CIB or Cart only

[Doppelgamer]

Nearly all my games for all systems are CIB, but I have perhaps a dozen Genesis carts on their own. I slowly add manuals and cases with time. If I was to collect SNES games again, I would likely forgo boxes and manuals, due to the crappy cardboard.

[redsox2013]

I like CIB. Unfortunately, when scouring retro stores and thrift shops you don't have a choice - you can only choose from what was donated or traded in. When I buy on Ebay I always look for CIB. I have no problem opening a case when I want to play a game, and I love the look of a full shelf of original Sega clamshells with artwork.

A local retro store where I'm well known gave me a Genesis cartridge holder that someone had left behind when they traded some games. It holds only 24 cartridges, but at least it's a nice looking display, and it has the "Genesis" logo on it. It's an official Sega product, and I see them occasionally on Ebay for $20 or so.

The hang tabs are a non issue for me. I can find CIB sports games for $1 and use the cases as donors to swap out if needed. The only exceptions are company specific cases like Acclaim & Konami, but Acclaim cases are pretty easy to come by as well.

[SegaSonic91]

The one and only time I will buy a loose cart is if I already own it and am buying as a cheap back up copy. I did the same with MEGA-CD and Saturn games when I lived in Japan. It was hard to pass up disc only games for ¥50. But again, I already owned them and bought them because all my games were in another country. I am going to buy some cheap cart only MD and SFC games next time I go to Japan to go along with my Mega Everdrive and SD2SNES when I get them. There are some games I would like to play "properly" with battery back up etc.

I do like the idea of buying doubles of CD games dirt cheap. Using a second copy that's been picked up for a few hundred ¥ is far better than using a CD-R copy.

I think the hardest system for me to collect mint CIB games for will the Famicom when I finally get a TwinFami. There are some games that are just near impossible to find complete. I should add that the "complete" thing for me, MUST include the obi if it's a CD game. It's a damn curse, I have so many PCE and some MCD games that I have 2 or even 3 copies of because I had a copy without the obi so I had to buy it again. Same goes for my Laserdiscs. PCE games are getting harder and harder to get with obi these days too, it sucks

[retro nick]

The one and only time I will buy a loose cart is if I already own it and am buying as a cheap back up copy. I did the same with MEGA-CD and Saturn games when I lived in Japan. It was hard to pass up disc only games for ¥50. But again, I already owned them and bought them because all my games were in another country. I am going to buy some cheap cart only MD and SFC games next time I go to Japan to go along with my Mega Everdrive and SD2SNES when I get them. There are some games I would like to play "properly" with battery back up etc.

I do like the idea of buying doubles of CD games dirt cheap. Using a second copy that's been picked up for a few hundred ¥ is far better than using a CD-R copy.

I think the hardest system for me to collect mint CIB games for will the Famicom when I finally get a TwinFami. There are some games that are just near impossible to find complete. I should add that the "complete" thing for me, MUST include the obi if it's a CD game. It's a damn curse, I have so many PCE and some MCD games that I have 2 or even 3 copies of because I had a copy without the obi so I had to buy it again. Same goes for my Laserdiscs. PCE games are getting harder and harder to get with obi these days too, it sucks

What's an "obi"?

[xelement5x]

The one and only time I will buy a loose cart is if I already own it and am buying as a cheap back up copy. I did the same with MEGA-CD and Saturn games when I lived in Japan. It was hard to pass up disc only games for ¥50. But again, I already owned them and bought them because all my games were in another country. I am going to buy some cheap cart only MD and SFC games next time I go to Japan to go along with my Mega Everdrive and SD2SNES when I get them. There are some games I would like to play "properly" with battery back up etc.

I do like the idea of buying doubles of CD games dirt cheap. Using a second copy that's been picked up for a few hundred ¥ is far better than using a CD-R copy.

I think the hardest system for me to collect mint CIB games for will the Famicom when I finally get a TwinFami. There are some games that are just near impossible to find complete. I should add that the "complete" thing for me, MUST include the obi if it's a CD game. It's a damn curse, I have so many PCE and some MCD games that I have 2 or even 3 copies of because I had a copy without the obi so I had to buy it again. Same goes for my Laserdiscs. PCE games are getting harder and harder to get with obi these days too, it sucks

Just obi, or do you have to have the anketto as well? :P

[retro nick]

I will buy loose carts, and not even worry about it, but for some reason, I just love getting CIB SegaCDs. Don't know why.

An obi or spine card is a small piece of cardboard that slips over the outside of a CD jewel case on the spine, held in place by the shrink wrap when the game is new. It's usual purpose is for the UPC bar code.

Thanks for the info. I knew what a spinecard was, but have never heard it called an obi.

[moonwhistle]

I used to keep everything and only buy complete games. I got so sick of the the amount of space they took up. Space is at a premium in London. Also I don't want a teenager's bedroom with games everywhere. So now everthing is cart only in shoe boxes packed away so I don't ever have to look at them.

[SegaSonic91]

Just obi, or do you have to have the anketto as well? :P

Haha!! Weeeell, they are not as important but if a game does have them, it is usually a sign of a mint game that has been taken care of. I think that "twenty6twelve" said it perfectly about an obi being included is usually an indication of better condition. I will say that little extras included in cart games such as the "Mega Soft Information" inserts in MD, MCD and 32X games also give me an indication of condition. The games always feel more "complete" and closer to new condition if they include those things. Plenty of SFC games had things like that too. It's hard enough getting major "mainstream" SFC titles in mint condition, especially games like SMB4, Zelda and Super Mario Collection, so if it includes the little extras, it's a good sign. I really wish I was not cursed with anal collector mentality!

Games and Laserdiscs just don't look right to me without that stupid bit of cardboard/paper on the side with the name or other useless info in them. Hell, I even have all the obi with my PAL MEGA-CDs, with the exception of the 2 or 3 I bought used. They must be rare as hell! There may have been one or two that didn't include one, but I remember most of them having one. I highly doubt that 99.9% of people wanting to buy Snatcher or Sonic CD would pay more for my copies because of a bit of useless paper in the side of the case though. Not that I would ever sell them!

[Doppelgamer]

Well at least nobody is complaining about the air from the Sega factory. You wouldn't be able to consider it complete, if you let that escape. We're a fussy, odd race, we humans.

[xelement5x]

I try to get stuff as complete as possible if I can, but rarely will I pay a premium for it. Normally I just wait for an item in the condition I want to show up (however long that takes) and then bit a bit more aggressively for it. I had been trying to get a minty copy of Rondo for my birthday back in early Jan but it's only now arriving this week!

[SegaSonic91]

I am the same. I will wait to find the best and most complete copy. If a seller has multiple copies of a game, I will always go for the most complete but if it's one of those crappy price gouging sellers (any French seller based in Japan for example!), I will pass and wait for another copy to show up.

[ExMosquito]

If it's UK/US the. I don't really care about boxes. But if it's Japanese them it MUST have a box. I don think there's a system that can compete with the sexiness of Japanese MD box art.

[ExMosquito]

I am the same. I will wait to find the best and most complete copy. If a seller has multiple copies of a game, I will always go for the most complete but if it's one of those crappy price gouging sellers (any French seller based in Japan for example!), I will pass and wait for another copy to show up.

Hah I've seen him in there. Asking £39.99 for Shadow Damcer :/ I don't think so mate..

[Scolirk]

I always wondered about those spine cards, kept seeing them on ebay but wasn't sure what they were really used for.

On the topic of CIB or Cart-Only, I'm trying my hardest to only buy CIB games. I'll find some titles at my local trade-in store that I need, but find out it's box & cart only and end up passing up on them. I've got about 205 Genesis games, roughly 75% have their box, and only 57% have their instruction manuals (4 games have books but no box). I find it very hard to find people selling the box/book for games I only have the cart for, and end up buying a complete set and selling the cart on ebay. Honestly I don't think the effort or money I put into buying them CIB helps raise the total value of my collection. It's not like I have any games that are rare, or factory sealed. Then again I'm collection them for fun and not as an investment.