What do you all think about reproduction game boxes/cases?

[HCRAYERT504]

They look nice but is there any point in purchasing them. Some people are like why pay so much for old cardboard so they go for reproduction boxes.

[digdugnate]

i think it's a 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' type thing.

 

If you are are a collector that would like to display the boxes (because, face it, some of the box art is COOL), but don't want to pay the crazy prices for NIB stuff or original boxes, I think repros are great. Likewise, it'd make for a good storage medium on a shelf if you'd like to 'face out' your stuff to see what you have.

 

The only thing I'd balk at is when someone buys a repro box with the intention of fleecing someone else that it's the real deal.

[icemanxp300]

As long as they are marked as such it is fine. I personally would think a shelf full of crisp new boxes would be nicer looking than beat up boxes. I as well will not pay hundreds for a piece of paper.

[Tanooki]

Nothing wrong with it, other than the nerd rage it conjures up because some people get angry about what others do with their property and all that. There was a lot of terrible art then and yet there was some real iconic stuff. In the end if someone wants an art piece that looks the same, have at it, enjoy the box. BFD if you're that into the hobby, learn your shit instead of raging out on others. Due diligence is a must.

[Blazing Lazers]

Who cares? Games should be played. It's not supposed to be about the money. Too many shelf queens and collectards into "collecting" nowadays. Maybe I'd have some concern about this stuff if I hadn't been able to build up my hoards back in the day, or I was collecting and playing things that have a chance of being fakex. It's been an side benefit of collecting mostly obscure or early system sets- nobody is faking those, as the potential market is just too small and knowledgeable.

[Blazing Lazers]

Oh, and for what it's worth, I hope repros and fakes get so good and so commonplace that all of the speculators and collectards get driven out of the hobby, and so many indistinguishable repros flood the market that prices plummet back to earlier levels.

[icemanxp300]

Oh, and for what it's worth, I hope repros and fakes get so good and so commonplace that all of the speculators and collectards get driven out of the hobby, and so many indistinguishable repros flood the market that prices plummet back to earlier levels.

 

Your wish is 90% there. I am huge collector and have a huge collection. I gave up collecting sealed like 8 years ago or so because the h-seams on nes games were almost perfectly spot on. 3 years ago I had my major meltdown over reproductions and it basically killed the hobby for me. It was nice to collect back when it was a fun experience. Now it isn't.

 

I see people who look over labels with black lights and shit to determine if it is real or not. Sorry not worth it to me. I have a nice collection but I don't worry about expanding it much these days and I have zero interest in buying anything that is worth a lot. I can print Gamecube inserts practically perfect compared to the original and I'm not even trying to fake it. My Genesis inserts practically look better than the originals.

 

Take someone who wants to sell fake as real and has good equipment and forget it. When it comes to things like boxes, manuals, labels. There is very little you can do to tell if they are fake or original these days. The only thing people have going for them now is mask roms vs eproms and hell maybe someone already faked those as well and we don't know it.

 

There is no game these days worth more to me than a reproduction. If what I am buying is likely fake anyhow I might as well save my money. There is a reason why you see so many collectors selling there collection. I have sold most of my high end stuff. I may sell the rest of what is worth money as well. We know the crash is coming.

[godslabrat]

If it's clearly marked as such, or sufficiently different as to not be confused with the original, then I have no issue with repel boxes. I'm personally a big fan of bitbox, which I suppose could fall into that category... but if you confuse bitbox with the original, you're an idiot. (Spoiler: bitbox is way better)

[+save2600]

If it's clearly marked as such, or sufficiently different as to not be confused with the original, then I have no issue with repel boxes. I'm personally a big fan of bitbox, which I suppose could fall into that category... but if you confuse bitbox with the original, you're an idiot. (Spoiler: bitbox is way better)

Whoa, I never saw those bitboxes before - they look like a great alternative to the universal game case. They hold up well enough though? See they're made of that thin black (relatively brittle?) plastic, that when flexed too many times, start to crack.

 

If decent, wouldn't mind seeing bitboxes made for the 7800 and Jaguar someday...

[godslabrat]

Whoa, I never saw those bitboxes before - they look like a great alternative to the universal game case. They hold up well enough though? See they're made of that thin black (relatively brittle?) plastic, that when flexed too many times, start to crack.

 

If decent, wouldn't mind seeing bitboxes made for the 7800 and Jaguar someday...

You have the idea right, but the actual plastic is both thicker and more malleable than, say, a Disney VHS case. Im not saying theyll never crack, but I bet it would take some abuse.

[icemanxp300]

Hmmm, looking up bitbox led me to stone age gamer in which he recommends a 50lb paper. I checked that site and they have an 88lb matte and a 96lb glossy. I have been looking around forever for a thick enough paper to print nes/snes game boxes out of. I now have samples on the way

 

The paper is not cheap though and for like 11x14 which I believe is what I would need it is for the matte it is $63.82 for 50 and the glossy appears to only be available in 11x17 at $32.79 for 20 sheets.

 

In order to offer boxes at a reasonable price I could make it so the customer has to cut out the box themselves, we'll see.

[HoshiChiri]

I'm fine with universal game cases, bitboxes, anything that's clearly an aftermarket creation- but not with things trying to exactly mimic the original to the point you can't tell it isn't. I mean- if you just want to enjoy the boxart, you can get that in an aftermarket case. If you need it to look like an original, just get an original!

 

For me personally, I only care about boxes/cases for disc based games. Cart only is fine, and easier to store. Although I like to have at least one boxed game per system, just as an example.

[Tanooki]

 

Your wish is 90% there. I am huge collector and have a huge collection. I gave up collecting sealed like 8 years ago or so because the h-seams on nes games were almost perfectly spot on. 3 years ago I had my major meltdown over reproductions and it basically killed the hobby for me. It was nice to collect back when it was a fun experience. Now it isn't.

 

I see people who look over labels with black lights and shit to determine if it is real or not. Sorry not worth it to me. I have a nice collection but I don't worry about expanding it much these days and I have zero interest in buying anything that is worth a lot. I can print Gamecube inserts practically perfect compared to the original and I'm not even trying to fake it. My Genesis inserts practically look better than the originals.

 

Take someone who wants to sell fake as real and has good equipment and forget it. When it comes to things like boxes, manuals, labels. There is very little you can do to tell if they are fake or original these days. The only thing people have going for them now is mask roms vs eproms and hell maybe someone already faked those as well and we don't know it.

 

There is no game these days worth more to me than a reproduction. If what I am buying is likely fake anyhow I might as well save my money. There is a reason why you see so many collectors selling there collection. I have sold most of my high end stuff. I may sell the rest of what is worth money as well. We know the crash is coming.

I felt the same way years ago. It used to be fun. It used to be a great experience getting, giving, playing, all of it. Now it's more misery than it is worth.

 

The way I see it, the more 1:1 everything gets the better. If it comes down to people having to always carry a bit kit and a black light, or some other form of analyzer, good. For those who have been in it since the 90s and the 00s, what exists now is just awful. You can be in denial all you like because you have deeper pockets or you can be a beast too with a steady supply of flippables to get stuff. The supply in many areas are drying out or have dried out watching comments all over getting more common as time goes along. There won't be a bubble to blow out, but there will be a wall. More are hitting and walking away or going with kits/emulators and roms, or just settling with what they have. This all comes back around by those who don't care what it costs and keep buying because there's enough who can front it somehow easily or not. So if it costs them having to use far more tools, more caution, and more expensive means of authentication they brought it on themselves along with everyone else.

[HCRAYERT504]

My problem with gba reproduction cases is that they are made out of plastic like a DS game case. Shouldn't a reproduction case mimic the original?

[Newsdee]

I'd like to find a reproduction of the cardboard insert of game carts... I've kept the cases of my euro SNES games but threw out the "filling" ...

I suppose I could make one if I get my hands on an original one.

Edited January 25, 2018 by Newsdee

[icemanxp300]

I'd like to find a reproduction of the cardboard insert of game carts... I've kept the cases of my euro SNES games but threw out the "filling" ...

I suppose I could make one if I get my hands on an original one.

 

Just look LOL.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-SNES-Trays-Super-Nintendo-Reproduction-Tray-Inserts-White-Box-Lot/161740726367?hash=item25a87fa05f:g:Rp0AAOSwPcVVhsGh

[Tanooki]

The inserts exist, but people do get attacked over some of them. Earthbound has a 1:1 quality one that had been up there for years and the maker got banned from forums over it because of angry collectors. I'm not sure how that environment now is versus like 5 years ago or so, perhaps there's more a layer of acceptance over denial and anger now.

[+GoldenWheels]

What "cases" are we talking about? I mean, I like to get cases for loose Turbo/PC-E games...the games and instructions are hard to organize and keep in any kind of searchable order otherwise. But I don' actually buy repro cases...I just gut cheap PCE baseball games. There are 3d printed Turbografx cases...but they look kind of like crap.

 

OTOH, you'll never catch me spending money on repro cardboard. That's crazy talk.

[carlsson]

One should remember that if it wasn't for collectors who are willing to pay big money for items, most of the old games that trickle onto the market would end up in the recycle bin as (1) those who still got the stuff wouldn't know that anyone else wants it and (2) the value would be neglectable, meaning it is more work to wrap and send stuff than just dump it.

 

While I'm no serious CIB collector, I've come to understand that repros are becoming a real threat to the collectors, in particular those counterfeit ones on purpose not marked as reproductions. This goes for certain inlays etc too, plus of course that the actual cartridges, disks etc can be counterfeit too, or if you like to call it bootleg. Yes, the most eager collectors will drop out and prices go down. Hopefully the vast majority of old games and systems already have found their way from abandoned closets so those who like to just play with the old stuff still can grab it before it is recycled.

[chuckwalla]

I've bought a few of these repro boxes over the years.

 

Not bad for a few $ each.

 

Nothing to hold the manuals in place but doable.

[Eltigro]

I've never been really into needing things to be CIB, but it is nice when they are and they certainly look better on a shelf...

 

I lost my copy of Link's Awakening long ago, but I still had the box and manual and all the original inserts and such. It was in storage and pretty much in mint condition. Sold it, without the game, for over $40.

 

I still have the box for my Castlevania Aria of Sorrow for GBA, but since I still have the game, too, I'm not interested in selling it. However, that box is still in storage where the Link's Awakening box is. Not that interested in putting it in the box and on the shelf.

 

I would prefer to have my Genesis, Master System, and TurboGrafx games, as well as disc based games, in original packaging because it was nice packaging. But for NES, SNES... it was just a cardboard box... just not as much interest to me. And those games store/display pretty well on the shelf without the box.

 

Most of my Intellivision games are boxed, but that's because that's how they came to me and the box is a little more handy than the NES boxes because they actually serve more of a purpose (holding controller overlays) and are built more like cases (in the way they open up and hold the game.)

 

Anyway, as far as repros go, I'm fine with it as long as, like others have said, it's obvious that it's a repro. If it's trying to mimic the original with no verbiage saying it's a repro, then no.

 

But then, I'm probably not going to buy them either way.

[TDIRunner]

If it's clearly marked as such, or sufficiently different as to not be confused with the original, then I have no issue with repel boxes. I'm personally a big fan of bitbox, which I suppose could fall into that category... but if you confuse bitbox with the original, you're an idiot. (Spoiler: bitbox is way better)

 

 

I have all of my cart based collection in some type of custom case. Most are in universal games cases, while some are in specific console cases like NES or Game Boy. I was once told by a "die hard collector" that what I was doing was wrong because my plastic game cases could easily be mistaken for the original boxes. I still to this day regret not getting a screen shot of that.

[TDIRunner]

My problem with gba reproduction cases is that they are made out of plastic like a DS game case. Shouldn't a reproduction case mimic the original?

 

 

I prefer the plastic cases over the original cardboard. They will last longer, and you don't have to worry about wearing them out every time you open them to get the game out. Cheaper too buying cart only.

[TDIRunner]

Hmmm, looking up bitbox led me to stone age gamer in which he recommends a 50lb paper. I checked that site and they have an 88lb matte and a 96lb glossy. I have been looking around forever for a thick enough paper to print nes/snes game boxes out of. I now have samples on the way

 

The paper is not cheap though and for like 11x14 which I believe is what I would need it is for the matte it is $63.82 for 50 and the glossy appears to only be available in 11x17 at $32.79 for 20 sheets.

 

In order to offer boxes at a reasonable price I could make it so the customer has to cut out the box themselves, we'll see.

 

I use Red River paper 50lb. premium matte double sided 8.5 x 14

 

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/50lb-premium-matte-double-sided.html

 

This is the same paper that Stone Age Gamer uses (or at least it was several years ago). I haven't kept up to see if they have changed paper supplies. This is an excellent paper for custom game cases that I've been using for years. Here is a picture I took a long time ago for a different forum comparing this to regular copy paper.

 

[icemanxp300]

For stuffing art inside a plastic box just about any lb paper would work. I personally hate anything in those clear cases. I need a heavier weight to support a real box. I really don't understand especially for genesis why someone would buy a clear case instead of the black generic ones that actually look similar to the real deal. I know the generic genesis cases don't fit 32x games so I can somewhat see the clear ones for that purpose.