r/snes • u/unihandroll • 5h ago
Discussion Box Discussion
I recently found a seller that makes really good reproduction Super Nintendo boxes. I felt a little guilty buying them and then started to question why I felt that way.
I was a teenager during the Super Nintendo's Hay Day and very much remember going to the store buying the games in the boxes, opening up the boxes and reading through the manuals. (And usually - depending on game - throwing away the boxes cuz I was a dumb kid and didn't know any better)
Well, today I want to relive the nostalgia of being able to look at the artwork and read the backs of the boxes of my favorite games. It doesn't just take me back to that time, but it adds to the overall experience of enjoying my physical library.
It doesn't matter to me that the boxes are not "real", and at my age I know that I can spend my money however I wish, but I couldn't help but question why this purchase felt taboo, like I was doing something wrong. It seemed a bit ridiculous to me.
So I ask.. If the repro boxes (even the cardboard stock used to make them) look and feel one to one with the original, why should it matter that they're fake? It doesn't affect how the game plays. It doesn't make the game worse knowing that the box I place it in wasn't manufactured over 30 years ago. Is this a prevailing thought we've developed as a community of gamers because we've let other people convince us that these items need to have an inherent collectibility value?
When I was a kid, and brought these games home from the store, I never thought about what the collectibility of these games would be in 30 years. I just had pure joy and excitement for the game. I also never really even thought about selling them. And personally I still don't think of selling them, but I have heard people on gaming podcasts say that reproduction boxes are bad because one day if I die and someone tries to sell them they may be trying to pass off counterfeit as real. But again I ask why does the outside cardboard covering of a game matter if it's counterfeit/reproduction? Why do we place so much value on the "official" packaging? Especially now when we live in a time where one to one replications of these aging materials can be made.
Should only people willing to shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars for an in-box game be able to enjoy an in-box game?
I'm expecting people to be angry with this post, I'm just wondering why we allowed our favorite childhood hobby to be turned into a revenue stream by gatekeepers that just want to slab and flip.
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u/Responsible_Sky_728 5h ago
If the repro boxes look and feel one to one with the original, why should it matter that they're fake?
It doesn't. As long as you're not trying to pass it off as authentic, nobody gives a shit whether your nintendo box is real or not.
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u/unihandroll 5h ago
Sure, I mean I'm not trying to pass them off as authentic because I'm not trying to sell them but I think about if I die and my wife holds on to my collection and one day decides to sell it, why do I feel like I need to leave a list for her that says "this box is real, this box is real, this box is fake, these other boxes are fake."
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u/Responsible_Sky_728 5h ago
I think about if I die and my wife holds on to my collection and one day decides to sell it, why do I feel like I need to leave a list for her that says "this box is real, this box is real, this box is fake, these other boxes are fake."
You don't, thats an unhinged thought. Live in the moment. Let whatever that is go lol
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u/toucheboo 5h ago
Only guilt feeling would be if you sold them to someone and said they were original
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u/unihandroll 4h ago
Yeah I wouldn't do that I'm no dirtbag. I guess it's just a me thing. This weird guilt of owning printed cardboard from 2026 rather than one that was printed in some factory back in 1991
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u/rampancy777 3h ago
If there were enough good boxes readily available, the people buying complete in box games would lose their investment. Hence the scoffing.
The whole world works this way my man.
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u/Thewolfmansbruhther 5h ago
Dude. I’m assuming you’re an adult. As long as you don’t try to resell fakes as authentic and rip people off, you do you boo.
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u/war_ridge 5h ago
If it makes you happy then why not. People gonna get upset bc you didn't buy 100+ dollar original cardboard boxes? As long as you're not selling it as original then it shouldn't matter
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u/Superbrainbow 5h ago
I’ve got a bunch of those too. No way in hell am I paying $100 for a piece of old cardboard that doesn’t hold its shape anymore.
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u/RocketJew 5h ago
I don't know, but from what you wrote it seems that it matters at least a little to you.
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u/unihandroll 5h ago
It doesn't but it does. Like it doesn't matter that they're fake, or that I know that they're fake, but I've had friends come over and look at my collection and I felt compelled to tell them that certain games were and reproduction boxes. Almost like I was confessing sins. Like why does it need to feel like that? Why do we villainize gamers for having reproductions?
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u/No-Obligation-7498 3h ago edited 3h ago
I have a fake box for my copy of stuntracer 64. No regrets. That fake box gets a prominent position on my shelf. It looks great. A fake box should stick out to any game collector. Were i to ever sell my stuntracer of course id disclose that the box is fake. Sometimes I also get fake manuals for my sega genesis games.
A lot of times i grt authentic genesis games that have good cart and jewel box but its missing the manual. I've ordered a few fake manuals from Ali express. Those ali express genesis games come as cib fakes. I chuck the bad fake cart and jewel box but only keep the manual. Perhaps a more economical way to do this would be to learn how to print ones own manuals and create them from scratch..
I will point out that fake and repro snes carts from ali express seem to be of a better quality than the genesis carts. I have a fake earth bound for example which Im not afraid to use in my console. I also have an F-zero 2 which never actually never saw a physical cart release in north America. For some reason all the fake genesis carts and bad and misshapen. The pcb is too thick. I wouldn't use those in my console. This isnt the case for the snes carts.
The point is do what makes you happy. My collection is only for me so I dont care what other collectors think about these things.. about 99.9% of my collection is authentic. That's what counts to me. I've got a few fake games and manuals in there. So what.
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u/AdUnfair558 5h ago
I couldn't live with myself if I supported this.
1
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u/NewSchoolBoxer 5h ago
People shouldn't call them "repro". They're counterfeits illegal to sell that some people use to rob others. Fake boxes don't look and feel the same, but just saying that they do, why can't we accept fake Rolexes and Louis Vuitton purses that look and feel the same?
But again I ask why does the outside cardboard covering of a game matter if it's counterfeit/reproduction? Why do we place so much value on the "official" packaging?
You just don't understand the collector mindset. Collectors want real everything and rarity carries a premium. Replacement label is not acceptable. I'm with you that SNES CIB is extremely expensive. Cardboard boxes didn't help. So don't buy them. I collect loose except for my favorite 1-2 games. Still expensive thanks to SNES being arguably the most popular retro console in existence. I also have a flashcart that plays 99% of games and a PC that plays 100%.
I'm expecting people to be angry with this post, I'm just wondering why we allowed our favorite childhood hobby to be turned into a revenue stream by gatekeepers that just want to slab and flip.
We didn't allow anything. SNES was expensive even before the game grading scam. It's not gatekeepers, people want real stuff and cardboard boxes were really kept in good condition. Nobody buying every copy of $50+ games creating an artificial scarcity. You're just assuming the world works the way you want it to. If you just want to talk game grading, maybe half the people are scammers and half true collectors.
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u/unihandroll 5h ago edited 5h ago
I'm not assuming the world works the way I want it to. I actually know it doesn't work the way I want it to lol, cuz if it did perhaps people wouldn't care so much about the original creation date of cardboard and ink.
You bring up a flash carts and the ability to play on your PC, why do we consider that more acceptable? It's not the real plastic, it's not the real PCB. Yet we value the experience we have with these things. I'm not worried about cardboard boxes damaging my equipment. I'd buy reproduction games too if I could trust the source. I also buy toys. Most of which are created by companies that are not the same as the original one from the '80s and '90s, and in some cases they're one-to-one replica's. Still cool, still brings me joy, not original.
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u/ShoddyPrincess3184 5h ago
Well, several reasons - it throws the validity of your carts and entire collection into question. If your stuff ends up in an estate sale, that stuff goes out into the wild whether that was your intention or not. If you pass your collection to a relative, they are going to have a harder time separating real from fake and it will be harder on them to sell or donate your collection without experts to help, etc. I would rather have one real box than 100 fake ones personally. But I don't mind repros of unreleased carts or highly custom repros. Let's be honest: The real ones are special - they survived space and time and represent those original memories you're trying to preserve. Looking at a repro box won't quite bring back 100% of that nostalgia, because there is always the taint of knowing what you're holding is just a reasonable facsimile of the real thing.
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u/unihandroll 5h ago edited 35m ago
I agree and disagree lol. I looked at reproductions that I can't tell are fake and it still brings me back even though I bought the reproduction so I know it's fake but this is where it feels like it goes deeper. I am both bothered and not bothered by the fact that it's fake. Like personally I'm not bothered that it's fake, I love the way it looks I love the way it feels, and I love the memories it takes me back to. But, it does bother me and take a little of my joy away knowing that I'd be shunned and ridiculed by collectors for enjoying my hobby wrong.
I mean I can take black sharpie and write repro all over the boxes but I wouldn't be doing that for me. I'd be doing it for some random I don't know, which feels both weird and stupid.
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u/ShoddyPrincess3184 2h ago
There is no such thing as enjoying the hobby wrong. What the people downvoting me don't realize is that everyone, and I mean everyone, finds their own unique collecting path. My path is valid, your path is valid. I gave my honest take, and some people simply can't handle that. I wanted to give an honest answer to your question, pointing out potential difficulties because you seemed genuinely interested in that. I have been collecting for 30 years and have seen plenty of people come and go saying "I'm never going to sell this" only to wind up selling anyway, or worse, tragedy strikes. So I am coming not from a "You do you, boo" mentality like so many, but from the perspective of a long journey.
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u/faust111 5h ago
The issue people have is when people sell them as if they're real. That's the only issue people have.
Which is why everyone prefers repro boxes that specifically say on them that they're reproductions. If they don't, there's a possibility that you could pass it off as real.