Repairing Crushed Big Box Games with the "Retro Hot Plate"
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
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Squashed, flattened, broken or torn cardboard game boxes can be heart breaking and I appear to own more than most. Often they are included with a donated system, languishing at the bottom of a box. So I thought I'd try to make good some of the examples I have by coming up with a technique to straighten them out. I'm sure we can refine this further in time but I'm pretty happy with the results so far, it just needs a name!
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● Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:24 Testing out some techniques to repair boxes
04:44 Who are MonsterJoysticks.com
05:04 A device to repair squashed big box games
10:15 Repairing Lotus 2 squashed game box
13:34 Fixing lots of squashed big box games
16:26 Conclusion on fixing squashed cardboard boxes
19:07 A 60 second game restoration
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What are your tips for game box restoration? Do you have a good way to colour in those crease marks? I'd love to hear them all! Neil - RMC
Moonstone is my most expensive Amiga game. And have a copy of settlers on pc special edition which I've seen on eBay for a ridiculas price I've got 1000's of Amiga disks to go through that I bought and from my chdhood,
I suggest naming it the "marvelous decreaseinator"
Superglue will destroy the paper over time and you'll end up having to fix them over and over again. wood glue is similiar to what bookbinders use and is mostly acid free and won't eat the paper.
Ideally you fold a little 90 degree corner from thin cardboard and glue it into the box, connecting both loose ends to make a good connection that isn't just that thin line where they meet. For holding it well together until set, just use clothespins.
I've used lighter fluid to get rid of tape marks on boxes before - similar effect to acetone I'd imagine and it evaporates off quite quickly
THE FLATINATOR, THE SMOOTHATRON, THE CRACKBEGONERIZER😂,
Hi, great channel. I've worked for years in preservation sciences and managing museum collections. Here are some hot tips. Avoid using cyanoacrylate ("super glue") on any projects where preservation is a concern. Generally speaking, super glue is not considered archival. Something like PVA (polyvinyl acrylate/acetate) is, though you might have to order the beads in bulk and mix it yourself. Also, there are any number of neutral pH, archival, book-binding tapes on the market. I suggest these for taping box corners. Again, I wouldn't want to apply dyes to creases unless they are from a company producing archival ink like Micron, but even then, color-matching is a concern, and it's not reversible.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I tried PVA but that just soaks into the card, perhaps there is a higher concentrate you can use and that's where the beads come into it? I'm very happy to evolve these processes and improve them. What are the longer term implications of using super glue vs PVA?
@@RMCRetro Yes, PVA can be mixed at any concentration, it is highly versatile in this regard. What you might find readily, and commercially, may not be best for every application, as per your experience. One downside is cure time, it does require patience. The positives outweigh the negatives however, as it is a reversible adhesive (using acetone), and it can maintain some level of flexibility for many decades. Cyanoacrylate is more brittle and has a higher fail rate on a much shorter time scale and, importantly, it's not reversible.
Ultimately, I think the important thing is that you're proceeding with care and caution, trying different approaches, and heeding advice. Keep up the great work. I hope to speak with you at some point about a project I have going on across the pond.
@@JeremyRiedel What do you mean that "Cyanoacrylate it's not reversible"? There are products that can de-glue Cyanoacrylate.
@@tiemanowo Cyanoacrylate can be softened with the application of harsh solvents like acetone that run the risk of attacking inks/etc. Or heat in excess of 350F. It's practically non-reversible for the purposes of archival work because there's a high risk in trying to remove it.
PVA glues meanwhile just take vinegar, or much lower applications of heat.
Lighter fluid is a lot gentler than acetone for removing old glue and dried on stickers. It also evapourates very quickly which avoids causing any water damage to the artwork.
Using the metal plate is brilliant. I have done some research into how museums curate their paper objects. I think why most people recommend wood glue is because it's a PVA glue that when dry is still flexible. I think that because you shrinkwrap yours that it should be ok, but over time the very hard super glue could damage the boxes farther and come apart. Most museums use a wheat paste and Japanese rice paper to fix things like the corner tears. The important idea behind this is that you can completely undo it later and use a better technique if one is discovered. I'm still on the fence with re-painting or covering up the box/crease wear. I just haven't seen very good solutions for that yet. Very nice job, the boxes look great.
Cracking video on how to get them back into a condition that can be displayed. Brilliant idea to shrink wrap it after
Nice to see the Zool box restored! Unfortunately it did get damp with others up in my loft! I think it was part of an instruction manual that got stuck to the front of it! Edit :- thanks to another comment I believe it's part of the back of the box from steg the slug!
It's fab that it can be part of the cave and give joy to others! It was just sitting in my loft and then my man cupboard under the stairs.
Apologies that it was in worse condition than I thought but in a way it's helped to learn the art of restoring.
Edit after another commentator down below, I believe the mark was from steg the slug! On the back of my box of steg the slug a large part of the picture is missing!
Travel. Iron. I use it on lots of board game boxes. For tape like that, I use "goo gone" which you can find in more places for only a dollar or so. When I have black boxes like this, I use a dry erase black market to fill in the cracks, then wipe away the excess quickly. It doesn't leave a mark and it can fill it some of the micro cracks and even retain the shine. Just something you might want to try. For the dented boxes, I'd be concerned the shrink wrap will just put that dent back in the box. This is why later games came with a box inside the box, ensuring the weak outer box would be completely supported. I also used gummed tape on the inside to rebuild the corners, but I can see how using 65lb to 100lb cover stock tabs cut to size with wood glue would work as well. Also use a lot of magnets to hold things while they dry, big square ones for nice tight corners. Hope some of this helps.,
I'm a professional book restoration artist, and had never seen your hot plate method, and absolutely love it!
Surprisingly satisfying! Fantastic job
When you shrink wrap make sure you dried a LOT, or the moisture will turn into mold. You can buy some small silica gels packs to avoid that too. I do that to some of my products that stay long time inside a drawer. Gotta love these restoration videos.
Gotta throw a small silica packet in each sealed box for sure
I was thinking the same.
Beautiful. From a something that looks like trash to a collectors treasure, these are truly amazing.
You might want to drop some of those silica water absorber packs inside the boxes to keep any residual moisture from causing mold befor eyou shrink wrap them.
Its really nice to see the the games themselves being restored as they are every bit as much a part of the experience as the hardware itself, and for the most part forgotten about. Like the idea of the hotplate. Was expecting you just to bring out a travel iron for the smaller boxes, but I guess you've invented the game box "trouser press".
I'm surprised how well that worked. But I think there are probably better ways to apply heat to the smaller boxes. For example, I have seen tiny irons. That might work. Alternatively, I'd probably make some sort of tall structure that is just small enough that the box will fit over it, then iron the box from the top side, instead of the inside.
travel Irons
Same
Thank you Hot PL8-Bit Guy.
@@RetroRecipes I love seeing everyone I follow commenting in the same videos. Well, almost. Clint probably snuck off to Computer Reset again.
RC plane heat sealing tool
Thank you so much for taking the time and inventing ways to save this stuff! Very well done!
Hi. This is very informative. I have a suggestion in removing the sticky thing. I am using a lighter fluid in removing sticky substances. It will not hurt the cardboard. I’m also using it to clean the electronic boards.
Retro Pixels are quite the Ebay scalper. I once saw that they were the only Ebay seller in the world to have a copy of Millennium 2.2 for the Amiga. And they had not only one they had 5. between 129 and 169 pounds. buy low, sell high I guess.
They are among a few that are the worst of the worst, and make retro collecting really a waste of time. I once got to 2-3 seconds from winning one of the Amiga classics, the original Lotus Turbo boxed, not the budget version, the original. I bid £20, and RetroPixels beat me by those 2 seconds. I knew it was them because you can still see the winning bidder's feedback number, in brackets, and it matched theirs. A week later, that same game was back on their eBay store for £100, they won it for £21. And it's crap like this that just annoys the hell out of me, because these people, like you said, are simply there to scalp retro collectors - especially those new to collecting, who think this is normal prices.
I sent them a message, just saying they are not collectors, or respect of retro, they are there purely to profit off of it. They only reported me, and I got a week's ban from eBay.
Total, tossers, wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
I spent countless hours playing Millennium 2.2 on Amiga as a teenager, very addictive and helped me learn all the moons of the solar system. That and Zak McKracken were my faves, it's mind boggling that they're worth so much decades later!
@@thefishwillbearmed7391 Me as well. as I had no manual or any clues it took me quite some time to figure out how to get copper. XD
Great job Neil! I love how they came out!
That was arguably the single most satisfying restore video I've ever seen. Brilliant work that.
Thank you so much for sharing your techniques. When I saw you do this briefly in a previous video I was so intrigued and this has answered many of my questions. I have several games console boxes that could benefit from these techniques so will defo be trying them out. Keep up the stella work Neil!
I've had massive success fixing snes/nes/n64 boxes using simply an Iron. Cover with a plain uncoloured cotton tea towel, gently iron with the steam on. Never had to add water to dampen the cardboard. Decent steam iron will do that for you. Works incredbly well with care and patience. Recently did this on a squished Battletanx n64 box and it's perfectly squared once again. Great tips here Neil.
Amazing just simply amazing restoration work on the boxes... you are the true knights guardian of the retro realm...
At some point you'll have to resort to bookbinding techniques: to repair long tears, apply adhesiveless fabric "tape" with archival grade adhesive applied. I really like your channel and your shrink-wrap technique for literally preserving the boxes against future handling damage!
I’d end up with a steamy box glued to my hands! Great work uncle Neil!
Love the retro-mag-plate idea, Neil! I will be trying this one out.
Well colour me surprised. I never thought in a million years I’d spend 20 minutes watching someone repairing cardboard boxes. But it was ruddy riveting. I remember those games and the big boxes. 👍👍 And the comment section is a tutorial on archiving processes in itself!! 👍👍
I'm genuinely glad that I have absolutely zero desire to own big box versions of retrogames. Those eBay prices are beyond ridiculous.
Love it. Great Video, lots of nostalgia and really nice seeing someone handling a piece of childhood with care
I just discovered your channel from this video. It was immensely satisfying to watch. Thanks.
I am so proud to be a subscriber of this channel ❤️. I'm quite certain that this video will save many games that most would consider junk. Bless you, my friend 🙏
It's funny how the more pristine they look the more they take you back to that era. Like when you opened then as a kid, nostalgia feels good!
Great video did not know you could fix the boxes like that 😅
So neat, so effective and such great results. Marvellous!
Blown away by the results. Nice!
Great vid! One of the most original and useful yet!
Brilliant! Maybe I could use some of these techniques to fix up some boxes in my collection. Thanks a bunch for the techniques and inspiration!
this is really dope-
The sheer amount of love for this stuff-
For the creases, you could go to a paint shop and get a color matched touch-up paint pen made. Like the thing you can buy for car scratches.
Well done and great inventiveness! They look amazing.
Hi Neil, regarding re-shrink wrapping to keep the boxes in the shop looking neat, you might want to check out VWestlife's recent upload "Don't keep your vinyl records sealed!" - it turns out shrink wrap continues to shrink and it can even squash boxes! You probably have a good number of years, but it seems like something to keep half an eye on.
Thanks! I'll keep a close eye on this. The plastic cassette boxes will be fine, the card boxes I'll monitor. This is not how they are stored in the main store room but is very much a display/exhibition for visitors, so like all displays they will need to be cleaned, rewrapped and kept in good condition or people won't enjoy them.
Wow amazing results well done 👏
This video was really satisfying. Thank you!
Not the same subject matter, but retro toy related. Just recently moved house & found all of my old Transformers, all boxed, but obviously with wear. This method is the one I'll be using to bring the boxes back to life. This was a great vid & it's just majestic to see how yourself, this channel & the crowd of us that follow, have grown over the years. Your never ending pursuit & sheer determination of giving absolutely everything to this, is the reason we are all where we are now 👍 As always, outstanding, Neil 👍
Wonderful wonderful video, and great results to boot. Very well done!
Great work, Neil. Those look so much better. Agree with your thoughts on markers etc to cover the creases
A treat to watch you saving game boxes.
We used to buy/trade used games from a shop that repaired & shrink wrapped their game boxes. The results here, really reminds me of that great little games shop..
Video concept is right up my alley. Awesome. I want to fix a few of my trashed boxes.
"Retro Board" is a nice method naming next to retro bright.. 🤗
Nice job! Saved them fully👍🏻
INCREDIBLE work
Absolutely amazing!!! To think of all the beat up boxes I've thrown away over the years.
Wow, some absolute strokes of genius there! Acetone on the label, wow! Hot plate - gob smacked at how well that worked!
It was nail varnish remover which is Acetone and an oil like castor or lanolin, I would be careful trying actual acetone.
Amazing work! This is great information and very out of the box thinking to repair the boxes. Would have never thought to make a custom hotplate let alone break out the spray bottle and iron. I've been experimenting with making my own reproduction boxes for my personal collection and this is great info to have and expand upon to preserve these old games and their packaging.
Used the ironing method, except I use a small portable iron. Its small enough to fit most game boxes. Also, try to do some edges at first, some boxes has plastic film on top, and hot ironing it will ruin the art. In that case, I borrow cloth steamer, steam it from behind the art and leave heavy books on it for a few hours. For torn up boxes, I usually just made an inner shell from a card stock. for torn up edges, I usually reinforced the edges with card stock paper and thin glue. Much stronger that way.
A lot of my factory-sealed games look like they got deformed by the shrink wrap continuing to shrink over the years. It seems to do exactly the kind of damage you are expecting it to prevent. Squeezing the box causes the large flat surfaces to curve in, especially at the corners/edges.
Yes I have seen this on ebay auctions of shrinkwrapped boxes (board games etc). I'm not sure of the physics why it happens or how long it takes, but sometimes a "mint in sealed box" isn't so mint because of it. And the phenomenon can be used to detect re-wrapping pretending to be original shrinkwrapping (i.e. if it's decades old, shrinkwrapped, and box is not deformed, it could be a misleasing re-wrapped box).
@@MusicFanatical1 Definitely, but a lot of it is down to how they were stored. I gifted my friend a copy of Conker’s Bad Fur Day around 2002 after buying several copies on clearance. I still had some sealed in the hot loft of my accessory building and the boxes were all collapsing in from the shrink wrap. Meanwhile, he never opened his but he took it to college and back over the next decade+ and the box got very tattered. After he saw what mine sold for in 2015 he asked me to sell his copy. Though it was in terrible condition for a sealed game, it did not appear to have shrunk further in the way my other copies did. They were all original Nintendo H-seals with the vent holes in the plastic.
In my experience some wraps shrink over time even at room temperatures. Some other seals don’t seem to shrink at all, perhaps because they used a vacuum and heat sealer to perfectly fit the box instead of a material intended to shrink with heat. It could also be cellophane instead of heat shrink but that usually has folded corners.
Great job as always! You can also try the addition of additional internal carton corners that are glued to the external sides, that way the corners are sturdier, and you don't jeopardize the fragile torn ones.
Sooo satisfying! As a boardgamer I tend to buy a bad box boardgames to restore it and here we are you did a great job with card boards! Thanks for the video! 🤩
Well done sir! They came out lovely!
Archival paper tape works wonders, better than glue imo. Been using it to repair magazines/dust jackets, vintage/antique toy boxes etc. for years.
Neil, your efforts towards game preservation is appreciated, in a time where the big game companies seem happy to allow their own products to grow old and dissapear you put them to shame with your passion and commitment to preserving these gems of our childhood. Much respect.
Absolutely brilliant! I don't have any old video game boxes, but I do have tabletop RPG boxes that this technique would be perfect for!
Need more of this.
Obsession level is off the roof. Which is a good thing. Good work!
I think the results were awesome and any big box game/software that is saved from the trash is a win to me. Great job! I liked your FlatBoxHotBlock™ invention as well, worked perfectly.
So satisfying to look at..nice job! 👍
Great tips. I'm am definitely going to try that out
I am really surprised with how well these worked. Wonderfully done.
Great video and tips from others - thank you!
Looking forward to the RMC - Baumgartner Restoration UA-cam Colab ;)
It's been a good few months since we've enjoyed a solid "Neil cleans things video" 😁
WoW, awesome box restore's Neil, I thought of using a gel pen for repairing box creases the gel pens come in many different colours BUT I would leave the creases as they are as each box has it's own history. The shrink wrap definitely makes a difference.
I am low-key super anxious about those magnets in close proximity to the magnetic media in the boxes.
The results seem pretty good. I'll have to give this a try on some of my old boxes that are in rough shape one of these days.
amazing! i definetly need such an shring wrap machine
Impressive and very helpful
Amazing stuff, thanks
I never knew you can get it so nice with the wrap by just heating it! Amazing
Great work!
Some good tips in this video. Cheers!
This was so satisfying to watch! :)
Life changing and informative
This is also great for us Avalon Hill/Classic Board War Games Collectors!!! Great Video!
nice work mate!
thanks for the tips. ive been meaning to get rid of my "junk" on ebay and this will help me make those sales much easier
Love this dedication and work. I really hope I get to the UK some day to visit your cave. :)
Just rewatched your Trash to Treasure on the Amiga 500. Wow you have come a long a way.
this channel is just great
Welcome to the Retro Repair Shop 😀
Great video, those boxes turned out great with that method, very well done!! Many others would've just binned them...glad you didn't!!
This is surprisingly satisfying to watch. Would love to see if you figure out any methods for restoring smaller boxes like for NES or SNES.
This is unbelievable!
Absolutely Fantastic.
What great ideas, thank you much for sharing them👍 If I ever get a chance to visit the UK, I would love to experience the retro store exhibition.
Box ironing is ingenious. Excellent job.
Nice very nice restoration i love retro art i still wait for list all Your games and boxcover art databese :) Thanks. Cheers from Poland!
Wow, great job !
Superb work many of my big box amiga games need work to the boxes ,very neat idea with the metal plate i do have a travel iron which is smaller than normal iron
This is so nice. I have some very beat up boxes (F-19 Stealth Fighter for example). This should come in very handy.
That was a vlog containing whole 20 minutes of relax therapy
I use felt tips to fill in the cracks in the ink. Mostly the Black. Pencils are really good as well.
Great stuff, here's to all the potential saved pieces of history out there~
Saving this video for future attempts.