What do you HATE about collecting?

[marvelsofindustry]

+1 for stickers definitely. Fortunately I was able to save my Zhadnost Longbox from a half torn-off Free Control Pad sticker from the previous owner, getting the rest off without tearing the box. My Batman Rise of Sin Tzu Lithograph Edition box was not so lucky. Another time a smashed piece of (probably chewed) candy was fused to a Mario Kart 64 game I found. Instead of cleaning it off they concealed it by sticking  the price sticker over it, leaving the cleaning for some other poor bastard (me).

Another complaint is disc/game only items. Some older ones get a pass as I'll buy loose NES, gamegear, gameboy games, whatever, but IMO there is NO reason that recent and current gen games, Playstation, DC, GC, XBOX, etc should ever be caseless. Don't even get me started with Gamestop throwing out their game cases

[htimreimer]

Another time a smashed piece of (probably chewed) candy was fused to a Mario Kart 64 game I found. Instead of cleaning it off they concealed it by sticking  the price sticker over it, leaving the cleaning for some other poor bastard (me).

marvelsofindustry how did you clean it.

can anyone tell me how to get rid of  Marker of a nes game with out a mr clean magic eraser

[madmax]

can anyone tell me how to get rid of  Marker of a nes game with out a mr clean magic eraser

I just cleaned Permanent marker off of 2 snes games.

Nail polish remover will get that right off. Dab it on some tissue paper and rub the marker. Make sure you don't go on anything the liquid could damage

[mojoeskateco]

Magic eraser works for me as long as I don't press too hard.

If you press too hard you will discolor the cart slightly but it still looks better than marker IMO.

I've never tried nail polish remover so I'll give that a whirl next time.

[scott]

Oh I may try the nail polish on my Link to the Past cart. Sadly there is no saving the label, but I couldn't beat the price.

[tpugmire]

Be sure to use non acetone polish remover.  The regular stuff will try to eat your cart.  Avoid carburetor cleaner too.  Don't ask...

[marvelsofindustry]

Another time a smashed piece of (probably chewed) candy was fused to a Mario Kart 64 game I found. Instead of cleaning it off they concealed it by sticking  the price sticker over it, leaving the cleaning for some other poor bastard (me).

marvelsofindustry how did you clean it.

can anyone tell me how to get rid of  Marker of a nes game with out a mr clean magic eraser

Thankfully it wasn't on a either of the labels so I used Goo Gone and a flathead screwdriver acting as a chisel.

[scott]

Avoid carburetor cleaner too.  Don't ask...

Oh man, I want to ask. I bet it melted the crap out of it, gotta love chemical reactions.

[htimreimer]

What is weirdest thing you remove win you clean out a console or a cartridge

[scott]

What is weirdest thing you remove win you clean out a console or a cartridge

I've been pretty lucky with the weird stuff. The worst I've ever had was some strange orange goop inside the buttons of a Game Boy. It looked like earwax, really orange earwax.

[jobocan]

Here's one thing to add to things I hate about collecting:
The last 3 consoles I bought, I had/have to repair.

The SMS had to be opened up and have the voltage regulator replaced. Not a tough fix but still annoying.
I have to open my Vectrex's controller to figure out why the 4 button doesn't work.
And now the Virtual Boy I just got, which was working perfectly last week, is starting to display scanlines and other crap in the left eye display, so I have to fix that (apparently by taking the display cable and putting it in the oven for a minute or 2), since playing with the left eye closed is all sorts of lame.

I guess modern gaming isn't any better in that respect, even worse in most cases, but it's still annoying to repair this stuff (you never know where these old consoles went, so you never know how much someone else may have mistreated his stuff).

[madmax]

*looks at his PS3*

I dont even know how many times ive reflowed it now...

[amauriel]

I bought a Genesis for a dollar at a flea market one time. It didn't work...and it rattled. Opened it up, found three quarters inside. Removed those, works like a charm...and I got the system for a quarter!

[desocietas]

I bought a Genesis for a dollar at a flea market one time. It didn't work...and it rattled. Opened it up, found three quarters inside. Removed those, works like a charm...and I got the system for a quarter!

*laughs* I love it!  "Kid, it's not a coin-op arcade machine... You here me, kid?"

[madmax]

Funny PS3 died again last night. I think its at the end of its life I'm gonna need a new system for FFxiii-2