AES condition freaks : Your input is needed

andsuchisdeath

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What influences a new style snap lock case's outer clear plastic layer losing it's "tightness"?

Is this a result of wear, or poor storing practices?

Is this just determined by the era of the title, the title itself, or a factor I'm totally unaware of?

I have a few titles where there is just so much slack between the clear layer and the case that I feel like the insert might just blow out the window if there is a strong gust of wind.

Thanks.
 
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Heinz

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Erm it has quite a bit to do with the temperature differentials experienced during it's storage life as well as humidity level. If you're a serious collector you'd keep them in a hermetic chamber but for the amateurs a bookcase with no exposure to light, center of the house and with a dehumidifier would suffice.

Anyone not taking any of the precautions mentioned above is a low skilled hoarder, as are many, and have no idea how to care for what they have in their possession.
 

Neodogg

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Kinda of like your mom, the more you bang it, the looser it’ll get...
 

mjmjr25

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I've only had a couple of those over the years and all seemed to coincide with sunfaded artwork. My assumption has been the plastic expands in the sun as most things do then back in "normal" conditions it attempts to go back to original shape, creating looseness along with some modest waves or ripples. JP copies can apparently sit in storefront windows for years. Hopefully a serious answer won't be frowned upon.
 

city41

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I think it's mostly due to opening the case. All of mine where the outer vinyl is wrinkled and loose, the hinge is also worn down and loose. I have a couple AES games that have basically never been opened and the outer vinyl is tight as can be, and the hinge is very tight too.
 

vincewy

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First thing you need to do is making sure the games aren't exposed to any light at all (yes, including indoor). I know some collection displays are cool but no way would I put my games in such way unless they have closet doors.

Even with those measures the outer clear plastic will get looser and wrinkled up? Yes, these drive me crazy. Notice NGDEV games have such issues to a point I put my original inserts in art albums and put photocopied inserts into the snap-lock cases instead.

Finally, notice early snap-lock games in 1995-96 have the harder/coarser outer clear plastic and later switched to the shiny/softer type? SNK realized the former gets wrinkled up easily and bend the inserts too, all of my games with early snap-lock cases have circular bends on the edges of the spines.

I think it's mostly due to opening the case. All of mine where the outer vinyl is wrinkled and loose, the hinge is also worn down and loose. I have a couple AES games that have basically never been opened and the outer vinyl is tight as can be, and the hinge is very tight too.

Matt, did you move to the Bay Area? Remember the Gunlord and Fast Striker you sold them to me? Yup, all inserts ended up getting wrinkled no matter what, as mentioned earlier, I put all in the artwork album and make photocopies for the snap-lock cases. At this point the inserts have somewhat recovered without the crinkles around the corners. Luckily NGDEV is still around and I got written permission to make copies from NGDEV (Kinko requires it so it doesn't violate copyright infringements).

What influences a new style snap lock case's outer clear plastic layer losing it's "tightness"?

Is this a result of wear, or poor storing practices?

Is this just determined by the era of the title, the title itself, or a factor I'm totally unaware of?

I have a few titles where there is just so much slack between the clear layer and the case that I feel like the insert might just blow out the window if there is a strong gust of wind.

Thanks.

Besides what we have mentioned, when you open the games, make sure you don't open all the way. I played my AES games often and most are still in good shape with opening the case no more than 90 degrees. If you open all the way out to almost 180 degrees those cases will never retain the tension/slack.
 
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andsuchisdeath

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Ok, thank you mjmjr25 and vincewy.

Lachlan, I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or are just scripting an often repeated generic remedy, but thanks I guess.
 

Niko

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Notice NGDEV games have such issues to a point I put my original inserts in art albums and put photocopied inserts into the snap-lock cases instead.

Seriously......

I cant even form a response to this.

This is either a well executed troll, or you're fucking retarded.
 

suicidekiller

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Yep, games like Samurai Shodown III, King of Fighters 95 or World Heroes Perfect have a different feel to the snapcase. The plastic is more loose and looks milkier. I think there's even a third type in between for games like Art of Fighting 3, King of Fighters 96 or Real Bout Special which drops the milky look but still has a kinda loose feeling to the plastic. You can see more wrinkles near the border where the clear plastic runs into the black snap case.

I haven't experienced yet these differences would wrinkle the insert in any way. Maybe they'll slip down a bit but who cares about that?
 

RAZO

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Seriously......

I cant even form a response to this.

This is either a well executed troll, or you're fucking retarded.

Nothing surprises me anymore.
 

oliverclaude

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My guess is, that if an insert gets wrinkled, it's because it dried out too fast. Take a piece of paper, moisture it and let it dry to get the same effect. Water is everywhere, can't do anything about it without crossing the line to obsession.

Now the transparent plastic that holds the insert in a case is probably victim of the same process: moisture that dries out. But who knows what chemical components were used and what/how they react to? Heat, moisture, dust and aging in general.

The soft, old style, vinyl cases needed to be glued and glue causes contraction, that's why you have those wrinkled deformations. Often to a degree which deforms the insert. The new-style snap-locks have probably many variations of chemical composition, but visually, there're two variants: translucent (milky, matte) & and transparent (glossy). The change came around '96 I guess, with Ragnagard (?). KoF '96 was transparent only (?). After this change you could still get a milky title in a glossy case, because of second prints, which came later, like AoF3 or Real Bout, when they run out of milky cases.

A practical storage devise is a good quality protector. It doesn't close hermetically, which is good, because the moisture can vent, and it doesn't put too much pressure on the case, so it won't deform it. But ultimately... All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of collecting.
 

awbacon

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Ill ask my wife. She's dealt with museum preservation with all types of materials. I highly bet she will know an actual answer. My guess though is heat/sun causing thermal expansion.

I only say that because take a saran wrapped bowl from the bridge. It's nice and tight. Put it on the counter to come to temp...plastic loosens up
 

awbacon

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I asked my wife. I'll paraphrase.

Apparently in museums a lot of what is done to make sure degradation doesn't occur is humidity control. Items are kept at a very specific temperature and humidity level. I showed her one of my cases and her guess is temp fluctuation over time causes expansion and return to form, but the plastic only has so much "memory" before it can't return to its original "tightness".

So not that I am going to do it, but she said a humidity of around 45-50% and a temp around 64-68 degrees would give it the longest life. Obviously very specific and for museums but hey...she has an art history and preservation degree so she got to flex on this one lolol
 

Neo Alec

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That's very helpful. Makes me feel better about investing in a dehumidifier for the basement, which is something we needed anyway.
 

mhell06

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Does anyone know what type of plastic are used for the transparent outer vinyl? According to Wikipedia it is some kind of polyethylene. But I imagine it varies between different systems and versions. Not sure either if all kinds of polyethylene has the same chemical properties.
 

Bishamon

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Some polymers (such as nylon) can actually absorb water, so high humidity might even affect the case itself.
 
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