Velcro attached on the end of it. I figure it came from a rental store or someone attached it there to store like in the manner similar to this post. He tried to remove it with a hot hair blower but the label started to tear half way through so he left it alone, good judgement call that was!gremlins cart.[attachment=355136:gremlins cart.jpg

 

Try Bestine. Also available at most art supply stores.

[iesposta]

Try Bestine. Also available at most art supply stores.

Sounds like it works similar to Naptha (zippo lighter fluid).

Naptha lets me remove goo stickers and evaporates completely without discoloring things. The goo will end up on your towels and fingers, but apply and wipe any goo residue over and over until gone.

It also removes some pen marks and paint pens and permanent marker.

Naptha has removed every price sticker except one chain (Hill's Department Store). I don't know what they are cemented on with... maybe Superglue.

[+Nathan Strum]

I've been able to use Bestine on watercolor paintings (to remove masking residue). Haven't tried Naptha… wonder how well it works removing silver Atari labels.

[Keatah]

That room only gets indirect light but I think I'll cover the windows with some clear UV-blocking film to be safe. (yes?)

 

Those have got to be the worst pics I ever took, ha.

 

No question on both accounts!

[freewheel]

That room only gets indirect light but I think I'll cover the windows with some clear UV-blocking film to be safe. (yes?)

 

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. Absolutely. Most 2600 cart labels are extremely sensitive to UV damage. It's why we find so many Activision carts with the end label faded to shit, but the front is fairly OK.

 

To be a complete geek, I keep my collection on display, but in my deep, dark, dank basement. With windows that are never unshuttered. Just some room lighting when I want to stumble around down there.

 

[Crazy Climber]

I did something similar for comics a while back. I kind of cheated though and cnc machined my racks from sheet aluminum

[+bfstats]

VERY original. No, really.

 

Excellently done!