Loose MVS Carts: Shoxcboxes or reproduction boxes?

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dzhay

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Couldn't find anything addressing this subject by searching, so here goes..

I'm new to collecting neo geo mvs carts. I've been able to pick up quite a few relatively rare older carts locally, but most of them don't have boxes or mini marquees let alone dip settings, flyers etc.

I need to store them somewhere better than a dusty cupboard. I'm tossing getting reproduction boxes, mini marquees and so forth (cheaper) or shockboxes (more expensive), for at least for the more valueable carts.

Before I go spunking my wad on either option, what do collectors generally prefer (accepting that, in this case, full matching originals in boxes are out of the question)?
 
Kid Panda

Kid Panda

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I leave my carts on a shelf, bare. They are built to sit in cabs that get over 100 degrees and have no room to vent, pretty sure they will be ok. But if you feel you need to "protect your investement", which is what I see alot of from collectors lately. Go big, buy all the shockboxes you can, make them look like AES carts. Go for it man! Make everyone give you likes on facebook and Instagram, CAUSE FUCK PLAYING THE GAMES.
 
Gog

Gog

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I hope you view your collection as much of a conversation starter as you do an investment.
 
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dzhay

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Conversation starter? I bought it for the bitches. Hence the urgency of the question.
 
Hawwa

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I'm in the same situation and decided to go for repro cardboard boxes that look like AES. Why? Because they look awesome in the shelf. I don't give a single fuck if someone thinks "that box is not the original one!" "MVS ain' supossed to look like that!" or the like. I buy original MVS games and play them on a MV1C because IMHO that mixes perfectly two things: not expending insane amounts of money but still getting the right way to play these games.

These are the boxes, they are around 7€ each if you buy im bulk from the guy.









 
Hawwa

Hawwa

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That's, in fact, the whole point.

I only purchase the cartridge in order to fill the box so it doesn' mess up. Kinda like a shoe last.
 
wyo

wyo

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dzhay said:
Couldn't find anything addressing this subject by searching, so here goes..

I'm new to collecting neo geo mvs carts. I've been able to pick up quite a few relatively rare older carts locally, but most of them don't have boxes or mini marquees let alone dip settings, flyers etc.

I need to store them somewhere better than a dusty cupboard. I'm tossing getting reproduction boxes, mini marquees and so forth (cheaper) or shockboxes (more expensive), for at least for the more valueable carts.

Before I go spunking my wad on either option, what do collectors generally prefer (accepting that, in this case, full matching originals in boxes are out of the question)?
Click to expand...

There are lots of threads on this subject or variations thereof...

All my carts are in shock boxes but if I was starting out again I probably wouldn't use them. They are expensive and take up a lot of space. The plastic tends to dry out and become brittle over time and let's face it, you're trying to dress your hobo MVS games up to look like homecarts, which is kind of sad. Not as sad as buying reproduction cardboard kit boxes mind you, but still pretty lame. On the positive side, they do an excellent job protecting the carts from damage and the elements. If your carts/labels are of the coalmine variety, shock boxes definitely improve how they look displayed on a shelf. On the flip side, if you have pristine carts, they will similarly be hidden from view. I'm not familiar with the reproduction boxes but at 7 Euros each (plus shipping?) I would pass on those as well.

Save your money, get a shelf from Ikea, and put your carts on it.
 
XxHennersXx

XxHennersXx

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Almost all of mine are in shockboxes. A bunch of my games have Japanese labels so it honestly makes them easier to find on my shelf to play. I don’t bother with kits, and I could use just boxes with labels but eh...stuff like the Neomini boxes weren’t around when I started buying MVS stuff, and so now I still buy shocks to match (or leave them bare).

The plastic does dry and some of mine have cracked over the years, and one of the first ones I got like 10 years ago somehow smooshed in part of the top (which is weird it was an empty one just sitting there for years.)
 
ggallegos1

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Shocks are nice, the only downside I see is the space they consume.

There were other options but a couple of years ago. Cdamm made windy sleeves a long time ago that we're awesome space savers and basically cardboard versions of the NES sleeve for MVS certs with templates for labels for printing. There were also neominiboxes, which I had a lot of. They were based out of italy so getting them was only worth it for a larger amount due to shipping, but they looked good and came with adhesive labels
 
egg_sanwich

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If you’re going for a full set (which seems like the cool kid thing to do), is it really worth ~$1k in plastic to shock box all those games?

Don’t expect to get any money back on those either when you realize these things take up twice as much space as carts alone.
 
NeuroticMoose

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I'm kind of surprised nobody had mentioned Cdamm's Windy Gaming MVS sleeves until a few posts up, if all you care about is protecting them from the elements they do the trick and take up less space than a big ass shockbox. Seriously though what the hell are you talking about "rare" carts OP? Are people seriously collectarding all over MVS carts now? Just buy the NeoSD and be done with it
 
Last edited:
XxHennersXx

XxHennersXx

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NeuroticMoose said:
I'm kind of surprised nobody had mentioned Cdamm's Windy Gaming MVS sleeves until a few posts up, if all you care about is protecting them from the elements they do the trick and take up less space than a big ass shockbox. Seriously though what the hell are you talking about "rare" carts OP? Are people seriously collectarding all over MVS carts now? Just buy the NeoSD and be done with it
Click to expand...

I legit never heard of those MVS sleeves until now. Granted I haven’t looked into any options in a long time, most of my shocks are from Jasen Hicks run he did before when Southtown was totally dry like...8 years ago now?

Might be worth looking into for my naked carts just so I don’t have to clean the dust out as much.
 
ggallegos1

ggallegos1

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XxHennersXx said:
I legit never heard of those MVS sleeves until now. Granted I haven’t looked into any options in a long time, most of my shocks are from Jasen Hicks run he did before when Southtown was totally dry like...8 years ago now?

Might be worth looking into for my naked carts just so I don’t have to clean the dust out as much.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately cdamm doesn't make them anymore, so your best bet is probably buying some from a member here in a WTB thread and seeing what happens.
 
Liquid Snake

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I have some extra shockboxes and MVS storage boxes available.......:)
 
GohanX

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I used to do the whole shockbox thing, but after getting more than 20 storing them just became a pain in the ass, and I hated to have an entire bookshelf dedicated to just one system in such limited space. Meanwhile. you could fit every loose MVS cart worth playing on a single shelf. That's the better option IMO.

Or better yet, NeoSD.
 
ChuChu Flamingo

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I use them so they aren't exposed to unstable air.
 
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