What do you do with your game manuals?

[Rick Dangerous]

So i've gotten pretty good at storing carts, floppy disks and such, either using universal game cases, floppy storage bins, or neat shelving, my next conundrum is manuals. I've got quite a pile going..

 

When i can I put them into cases with games, but MANY manuals don't fit into UGC's (most atari manuals in fact.

 

What do you guys do? I'd really like to have them accessible and perhaps even viewable, so the "put them in a box under the bed" solution isn't what i'm looking for?

 

i was thinking of doing a three ring binder for each system and putting the manuals (1 per) in plastic transparent page holders.

 

Any great ideas out there? Pics appreciated!

[Tales from the Game Room]

Back in the day, when Commodore 64 was king, What I did was invest in a file cabinet and hardware to store floating folders [like most offices store their paperwork].

[+Gemintronic]

The question is: what did the game manuals do to themselves? Ever since I was a kid they'd disappear shortly after I opened the box

[Pixelboy]

The question is: what did the game manuals do to themselves? Ever since I was a kid they'd disappear shortly after I opened the box

Your dog ate them. He needed some fiber in his diet.

[HoshiChiri]

I have an old plastic box a planner came in that all my loose gaming papers go into. It's not the best solution, but it works for my small collection- quite frankly, I've always considered a loose manual a good incentive to get a loose box and make a CIB set. As a result, my spare manuals don't stay spares for long.

[BydoEmpire]

I have a stack of manuals from the 80s (2600, Inty, NES, computer games) in a big ziplock in a drawer. I managed to keep most of my original Inty manuals, but iffy on 2600 and NES ones.

[mbd30]

When I was a kid, I always just threw things like boxes and manuals away and kept the carts. Pretty much everyone I knew did the same. It's amazing that any Atari 2600, NES, etc. boxes and manuals still exist.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

I usually threw the boxes away, kept the manuals in a tupperware container, and the cart or case goes on the shelf.

[Eltigro]

Don't know how many you have, how "accessible" or prominently displayed you want them or how much you want to spend or whatever, but what about something like a glass top, storage coffee table? They would be somewhat protected (not from sun damage, though, so keep it away from windows) and spread out in the table would be kind of an interesting collage of the covers of the manuals. The top opens so you can access them if necessary. It wouldn't really be organized, but might make a neat piece of furniture to have in front of the couch in the game room (if you have something like that.)

 

Was thinking something along the lines of the pic below. Has a glass top so you can view the nicer ones and some drawers below for storage of extras or controllers or whatever. (On this one, I guess the top shows the contents of the top drawer?) Plus, it's a functional piece of furniture.

 

[0078265317]

The question is: what did the game manuals do to themselves? Ever since I was a kid they'd disappear shortly after I opened the box

 

Mine are mostly in the garbage too.

[mbd30]

 

Mine are mostly in the garbage too.

 

Seriously. It's astonishing that any still exist. No wonder old CIB games are so expensive.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

I still have most of mine from back in the day, I keep them on my shelving with my games and boxes

[Omega-TI]

 

Any great ideas out there?

 

I don't know about 'great', but my idea(s):

 

1) If they are in good condition, scan them into PDF format.

This way you'll still have the information when you need it and can even print it if you need (at the size you want).

 

2) Sell the originals on Ebait.

Someone MAY be willing to pay for originals.

 

3) Use any earned money to buy more goodies!

 

It's "intelligent & profitable RECYCLING.

[fiddlepaddle]

Because they are all different sizes (even different versions of the same Atari 2600 manuals came in different sizes), I keep some with the games, some in the boxes I keep for no good reason, some in a shoebox. It's probably the most disorganized category of items in my collection.

 

I notice manuals for everything else in life (appliances, do-it-yourself furniture, cars, etc) also come in completely random sizes and level of detail. I'm glad I don't collect toasters or modems!

[7800fan]

Use em for fire starting in fireplaces. If you looked really hard yo umay find bits of Air Raid manual in the ash. I think there's Eric Eye of the Beholder manual in it as well.

 

 

 

 

j/k they are kept in a box. Some manuals don't fit anything and getting larger 8.5x11 page protector doesn't work since they don't hold well.

[Keatah]

..or electrical insulators and diodes. There's a whole society around those!

[VectorGamer]

Sorry no pics OP. But I found a bunch of binders at Target and sleeves to put all my manuals in. I then organized the manuals per system. I had to break the 2600 manuals down to manufacturer and for Atari had to break them down further into black/text label, red/silver label and then A-L M-Z.

[empsolo]

Speaking of manuals, what does everybody think of the idea that modern games (at least modern Nintendo releases) coming with digital manuals instead of physical?

[HoshiChiri]

Speaking of manuals, what does everybody think of the idea that modern games (at least modern Nintendo releases) coming with digital manuals instead of physical?

 

As long as there's a placeholder paper in the case, I'm usually ok- but I'm not a fan. Especially when there's no placeholder, like with a lot of Vita games. I get very tired of having to pour over google results and Ebay pages trying to figure out if a newer game is incomplete or just doesn't come with anything. It bugs me.