Games that are hard to find in nice condition

[KokiriChild | 1,644]

Any game that had either a Blockbuster-exclusive or nearly exclusive release. Kiddies got their grubby lil fingers on my labels and manuals

Also employees putting the stickers on the back lables drives me insane

[dr.robbie | 78]

Thrilla's surfari is my number 1, but has been mentioned.

Sculptor's Cut and Megaman X3 took me quite some time to find copies that were legit and had nice labels.

Can I just say PS1 jewel cases in general? I feel like half if not more of the ones I come across are cracked or the hinges don't work correctly. Especially the 2+ disk cases. Seems like if one little thing moves into the wrong spot or at the wrong time, the case will never be the same.

[DaddyMulk | 64]

Warspeed on Sega Genesis. Compared to anything else published by Accolade (or their Ballistic label), there seem to be a disproportionate number of these out there that are either trashed or covered in rental stickers.

[8bitsupremacy | 208]

Thrilla's Surfari

[RH | 4,903]

It might have just been my luck but I think I found 3-4 Buster Bros for Game Boy before finding a decent one. That might not sound bad but that took me quite a few months to finally find one after looking nearly every day. Even after getting a fine copy, all the others I noticed were in ratty shape.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

On 10/1/2021 at 1:14 PM, docile tapeworm said:

i stopped trying to clean up n64 labels. ive ruined like 5 of them. ive literally whipped away the label with a baby whipe before.

So going to agree with this.  I found one thing that oddly can clean but doesn't dissolve their wretchedly cheapskate N64 stickers and their SuperGB era/GBC equals away too.  WIndex.  Not really sure why since anything else is like liquid death where the ink rises from its grave to make what looks like a kids watercolor tray of unspeakable color swirlies.  I put a shot or two of windex on a white paper towel, and I've had good luck with it taking dirt and grime off, yet not screwing up the sticker.  Maybe it's something in the agents it has along with not soaking it either, but it worked.  I go with windex shot paper towel shred on SGB, GBC, GBA, N64 labels, and of course the cheap cardboard boxes they sat in too as they'll get weird as well.

 

Also yeah...MMX2 isn't so much an issue. But with that list having P&R2, MMX3, UMK3, and FFight3 on it -- add Killer Instinct.  Damn it took me months, year+ locally to find one that didn't have a white crusty faded fold too, became a mission not to buy it on ebay on principle.

 

And that WURM label, maybe it's me but it looks like it has the same fate as Thrilla, it's less obvious not being crusty glue stain on white, but those spots unless intentional are obvious in the red.

[RH | 4,903]

6 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

So going to agree with this.  I found one thing that oddly can clean but doesn't dissolve their wretchedly cheapskate N64 stickers and their SuperGB era/GBC equals away too.  WIndex.  Not really sure why since anything else is like liquid death where the ink rises from its grave to make what looks like a kids watercolor tray of unspeakable color swirlies.  I put a shot or two of windex on a white paper towel, and I've had good luck with it taking dirt and grime off, yet not screwing up the sticker.  Maybe it's something in the agents it has along with not soaking it either, but it worked.  I go with windex shot paper towel shred on SGB, GBC, GBA, N64 labels, and of course the cheap cardboard boxes they sat in too as they'll get weird as well.

 

Also yeah...MMX2 isn't so much an issue. But with that list having P&R2, MMX3, UMK3, and FFight3 on it -- add Killer Instinct.  Damn it took me months, year+ locally to find one that didn't have a white crusty faded fold too, became a mission not to buy it on ebay on principle.

 

And that WURM label, maybe it's me but it looks like it has the same fate as Thrilla, it's less obvious not being crusty glue stain on white, but those spots unless intentional are obvious in the red.

Not calling you a liar but that makes so little sense, I just can't believe it.

I'm going to have to see if I can find a couple cheap $1 sports N64 games to try this out on.

[Tulpa | 3,493]

11 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

 

And that WURM label, maybe it's me but it looks like it has the same fate as Thrilla, it's less obvious not being crusty glue stain on white, but those spots unless intentional are obvious in the red.

I think that might be the low quality of the picture rather than glue splotches.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I get it, I thought it was bs too.  The only thing I could add, don't push firm like you'd do on a laminate label.  Before I started using it, and it's not even windex brand windex, but the random name junk that costs less I somehow got a bottle of (I didn't buy it), I stuck to just plain water and a towel and that only goes so far.

 

Go find an old crap GBC game for a dollar or two and try it.

[Nintegageo | 582]

Honestly, SNES and possibly Genesis, the general rule is you want to avoid Made in Mexico labels.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

@RH maybe I'm nuts, or I just trust what I know.  Today I got 2 more higher cost GBA games loose out of a dumb luck find, wiped the inside, outside plastic, board down with 91% alcohol nice and clean.  Then squirted a spot of the windex on another strip and wiped down the stickers... no damage.

So yeah I just cleaned up FF5 Advance and Fire Emblem Sacred Stones if that means much.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

On 10/2/2021 at 7:54 PM, Tanooki said:

So going to agree with this.  I found one thing that oddly can clean but doesn't dissolve their wretchedly cheapskate N64 stickers and their SuperGB era/GBC equals away too.  WIndex.

True story: N64 carts in Japan have the same glossy protection as our NES and SNES labels, but their American counterparts do not.  Hmmm........   Now I don't know exactly how many pennies this saved the big N in manufacturing costs overall, but if I collected for N64 I would be really pissed off at Nintendo about this!

[jonebone | 1,307]

On 10/1/2021 at 11:25 PM, Nintegageo said:

Wild Guns

Came to say this one.

[PII | 1,885]

WWF King Of The Ring for NES.  I don't think I've ever come across this game in a store when the label wasn't faded, blotchy, ripped and covered in chicken grease.  (The blotching on white areas is typical of certain ljn labels.  I think it's just age and light on a low quality material.)  As proof I offer a close up of this very first pic that came up on google images.  I couldn't guess how many times I've left this one in the display at the store on account of condition and I'm not even all that picky about cosmetic quality.  This pic actually looks better than what I'm used to seeing.  Similar deal with Steel Cage Challenge, almost always a rough label.  Perhaps a scientific exposé on the game collections of wrestling fans is in order... or maybe it just has more to do with ljn being cheap.

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by PII

[Tanooki | 4,933]

18 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

True story: N64 carts in Japan have the same glossy protection as our NES and SNES labels, but their American counterparts do not.  Hmmm........   Now I don't know exactly how many pennies this saved the big N in manufacturing costs overall, but if I collected for N64 I would be really pissed off at Nintendo about this!

Ugh yes I totally forgot about that.  I own Bangaioh and Sin & Punishment, they shine, don't have to treat them like little flowers so they don't run like some nightmare.  I bet it saved them all of probably a penny or two per large sheet of labels...such savings. (Not, cheapskates--yes.)

[Kain Highwind | 22]

Every Phantasy Star game. I've recently started collecting Sega games as my Nintendo wants are drying up. I picked up the Shining Force games first, and started to look for Phantasy Star. 

 

Phantasy Star 1 - was there a toilet paper shortage when this game launched? Every manual has pages ripped out or looks like someone wiped their ass with it.

Phantasy Star 2/3 - Did people set their hint books on fire? Do these things even exist?

Phantasy Star 4 - Every box looks like someone gave these things the Macho Man leg drop.

[RH | 4,903]

On 10/3/2021 at 4:43 PM, Tanooki said:

@RH maybe I'm nuts, or I just trust what I know.  Today I got 2 more higher cost GBA games loose out of a dumb luck find, wiped the inside, outside plastic, board down with 91% alcohol nice and clean.  Then squirted a spot of the windex on another strip and wiped down the stickers... no damage.

So yeah I just cleaned up FF5 Advance and Fire Emblem Sacred Stones if that means much.

If you don't mind, next time take some before and afters. I'm curious to see just how grimey they are and what your results are. I'm willing to try it but I'd like a baseline from someone else that has had it work for them.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

3 hours ago, Kain Highwind said:

Every Phantasy Star game. I've recently started collecting Sega games as my Nintendo wants are drying up. I picked up the Shining Force games first, and started to look for Phantasy Star. 

 

Phantasy Star 1 - was there a toilet paper shortage when this game launched? Every manual has pages ripped out or looks like someone wiped their ass with it.

Phantasy Star 2/3 - Did people set their hint books on fire? Do these things even exist?

Phantasy Star 4 - Every box looks like someone gave these things the Macho Man leg drop.

Seriously. I've been collecting Master System for almost a year and finding a nice Phantasy Star is way too hard.

[twiztor | 850]

4 hours ago, Kain Highwind said:

Phantasy Star 4 - Every box looks like someone gave these things the Macho Man leg drop.

Macho Man's finisher was a flying ELBOW drop. Hulk Hogan did the leg drop.

Here's him saving us from the rapture with it back in 2011:

[WhyNotZoidberg | 585]

Here're some that come to mind.

Chrono Trigger. It's not the hardest thing to find a mint one, but they were made in Mexico and I'm definitely starting to see the labels go bad.

Mega Man X 3. Late in the SNES life, the upper edge of the label is often all worn out.

Dracula X. Same deal

Other SNES games I see with crap label: Doom Troopers, Captain Commando, Frantic Flea. All made in Mexico.

NES: Batman Return of the Joker.

N64 games in the wild and especially in my local pawn shops often look terrible. And to boot the labels are almost impossible to clean up without damaging them. The shells are super easy to scuff, too.

[T-Pac | 7,542]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:50 PM, RH said:

Every. Single. 2600. Title.

Haha I was going to say Activision 2600 games in particular. Those glue-mottled labels are one of life's few certainties.

-CasualCart

[fox | 1,667]

+1 Thrilla

Edited October 9, 2021 by fox

[Bighab | 58]

I gave up long ago looking for box upgrades for Road Avenger, Time Gal and Cobra Command for the Sega CD

[The Count | 527]

Razor Scooter for N64.

[Tulpa | 3,493]

It took a long time for me to find a copy of Smash TV that didn't have the edge where the label bends all worn to hell.

Most of them were like this one.

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by Tulpa