Repairing Crushed Big Box Games with the "Retro Hot Plate"
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2024
- Check out MonsterJoysticks at monsterjoysticks.com/RMC
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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Items used:
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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
I'm a professional book restoration artist, and had never seen your hot plate method, and absolutely love it!
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.,
Beautiful. From a something that looks like trash to a collectors treasure, these are truly amazing.
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!
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".
Archival paper tape works wonders, better than glue imo. Been using it to repair magazines/dust jackets, vintage/antique toy boxes etc. for years.
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.
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!
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.
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
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!
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.
I looked into the hot plate method and thought it is worth a shot. Got some other magnets and a 300x400x5 mm steel plate. Tried it out last night and still amazed about the results in levelling bent cardboard. The results are fantastic. Thank you!
P.S.: If there is anything I do differently is to add a sheet a baking paper between the cardboard box and the hot plate. Magnets still strong enough and there is no direct contact between the printed and somewhat delicate surface of the box and the steel plate. It means less stress on the cardboard but still produdes great results.
P.P.S: in the meantime I looked into the shrinkwrapping part. Some comments here suggests that the shrinkwrap might do more damage over the years than it does good. This refers mostly to hollow boxes with a thin cardboard used as for most computer games. As I am more into restoring into board games and TTRPG I am thankfully dealing with thicker cardboard that might withstand the shrinkwrapp better.
Surprisingly satisfying! Fantastic job
I’d end up with a steamy box glued to my hands! Great work uncle Neil!
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'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.
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.
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..
Looking forward to the RMC - Baumgartner Restoration RUclips Colab ;)
I collect vintage board games. These are notorious for having things stacked on top of them so lots of bowed box tops, bottoms, side panels and broken corners. A technique I use is to cut a sheet of wax paper to cover the area you want flattened. I spritz the area with water and cover it with the wax paper. I lay the box on a hard flat surface, floor, tabletop, etc. I then stack heavy books and let it set for several hours or overnight. You do have to be careful and not over do the water as it make wrinkle the art work on the box.
For broken corners I use metal right angle brackets, these come in different sizes. I glue the broken corners like you did and them clamp on the metal braces to support the corners while the glue dries.
Finally, you can also use "naptha" like you did the acetone. Its also called lighter fluid. This will remove many tape residues and stickers that people use to do repairs. Like anything you need to find a test area first.
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! 🤩
I'm genuinely glad that I have absolutely zero desire to own big box versions of retrogames. Those eBay prices are beyond ridiculous.
Great video did not know you could fix the boxes like that 😅
Hello RMC, Mr.LED here, freakin nice video man! I can try to fix some of my boxes with these techniques, thanks man!😁
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.
Thank you so much for taking the time and inventing ways to save this stuff! Very well done!
The best tips for restaurations you got from Hot Wheels Community. There are a lot of cool and stunning restauration vids online
Let's not trivialise this, it is genius Neil. You can tell when you get serious when the jacket comes off. Thanks for the amazing tip. Domestic goddess here I come.
That was a vlog containing whole 20 minutes of relax therapy
When it comes to original packing restoration, I don't cut any corners....(or bash them in), pun intended!😊
For bullet hole type damage, I create a paper powder solution which contains a mixture of, powdered paper, starch , & PVA glue, use a flat aluminium sheet piece (preferably from a soda can) for support while building up the missing material like a filler, then use the finest grade of sand paper to sand the excess filler until flush with the original surface. Then using felt tip pens, colour match the original artwork, dot by dot.🙂👍
Let's call you're restoration technique, "Hotboxing It"
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.
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
I think the name "retro hot plate" is catchy and most importantly - because it's now in this title, it's searchable.
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.
Great Video! Thanks a lot! I never understood that about the packaging. I had here a VCS Mrs. PacMan original sealed. Was maybe ten years ago. A friend came over, we played some old games and talked about Mrs. PacMan. I picked up the box and put it in his hand, "Open it up, let's try it out." - "But ... the pack is sealed! You don't want to open that!" - "So what? Do you want to look at the game in the foil or play it? After all, the game was produced to play and not to rot in the package!".
I also brought my C65 to exhibitions so people could tap and play on it. Some people who knew what it was couldn't believe that the C65 wasn't in a display case. But it's the same game here: the machine was built to be used, not stared at through a glass.
Amazing just simply amazing restoration work on the boxes... you are the true knights guardian of the retro realm...
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.
Before applying superglue to those torn corners, I would have used a thin, bendeable piece of iron wire and slid it in between the folds, from one corner to the other.
It would further grip the corners together, whenever the glue starts to let loose.
Check out this weeks video as we progress these techniques
Something I have played with is using a block of wood the same size as the box I am looking to repair. This can hold form, as well as be used to provide the platform to iron.
It can have mixed results (I recommend using a towel over it to assist and preserve). But was a nice insight as to how others do as well.
After I iron/restore I personally put in a clear plastic/pvc box to protect and assist from further damage. Thank you for the video.
I do like the rigid plastic boxes too, I use them for the NES and SNES games which I find to be particularly fragile
Great job Neil! I love how they came out!
MagFlat
MagSteam
Or to tie in to a classic TV brand...MagnaBox.
I'm not the best at branding but hey. :) I love seeing old boxes restored like this with inventive techniques. I hope this catches on!
Love the retro-mag-plate idea, Neil! I will be trying this one out.
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!!
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 👍
"Retro Board" is a nice method naming next to retro bright.. 🤗
Nice job! Saved them fully👍🏻
Obsession level is off the roof. Which is a good thing. Good work!
Great! Now you made me want to buy a shrink wrap machine and shrink wrap everything in vicinity...
That was arguably the single most satisfying restore video I've ever seen. Brilliant work that.
I am low-key super anxious about those magnets in close proximity to the magnetic media in the boxes.
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!
So neat, so effective and such great results. Marvellous!
This is also great for us Avalon Hill/Classic Board War Games Collectors!!! Great Video!
I like Retro Hot Plate as a name for your restoration method Neil. Personally I don't see game boxes having a few creases etc as a problem, it's part of their history (plus a lot of the games are old). We all have a few creases and blemishes as we get older..
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 🙏
INCREDIBLE work
I have all 3 home world games in those big boxes. I will be restoring them now :-)
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.
Instead of ironing the plate, you can bake the whole rig at a low temperature around 200F. if you do that, I would recommend dampening the protective piece of cardboard so it can slowly transfer that moisture into the box. I've seen excellent results with creased game manuals this way. the longer exposure from spending a half-hour at temperature and then being allowed to cool while pressed, will even eliminate creasing as long as the ink was not also damaged.
Video concept is right up my alley. Awesome. I want to fix a few of my trashed boxes.
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!
Blown away by the results. Nice!
To this day no one ever suggests this but my go to for any sticker residue on anything is Bestine. It's used by stamp collector's to get stamps off of envelopes. It can take off store rental labels on CDs without tearing the reflective film off. I've used it one hundreds of different cardboard/plastic boxes over the years and it never disappoints. I've taken off metal anti-theft tag stickers to the most stubborn stickers on the most delicate boxes. Doesn't fade the ink and doesn't leave any oily crap behind like Goo Gone and WD40 do and isn't as harsh as IPA.
Absolutely amazing!!! To think of all the beat up boxes I've thrown away over the years.
This video was really satisfying. Thank you!
Please do a touch up video later. I'd love to see how you tackle the creases because I have a standee/cutout from one of my favorite games and it's got creased cardboard on one spot which just annoys me to no bounds.
Love it. Great Video, lots of nostalgia and really nice seeing someone handling a piece of childhood with care
Wonderful wonderful video, and great results to boot. Very well done!
Great tips. I'm am definitely going to try that out
I just discovered your channel from this video. It was immensely satisfying to watch. Thanks.
this is really dope-
The sheer amount of love for this stuff-
- How was your day
- Good, I was RETRO IRONING my big box collection whole day and it WORKS!
:D
Sone good comments here. I’ve heard of some people using humidifiers on creased paper to help relax the creases in the paper before pressing it with heat.
I’ve also heard of people using steamers but you really have to very careful with them so as to not spray water droplets on the packaging and warp it further.
But I would suggest using the humidifier since it’s more gentle.
Also I have to say, I did wince when you used superglue on your boxes. I’m glad Jeremy Riedel suggested to use PVA glue instead. That will definitely help to make ensure your future boxes will last longer overtime.
As for the creases I don’t know if there is a great solution. Often times when a printer prints finished packaging or brochures and such they often add a aqueous coating on top of the print to make sure the ink doesn’t rub-off as easily. (Albeit some inks like Pantone Reflex Blue will still rub-off easily despite being coated) That coating can be glossy, semi gloss or flat. I bring this up because even if you color match the crease you still will see it at different viewing angles because there is no matching coating on those areas.
Great video and tips from others - thank you!
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!
Oh, I can give you a tip for the creases! Use a watercolor paint, tap the brush on the area needing color and immediately wipe away excess, so nothing gets left on the area that is good, it will fill the white areas and leave nothing else. It will look 10x better, wont be perfect, but will make creases unnoticeable from a distance. About as much as you can expect without training and specialty tools.
Re; holding corners while glue dries, look into woodworking corner clamps, there are a wide variety out there, and if you want something customised, 3d printed versions are also out there.
You could also use magnets on a cheap preformed steel bracket from whatever hardware, diy or big box store is convenient.
Amazing stuff, thanks
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
Try using a glue called Copydex its fantastic for repairing cardboard frays and is fast drying. It looks like PVA but its creates invisible fibres that gives it strength and bonds fast, It also dosent react with the paint or ink on boxes.
Need more of this.
Life changing and informative
Absolutely Fantastic.
RMC going full Baumgartner Restaurations :)
Wow amazing results well done 👏
Well done and great inventiveness! They look amazing.
This video fills a need inside of me.
This is unbelievable!
Impressive and very helpful
A treat to watch you saving game boxes.
I like your... er.. MagnaBox technique.
Great vid! One of the most original and useful yet!
Wobbly ironing board and wobbly table: INEXCUSABLE! :P
These are my suggestions for naming this video feature.
RMC Plate & Bake
The Great RMC Iron off
Neil's Hot Boxes.
Great work!
Some good tips in this video. Cheers!