What to do with crushed boxes?

[boek]

I have five crushed game boxes for Defender, Asteroids, Missile Command, Berzerk, and Yars' Revenge. I'd like to spiff them up - make them look full and not-so-crushed. I was thinking of sticking a block of styrofoam in each box, but I don't have any on hand. What should I do? Should I leave them as-is or restoring their previous shape?

[pinball22]

I'd vote for putting something in them to make them look less crushed.

[nathanallan]

What I do is iron them flat, then reinforce the parts that are crushed with glued in cardboard, like index cards. Foam inserts to help keep the shape works pretty good too. I have done two Vic-20 cart boxes this way. They were in pretty rough shape to begin with and the results weren't spectacular, but they are squared off againa dn open adn close as normal.

[+Propane13]

Fill them with ET carts?

[+remowilliams]

What I do is iron them flat

Yes, ironing can work wonders on some mistreated boxes. Keep the box between two sheets of copy paper, don't apply the iron directly to the cardboard.

[tremoloman2006]

What I do is iron them flat, then reinforce the parts that are crushed with glued in cardboard, like index cards. Foam inserts to help keep the shape works pretty good too. I have done two Vic-20 cart boxes this way. They were in pretty rough shape to begin with and the results weren't spectacular, but they are squared off againa dn open adn close as normal.

 

When you use the iron, do you use steam? What temperature do you use? I can't find a Pele's Soccer box without some sort of damage. I'm going to try the iron on the worst one and see how it comes out. <crosses fingers>

[atari_envy]

When you use the iron, do you use steam? What temperature do you use? I can't find a Pele's Soccer box without some sort of damage. I'm going to try the iron on the worst one and see how it comes out. <crosses fingers>

What is it with Pele's Soccer that makes people want to crush the box and rip off the top? It took me 3 years to find a Pele's Soccer that wasn't mangled. I guess people use it for soccer practice once they are done playing Atari.

[nathanallan]

I use a little steam, and never iron directly on the paper. A towel worked best. Too much steam soaks the paper and it gets worse, crushed plus water damage. The thickness of the towel made the going longer, but the work came out okay. Pics soon.

[+remowilliams]

Steam is a bad idea. Use medium/high temperature depending on the type of cardboard/coating. You will ruin some wax covered boxes if the heat is too high, so start low. Use lots of pressure and never apply the iron directly to the cardboard.

[nathanallan]

I took pictures of the finished product of Gorf! for the Vic 20. I fyou are not really careful steam will hurt it, regardless of what kind of box you have. Not spectacular, but it sits on the shelf looking like a box.

PICS

Click the forward button at the top to advance.

Edited December 20, 2008 by nathanallan

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

Some of you guys are real good househusbands, aren´t you?

[tremoloman2006]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

 

Since I didn't have your advice when I tried, I used a piece of cardboard between the box and my kitchen counter. I did use a little bit of steam and it flattened the box nicely.

 

I then went to the "good" Pele's Sovver box. It straightened out the flaps that were'nt closing properly and now it seals shut firmly. I never would have given this a try before so thanks again for the suggestion!

 

I'm still looking for a better box but this will hold me for now.

 

I'm starting to think this should be an 8 CIB, not Motorodeo!

[+remowilliams]

Some of you guys are real good househusbands, aren´t you?

When the woman saw me using an iron she couldn't believe it. Then she saw what I was ironing and rolled her eyes and said 'of course' LOL

[nathanallan]

Some of you guys are real good househusbands, aren´t you?

Yep. Busted. I also do killer windows.

Edited December 20, 2008 by nathanallan

[atari_envy]

I put all my crushed game boxes in a large container marked EVIDENCE along with the name and address of the person who shipped me the game. When the day comes (hopefully) when it's a felony to ship boxed Atari games in a bubble mailer, I prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

[+doctorclu]

I took pictures of the finished product of Gorf! for the Vic 20. I fyou are not really careful steam will hurt it, regardless of what kind of box you have. Not spectacular, but it sits on the shelf looking like a box.

PICS

Click the forward button at the top to advance.

 

Nice pictures. You have a Headstart Explorer! You know the one thing I would like to do is take the BIOS eprom, put a telecom program in there and maybe remove other parts and the Headstart would be PERFECT. (For everyone else, the Headstart is basically a IBM AT with a built in graphical shell like an ST complete with built in word processor, calculator, data base, I mean that computer is just amazing for what it was. You could turn the GUI off and use it for a DOS machine, but the cool cool part was the built in GUI).

 

As for boxes, I iron them like you do. Did that to a few Atari computer (8 bit) game boxes.

[Godzilla]

Crushed boxes are such an eyesore. Mail them all to me, you don't want them.

[Crazy Climber]

Some of you guys are real good househusbands, aren´t you?

LOL

[Crazy Climber]

The plastic box protectors that justabum sells makes crushed boxes look way better

[nathanallan]

I took pictures of the finished product of Gorf! for the Vic 20. I fyou are not really careful steam will hurt it, regardless of what kind of box you have. Not spectacular, but it sits on the shelf looking like a box.

PICS

Click the forward button at the top to advance.

 

Nice pictures. You have a Headstart Explorer! You know the one thing I would like to do is take the BIOS eprom, put a telecom program in there and maybe remove other parts and the Headstart would be PERFECT. (For everyone else, the Headstart is basically a IBM AT with a built in graphical shell like an ST complete with built in word processor, calculator, data base, I mean that computer is just amazing for what it was. You could turn the GUI off and use it for a DOS machine, but the cool cool part was the built in GUI).

 

As for boxes, I iron them like you do. Did that to a few Atari computer (8 bit) game boxes.

The only thing I missed out on was the matching monitor. I still have plans to mount it into a 19" rack, fits like a glove, but have had LOTS of things come up that kept me from that project. I think I may have a monitor that works with it, it's EGA. But yeah, the shell was the really cool part about it.

 

Nathan

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

The plastic box protectors that justabum sells makes crushed boxes look way better

 

Yeah, the box protectors make them look sexy!

[tremoloman2006]

The plastic box protectors that justabum sells makes crushed boxes look way better

 

Yeah, the box protectors make them look sexy!

 

Thanks for reminding me to order more! They definitely spice up any box it holds.

Too bad there aren't holders for Indy 500/Race/Star Raiders. They remain naked for now.