The spine card market..

Sarumaru · 01/06/2015, 03:32 AM

..has crashed. I repeat, the spine card market has crashed. We now return you to our regularly schedule programming.

PunkCryborg · 01/06/2015, 10:05 AM

Well if they are worthless now, I will happily take all of your spine cards.

Lochlan · 01/06/2015, 11:53 AM

Please enter me into your raffle.

Sarumaru · 01/06/2015, 02:14 PM

Drunk posting, fun. But in all seriousness, I sometimes see spine cards for prices like 30 and 40 dollars.. wut??

BigusSchmuck · 01/06/2015, 02:14 PM

They are ours and we wants more.

Lochlan · 01/06/2015, 04:38 PM

Quote from: Sarumaru on 01/06/2015, 02:14 PMDrunk posting, fun. But in all seriousness, I sometimes see spine cards for prices like 30 and 40 dollars.. wut??

Sometimes I see product X for $Y. Why is that? How do markets work? Plz halp.

Bernie · 01/06/2015, 04:48 PM

Quote from: PunkCryborg on 01/06/2015, 10:05 AMWell if they are worthless now, I will happily take all of your spine cards.

I thought about you the other day. I found a baggie fully of spines I was going to send to you before I moved. I must have boxed em up and forgot about it. I take it you still want them? lol

PunkCryborg · 01/06/2015, 08:06 PM

Quote from: Bernie on 01/06/2015, 04:48 PM
Quote from: PunkCryborg on 01/06/2015, 10:05 AMWell if they are worthless now, I will happily take all of your spine cards.
I thought about you the other day. I found a baggie fully of spines I was going to send to you before I moved. I must have boxed em up and forgot about it. I take it you still want them? lol

hell yeah bernie! i actually ended up with your old ane san from ope

grache · 01/06/2015, 09:34 PM

What's the purpose of spine cards? Do they have any use (other than looking at them) or are they just part of Japanese game packaging?

Sarumaru · 01/07/2015, 01:05 AM

Mainly just advertising and presentation. Some have catch-phrases and things. I liked Sapphire's "Chou cute but chou hard" on the spine. Makes me all giggle-tits.

mackdanger · 01/07/2015, 07:47 AM

Spine cards? Let's talk about spine cards. Rewind the clock to about 1997. I had just started importing and joining various online mailing lists and stuff. Back then it was mostly Yahoo groups and e-mail lists. I then stumbled into a conversation where someone declared that if you didn't have the spine card, you didn't have a complete game. My initial gut reaction, was that this joker was an idiot. I was studying Japanese in college, so I knew that those cards didn't say anything important. However, I didn't say anything. No one else seemed to resist the idea very much either. As much as I would like to lash out at and blame collectors for spine card stupidity, I think a lot of people, including myself are to blame. I and other people at the time didn't resist it because it automatically made what we had more valuable. We just made damn sure we didn't throw those things out anymore. Of course after spine cards, it was only a matter of time until the warranty card was also deemed necessary for "completeness" and the whole thing got even more stupid.

Now, let's talk about spine cards here in Japan. Truth be told, when it comes to CD based games, I go for copies without the spine card. The box, manual, and game are the only things important to me. They don't have to be in perfect condition, but they need to be in good shape. Reading the boxes and manuals is something I have enjoyed doing since I was a kid, and I reread them regularly. Anybody else? Anyway, back to spine cards.

Since my favorite series of all time is Ninja Gaiden, I decided I had to have a copy of Kaze Kiri. I checked all the shops and unfortunately, they all had the spine card. So I knew I would be paying at least a hundred bucks, depending on condition. I found one, at Mandarake of all places, that was in good shape but the price was cheaper because it said the spine card had some damage. The price was about $118 U.S. so I opted for that one. Truth be told, the "damage" to the spine card was very minimal. There was a couple of small indentations and that was it. Mandarake is usually a little more expensive, but they seem to judge condition very harshly. Remember, the copy I paid for with a tiny amount of spine card damage was $118. They had another copy there that had a no damage 'A' rated spine card. The price? $280! The price jumps that much for that tiny little piece of paper.

Can't even LOL at that.

NecroPhile · 01/07/2015, 10:26 AM

Spine and registration cards mean very little to me, but they most certainly are a part of whether or not something is complete. I'm not even a little bit worried that many of my games aren't 100% complete.

Ayce · 01/08/2015, 09:13 AM

I like having the spine cards, but it's not something that will break my deal of buying the game. Most of my PCE games have the spines so I store them inside the booklet. Maybe I could try and sell them

o.pwuaioc · 01/08/2015, 10:00 AM

I consider it complete if it has the damn game, the damn manual, and the damn case (with case art). I give exactly zero shits whether it has a spine card, cellophane wrapper, price sticker, or chlamydia. WHY WOULD YOU SICKOS WANT GAME CHLAMYDIA!?

xcrement5x · 01/08/2015, 10:47 AM

I like spine cards because the games look so funky fresh when I put them in a little baggie with the obi facing out. I normally just leave the it in the |_| shape in the bag for when I pull stuff out to play, then I just need to be a bit careful about putting the case back in the bag.

That said, I will try and get them if it's reasonable, but I'm not going to pay a substantial amount more for games with an obi.

PunkCryborg · 01/08/2015, 11:45 AM

If any of you spine card haters want to pass any along to me let me know! I like them even for games I don't have in case I pick them up so if anyone has any loosies floating around let me know. I updated my spine card wish list https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?board=8.0

Here's why I like them

esadajr · 01/08/2015, 03:12 PM

Wow, they look really cool Punkic. Is there a place where I can download high res scans?

PunkCryborg · 01/08/2015, 03:31 PM

Quote from: esadajr on 01/08/2015, 03:12 PMWow, they look really cool Punkic. Is there a place where I can download high res scans?

there's spine card scans for some games at pcengine.co.uk and pcenginedaisakusen

MrFulci · 01/08/2015, 03:34 PM

Quote from: guest on 01/07/2015, 10:26 AM...............I'm not even a little bit worried that many of my games aren't 100% complete.

NEKRO! WHAT ABOUT THOSE NA TG 16 TITLES?!??!??!??!?!

Carriage return

NecroPhile · 01/08/2015, 03:53 PM

Quote from: MrFulci on 01/08/2015, 03:34 PMNEKRO! WHAT ABOUT THOSE NA TG 16 TITLES?!??!??!??!?!

What about 'em? I only have boxes for maybe half of my games that came in boxes originally, and I ain't losing any sleep over the missing ones.

MrFulci · 01/08/2015, 03:55 PM

Quote from: guest on 01/08/2015, 03:53 PM
Quote from: MrFulci on 01/08/2015, 03:34 PMNEKRO! WHAT ABOUT THOSE NA TG 16 TITLES?!??!??!??!?!
What about 'em? I only have boxes for maybe half of my games that came in boxes originally, and I ain't losing any sleep over the missing ones.

Nekro,

Good thing you aren't losing sleep. i ws about to worry, in this thread. I run into you, I'll give you a hug, for the sleep.

Sarumaru · 01/08/2015, 08:23 PM

Wow.. Seeing them in the plastics with the spine cards is pretty hawt.. For me however, the ones I do have just sit in the manuals cuz I play my games to often to seal and re-seal :\

PunkCryborg · 01/08/2015, 08:27 PM

Quote from: Sarumaru on 01/08/2015, 08:23 PMWow.. Seeing them in the plastics with the spine cards is pretty hawt.. For me however, the ones I do have just sit in the manuals cuz I play my games to often to seal and re-seal :\

It's not too bad taking them out when you wanna play the games and I have lots of extra sleeves for when they piss me off and I rip them lol

esteban · 01/09/2015, 07:23 AM

I will admit that the spine card really does capture the "retail experience" in a way similar cardboard boxes.

I personally love the folks who collect and scan all this stuff, because, in my fantasy future, we will have "virtual models" of all the original packaging and software (including stuff like OBI and styrofoam inserts and foam rectangles and double-sided stickers, HuCARD sleeves, etc. etc.).

cjameslv · 01/09/2015, 10:17 AM

Quote from: guest on 01/07/2015, 10:26 AMSpine and registration cards mean very little to me, but they most certainly are a part of whether or not something is complete. I'm not even a little bit worried that many of my games aren't 100% complete.

I agree on this, to me complete just means manual, game & case lol

xcrement5x · 01/09/2015, 05:35 PM

Quote from: PunkCryborg on 01/08/2015, 08:27 PM
Quote from: Sarumaru on 01/08/2015, 08:23 PMWow.. Seeing them in the plastics with the spine cards is pretty hawt.. For me however, the ones I do have just sit in the manuals cuz I play my games to often to seal and re-seal :\
It's not too bad taking them out when you wanna play the games and I have lots of extra sleeves for when they piss me off and I rip them lol

Yeah, mine always stay in the baggie when I pull the game out. I just make sure to set the bag with card somewhere so I don't step/sit on it while playing. It's worth it for dat sexy look.

SuperGrafx · 01/10/2015, 07:22 PM

I don't consider my games complete unless the spine card is there.

Tatsujin · 01/10/2015, 07:47 PM

noobi, no party!

Sarumaru · 01/12/2015, 07:11 PM

Quote from: Tatsujin on 01/10/2015, 07:47 PMnoobi, no party!

no obi no obey?

10/31/2023: Localization News - Dead of the Brain 1!

The spine card market..