Any help for someone trying to replace DC/PS1 jewel cases?

[goldenpp72]

Hello, this is my first topic on this forum so any guidance and help is much appreciated. I have been building a library of retro games for about 3 years now, and have been focusing a lot of attention on the Playstation and Dreamcast lately. The issue is that I am hardly a rich collector, and as such I can't always afford to buy a jewel case that is perfect. With nearly 200 games I plan to own between the two systems, there are bound to be some cases that just don't pan out.

On the other hand, I also am a stickler for trying to make everything as authentic as possible, and as you can assume, not all jewel cases are the same. Being relatively new to this process, I figured someone here might have a better idea of how to distinguish differences, and perhaps point out what kind of cases match best with the respective system. Anything from the small detail of how the disc trays holding prong looks, to the fact some have the compact disc branding and others do not. I recently bought a set that looked good while not authentic, but they also have issues closing smoothly and are not the best quality (they feel flimsy). I can't imagine some people here haven't ran into this issue, so any help would be great. Thanks

[8bit]

First of all, WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

Any completely clear standard jewel case will technically work for either system. Anything new is better than something 15 years old, possible cracked, or hazey..... even if its just a little bit flimsy.

Finding fat double disc cases is usually a lot harder. The ps1 one was black in the middle and the dreamcast's was clear in the US and White in Japan. Its almost impossible to find 3 or 4 disc double wide cases.

I found some fat double disc cases available on amazon in 25 packs here.

[goldenpp72]

I definitely agree, but I guess i'm hoping to see if there is perhaps a best approach for this kind of thing. I recently finished collecting on the Sega Saturn (US region only) and ended up with about 60 titles, the whole process of finding them was horrific without breaks and other damage, and I actually ended up buying a chemical off Amazon to gently 'sand' away the haze as well, obviously doesn't work on cracks.

With jewel cases on these 2 systems though, it's a lot more common to find something that can look close or even be the same, but the ones I have on hand barely close without a lot of force, and the tray part (the part that holds the disc inside and needs to be pushed like a button) looks very different too.

This is the largest collector forum I know of, and the site itself has been a nice guide for me to research titles of interest, but my hope for the end result is to end up with all the games i'm aiming for their original boxes, with the ps1/dc being the exception if I can find ones that look (or even are) the same

Edit: Here is an example of one issue I ran into today, but was helped with by someone on another forum. I purchased a game with a busted jewel case, only to find out it had this very unusual flip door inside of it (I bought it on a forum) as seen here.



Even from that distance you can see all the issues, but there is also a busted hinge. Finding a replacement that had a door that swings that way and also has no labeling saying 2 disc was very hard, but it does exist, right on this site here.

https://www.bagsunlimited.com/p-5183-2- ... thick.aspx

Though I have not ordered this yet, it looks almost identical (if not identical) to the one I have that is broken. So i guess that's all I'm really trying to go for.

[Xeogred]

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 44&t=41365

Good stuff:
http://www.sleevecityusa.com/

[goldenpp72]

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 44&t=41365

Good stuff:
http://www.sleevecityusa.com/

I just read through that topic, this post actually perfectly outlines my concern

I bookmarked this place for when I needed some replacement CD cases.

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/

I have not ordered from them yet but they do have the fat CD cases and a 2 CD addon for regular jewel cases.

I've been trying to recall this site for years! YES!

This is definitely the way to go. I bought some 10-pack for PSX games awhile back and basically replaced all my PSX JRPG's and other double cased games with them, I'll probably need more eventually. It was awesome transferring my stuff into pristine cases, they looked brand new haha.

I ordered a bunch of stuff from sleeve city usa not too long ago, and it's pretty quality, but there are some things to keep in mind:

The clear trays do not have the Compact Disc logos on them, so they're perfect for Dreamcast games, but if you're a real stickler for accuracy in replacement cases, they're not quite right for PSX/some J-SAT games.

The middle trays for the fat multi-cd cases have little pieces of plastic near the outer corners of the opening side, which keeps manuals from lying flat in the tray, and can potential damage, or keep the case from closing with thicker manuals (Grandia II for instance).

The white trays have texturing and the Compact Disc logo on them, so they don't exactly fit J-DC games.

The black trays have texturing and the Compact Disc logo as well, so they only exactly fit a handful of J-SAT games. (Although it's much more glossy textured than the original trays of this style.)

Shipping from them is not particularly cheap either. If I got anything from them again, it would definitely be a whole bunch of single cd jewel case parts, sans trays. They're very nice, if a bit lighter than standard game jewel cases. Sleeve City also has great customer service, and will simply reimburse you for any damage or breakage, without the need to ship things back. (As long as it's under a certain amount of monetary damage.)

Also, I ordered a bunch of cases from BRE Software around the same time, and they were really good for PS2 replacement cases, but they seem to be out of everything but sports game replacement cases. Total bummer.

You can't just replace those with standard jewel cases?

Nope, they're 1.5 times the width of a standard single cd jewel case, unfortunately, so you could replace them with regular cases if you really wanted to, but you'd have to crush down the sides of the back panel card.

Maybe things are different now? It's basically what i'm trying to avoid (if that's possible even)

[pierrot]

I just posted that within the last week or so.

As far as your main question goes, sleevecity should be able to replace 75% of what you might be looking to replace. However, it would depend on just how picky you were going to get. Neither the Dreamcast nor the PS1 had perfect uniformity for disc trays. The clear disc trays that are offered on sleeve city are the most common style of disc tray used for Dreamcast games, and do not have the compact disc logo on them, so I would easily recommend them for Dreamcast games.

There can be some differences in the outer jewel cases for both DC and PS1 games, that mainly boils down to whether or not there are 4 or 6 pegs holding the manual in. I don't think it's a game by game thing, though. I think it's more of a distribution center thing.

Fat cases (at least for US releases) are virtually identical between the DC and PS1, aside from the clear disc trays. The outsides of the doors are just the backs of regular jewel cases, so they're an easy replacement. The main difficulty with them is the black, center joining trays. The ones on sleevecity are basically functional, but probably not what you want. Hobie-wan recommended looking for bargain bin classical music CD compilations, which I haven't personally found any of, but it's potentially a workable option.

While I haven't actually ordered any, the 2-disc trays on sleevecity appear to be dead ringers for the Dreamcast ones. I believe there are only two Dreamcast games that have these trays though. (PSO v1 and Skies of Arcadia.) Strider 2 is a real oddball, and fortunately, mine is in good shape. That one you linked to looks as accurate to it as anything I've seen, though.

Also, just to mention, almost all of the replacement jewel cases I've ever come across are ever so slightly lighter, and thinner than the original jewel cases for the PS1 and DC.

[goldenpp72]

Thank you for the information, so i guess what you're saying is, on that site i could order replacement cases for the dreamcast and be more or less as accurate as they normally would be, and you say they sell the exact cases the DC used for skies/pso dual disc? I kind of thought skies used the same one strider 2 did, but I do not own skies right now.

I guess then I have 2 questions left to ask, is there a place that also sells the compact disc branded trays, and more importantly is an issue I have run into with the batch of jewel cases I bought. Outside of them not closing quite right, when I stick them inside authentic black divider cases (like the ones uses for multi disc ps1 games) they actually won't close without force, and do not move smoothly when opening and closing. Would the cases from that site not have this issue?

I guess another thing then, if some place does sell the trays with that logo on them, would they be able to slip into the cases bought from that site. Sorry for being so anal about this, I just figure if i'm gonna buy some bulk in cases I should be as educated on the subject as I can be, but you've been helpful to directing me so far.

[Hateshinai]

Be glad that you are not collecting PAL games for the PS and DC. Both systems used custom thick cases in Europe and they are a nightmare to find in good condition.

[theclaw]

Be glad that you are not collecting PAL games for the PS and DC. Both systems used custom thick cases in Europe and they are a nightmare to find in good condition.

It'd be even worse if you also collect Japan on top of that. They use different custom thick cases than Europe.

[pierrot]

Thank you for the information, so i guess what you're saying is, on that site i could order replacement cases for the dreamcast and be more or less as accurate as they normally would be, and you say they sell the exact cases the DC used for skies/pso dual disc? I kind of thought skies used the same one strider 2 did, but I do not own skies right now.

I guess then I have 2 questions left to ask, is there a place that also sells the compact disc branded trays, and more importantly is an issue I have run into with the batch of jewel cases I bought. Outside of them not closing quite right, when I stick them inside authentic black divider cases (like the ones uses for multi disc ps1 games) they actually won't close without force, and do not move smoothly when opening and closing. Would the cases from that site not have this issue?

I guess another thing then, if some place does sell the trays with that logo on them, would they be able to slip into the cases bought from that site. Sorry for being so anal about this, I just figure if i'm gonna buy some bulk in cases I should be as educated on the subject as I can be, but you've been helpful to directing me so far.

Yep, DC's a go. SoA's tray opens to the center, toward the manual side.

I'm sure good compact disc labeled, clear trays are out there. I just dont know of a good source for them.

The fat cases from sleevecity do not open and close particularly well. However, the doors are just the backs of regular jewel cases, and those open and close perfectly well with original center trays for fat cases. How well they open and close is more about the center tray than anything else.