What's the best way to store carts?

[Stroxalarb]

I have most of mine in small plastic crates/containers, but what do you guys do with them? The carts on their own I mean. Well also the boxed games too I guess. I can't seem to find ways of storing them that are efficient and don't affect the labels etc......

[StanJr]

I keep all the loose carts in milk crates. The holes in the bottom help to keep dust from collecting in the box. What few boxed games I have I keep in a small cardboard box and I keep it closed to avoid dust and stuff getting in.

 

Then again I'm more of a player than a collector.

 

Well kept Stan

[Stroxalarb]

I've looked at the 'how to' section on storage here, but I don't even have a tenth of the amount of games that are shown there, and it wouldn't be worth buying huge shelving units for them ( plus we don't have those shops mentioned here in Australia ).

Milk crates are ok, but I find rather than the holes preventing dust gathering in the bottom of the crate, I find the dust gets swirled around in the air and actually gets into the carts easier through the holes.

*sigh* oh well.

[Atari Master]

Find a shelf or somthing that you have in your house.Mabe you can put them in Shoe Boxes?

[Noble Kale]

Strox: actually, we have a few good things for storing carts in .au

I use a set of 'stackers'. basically, they're draws that can be stacked on top of each other (like most people use here at AA). They cost $15-20 each (15 for small, 20 for large).

The small ones fit about 30 2600 carts... not sure about the larger ones - I use them for storing the systems themselves.

If you need to find them, they can be bought at kmart (the company that makes the ones that I use is Sabco). If you need pics, drop me an email.

 

Kale

[Doc4]

Personally, I am more into playing the games, but I have found placing them in old grenade holders from the US military has been a perfect if not snug fit. Although I have to remember to be careful as the wood can damage the labels. I suggest you buy rubbermade containers to store your carts in.

[Stella'sGhost]

grenade holders from the US military?

ok...

 

I keep mine in a secret vault in the floor, along with my collection of bones and rare pebbles.

[Adriana]

I use bed boxes -- you know, those shallow boxes that you store underneath your bed -- to store all my games. I've got five bed boxes, and they hold well over 500 cartridges. I got them at Target, but hell, just about any store like that (K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc.) would have them.

 

As for instruction manuals, I keep mine in photo archival pages in a three-ring binder.

[slapdash]

I've been using boxes from "professional stationary" -- the kind that letterhead and envelopes come in? These vary a bit from box to box, mind, and some carts don't work as well, but the best ones hold 4 carts side by side, 12 deep. If I want to do a quick estimate of my carts, I count the boxes, divide by 2 and multiply by 100. That's a bit overestimated, but then I have "odd shaped" carts (M-Network, Commavid, Konami) elsewhere and so I end up with a slight undercount when I'm done.

[Nateo]

I use a metal box I made in Tech class last year to store my Atari carts (it holds 42 carts). I also use an old cart holder from about 1983(which holds 18).

 

[ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: Nateo ]

[Albert]

You can also take a look here for some storage tips. These are pictures I took of my collection, although they're woefully out of date. Some this spring I'll update this section, and also solicit for some pictures from everyone else.

 

Enjoy,

 

..Al

[King Atari]

I keep most of mine below my movies on the shelves built into my entertainment center. Keeps most dust out, and the carts are right there for when I wanna play some 2600 (or 7800).

 

[ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: King Atari ]

[FeLiX dA kAt]

I find that box tops (lids) to ordinary sized boxes work pretty well. You can fit like 60 in each lid and stack 2 high and however many wide and long under your bed. The box top lids are approx. 12" Wide, 18" Long, and 4" high. These work well and for boxed games I use shoe boxes and lay them flat down in the box. I am still clueless about preserving the loose carts (sealing them in some kind of container??) as the top lid can collect dust although not much. Neat thread btw.

[Stroxalarb]

Felix: Erm, what is a thread and who were you talking to?

[FeLiX dA kAt]

thread=topic=??

just sharing my own experience in storing carts as w/o it you all would be lost

[Sylentwulf]

Not sure if my website is still up or not, but I have pictures of atari games in the sterilite containers. Clear plastic drawers which fit atari games VERY well.

 

My biggest problem storing them any other way was DUST, the UNBELIEVABLE amount of dust. Systems are one thing, I can dust them 1-2 times a week, games are impossible (especially Imagic games) well.... I guess I need to update my pics anyways...

 

**grabs camera and runs into game room**

**uploads pics**

**links to pics**

 

[Stella'sGhost]

Honestly I couldn't keep mine in drawers or plastic containers. My music studio/game room is kind of modern and very clean so I keep all my atari/gameboy/sega games in what was designed as a wall mounted very heavy glass cabinet for CD's. I got it at IKEA, they have alot of these CD/Multimedia cabinets with doors and shelves that look very smart. This particular model is still made though Ive have it for 8 years, it holds over 200 atari games and you can them about 8 deep by 5 wide per shelve.

 

Just look in the IKEA catalog, some good ideas there.

[Atarian7]

I got some archival safe (pcb/acid-free) ziplock bags from a collectibles storage company that sells bags and sleeves for comic books, football cards, etc. They are JUSt big enough to fit a standard 2600 cartridge. It is a snug fit; the imagic and commavid size carts don't fit. I guess I could order some larger bags for those. These cartridges will eventually be stored upright in plastic containers with the top of the zip lock bag sticking up. ( once i get around to buying them)

[KAZ]

I buy potted plants at Walmart, or Shopko ocassionally. I rip the plants out of their holder (and chuckle in an evil tone), and bury cartridges in the dirt. One potted plant can hold approx. 5 2600 cartridges.

I then stack the potted dirt holders on top of each other, so I can estimate how many carts I have. I use the equation: N=(4x+9)

 

The way I figure it, why fight nature. Cartridges are gonna get dusty if left to themselves. I can only think that they somehow NEED dust.

 

A full day in advance, I fill a water basin with luke warm water, and soak the cartridges. Then I put them out in the sun to melt (oh I meant DRY), with my laundry.

 

If I'm in a really big hurry, I wrap the carts in asbestos sheeting, and stick them in the microwave to dry them off. The flames are thus neutralized.

[Atarian7]

No wonder some of the carts I buy on ebay are so damn dirty.

[liveinabin]

Anyone in the UK would do well to try Lakeland plastics, these stackable units (the double shelf one - B) hold 40 games really snugly, even odd shapes like imagic.

 

Oh, actually no, forget it, I've been trying to link to this for 20 minutes in 3 different browsers. This MB doesn't seem to want to create a hyperlink. dammit

 

[ 04-27-2002: Message edited by: liveinabin ]

[Markimus of K.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bloated Monkey:

I get copier paper boxes from work, then cut them down to 6 inches. They fit 70 games each nice and snugly and keep the dust out. But that's temporary. I'm planning on building a big display case as soon as I hone my woodworking skills.

---

 

Monkey, thats gotta be the easiest and most practical idea I've yet heard, will definetley try that one!

 

as always,

Markimus of K.

[bloatedmonkey]

I get copier paper boxes from work, then cut them down to 6 inches. They fit 70 games each nice and snugly and keep the dust out. But that's temporary. I'm planning on building a big display case as soon as I hone my woodworking skills.