what is the best way to store your retro games

[Kangum]

I was wondering if anyone collects retro games like nes , snes , n64 carts how they stored them. my collection is getting kind of big and when its time to play they just end up sprawled all over the floor. there has to be a better way to store them but yet still be able to see what game it is.

[Ginsu Victim]

I tend to store them on my hard drive. Even stuff I own legit, I just emulate

[danny_galaga]

dunno how kangum is going to stack a hundred NES carts on top of his hard drive...

for my N64 carts, i bought a couple of those towers (apparently this one is a classic AND rare!). only prob is you cant tell which cart is which. strange they didnt have the label go all the way to the top. i could put labels on the top of the carts i guess. my sega carts are all in cases so i can just put em in a book case although at the moment they are just piled on the floor. my handheld carts are haphazardly piled on a shelf.

the N64 is getting a lot of love at the moment, so thats the one that needs to be organised...

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, I was obviously just giving a lame joke response.

I just put mine in those clear Sterlite drawers from Wal-mart. Bought a couple (they're stackable).

[ChadTower]

I just put mine in those clear Sterlite drawers from Wal-mart. Bought a couple (they're stackable).

I have about ten of these sets for much of my collection.  Hardware too, you just buy the bigger chest of drawers.

[missioncontrol]

cheap plastic drawers for now. I'm going to build a custom bookcase for them eventually

[missioncontrol]

Well, I was obviously just giving a lame joke response.

well you got the lame part right....

[SavannahLion]

I haven't quite figured out what to do with most of the carts. I keep trying boxes until I find a size that fits nicely. I use a box that was originally intended for canning jars to hold my N64 carts. A lidless cigar box holds my XEGS games. The Lynx pouch holds most of my Lynx games.

I did discover that standard size (U.S.) Genesis carts fit just about perfect in cases designed to hold old audio tapes with their cases. The carts are a smidgeon too high so hard shell cases won't work and there is a tiny bit of play on the sides to a cart that doesn't have any neighbors tend to slip. I've been using the same audio tape case for my Genesis collection for about... fifteen years or so? I haven't found anything reliable to hold odd sized carts like those from EA or Code Masters though.

[ChadTower]

Get some 1/2" MDF and make cases.  If you don't worry about individal cart slots it shouldn't take more than a day to make a few of them.

[Ginsu Victim]

Well, I was obviously just giving a lame joke response.

well you got the lame part right....

Yeah, I pointed that out. I was tired, it was late....I can't be held responsible for any poor posts made at that hour. (I'm an eight-to-fiver...)

[SavannahLion]

I thought I mentioned this, but I guess I inadvertently edited it out.

Lately, I've been packing my games and systems tight using old file boxes and file shelves I picked up. I've tagged the boxes and made entries in a database. About a 3/4 of my console collection and about half of my arcade parts (mostly recent acquires) are stored this way. But that system is imperfect. Bulky items like the guitar hero controller or systems like the Sega Genesis/CD don't fit well, if at all, into these boxes.

I have a source for old, unwanted, file boxes and I've been chopping them up to make custom boxes as well. Namely for PCB's and Marquees that I don't want damaged while I'm trying to store them.

Storing them this way works out pretty well. I get a lot of consistency in storing things and my store room (if I ever get around to picking all the crap up off the floor) will be nice and neat.

[ChadTower]

I have a source for old, unwanted, file boxes and I've been chopping them up to make custom boxes as well. Namely for PCB's and Marquees that I don't want damaged while I'm trying to store them.

Priority Mail boxes come in all sorts of great sizes for individual PCB storage... I store a lot of my PCBs that way.  And they're free.   

[pmc]

My Sega Genesis carts are all in original boxes so they fit on a bookshelf perfectly. That's where I put PSX and Dreamcast CDs too (because they are in jewel cases). Spindles (cakeboxes) fit on the same shelves.

Loose carts generally end up in cardboard boxes and I'm careful not to overcollect them because of the storage issue.

Priority Mail boxes come in all sorts of great sizes for individual PCB storage... I store a lot of my PCBs that way.  And they're free.   

Great suggestion. I have them in bigger boxes wrapped in bubble-wrap and it's not ideal, that's for sure.

-pmc

[SavannahLion]

Priority Mail boxes come in all sorts of great sizes for individual PCB storage... I store a lot of my PCBs that way.  And they're free.   

Great suggestion. I have them in bigger boxes wrapped in bubble-wrap and it's not ideal, that's for sure.

Bugger. I wrote a nice post and IE crashed.

Once again.

I used to use bubble wrap and found all of them deflated after about four years. So I switched to that funky electric foam. I found a large quantity of (free) foam of the kind used to store electronics. It must've been a seriously bad batch because after spending hours shaping the foam and storing my PCB's, five years later it's all crumbling to dust. 

I'll have to try the USPS PM box idea. Sounds like a good idea. Chad, are you packing them in foam or wrapping them before putting the boards in the boxes or are you packing them loose?

I was thinking of building some kind of PCB storage rack. Something along the lines of these types of racks I guess. I even worked out how to store dissimilar PCB's together on the same shelves.

[ChadTower]

I usually put them in antistatic bags loose in the box.  They don't need to be totally secure in the box if the box is safe on a shelf.

Bubble wrap isn't safe - it can generate a static charge pretty easily.

[SavannahLion]

Bubble wrap isn't safe - it can generate a static charge pretty easily.

Sorry, I didn't think it was important to mention. For all but the largest PCB's, mine all get antistatic bags. The largest boards got the antistatic foam... which is now disintegrating. Reason why I wrapped the boards in something to protect them is they weren't stored in individual boxes. I went to the electronic store and they have a different type of antistatic foam but it's too thin for anything other than keeping IC's.

You can get antistatic bubble wrap. They come in different types. One type is merely your metallic wraps bonded to bubble wrap. The other is a pinkish bubble wrap. I've only ever been able to locate the pink type, but I did buy a MB once that came with the other type.

For short term storage and shipping, they're fine albeit a tad expensive. For long term storage, it's better to get the plain jane antistatic bags.

[Hemi]

what is the best way to store your retro games:

In a box?

[SavannahLion]

what is the best way to store your retro games:

In a box?

You're asking why we would store them in a box?

[Hemi]

No, I was wondering what was so tough and why a thread was needed to tell someone that you should put your games in a box when you are not using them.

Lets see, where can you put your games when you're not using them, in the freezer? 

[shmokes]

Priority Mail boxes . . . And they're free.   

Or at least you get to take advantage of some handy cost-spreading.   

[Singapura]

I'm offering free storage at my house for anyone who wants to store their collection of games, cabs or consoles. You'll have to pay for transport yourself though