Box stickers: On or off?

[VideoGameCritic]

On Facebook someone noted the price sticker on one of the Odyssey 2 boxes in my latest special. I told him I thought the box was more interesting with the sticker on.

It made me wonder, am I the only person who keeps the stickers on the boxes they collect? Do you think they add more charm or are just eyesores?

[Stalvern]

I'm not really a game collector, but I buy a lot of secondhand books, and it's always fun to see a receipt from 1989 tucked in the front or a single-figure price sticker on the back. I don't get rid of them.

[TheEagleXIII]

Personally, it depends on the type of sticker, what kinda residue it's gonna leave and where I bought it from.

Recently I've bought most of my old games from CeX - they're a chain retailer that specialise solely in pre-owned/2nd hand media. If I'm confident I'm gonna keep it, the sticker comes off - because it's their own sticker with their price on it. If not, then it's handy when selling it back to them if the disc/box wasn't in great condition when I bought it.

If I've bought it elsewhere and it has one I'll leave it unless it's an eyesore. If it's from my original collection of games it depends on whether kid-me left it there or not!

[Tron]

Personally, it depends on the type of sticker, what kinda residue it's gonna leave and where I bought it from.

Recently I've bought most of my old games from CeX - they're a chain retailer that specialise solely in pre-owned/2nd hand media. If I'm confident I'm gonna keep it, the sticker comes off - because it's their own sticker with their price on it. If not, then it's handy when selling it back to them if the disc/box wasn't in great condition when I bought it.

If I've bought it elsewhere and it has one I'll leave it unless it's an eyesore. If it's from my original collection of games it depends on whether kid-me left it there or not!

Kinda like that for me too. If I buy a game that looks new from GameStop I’ll peel the sticker to make it look like I bought it new. I know. I’m so shady. On the other hand when I get a vhs tape that has Blockbuster or even better some smaller businesses sticker on it I like to keep it.

How about receipts? I love keeping receipts and putting them in with the case. It’s neat seeing when I bought the game and for how much. I bought a PGA Tour Genesis game for a $1.99 at some thrift store awhile back. Inside was a receipt from the early 90’s and it cost $60 back then.

[Retro STrife]

I love original stickers on old games. It's part of the game's story, part of its history.

I see that your game with the sticker is Alien Invaders. But that game isn't just Alien Invaders. It's a specific copy of Alien Invaders and it's somehow survived 40 years. What's this game's story.. how did it make it to this point where it's now sitting in your hands? The sticker tells us that this game started its life in Texas. The store name is marred a bit on the sticker- but a Google search shows only one department store in history that ended with "oske's" -- the store was Joske's, which had locations in San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, and it disappeared when it was sold to Dilliard's in 1987. So this game has traveled a far distance to the east coast, likely by way of an ebay purchase. The sticker also tells you about the pricing history. As someone who wasn't alive in 1980, it's interesting to me to learn that a new Odyssey 2 game cost $19.99 back then. That likely wasn't a discounted price either- most Odyssey price tags I've seen are in that price range. So the game was most likely bought fairly new, in 1980 or 1981. You also learn that the game was sold without shrinkwrap. Looking on ebay at Odyssey games, about 10-20% have tags directly on the box, so it must have been a common practice. I find all of this info interesting - it elevates that copy above a dead piece of plastic and gives it some life. Remove that sticker and you instantly remove all of that history with it...

[Retro STrife]

..But ok, I'm romanticizing there to some degree for a bit of dramatic effect. In reality, while I usually prefer to keep stickers on games, I have some stipulations:

-If it's a new modern game, I'm probably removing stickers. I want it to look clean.

-If I buy from a retro game store, I hate when they put their own stickers in any area where it might damage the box or cartridge label. I'm ok with removing those, since they aren't original. That said, I often like to keep those resale stickers on games too, because they help me remember where I personally bought it and what I paid.

-God do I hate Gamestop stickers. They look hideous, they stick like 40 all over the box, and they're impossible to remove. Those can go.

-While I like the history that comes with a sticker, they can look like a blemish. Especially in a photo. If a collector cares more about condition than history, I imagine they're more prone to taking the stickers off. That's just not me though. But admittedly, when buying games, I usually look for clean ones without stickers. I just won't remove the sticker if it has one.

Anyway, moral of the story: keep those stickers on Critic!

[Red Clash]

If it's a sticker that is contemporary to the game I would always keep it on. Keeping the original stickers on also helps prove the authenticity, which is something that needs to be considered for more valuable and rarer titles.

[scotland]

I am totally for keeping on original stickers.

That the Odyssey 2 game was $30 in 1980 is a not just trivia, but an active part of gaming history with consequences. An arcade game was $0.25, a console was $199, etc. Each year, I could only buy a few games. There was no such thing as a backlog, and I don't recall anyone having more than one 2nd generation console in my neighborhood. Low quality (or lower than expected quality, how about that) cartridge games had consequences for consumer behavior and on the value of the brand. The video game marketplace is part of video game history and culture. Don't we talk about how expensive Phantasy Star was, and things like that?

As for secondary market stickers, I tend to keep them if they are not prominent. The problem is that they often aren't much more than a price, or price and vendor name. Without a date, they lose most of their interest.

[VideoGameCritic]

Great points Scotland. Whenever my friend sees a sticker on a box they think that's the most interesting part! It also goes, to a lesser extent, for writing in manuals by kids. I remember my buddy Dennis finding some writing and explaining to me "this was some kid's LIFE we have here"

As a matter of fact, now I'm thinking about going through all my old boxes and see if I have enough to put together a new "box sticker" special.

[VideoGameCritic]

I was going thru a lot of my old game boxes looking for stickers and found about 20 good candidates.

What's interesting is that most were not big-name games, but obscure bargain bin titles like "Name That Game".

Maybe I'll put something together.