Your loose carts are collecting dust and label damage

94MER / Repair Guides / Collecting

Collecting · Symptom guide

Labels scuffing against each other on the shelf, dust settling straight onto the contacts, and boxed games getting crushed corners.

A loose cartridge has exposed contacts facing the open air, and labels that rub against whatever is next to them. Neither is dramatic, but both are permanent and both lower what the game is worth.

Do these first. They cost nothing.

Check this before you buy anything

  1. Clean the contacts before you store anything

    Isopropyl on a cotton bud. Storing a dirty cartridge just seals the grime in.

  2. Keep them out of direct sunlight

    UV fades labels and yellows plastic faster than anything else on this list.

  3. Do not stack boxed games flat under weight

    Crushed corners are the most common and least reversible damage to a boxed game.

If every one of those comes back clean, now it is worth buying a part.

If that did not fix it, here is the part

SNES Cartridge ProtectorSNES Cartridge Protector$2.99N64 Cartridge ProtectorN64 Cartridge Protector$2.99Game Boy Advance Cartridge Case, 5 packGame Boy Advance Cartridge Case, 5 pack$9.99Game Boy / Game Boy Color Cartridge Case, 5 packGame Boy / Game Boy Color Cartridge Case, 5 pack$9.99NES Game Box ProtectorNES Game Box Protector$2.99Game Boy Box ProtectorGame Boy Box Protector$2.99N64 & SNES Game Box ProtectorN64 & SNES Game Box Protector$2.99

Before you order

Cartridge protectors and cases fit loose carts. Box protectors fit boxed games. They are different sizes and not interchangeable, so check which one you need. The Game Boy cases come in packs of five and are shaped per family: GBA and GBA SP take one, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Pocket take the other.

What this is not

Protectors are storage, not restoration. They stop further damage and will not undo a scuffed label.

Related faults

Your save file disappears every time you switch offYou have the wrong screwdriver

The whole reference, free

This page is one entry from the 94MER Bench Sheets. Nineteen pages of fastener charts, symptom tables, polarity traps and a printable job log. No email needed.

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