Let's talk about CD game jewel cases

[Tanooki | 4,932]

They when it comes to games have variations both in style but size.  The worst being the tall monstrosities that Sega Saturn games used that crack if you look at them funny.  Then you have your PS1 style standard, but yet not quite so standard stuff.  I've seen variations in the door with dots or lines on that end you open, and then the grip wheel in the middle usually seems to be a 6 way with an intended asterisk like star between those, but I've also seen some more pronged ring style too.  The Saturn style few others used, enough moaning generated a market and it was filled with some 1:1 replacement plastic shells.

My question is, has anyone ever gone to the lengths of replacement standard jewel cases for the PS1 and friends?  They may crack as easy as any regular case, but the cheap clear plastic scuff like mad up to and including looking all ghosting and hazy.  I'm no collector when it comes to PS1 but I've got probably 20 games for it.  I've been slowly swapping this or that piece out, but I'm up on a wall here, and I was wondering do they sell those and if so, where?  I'd like to refresh a few eye sores because all that damage also makes them even more fragile to damage.

[austin532 | 467]

I buy sealed ps1 games that no one wants and I use those as replacements. That's how picky I am. The ones that you can buy online feel cheap and are not the same. Good enough for the average person but for a collector? No thanks.

[cartman | 195]

If you get unofficial jewel cases from other media i consider that like a repro. I wouldn't be comfortable having that in my collection

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,198]

11 minutes ago, cartman said:

If you get unofficial jewel cases from other media i consider that like a repro. I wouldn't be comfortable having that in my collection

 

Damn. I’m always buying sealed Christmas cds from thrift stores to replace my busted ps1 jewel cases. 

[austin532 | 467]

Repros!

[themisfit138 | 523]

If you want actually Sony cases. Buy Sony, Columbia House or BMG Music cds at a vintage store. They were the same cases they used for the jewel case games made by Sony. The U.S. made cases, games, and cds came from the DADC factory.  

Edited December 8, 2019 by themisfit138

[Tanooki | 4,932]

See now that's an interesting set of thoughts.   I've grabbed super cheap $1> PS games before just for clean shells just to replace hosed up cases, and I've got a dwindling to near gone quality set of left over pieces from them which is why it came up.  I've not seen some dollar dumpers lately that had clean plastic.  That is a good point that if you found some mid/later 90s Sony CDs in a music section it would work.

I don't know if that was a joke or not, but a repro using another CDs jewel case?  I really had even had such a thought cross my mind, and how would you prove it anyway?  I mean sure there are some center post designs Sony clearly didn't touch, but they didn't uniquely make the ones they did either.

[Hammerfestus | 3,835]

More or less assume that any clean cases you find online have been swapped out lol.  Yeah browsing through some used cds is probably the cheapest way to replace them.  I’ve had to Frankenstein some of those double cases with the PlayStation logo in the one section though.  Just hope that panel isn’t cracked.  Those long box cases are a son of a bitch though.  They make the standard jewel cases look like tanks by comparison.  Broken hinges, broken front, cracked spine, busted cd holder teeth, it’s enough to drive a guy nuts. If you’ve got something pricey with a cracked case the best you can really hope for is to find a cheap copy of Gameday or something.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

From my standpoint, all plastic cases are completely interchangeable. As long as you've got the original art, manuals, and disc/instructions, you've got a complete copy. I could not care less about slight variations in the plastic pattern or color.

So raid those used music stores folks!

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Good points, but wouldn't it potentially be cheaper maybe to ebay or amazon maybe a bulk deal of 10, 20, 50 new jewel cases of the same transparent all around style? I mean your mileage would vary how much you cared about getting PS games I suppose, but still, it maybe a choice at least to get something fresh than throwing away something maybe someone else would actually use.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

The nice thing about PS1 games was that they did not have a unique case, so the repro case issue doesn't apply.  I just buy replacement cases in bulk, usually 50 to 100 at a time and replace only as needed.  The only thing that's truly difficult to replace is the insert for PS1 games that came in a double jewel case, but only have one disc.  The other side of the case had a piece with a PS1 logo instead of the part that holds the disc in place.  I was always surprised that they made that since it was so unique to PlayStation.  Fortunately, they are common enough considering all copies of Gran Turismo had one.  

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

I have no issue with replacing PS jewel cases with like music CDs, but wouldn't replace them with lower quality modern jewel cases. Same as Sega CD cases, I replace them with cheap Sega games, not modern ones.

Some guy on Reddit has a bunch of details on modern jewel cases, all of which are apparently cheaper than original 90s jewel cases:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/36vkch/where_to_find_high_quality_replacement_ps1_jewel/

I'm sure I have a copy of Spec Ops or something with an incorrect jewel case and will never notice, but I'm not going to intentionally swap out my games with incorrect jewel cases if I can help it.

[RH | 4,903]

I’ve been keeping this personal info on the D.L. Because I just don’t think anyone cares but not all plastic cases are created equal. They have different logos and even minor shape differences. I’ve taken multiple PS1 games a part, compared cases and even tried to swap out only the scuffed/broken pieces but even with legit Sony cases, there are minor variations.

the biggest issue I’ve seen is that some of the CD folder pieces will not fit in a different variant base. I can’t pinpoint where the shape-difference is but they will not fit together with ease.

If WATA finds this out, we’re in trouble. I’m guessing there are at least 3x official PS1 case types and possibly more.  All with very subtle, minor differences that you may only spot with side-by-side comparisons.  They aren’t always easy to spot but they are there.

[Tabonga | 2,317]

I have a large stash of single cd cases that I bought at a garage sale for a pittance - no cds but they had the paperwork and they were pretty much mint,  (How ofen do you see a binder with cds but no cases?? - this is where some of those cases went!!)

I have a small batch of mulitple cd playstation cases I picked up at a thrift store - no games but they had the manuals and artwork.

I have also used audiobook cd cases from the thrift stores to replace multiple cd ps games - if you hunt and pick (and swap parts as needed) you can get the original configuration with spaces for manuals.  If you focus on whichever colors are half price at the thrift store you can get by pretty cheaply.

=======================================

For what it is worth (waits for brickbats) I really like the Sega CD/Saturn/some early PS1 cases - people complain that they are fragile but once I have intact ones (and I have several hundred) I never have had one break on me - I am fairly careful (but not obsessively so) with them but I am with all my games.

And I have yet to find something that is as equally impressive visually as several shelves of those nifty blue Sega CD spine labels (damn that oddball Snatcher case!).  And the covers for the manuals don't get much better than those IMHO.

[RH | 4,903]

5 minutes ago, Wandering Tellurian said:

I have a large stash of single cd cases that I bought at a garage sale for a pittance - no cds but they had the paperwork and they were pretty much mint,  (How ofen do you see a binder with cds but no cases?? - this is where some of those cases went!!)

I have a small batch of mulitple cd playstation cases I picked up at a thrift store - no games but they had the manuals and artwork.

I have also used audiobook cd cases from the thrift stores to replace multiple cd ps games - if you hunt and pick (and swap parts as needed) you can get the original configuration with spaces for manuals.  If you focus on whichever colors are half price at the thrift store you can get by pretty cheaply.

=======================================

For what it is worth (waits for brickbats) I really like the Sega CD/Saturn/some early PS1 cases - people complain that they are fragile but once I have intact ones (and I have several hundred) I never have had one break on me - I am fairly careful (but not obsessively so) with them but I am with all my games.

And I have yet to find something that is as equally impressive visually as several shelves of those nifty blue Sega CD spine labels (damn that oddball Snatcher case!).  And the covers for the manuals don't get much better than those IMHO.

Yeah, I’ll agree. When a full set Saturn collector posts their set and the cases are mint, it’s a thing of such beauty, it will make you cry.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

The big difference with CD jewel cases was that they were used for other purposes outside of games and since it's impossible to prove that a case hasn't been changed (outside of new/sealed), it doesn't have the same impact as swapping out a PS2 case for a DVD case.    

[Californication | 1,477]

Does anyone have a problem with switching out jntsc jewel cases?

I feel like all my jntsc cases have a specific type of cover and I feel like I have issues with them more than others. They have two flat pieces to keep the insert in place where many western one have two plastic balls although there are other styles. 

[Sign Collector Guy | 334]

A good chunk of my Sega CD Collection is in Wii U jewel cases with custom artwork. I really like it. Those damn OEM cases are brutal. 

[asmikace | 68]

I bought some replacement longbox cases from amazon for my battered Sega CD games. Its a real odd seeing those games in pristine plastic without the cracks and broken hinge.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

20 hours ago, Sign Collector Guy said:

A good chunk of my Sega CD Collection is in Wii U jewel cases with custom artwork. I really like it. Those damn OEM cases are brutal. 

 

I also keep my Sega CD games in blue DVD cases, but mine aren't Wii U cases.  They are just a blue case that I found online.  They actually match really closely to the Sega CD blue.  I also found yellow cases for my CD 32x games.  

[RH | 4,903]

20 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I also keep my Sega CD games in blue DVD cases, but mine aren't Wii U cases.  They are just a blue case that I found online.  They actually match really closely to the Sega CD blue.  I also found yellow cases for my CD 32x games.  

I refuse to collect disc based games without them being CIB but I have to admit that's pretty slick and looks better than the original case hardware.  It's almost tempting to consider collecting those, in cases like that.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

2 minutes ago, RH said:

I refuse to collect disc based games without them being CIB but I have to admit that's pretty slick and looks better than the original case hardware.  It's almost tempting to consider collecting those, in cases like that.

Don't do it! Stick to your principles! Think of the children!

It does look slick though.

[RH | 4,903]

Just now, DefaultGen said:

Don't do it! Stick to your principles! Think of the children!

It does look slick though.

Hahaha... Nope I couldn't.  What I would end up doing is actually buying everything CIB, I'd store the cases out of light, and make secondary cases for the ones I'd actually want to play form time to time, so they can set on my shelf.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

24 minutes ago, RH said:

Hahaha... Nope I couldn't.  What I would end up doing is actually buying everything CIB, I'd store the cases out of light, and make secondary cases for the ones I'd actually want to play form time to time, so they can set on my shelf.

That's actually what I'm doing with those of mine that are complete, and a lot of my Sega CD games are complete.  But of course, several are disc only.  

I buy disc only, ONLY when the price is right, and I have a decent chance of never seeing the game again in the wild.  

[BouncekDeLemos | 82]

I always hated that the hinge holes on those Sega CD long box cases never matched up with the Saturn and PS1 ones.

Here's something interesting. The two smallest holes in the cases were to be used for an extra piece that would've held a second disc. I wonder if any of those pieces were ever made? I've seen cheaper-made disc trays back in the 90s when I used to work at a game store (Which were also super rare, and very brittle. I don't think these were made by a Sony subsidiary like the rest of the long boxes, but I could be wrong.) , but never those second-disc holder thingies.