Worst labels for cartridges??

[eddhell]

I've seen a few best/worst topics arise....with all the same answers back and forth...so here's an idea.

what company do you consider made the WORST labels and for what reasons?

 

My first nomination is Parker Bros.  Great artwork, shitty adhesive, almost all my loose ones with labels left on them are peeling up.  Hard to find loose carts with perfect labels....

 

Then worst artwork....Zellers?

[DragonGrafx-16]

Activision... great lable design... horrible glue.

Edited November 14, 2019 by DragonGrafx-16

[bikeguychicago]

In all fairness I doubt Parker was researching adhesive that would last 30+ years while coming up with their cartridge designs.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[eddhell]

2 minutes ago, bikeguychicago said:

In all fairness I doubt Parker was researching adhesive that would last 30+ years while coming up with their cartridge designs.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
 

agreed, but even back when they were new, they were the first ones that started peeling up in my collection.  Almost like as soon as the label was exposed to air, the countdown started....

 

Activision and the plaque from the glue, hard to find good loose ones....

[+save2600]

I remember Activision's mottled or actiplaqued labels looked like crap, even BITD. 
 

I think PB labels mottled much later, but yeah - their sharp corners at the end of the cart sure didn't help. Glue and adhesives in general, drying out, is common in any industry. A reminder that nearly everything in life requires some kind of maintenance or replacement before long.
 

Also, ink on Spectravision's foil labels tends to wear or fade. I *never* physically touch the labels on my carts as I always handle by their sides - so for people that handle these things less scrupulously, little wonder why their labels look like crap. Have said it for decades now... handle cartridges like you *should* your optical media: by the edges and your stuff will last sooooo much longer.

 

Not sure what's going on with Data Age labels either. Their foil will look like acid is eating through it. Must be a reaction to oily finger and palm prints as mine don't look that way, but have seen plenty that do. 

[+pboland]

9 minutes ago, save2600 said:

Not sure what's going on with Data Age labels either. Their foil will look like acid is eating through it. Must be a reaction to oily fingerprints as mine don't look that way, but have seen plenty that do. 

I think the problem with Data Age labels is there is actual aluminum in the label that wasn't protected well. Once that aluminum is exposed to oily fingerprints, moisture and the air, it starts to oxidize. It turns kind of white and looks like acid is eating it. I've had aluminum car parts from the 70's that did the same thing.

So, Data Age I vote is the worst.

[Supergun]

Panda wins my vote for worst labels; because they freakin didn’t have them! I mean, who the hell cuts corners by only having an end label on the cartridge? Cheap skate morons.

[masschamber]

4 minutes ago, Supergun said:

Panda wins my vote for worst labels; because they freakin didn’t have them! I mean, who the hell cuts corners by only having an end label on the cartridge? Cheap skate morons.

I think cost cutting was kind of panda's thing, their manuals are terrible too

[nester]

Apollo gets my vote for worst quality. It’s hard to find them with both front and end labels intact 

 

K-Tel Vision had the worst artwork. It is the most bizarre genetic label I have ever seen. None of the weird images relate to the games at all

[bluejay]

Activision.

When I tried to clean the label of my dragster cart with wet tissues because it had some unwanted gunk on it, it started to, well, behave like wet paper. It was all slimy and wrinkly, and I wasn't very happy. That's why all my Activision labels are gross, since I didn't want to wipe them. Good old coated Atari labels can take wet tissues, but not alcohol. I learned that the hard way.(poor e.t. cart...)

[eddhell]

The single wraparound labels seem to have the worst peeling effect...those 3 Konami carts are hard to find with good labels, the end peels up and gets destroyed...

[eddhell]

I don't even try to remove any plaque anymore, I just wipe off dust and dirt and leave them alone...

[Rom Hunter]

[roadrunner]

Good info in this thread about the Data Age labels.
I kinda like Panda just having a end label.
You don't have to worry about the big main label getting damaged or falling off.

[Mangia-Boy]

Absolute worst are HES and Salu.

From the bigger companies:

Worst is M Network., then Spectravision and Atari Text.

[+GoldLeader]

As much as I want to say a lot of labels suck 40 years later (haha)...And have noticed Activision and Parker Bros can be horrible...Just for kicks, I just opened a couple of games I bought BITD...Ya see the label thing is largely about Loose Carts right?

 

I checked labels on Activision Skiing, River Raid, Amidar, Empire Strikes Back, and Frankenstein's Monster, etc...Which are all boxed from long ago and;  Guess what?  Minty, Almost perfect Labels!!!   Yay!!  Just buy boxed copies and labels are nothing to worry about!!  ?    

 

?

[Tempest]

I'd say Sears labels.  They had bad glue that caused many end labels to fall off and the ones that didn't had weird fading issues.  Finding some Sears titles without fading is really tough!

[bluejay]

Silver label Atari carts are nice on the main label, but I've seen the end label come off multiple times, and all my silver label carts' end labels had to be reapplied except for my 2 e.t. carts, where one has already been reapplied by the previous owner with hot glue, and the second's is just a reproduction label.

[+Nathan Strum]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:32 PM, Supergun said:

Panda wins my vote for worst labels; because they freakin didn’t have them! I mean, who the hell cuts corners by only having an end label on the cartridge? Cheap skate morons.

M-Network did the same. They were so cheap, they re-used Intellivision shells. No main label, and cartridges that don't stack.

[DoctorSpuds]

Spectravision has my vote for worst labels. Excellent design but the silver aesthetic makes the ink wear off incredibly easily and any and all damage is shown clear as day. The same goes for Imagic labels but at least they have a simple shape and are quite a bit more durable. Don't even bother with trying to cleanly remove a Spectravision label, they're thin and will rip incredibly easily.

 

As for worst art there are a load to choose from. My vote is for Bit Corporation, the art is amateurish and sloppy, with some of it looking like it was made with sharpies over a couple of hours. I'm not sure if they qualify but the Taiwan Cooper games also have some pretty out there artwork. the TC version of Karate's artwork is literally colored pencil and sharpie

 

[toiletunes]

Wizard.

[bluejay]

On 11/26/2019 at 8:04 PM, DoctorSpuds said:

The same goes for Imagic labels but at least they have a simple shape and are quite a bit more durable.

 

None of my Imagic carts are in good condition.

I own only 3; Dragonfire, Fathom, and Riddles of Sphinx. Dragonfire's label looks like a failed attempt of removong its label, but sphinx's label's outer coat seems to be detaching from the silver part, making it look wierd, and Fathom's label has some erased letters.

[buick]

Mattel gets my vote. Plain blue-on-black letters are just boring compared to the myriad of colors most other games came in. Not to mention no front labels thanks to their cheapskatery of re-using the Intellivision plastic casing.

[Shawn]

Hozer!!! 

[high voltage]

Not really: