Cleaning and Relabeling Atari Cartridges

[+laz455]

1 hour ago, Duckie25 said:

I have a few cartridges that have broken cases (shells) and I want to save them. Can I purchase new shells for them somewhere?

See post 22 here and also on this forum you can probably get good used shells here or ebay.

[adamchevy]

On 6/29/2018 at 2:50 PM, Jstick said:

 

Funny, I'm in the same situation as you (carts mostly stored, pretty much only myself and the kids going to be looking at them) but my reaction is the opposite. Carts with dirty, faded, ripped or missing labels just look WRONG to me, considering the system was known for it's colourful art, packaging and games. Dull and faded just don't seem to do justice to my fond memories of the console.

 

In the Art of Atari book, it is emphasized how important the artists' renderings were to both the marketing and the overall experience of playing a VCS game; they set the stage for the action in your imagination for what was otherwise a rather primitive depiction on your TV screen. This idea of supplemental aesthetics playing an important role in the gameplay experience is extended to all aspects of the system for me: the look and feel of the original console and controllers, and of course the physical carts themselves. If you replace (or degrade) some of these things, it just doesn't feel the same anymore.

 

More so than any other system, the overall presentation somehow does affect my satisfaction of owning and using a 2600.

This is exactly why I’m replacing all my labels with pbolands new ones.

[+pboland]

I really need to bookmark this topic. Again, I've had a couple people ask me about cleaning a cart for a new label. This is my go to topic for just that. Very good info in this thread. Be sure to read the very first post in this topic.

[davyK]

On 6/29/2018 at 1:03 AM, Jstick said:

 

 

I’d be shocked if you have a set of picture label Activision carts with no adhesive bleed through.

This.  The prime reason for label replacement. Those old Activision carts look gnarly.   Some might like that though! 

Edited March 27, 2023 by davyK

[+pboland]

I've had a couple more people ask me about cleaning a cart for a new label. I sent them to this topic. It may be an older topic but the info is still valid.