Grudge Match: Mr. Clean vs. Label Coxing

[Mindfield]

So there I was, minding my own business when I recieved a tip via E-Mail from someone I'd been talking to about Atari carts. He talked of a miraculous product that could have the potential to do something about a problem that plagues all Atari collectors at one time or another: Coxing. You know, those pesky autographs kids once defaced their cartridges with the moment they got hold of a sharpie. I was intrigued; coxing has been the bane of many an otherwise fine-looking cartridge (and of many that were ugly to begin with.)

 

The product, simply, was this:

 

 

Of course I had seen TV ads touting the product's ability to wipe walls clean of budding young Picasso leavings, but I never thought much about it -- until now. So today, I went and picked up a package and decided to pit it against one of Atari's greatest mortal enemies: permanent ink.

 

ROUND ONE: CHOPPER COMMAND "R"

I removed one of the two white Magic Eraser sponges from the package and, per instructions, dampened it and pinched out the excess so that it was only just damp. I then began rubbing one corner in a gentle but firm circular motion on the offending Chopper Command cart. After two minutes or so, this was the result:

 

 

No, no, no. That's not what's supposed to happen at all. Not only was the "R" still in evidence, albeit faded, it was also removing the screenshot behind it. Totally unacceptable.

 

ROUND ONE FINAL: INK.

 

I was undaunted, however. Perhaps Activision labels simply aren't made of the good stuff. Indeed they simply appear to be printed on ordinary coated adhesive stock; not much protection from ink there. It was time to try something of heartier stock...

 

ROUND TWO: LINDA WEBB'S GALAXIAN

Ah, silver labels. Varnish coating over foil-stamped stock. This was sturdy stuff right here, no question. Linda's John Hancock is also entirely on the silver portion -- she did me the favour of not scribbling inside the lines. Thank you, Linda. For this test, I decided that since using the whole foam brick was unweildy, I'd cut off a smaller chunk for greater accuracy and range of motion. The results speak for themselves.

 

 

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Clean as a whistle and shiny as a new penny. (I don't know what it is about whistles that make them inherently clean, I mean good lord they're full of spittle -- but I digress) The image does show what appears to be two missed spots -- in fact, those are two areas that seemed to have shined up a bit more than the rest of the label. Rest assured, this permanent marker was only a temporary setback.

 

ROUND TWO FINAL: MR. CLEAN

 

Heartened, and with renewed vigor at my success, I went on to another tough cookie...

 

ROUND THREE: DEMON ATTACK

Another silver label, though the foil used here is slightly different. No matter. The initials "BS" appear in the top right-hand corner of the label -- again, almost exclusively on a silver area. I'm thankful that at least some of these kids were sensible in their monogramming.

 

 

All gone -- no BS! (har) The silver of these labels also polishes up pretty significantly, and you can see the area where the monogram had been polished off. It's not clearly visible either, but a small portion of the red ink line where the monogram crossed over ever so slightly was wiped off a wee bit. No big deal -- it still looks miles better than it did.

 

ROUND THREE FINAL: MR. CLEAN

 

Mr. Clean's prodidgious pecs have proven mighty indeed -- so far. But we've only just gotten into it. It was time to scale it back a bit and move to more delicate stuff.

 

ROUND FOUR: GOLF SCORE

Black on black isn't exactly the most useful fashion statement you could make -- unless you're Metallica -- but it can still produce very visible results on Atari text labels. Here, Golf has been coxed with "40" and a "B" below it. It is entirely on a black area, so once again we don't have to risk destroying any printing that's supposed to be there. However, text labels are heavy coated stock, albeit of much better stuff than Activision labels. How does it fare?

 

 

Sweet. No evidence of coxing or the cleaning thereof -- a perfectly spotless label. I even cleaned a bit of light schmutz off the right side of the label to absolutely no visible effect to the text on the label or the label itself.

 

ROUND FOUR FINAL: MR. CLEAN

 

Alright. It was time to go back to basics: Atari picture labels. I hadn't much luck with Activision labels, but reasoned that Atari labels were possibly sturdier and may survive the cleansing Mr. Clean was about to give it.

 

ROUND FIVE: LINDA WEBB, PART II

 

Having no other light areas to sign her name to, Linda decided simply to write across the picture. This was going to be a toughie indeed. I used gentler strokes for this one, hoping that less pressure and more time would assist in removing more coxing and less picture.

 

 

Well, the results are better than Chopper Command, no doubt, but as you can see, while the coxing is pretty much gone, it has also removed a good bit of the label's ink as well, resulting in a faded patch where the coxing was. Better? Well, I have to be frank here and say that even despite the label fading, it comes across as more an effect of usage wear and the ravages of time, and it does come off nicer looking than that ugly coxing.

 

It's a flawed victory, but I'm going to have to give this one to baldie.

 

ROUND FIVE FINAL: MR. CLEAN

 

So Mr. Clean has scored big points with silver and text labels, utterly failed at Activision labels, and only marginally made the grade with Atari picture labels. Thus far he has a considerable lead over damnable defacing. But I had one last test. This will be his more difficult trial yet -- a tough enemy indeed, his victory is in no way assured. Place your bets.

 

ROUND SIX: STELLAR TRACK AND THE PAINT PEN

Yes, you heard me. Paint. Sticky, silvery, bonds-to-surfaces, decades-old paint. All over the cartridge shell -- back, front, and sides. I must confess, I held little hope for the brauny bald guy. I almost felt sorry for pitting him against this stuff -- it's quite an unfair match. But I let them duke it out just the same.

 

 

Oh, the humanity! It was painful to watch, but the second image depicting Mr. Clean's attempts to wipe out the paint on the left side of the cartridge showed the clear winner: the paint mopped the floor with Mr. Clean.

 

ROUND SIX FINAL: PAINT PEN

 

Well, there you have it, folks. Despite a couple of setbacks, Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser has come out a winner! And all he needs is a little water. No harsh chemicals or citrus, just ordinary tap water. The verdict: A fine product that may eliminate the need for you to go hunting for label upgrades on many of your carts.

[yuppicide]

I've used them before (on walls) and they work good. I might add tho that the package magically disappeared so I only got to try one out. So, who's Linda Webb?! An ex-girlfriend that got mad at you so she defaced all your carts?! I noticed you have more than one by her.

 

You mean you're not going to try Armorall?! LOL!

[Mindfield]

I've used them before (on walls) and they work good. I might add tho that the package magically disappeared so I only got to try one out. So, who's Linda Webb?! An ex-girlfriend that got mad at you so she defaced all your carts?! I noticed you have more than one by her.

 

You mean you're not going to try Armorall?! LOL!

893958[/snapback]

 

No idea who Ms. Webb is, but I got a bunch of her carts in a lot a couple of weeks ago. But she's nothing compared to another fellow who insisted on writing down his name and phone number on an adhesive label and plastering them to the back of each cart. I must have had a couple dozen of those.

 

Armor-all? Good God, man. You should know that's only for hardware!

[Jess Ragan]

So, how well does Mr. Clean work against Mr. T?

 

(I still pine for the good old days of the WWWF...)

 

JR

[yuppicide]

Armor All is like an inside joke here. Anyway, you should call that guy who wrote his phone number on all the carts and ask why.

[Mindfield]

Armor All is like an inside joke here. Anyway, you should call that guy who wrote his phone number on all the carts and ask why.

895491[/snapback]

 

lol ... unfortunately there's no area code so it could be anywhere on this continent.

 

Plus, I doubt the conversation would go well even if he still lived there.

 

<ring>

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi ... yeah, listen, is there someone there who, like, probably twenty years ago or so stuck his name and phone number on a bunch of his Atari 2600 cartridges?"

<click>

"Hello?"

[+remowilliams]

Cool, I saw some of those Mr. Clean things in my house lately (GF must have picked them up), and was wondering how well they'd clean up some classic gear. I'll have to try them out.

 

Though I have to say my favorite cleaning stuff so far is RAM. That stuff is simply amazing! It cleans like nothing I've ever seen.

 

I also use lighter fluid, Oops, Goof Off, paint thinner and (when I'm in a particularly nasty mood) - Fedron. That stuff will clean off and/or eat anything. Nasty!

 

And for polishing plastics - Novus (incredible!). And metals - Flitz.

[Mindfield]

Cool, I saw some of those Mr. Clean things in my house lately (GF must have picked them up), and was wondering how well they'd clean up some classic gear.  I'll have to try them out.

 

Though I have to say my favorite cleaning stuff so far is RAM.  That stuff is simply amazing!  It cleans like nothing I've ever seen.

 

I also use lighter fluid, Oops, Goof Off, paint thinner and (when I'm in a particularly nasty mood) - Fedron.  That stuff will clean off and/or eat anything.  Nasty!

 

And for polishing plastics - Novus (incredible!).  And metals - Flitz.

895507[/snapback]

 

I've never even heard of most of those. (Oops and Goof Off I know. The rest I don't think they sell up this way)

 

I try and stay away from chemical cleaners unless I know the surface I'm cleaning can stand up to it. That was what I liked about the Eraser -- it's basically water and a dense sponge. No worries about burning off topcoats.

 

I tried the eraser on a few other carts beyond the ones in the title post as well:

 

Carts you can scrub indiscriminately:

Parker Bros. (varnished), Vidtec/US Games (laminated), Data Age (varnished)

 

Carts to be careful with:

Spectravideo (like Imagic -- foil, but no topcoat)

 

Carts you shouldn't even consider:

Xonox, 20th Century Fox (both ink on coated stock, like Activision)

 

Also, the Magic Eraser wouldn't even touch permanent marker on plastic, so if someone signed the cart shell, use Goo Gone or Orange Clean.

Edited July 21, 2005 by Mindfield

[+remowilliams]

I've never even heard of most of those.  (Oops and Goof Off I know.  The rest I don't think they sell up this way)

895728[/snapback]

I *highly* recommend to anyone cleaning classic gear (or nearly anything else under the sun) to try RAM. It's not easy to get a hold of though. I have cleaned the nastiest keyboards, computer cases, etc with the stuff effortlessly and without damaging paints or plastics. The stuff is like a miracle. And it's non abrasive and non toxic to boot. I've tried tons of stuff over the years, but nothing has come even close to RAM.

 

http://www.ramcleaner.com/index.htm

 

Novus plastic polish cleans and protects like a charm. Makes all that old plastic look like it just came right out of a sealed box. Also has the nice effect of stopping most fingerprint nastiness on plastics that like to collect them. I've put it on all the classic stuff I own.

 

http://www.noscratch.com/novus/number1.shtml

[Albert]

Mindfield, great writeup, thanks for spending the time to writeup your experience and take all the pictures above. I've never tried this stuff, and I've been pretty leery of trying to remove markings from cart labels. I've used Goo Gone to remove various markings from plastic before, but I've never been brave enough to try it on a cart label.

 

Thanks again!

 

..Al

[Mindfield]

I've never even heard of most of those.  (Oops and Goof Off I know.  The rest I don't think they sell up this way)

895728[/snapback]

I *highly* recommend to anyone cleaning classic gear (or nearly anything else under the sun) to try RAM. It's not easy to get a hold of though. I have cleaned the nastiest keyboards, computer cases, etc with the stuff effortlessly and without damaging paints or plastics. The stuff is like a miracle. And it's non abrasive and non toxic to boot. I've tried tons of stuff over the years, but nothing has come even close to RAM.

 

http://www.ramcleaner.com/index.htm

 

Novus plastic polish cleans and protects like a charm. Makes all that old plastic look like it just came right out of a sealed box. Also has the nice effect of stopping most fingerprint nastiness on plastics that like to collect them. I've put it on all the classic stuff I own.

 

http://www.noscratch.com/novus/number1.shtml

895809[/snapback]

 

RAM ain't cheap stuff it seems, and that's one ugly site -- but it's something to consider anyway. For plastics like monitor bezels or things like that I tend to use Oxy Clean. It works quite well in most cases.

 

Mindfield, great writeup, thanks for spending the time to writeup your experience and take all the pictures above.  I've never tried this stuff, and I've been pretty leery of trying to remove markings from cart labels.  I've used Goo Gone to remove various markings from plastic before, but I've never been brave enough to try it on a cart label. 

 

Thanks again!

 

..Al

895846[/snapback]

 

My pleasure. I wouldn't trust Goo Gone to clean any but the heartiest of labels (and the only ones I can think of that fit that description are US Games, as they're plastic laminated) I'd use it to clean cart shells and hardware though. But the Magic Eraser seems to be the most gentle on delicate surfaces like labels -- no chemicals, just water, and since it's non-abrasive it won't scratch the label surface. As shown it's not good for all label types, but for those that it works on, it works quite well on. I managed to remove quite a few autographs from the dupes I'm selling off, as well as from a few of my own carts. (Oh, yeah, that's one other label that it works well on: Zellers. )