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Why are there so many carts on the market without the box? What did these people do with the boxes? Even for the older Genesis titles that came in clamshells there are a large number on the market that don't come with the box.
For a number of games I don't mind but there are some that I do like the box art and I do wonder what people did with them as there are far more carts without the original case then CDs.
I attribute this to most of the population being complete dumbasses.
I've notices that on the US ebay there's many more loose carts than there is on UK ebay. Maybe it's got something to do with the US VHS tapes and NES games coming in easy to damage cardboard boxes.
I was in a game shop a year or so ago and they had about 60 Mega Drive games all lined up for Ģ6 each (needless to say they went unsolde), then one day I went in and they'd take them all out of their cases, slapped 99p stickers on each cart and thrown them in a bargin bin... I nearly cried, even at Ģ3 a game I'd hve bought a shedload of them.. It was just a waste!
I dunno about anyone else, but when I was a wee one, my mom made me throw out all the boxes. Even the nice plastic clamshells.
Every Genesis game I've bought since I've moved out, I've kept the box.
IMO it's because up until a few years ago, most people didn't think of game boxes as collectible and valuable; they were just packaging that you would toss like a ramen box. There were collectors, of course, but 'normal' people and casual gamers didn't keep this stuff until the rise of DVD-style cases with the PS2, XBOX, and Gamecube.
That just goes for the States.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Genesis Knight
I think this is what I'm talking about. For me, the boxes were never disposable because they were made out of plastic and held the cart and the instructions.... where else would you keep your instructions? I'm not talking as a 'collector' but even as an 8 year old I kept the boxes because they were part of the whole package... It's a bit like going to a hardware shop and buying a set of 50 drill bits (or whatever), then getting home and throwing the metal case that hold them and tells you what size is what away.
Sorry about the super-imaginative analogy, but It's very late for me :cool:
Its a conspiracy by Nintendo to drive down the resale value of competitor's games by subliminally telling people to throw away old game boxes. Much to their dismay, it backfired and people also threw away Nintendo's cardboard boxes as well.
Thats the most creative idea I could come up with.
I agree with JDB236455 that you don't need to be a collector to value the boxes. I still have the cardboard boxes for old purchased VHS tapes. I keep the boxes for DVDs. Neither of those things are collectible to me. The plastic box for a Genesis game is every bit as awesome and important as the plastic box to hold DVDs.
Sounds dead on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Redifer
I was shopping for a number of games and only looking at boxed copies. I couldn't believe how many were missing their instructions. The boxes made it so easy to keep everything in one place and in nice shape. I've ALWAYS kept the boxes and instructions and in fine shape and I've only become a "collector" more recently.
But then, most of the toys from my childhood are still in incredible condition. Maybe I'm just weird that way.
Slightly off topic, but is there any source online for getting replacement clamshell cases? I was thinking of replacing everything and printing my own inserts, but the only way I know of getting them is to just buy cheap complete games on ebay and gut them (which makes me sad.)
Yea in my experience it seems to be mainly a US thing. I dunno why it was though I never threw away anything as a kid I just don't get it but it was the norm back then. Even today it actually still happens a lot, not as bad as with the 16-bit generation but its still fairly common. Ive been doing inventory at a new GameStop and it seemed ridiculous to me how many PS2 and Xbox games come in disc only. I know at the end of the day its the game that really matters but why, WHY throw away the cases?Quote:
Originally Posted by Genesis Knight
Ha, I stated that a while ago in the Haul-thread...
Indeed, about 80% of games on eBay Germany come with box, and at least 60% with manual too.
I found it a pain to search on eBay USA, because of the irritating sale-methods there. Most sellers only use stock photos...here in Germany, there are no stock photos, but only pics made by the seller himself. So when I browse eBay USA, I always see pics of the covers, with the title "game xyz, GREAT CONDITION!!!". Only when reading the description carefully I notice "this game is in a great condition and has been tested. It comes with cartridge only". It really hurts the fun of searching eBay. In the end it is only a small number of games that are really complete.
I understand that the cardboard-boxes have been damaged and maybe then thrown away through the years (so I looked for months to get a complete copy of X-Perts), but with the clamshell-cases itīs a complete mystery.
I believe videogames were a greater hype in the US than in Europe back in the days, and still nobody cared about the boxes. Even the idea of throwing away such good plastic-boxes seems absurd to me; people didnīt throw away their VHS-cases either, nor do they throw away their DVD-cases today.
So I only look for games on eBay USA when they are almost impossible to get here.
I never will be able to understand why on earth anyone would throw away the box. I remember when I first started seeing carts with out the plastic case when the Genny was still new and the stupidity of it blew me away. The logic in it escapes me. Though I have all the boxes for everything I bought back then.
eBay sellers that use stock photos are usually "stores" and if you see that they are using stock photos, avoid that store altogether.
Loose carts definately seem to be more common in the US, for every system infact, I guess back in the day all you American kids threw your boxes in the trash and had shelves full of carts.
I collected dinky toys for years which luckilly got me into the habit of always keeping the boxes for everything.