Things about your collection that irk you

[Rob]

What are some aspects of your game collection that piss you off?

Aside from the obvious damaged, dirty carts, I hate buying a disc based game and having to print a cover off (if I can find one online). It never looks "genuine", but it looks better than nothing.

I also hate that The Sega CD/ Saturn/ Early Playstation games came in those oversized plastic trays, because they're never in the original case and I don't have any extras laying around. I end up putting them in standard CD Jewel cases but they look stupid next to the real thing.

And like the Angry Video Game Nerd, I hate cartridges that don't have end labels on them! My N64, Odyssey 2 and 5200 games are impossible to read stacked. I started putting labels on the end of them but after a couple of years the labels all fall off. I don't want to put anything permanent on them and mar the plastic, so I have to live with it.

I also hate the giant power bricks that the older systems used. I really wish they would have used the lead with the brick in the middle of the wire, that ended with a regular plug. Instead I can hook up two, maybe three AC adapters on one multi input strip, even though there's six outlets!

One thing that irks me is placing non-standard carts next to regular sized carts. The EA games for the Genesis have to go in a separate stack because they're a different size from the standard Genesis carts. The M Network games that Intellivision put out for the 2600 are also oddly shaped, and I have to put them in a separate stack too.

Aside from that, it's just dealing with lack of space/storage. I'm at the point where I want to display everything I have, but it's just not practical. A lot of it is sitting in drawers or boxes. I have a dedicated game room but my girlfriend uses it to store clothing in, so it looks like a 1970's TV room had sex with a womens clothing outlet and my game room is their offspring.

[Jakenut86]

What are some aspects of your game collection that piss you off?

Aside from the obvious damaged, dirty carts, I hate buying a disc based game and having to print a cover off (if I can find one online). It never looks "genuine", but it looks better than nothing.

I definitely hate damaged carts and only get em if they are part of a lot and try to replace em' as soon as possible. I try not to get games without covers but if I had to print one off I wouldn't like it either.

I also hate that The Sega CD/ Saturn/ Early Playstation games came in those oversized plastic trays, because they're never in the original case and I don't have any extras laying around. I end up putting them in standard CD Jewel cases but they look stupid next to the real thing.

There's actually a store near here that has a bunch of those trays so if I need one I go there.

And like the Angry Video Game Nerd, I hate cartridges that don't have end labels on them! My N64, Odyssey 2 and 5200 games are impossible to read stacked. I started putting labels on the end of them but after a couple of years the labels all fall off. I don't want to put anything permanent on them and mar the plastic, so I have to live with it.

Why did they do that? I hate not being able to look at the games and know whats what without pulling each one down.

I also hate the giant power bricks that the older systems used. I really wish they would have used the lead with the brick in the middle of the wire, that ended with a regular plug. Instead I can hook up two, maybe three AC adapters on one multi input strip, even though there's six outlets!

Yeah I have like 6 power strips and they are all full and each have only 3 or 4 plugs used out of the 6

One thing that irks me is placing non-standard carts next to regular sized carts. The EA games for the Genesis have to go in a separate stack because they're a different size from the standard Genesis carts. The M Network games that Intellivision put out for the 2600 are also oddly shaped, and I have to put them in a separate stack too.

I also like things to look uniform, and have to sort games by cart size/shape. Do you know why EA made their carts different?

Aside from that, it's just dealing with lack of space/storage. I'm at the point where I want to display everything I have, but it's just not practical. A lot of it is sitting in drawers or boxes. I have a dedicated game room but my girlfriend uses it to store clothing in, so it looks like a 1970's TV room had sex with a womens clothing outlet and my game room is their offspring.

I'll never have enough space. Any time I get a bigger place I just get more stuff and then I'm back to having no room. But I have more cool stuff!!

[Amelyn]

I hate when my there's price tags on my games. Especially when they stick them on the labels. Luckily, I was able to remove the Savers tags out of my Atari cartridges by holding them over steaming water. Do you guys knows any good tips to remove price tags on games?

[Darryl B.]

Does Goo Gone help, or is that only to remove the sticky residue after you take off a label? I'm not sure.

Me, is having a lot of 2600 games with just the instructions and games, no boxes. I lost just about all of them when I fell behind in storage unit rent and they were legally able to go in and sell my stuff. Oh well, they didn't do any research on a Witchfinder General album I had in there that was so rare (silver vinyl) that I've even seen W. General websites that didn't even have a photo of it! So ha on them, they could've gotten several hundred dollars out of that alone. It'll be hard to replace my Vectrex Bedlam and 2600 H. E. R. O., Ram It and Tunnel Runner boxes though

[Rob]

The best thing I've found for removing price tags/rental stickers is still good old rubbing alcohol. The stronger variety is better (I can't remember the percentage, but there's a strong one and a weaker one). For the really tough tags I use Zippo lighter fluid, though beware as this could mar plastic if it sits on there too long.

[Amelyn]

The best thing I've found for removing price tags/rental stickers is still good old rubbing alcohol. The stronger variety is better (I can't remember the percentage, but there's a strong one and a weaker one). For the really tough tags I use Zippo lighter fluid, though beware as this could mar plastic if it sits on there too long.

I tried that, but it can damage the cartridge's label.

[Zap!]

I'm going to give you guys the best advise you've ever heard, something I discovered on my own around 9 and still do it. Let's say thee's a sticker on something. Use your fingernail to lift up one of the corners. Pull slow (very slow if it's on paper or a box that can be ripped). If you see part is not coming off, scrape with your fingernails. After the sticker is off, likely small sticky residue will be left behind. Take the same sticker and put the sticky side back on the residue. Keep hitting it, lifting the sticker off and on everytime. After several tried, all of the residue will be gone. Works like a charm everytime.