Does anyone know what causes yellowing without sunlight?

[jipsy]

Just skimmed through the thread so forgive me if this has already been mentioned, if anyone ever smoked in the house or if anything was burned inside for that matter (candles, incense, etc it could lead to some yellowing of the plastic.

[Warmsignal]

I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

[sworddude]

I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

I think there is definitely some control

cause in most cases wii covers are still white. this is not the normal, maybe after a hell lot more time has past but not in the current era.

even with people that don't give a shit and treat wii poorly covers are still white in  most cases. I don't think wii covers are as fragile as comic books or some of that old toy cardboard. let alone ps2 covers in europe which all have white backsides. most if not all are still white. only time they get yellowed is when people actually get dirty with em. smudge insane sun damage etc didn't happen by itselves.

if this was an actual issue that happened out of nowhere people be complaining for days. just ain't it. poor storage, maybe said guy living in a humid enviroment it definitely didn't happen out of nowhere

[Warmsignal]

I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

I think there is definitely some control

cause in most cases wii covers are still white. this is not the normal, maybe after a hell lot more time has past but not in the current era.

even with people that don't give a shit and treat wii poorly covers are still white in  most cases. I don't think wii covers are as fragile as comic books or some of that old toy cardboard. let alone ps2 covers in europe which all have white backsides. most if not all are still white. only time they get yellowed is when people actually get dirty with em. smudge insane sun damage etc didn't happen by itselves.

if this was an actual issue that happened out of nowhere people be complaining for days. just ain't it. poor storage, maybe said guy living in a humid environment it definitely didn't happen out of nowhere

I see dingy looking Wii artwork a lot when browsing used games in a shop. Hell, I have Wii games still in the shrink-wrap, and games in box protectors, that used to have pure white artwork and have turned dingy. Some PS2 games in North America also have a lot of white on them, many of which have also been in my collection for years and I'll agree that on average they have not turned nearly as dingy as the Wii artwork has for most of my Wii games, all kept in the exact same space for many years. If you have an ideal environment that's never too dry or never too damp, this will happen a lot slower, but it will happen. Paper over time looses it's vibrancy.

More people are noticing hence why OP has brought the subject up, and I suspect more will in the future.

It could be a different grade of paper being used, it could be due to PS2 sleeves being a superior more protective grade of material, and perhaps holds the artwork more securely from air exposure more effectively. Probably all of the above. I know that PS5 cases have horrible sleeves which bulge out and expose the cover to the air massively, causing waviness and discoloration at the edges of the artwork, which I find to be super common. With every generation, the sleeve quality gets worse and worse as it's made of cheaper material.

It's a similar reason why people keep pictures under glass. If they didn't, the pictures would fade eventually. If you have an old book sitting around, you'll probably notice the tips of the pages look dingy compared to the pages which have been kept closed. Many types of paper when exposed to air, will eventually disrupt the chemical composition and alter the appearance. It doesn't exactly indicate that it's been abused or mistreated, a lot of times very normal use and storage can result in this outcome. Folks who ended up with cheddar cheese Super Nintendo systems didn't abuse them, the composition in the plastics were triggered by the environment, resulting in a color change over time. Other Super Nintendo systems made of a different plastic, won't do this even if it was in the very same environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7YgfdWffh0

Random collection video as an example, but I can notice that a lot of the artwork shown here is darker than the white of the plastic cases, and that's what OP is talking about. The covers are technically still "white", it's just not a vibrant white anymore, it's more of a cream color. This is typical and only becoming more common with Wii collections.

[marvelvscapcom2]

I've raved about this for ages. It's the nature of paper when it's a pure white variety. Over time, with environmental factors accelerating the issue, the chemical compound of the paper breaks down and looses it's vibrant white appearance. It doesn't necessarily turn yellow, it just becomes less and less vivid as it breaks down and becomes less stable. Compared to the white plastic of the case, it will look like a different color eventually.

Has happened not only to my Wii artwork, also my Sega Saturn artwork, Dreamcast artwork, the white banners on Xbox 360 games, PS5 games, etc. Anything vivid white, will eventually become dingier white over time. A lot of my PS5 games are already doing this. I live in an environment where air humidity levels tend to fluctuate from dry to normal-borderline damp, and that's a nightmare scenario for thin little slips of high gloss paper. Hell, all of my handheld console screens turn yellow over time too, because of these dry to damp shifts. It's a common problem in Japan due to their climate conditions as well.

You have two options. Just accept this shit will turn dingy and look bad, because you know it's something that happens outside of your control. Or, use a scanner to do high-res scans of all of your artwork (avoid the low-res crap found on most websites, because it'll look like a cheap counterfeit), photo edit to tweak the dingy tint back to white, then reprint all of your artwork. It'll be good for a while, but it'll just happen again eventually. Still, you can do a refresh as many times as you'd like ones you've got all your stuff archived...

A third option, buy some cream colored DVD cases?

I think there is definitely some control

cause in most cases wii covers are still white. this is not the normal, maybe after a hell lot more time has past but not in the current era.

even with people that don't give a shit and treat wii poorly covers are still white in  most cases. I don't think wii covers are as fragile as comic books or some of that old toy cardboard. let alone ps2 covers in europe which all have white backsides. most if not all are still white. only time they get yellowed is when people actually get dirty with em. smudge insane sun damage etc didn't happen by itselves.

if this was an actual issue that happened out of nowhere people be complaining for days. just ain't it. poor storage, maybe said guy living in a humid environment it definitely didn't happen out of nowhere

I know that PS5 cases have horrible sleeves which bulge out and expose the cover to the air massively, causing waviness and discoloration at the edges of the artwork, which I find to be super common. With every generation, the sleeve quality gets worse and worse as it's made of cheaper material.

Damn, I thought I was the only one. I guess this is just modern gaming. I been getting games from the PS4 and PS5 era. And it seems games from everywhere,.even other collectors (unless brand new or really recent games) seem to have like a warping effect from the flimsy plastic.  And I know its not my room.  Its climate controlled, moisture controlled. 

Yet I always see this sorta bubbling. Its not.extreme. not like.water damage per say. But it's feelable. It makes new games feel so.cheap and like burning dvds in the 90s. I store my cases seperate from the discs now because I reseal all my games cases.

PS2 used to be card stock quality almost.  Those things were like so thick you could stand them up without the case.  Now it's borderline cheaper than actual printer paper. Its see through in any lighting. And the cases are so feather light.  They love to punish us physical collectors lol.

So yeah the PS5 and PS4 labels are prone to getting air or moisture under the plastic and warping.  Ive noticed a good percent of all new games getting this.  But in fairness its not noticable to anyone with normal expectations or less critical of the medium.


I have been packing all my brand new games in plastic vacc bags to hopefully mitigate it. But it's still not avoidable forever.   They wont hold straight as a PS2 game.