Anyone else have the "box bug"

[HatefulGravey]

Recently I got some games in box for the 2600. I found 3 locally and thought they would be cool to look at and fun to show off. Most people haven't I hang out with have never seen a boxed Atari 2600 game, the others haven't seen one since the 2600 was new.

 

Well, looking at them on the shelf and pulling them out to play the game inside and read the manuals got to me, and now I'm hooked on boxes. It increases the space your collection takes up by 200% easy, and you can't just put them in a box in a dry place, you have to be sure to store them much more carefully to keep them right, and you pay more them too. All that said I can't help but want more boxed games.

 

Anyone else getting stuck in this mind set recently? I know there are a few people here that seem to have everything in the box (Ax, I'm looking at you).

[zylon]

I buy only boxed complete games for my Sega systems, unless it's a really rare title or for a "play copy". Same with the systems. It doesn't seem to concern me much about my other systems/computers.

[+Ransom]

Welcome to the CIB club.

 

In the 80s, I always kept the boxes of all the Atari stuff (console games as well as computer games), but by the time the NES came around I stopped keeping the cardboard boxes. When I started collecting in the 90s, I didn't bother with boxes (other than my continuing Atari 8-bit collection). Heck, I was buying most of the stuff at flea markets and garage sales, where 99% of games were bare carts or cart+instructions.

 

I sold most of that stuff in the late 90s, though (other than the A8 stuff). When I got back into collecting in the 2000s, I decided to go back to getting everything CIB if at all possible, just like I'd done all along with the A8 collection.

 

I have them all neatly displayed on shelves in a walk-in closet. It not only looks nicer and is more usable (IMO), it keeps me focused on getting only those games that I really do like. There's neither space nor money for getting games just for the heck of it. They all have to earn their space, so to speak. So I demo games for a good long while in emulation before buying anything.

[schuwalker]

Welcome to the CIB club.

 

In the 80s, I always kept the boxes of all the Atari stuff (console games as well as computer games), but by the time the NES came around I stopped keeping the cardboard boxes. When I started collecting in the 90s, I didn't bother with boxes (other than my continuing Atari 8-bit collection). Heck, I was buying most of the stuff at flea markets and garage sales, where 99% of games were bare carts or cart+instructions.

 

 

See, I was the opposite. Unfortunately, almost all of the 2600 and Colecovision boxes met their fate to the garbage can! I was young and didn't know any better, and my parents never really cared.... It was the Nes era, that I was prudent enough to keep the boxes.

[jaybird3rd]

I used to insist on getting everything in the box, and I've still got a decent "sample" of boxed items for all the systems I collect for. But I eventually discovered that using loose copies--or, even better, a multi-cart or flash cart--gave me at least 90% of the "experience" of owning CIB copies, while taking up a lot less space and being a lot cheaper in the long run, so I'm gradually making that transition. I'll probably keep a few boxed items, just to look at, but getting everything CIB now seems like overkill: after a while, the boxes all start to look the same.

 

The major exceptions are games which came with maps or other supplemental materials, such as the SSI war games for the 400/800, since I enjoy having those available without resorting to scans or reproductions.

[HatefulGravey]

I started by getting a box here and there as an example of what they looked like and how they were marketed. That didn't work for long as I got hooked on them. I just counted what I have coming in the mail this week. If I win the 2 auctions I'm bidding in right now, plus what I have coming from members here I'll get 19 CIB atari 2600 games in the mail this week. A few of those are actually NIB. This is getting out of hand I think. Hell I don't have a place to put them when I get here, I better start working on that now.

 

I never had the chance to keep boxes as a child. I still have a few Sega CD boxes as they were needed to keep the game in good shape. My parents thought they boxes were trash after the first few days or owning them. If I still had those NES games CIB I could be making some money now. I had tons and CIB NES games are 100% crazy in price from the little I have seen.

 

I have been lucky enough to get most of my CIB games for not much more then the loose price though. A good deal is hard to pass up on something like this for me. The market here has made a dent in my spending money for sure.

[PsychoKittyNet]

As said above, only for Sega items and more recently TG16 items. My Nintendo and Atari stuff is all loose or cart+manual.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Box bug is fine, just make sure you don't go to the dark side of the Force and start collecting PAL titles.....

[CGQuarterly]

Any disc-based games, computer games, Genesis, SMS, or TG16 games must be complete unless they're exceptionally hard to find that way, or I find a loose copy cheap and just want to play it. Any game that I want as part of my collection from one of those systems needs to be CIB though.

 

Chris

[MagitekAngel]

Like several others here, I care little about boxes, but like to have cases; such is the case with my sega games. See what I did there?

[HatefulGravey]

Like several others here, I care little about boxes, but like to have cases; such is the case with my sega games. See what I did there?

 

I see a lot more Genesis stuff CIB then most things. The plastic nature of their "cases" lends to being easier to keep and harder to completely destroy. Same goes for the Master System. I don't see many NES games CIB, I see a lot of Master System games that way.

[Reaperman]

I'm all over the place on it.

 

• 
   
  
• Most cartridge systems I don't care how complete they are. Complete is a nice bonus, but I won't pay more than $1-2 over loose for it.
  
• If it's a Japanese or European import game I *must* have it complete, no matter the system.
  
• On disc-based games I greatly prefer complete as well, and at least need them in a proper case for storage.
  
• GBA games I usually only buy if they are factory sealed.
  

Edited February 21, 2011 by Reaperman

[GKC]

I buy CIB for Atari Jaguar, Sega Genesis, CD, 32x and Saturn (and all CD based systems). Everything else I am fine with cart only but if a good price comes up for a CIB I will pick it up. Having 1 or 2 CIBs of, say, N64 games will not give me the motivation to get all the other ones CIB.

[GKC]

Like several others here, I care little about boxes, but like to have cases; such is the case with my sega games. See what I did there?

 

I see a lot more Genesis stuff CIB then most things. The plastic nature of their "cases" lends to being easier to keep and harder to completely destroy. Same goes for the Master System. I don't see many NES games CIB, I see a lot of Master System games that way.

 

Yup and since they are more difficult to destroy they are more common, being more common they are less expensive than those with cardboard, which being more fragile, are not as commmon................. generally

[MagitekAngel]

That and the cartridges actually snap into the cases, giving more motivation to store them in-case.

[AtariLeaf]

When it comes to the 2600, I generally don't care although I like to have boxed copies of some of my favorites like some of the original release games and Activision titles but otherwise I don't care either way. Same goes for 7800, XL/XE, NES, Coco.

 

When it comes to systems like TG-16, Genesis or SMS, I prefer CIB

[Rev]

In the last few years (2008)when i started collecting intellivision is when i started getting boxes for the games i bought.

 

Now between the 2600,intellivision,colecovision,sms,nes....i have about 1,200? boxed games. All in 3 years.

 

Am i a speed collector?

[HatefulGravey]

In the last few years (2008)when i started collecting intellivision is when i started getting boxes for the games i bought.

 

Now between the 2600,intellivision,colecovision,sms,nes....i have about 1,200? boxed games. All in 3 years.

 

Am i a speed collector?

 

I should say so. Holy crap I thought I was bad with the speed collecting. That is quite the speed record there.

[atari181]

I have the bug, Be careful it can be an "expensive" bug to have. Make sure you buy the box protectors to properly store and protect your boxes.

[HatefulGravey]

I have the bug, Be careful it can be an "expensive" bug to have. Make sure you buy the box protectors to properly store and protect your boxes.

 

Where does one get box protectors. (Insert 'rape axe' joke here)

[Sonic R]

I only go for CIB on:

 

Sega Master System

Sega Genesis

disc games (PlayStation, Saturn, Gamecube, et cetera…)

 

for the folks who say they want Turbo Grafx 'CIB' are you including the outer cardboard box or just the jewel case? for me, I can do without the outer box, I had bought many games used from video stores in the 90s and they were without the box… though I have many boxes of the games I bought new… I do require the jewel cases for the hucard games (that have them) and of course for the CD games…

 

if anyone is seeking a TG-16 collection in boxes and are in need of boxes, I am offering them for sale - it's crazy the value just a cardboard box has as I've sold several for good money!

[A_Locomotive]

My Lynx is the only system I've ever been focused on getting everything for it CIB. Had it, its accessories and games that it came with not all been CIB when I bought them off craigslist I'd likely not care. I'm kind of OCD like that. With my Virtual Boy I could care less if get a game in the box as nothing else I have for it is. Had I bought it in box with games in box I'd likely not even bother looking at loose carts. The same does for all my other consoles. The only time I always care is if its a CD game. I refuse to buy loose disk games as I know I'm going to want it complete eventually, recently passed on a copy of Sonic Jam for Saturn for that very reason.

[Rev]

I have the bug, Be careful it can be an "expensive" bug to have. Make sure you buy the box protectors to properly store and protect your boxes.

 

Where does one get box protectors. (Insert 'rape axe' joke here)

 

 

they guy here on AA, his name is ianoid i think.

[+Midnight Synergy]

I love boxes!

 

Not only do I like their look, it is part of the whole experience for me. I rarely look at emulated games anymore, it seems so much more fun to select a box from the shelf, look at the copy on the back, read the manual, then insert game and play away. There are many games where I have held off on getting a loose copy - even though it took me years to find a boxed one - just so that I could have that "complete" experience. This is especially true of Atari games (not so much Nintendo stuff, where I have mostly loose cartridges), and as a result I'll likely never have something like Qbert's Qubes, Miner Vol II, etc.

[atari181]

I have the bug, Be careful it can be an "expensive" bug to have. Make sure you buy the box protectors to properly store and protect your boxes.

 

Where does one get box protectors. (Insert 'rape axe' joke here)

 

 

they guy here on AA, his name is ianoid i think.

I recomend these they are great, fit well on the shelf and protect the standard Atari boxes

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/129982-atari-box-protectors-for-sale-in-stock-pics/page__hl__box%20protectors