I guess some kids literally store their carts in grime/dirt! :(

[Mike 01Hawk]

Was at the local Vintage Stock this afternoon. Now, I can understand the 2600 carts that were a bit ragged dirty just cause they're old as well.. dirt But what kinda blew my mind were all the N64/SNES, and even Gamecube games (well, the keepcase covers that is) that looked like they were dragged thru grime, dirt, grease, sharpies, etc... who does that????

 

Also, would it kill the store employees the 1-2 minutes at trade-in time to clean the carts?!?!

Edited November 25, 2007 by Mike 01Hawk

[ovalbugmann]

LOL!, I hear ya man, it's like these people just store their carts in the dirt in the backyard or something. I've bought loose Jag carts from ebay a few times and they always come layered in soot, caked on dirt & grease, scribbled on with pens & marker, shit jammed up in the edge connector areas, sticky syrup on some, labels ripped and generally just trashed. They all did work, but I wouldn't put them in my Jag until I thoroughly cleaned each of them quite well. I just used a moistend rag and the rag was black when done and the carts were pretty clean. I just like to keep all my Jag stuff clean, unlike a lot of people who can care less, if their controller buttons are sticky, and games layered in caked on grime.

Edited November 25, 2007 by ovalbugmann

[PressureCooker2600]

The Game X Changes around here are like that too. I can understand that usually the employees probably don't have as much time as they'd like to clean EVERY single cart that comes in......but you'd think they would clean the HORRIBLE ones. I've seen NES carts that look like they've come out of someone's ass.....and it usually is the game I'm looking for.

[Ross PK]

For some reason all the games I get off ebay are in decent condition, even a lot of the Atari 400/800/XL/XE games look like they're nearly new.

 

Well, there was one, Boulderdash II on tape, it seems as though some kid had poured scented oil into it, and obviously because of that it doesn't work as it's causing the tape to stick to itself.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Ross PK

[Albert]

I can't really speak for the newer systems, but I've run across countless absolutely filthy 2600 carts. I swear some of these carts were left outside in someone's back yard for 20 years and then dug up by construction works during construction of a swimming pool. I also run across lots of carts that have soda inside of them. And all manner of dead bugs..

 

..Al

[Scumdogg]

Many years ago at Salvation Army i bought a copy of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out that literally had the connector end packed with a thick, yellow grease. Like, it was completely filled and then leveled off, you couldn't even see the connectors. It was $1 and i didn't have the game at the time, so i got it as a challenge, just to save it. I eventually got it cleaned and working again.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

I recently bought a box of misc gaming stuff. I only bought it for the JVC X'eye console that was in there, but there was also a ColecoVision with 18 games. I swear that it must have come from someone's muddy and moldy basement. The system and carts smelled and it took me an hour to clean all the spooge and stuff off the console before I even thought about hooking it up. The system worked, but the controllers are junk. I didn't really care too much since that was not why I bought the box of stuff.

 

JY

[thomasholzer]

PlayStation jewels, i mean ...how do you get them so grubby? I guess kids play outside, get all dirty and after coming back inside, they play games without washing their hands first. I have had PS controllers in such an awful condition, full of grit in the ridges, I just had to throw them away.

But the mind boggles, shop keepers in second hand shops can't be bothered to clean them either before selling.

 

Japan, now that's a different story, all second hand stuff is like in brandnew condition. Civilised children they produce, unlike here in the western world.

Edited November 26, 2007 by thomasholzer

[SINGLE TOOTH]

Many years ago at Salvation Army i bought a copy of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out that literally had the connector end packed with a thick, yellow grease. Like, it was completely filled and then leveled off, you couldn't even see the connectors. It was $1 and i didn't have the game at the time, so i got it as a challenge, just to save it. I eventually got it cleaned and working again.

 

LOL, almost sounds like Cosmoline. I bought some surplus rifles that were caked in the stuff, and it took days to clean off.

Edited November 26, 2007 by SINGLE TOOTH

[warmachine]

PlayStation jewels, i mean ...how do you get them so grubby? I guess kids play outside, get all dirty and after coming back inside, they play games without washing their hands first. I have had PS controllers in such an awful condition, full of grit in the ridges, I just had to throw them away.

But the mind boggles, shop keepers in second hand shops can't be bothered to clean them either before selling.

 

Japan, now that's a different story, all second hand stuff is like in brandnew condition. Civilised children they produce, unlike here in the western world.

 

There used to be a second hand shop near me that actually took the time to clean their stuff.

Everything they sold was in pristene condition.

 

The day I decided to start collecting genesis games, I bought about 70 or so from the pawn shop, but they had no genesis.

I went down to the second hand shop, but they didn't have one either, so I asked the shopkeeper about it and he told me they had

a couple in the back that they just got in.

After telling him that I would take one right then, he walked me to the back and pulled a filthy model one from out of a box

and I fould a disgusting joystick controller on a table.

I told him I would take them, but he wouldn't let me leave with them untill he cleaned them.

About ten minutes later I had a beautiful model one genesis and joystick.

 

That shop also had some awesome prices.

Too bad they went out of buisness and closed up.

[kevincal]

Sounds like a cool shop...too bad. I bought a loose Mario Kart 64 on eBay. It was from a power seller with great feedback, but the auction only had a stock picture... I was proud that I got the cheapest Mario Kart 64 on all of eBy...LOL WELL, when it came, it was hella nasty. The cart shell and contacts. Not to mention half of the label had water damage. So I just used Q-tips dipped in rubbing alchohol and cleaned it up nicely. The label is still kinda messed up though. Cart works great though, that's all that matters.

Edited November 26, 2007 by kevincal

[missyrelm]

My wife and I have been collecting both TI-99/4a and Atari stuff, as well as Tomy Tutor/Pyuuta stuff.

We pretty much expect the carts (and often the computer/console as well) to be filthy.

For the TI, we take the carts apart and clean them with Q-tips and connection cleaner.

 

I find that to get carts for either the Atari or TI that are clean on delivery, we generally have to pay a whole lot more to either get from a trusted store, or if from Ebay, in box.

 

For the Atari, we just bought our system from atari2600.com. Might cost more, but it's got a 90 day warranty and is clean.

 

As for the games, we clean them all, just on general principle.

 

Sounds like a cool shop...too bad. I bought a loose Mario Kart 64 on eBay. It was from a power seller with great feedback, but the auction only had a stock picture... I was proud that I got the cheapest Mario Kart 64 on all of eBy...LOL WELL, when it came, it was hella nasty. The cart shell and contacts. Not to mention half of the label had water damage. So I just used Q-tips dipped in rubbing alchohol and cleaned it up nicely. The label is still kinda messed up though. Cart works great though, that's all that matters.

[shadow460]

I give all my games a good cleaning on the outside, plus I clean the connectors (haven't done Stargunner yet, but it's my latest acquisition). I don't clean jewel cases or CDs as often, but I do need to go through the Saturn and PS1 collections, and I also need to get the buffing fluid off of FF9.

 

Portable games, with the exception of PSP titles, get cleaned inside and out. I open them and get busy. Since I can see right through the UMD case (and it's so fragile), I don't worry about taking PSP games apart and cleaning, but I'll spin the disc and wipe away anything that's on it.

 

I got a Mario Golf cart for the Color Game Boy that was full of soda pop. It was nasty in there. It worked fine, but you could see the mess right through the back casing. I've gotten other carts with various things wrong...usually it's the Game Boy carts. Link's Awakening DX had loose connections on the SRAM chip. I'm amazed it even booted up that way. Some others have had dead batteries in them. I looked at a PS1 Command & Conquer that had deep radial scratches near the edge of the NOD disc. I'm kicking myself now for not buying it--the game has redbook audio and would have played fine as long as the music was turned off.

I got a Submarine Commander that had evidently been in a flood. I had to replace both labels, but I left part of the main label as proof that the cart is indeed genuine. I also got a Game Gear Mortal Kombat that had two dead worms inside it. That's when I started opening portable carts for a thorough cleaning.

 

The nastiest carts I've got are the ones with Blockbuster labels, though. The labels leave a sticky mess that is near impossible to clean up. Even Goo-gone has trouble with it.

The nastiest system I've got was my third Game Gear. Someone had allowed a NiCd battery or two to leak in the charger, then they stuck it into the Game Gear while it was still venting. There was electrolyte everywhere, which I cleaned up. It has not returned, and that Game Gear still runs on NiCd.

 

Oh, guess where the worst looking carts I've seen are? Yup, Vintage Stock. Their display case looks terrible from the N64 carts they leave out. And the 2600 games? They're okayish, but way overpriced. The ones on the back shelf, though, usually look like they've been through a war.

 

Game X Change, on the other hand, cleans most of the games they take in. They also polish the disc based games, which I don't necessarily agree with (if it ain't broke, then don't fix it). That's where I found the C&C, but they wouldn't sell it. I could have pushed the issue but I didn't. They'll clean sharpie marks off, they'll clean some types of connectors (they don't clean 2600 connectors, though), and I believe they are capable of repairing games to some extent. I've personally repaired games for them, so I know they have taken in some busted ones that were fixed later and sold in perfect working order.

Edited November 27, 2007 by shadow460

[BuddyBuddies]

The Game X Changes around here are like that too. I can understand that usually the employees probably don't have as much time as they'd like to clean EVERY single cart that comes in......but you'd think they would clean the HORRIBLE ones. I've seen NES carts that look like they've come out of someone's ass.....and it usually is the game I'm looking for.

LOL, this is a funny thread,but kinda sad,lol. ive gotten a few Jaguar games that look like somebody blew chunks all over them 10 years ago!! and ive seen some filthy Jaguars too! who does this!?!?LOL

[Atari5200]

my beef isn't really the shape I find the games in, it's the fricking stickers the game stores put on. I mean for christ sake, I find some Neo AES and CD games in the wild and should be treated like gold, yet the a-holes have to put them fricking super sticky stickers on them, you know the kind you try to peel off but no matter what you do it always leaves some paper and residue, and Neo games should never have any markings on them what so ever and now I have to clean off the sticker marks.

[ultramoo]

Unfortunately I know exactly the types of people who do that stuff to their carts/cds. My cousin's family treated their PSX (this is back when it had just come out) like it was a Tonka toy truck or something, just loose on the carpet and they'd walk by and accidently kick it and step on it, etc. And as for the CD's? I honestly don't know how they kept working, it looked like somebody took an angle grinder to the surface, they would walk on these too!

I made the mistake of lending them my Crash Bandicoot game for only six hours!! And they managed to scratch the disc and break the case!!

 

It comes down to people who don't collect games and don't have any appreciation for what they have. It was just the latest toy to them and was soon forgotten and thrown away.

 

I guess you could say it's the same with people who treat their cars like that too, my cars are my babies, but my carts are my babies too, I have lots of babies!!

Edited November 27, 2007 by ultramoo