Thinking of starting a nice Dreamcast collection. I won't be able to demand perfect quality, but I think used/old/mismatched jewel cases are going to be big problem. I had considered just ordering a large box of clear tray jewel cases and tossing out all of the originals if they have any scuffs or damage. But then I thought that might be frowned upon or make the collection less awesome to some. I could see this being a big deal for a console with unique case styles like the Saturn or early PSX titles, but the Dreamcast pretty much had cases exactly like clear tray audio CDs, with a slightly unique middle disc piece and no "compact disc digital audio" logo. I have found suppliers online with jewel cases close to, but not exactly the same as, the Dreamcast's. Do you think that this is a good idea, or no?
That's entirely down to you, your budget and how pure you want your collection to be, I guess. A jewel case is part of the original product line so to throw away the original cases is devaluing the collection somewhat. It's a little bit like resealing, is a reseal as valuable as an original seal just because it's sealed? Not really, bit of an exadurated example but kind of similar. A serious collector probably wouldn't like the idea of having to buy original jewel cases for an entire collection, where as an average gamer probably wouldn't care. I personally wouldn't waste the money, if the case is scuffed the case is scuffed, replacing it with a no brand case isn't really replacing it for anything other than perhaps protection and display purposes. But that's just me.
I replace all my scratched Jewel cases with quality brand new ones. My games then look minty fresh. A jewel case is a jewel case. The only special thing say with DC games is that the inner try doesn't have the CD logo so best to keep the inner try. As for the actual case, go ahead and replace them with nice scratch free ones. Just don't use cheap flimsy cases. I buy cases in bulk from Yahoo Auctions. About 200 at a time. I really need some of those slightly thicker cases though. Getting different coloured inserts is easy but the slightly thicker cases is nightmare.
There are many different types of jewel cases. Those from the early CD console days (PC-Engine, Mega CD, Saturn) are not the same as those you can purchase new nowadays, there are plenty of subtle differences and sometimes they will hinder the manual fitting in there et cetera. I also don't have to mention that double-CD-cases are a nightmare to replace due to all the different configurations they came in (inner CD holder, no inner CD holder, only 1 inner cd holder).
I've bought secondhand crappy sports games for PSOne and Dreamcast before, to get replacement cases in weird, fat, non-standard PAL-region style. What ticks me off is more subtle stuff. E.g. There is a crack in the lid of this case (Need for Speed II SE): So, short of injection moulding my own replacement lid, any ideas?
If by "middle disc piece" you mean the disc holder on the tray, then you are incorrect. There isn't a definite one unique "middle disc piece" for Dreamcast jewel case trays. It differs from publisher to publisher... at best. Just look at an original case tray for just about any Capcom title and compare that to any 1st party Sega title for the system and you'll see the difference. Like Yakumo said, A jewel case is a damn jewel case. I've replaced all my scratched, cracked, or sticker'd out DC jewel case with proper replacements cases and they make the whole package look minty nice! As long as the tray has blanks where CD rom in usually printed, then it's fine by me.
I am a stickler for it looking exactly as it came but at the same time as long as that is met I don't care where it came from. So I would do as Yakumo said and keep the inner and replace the rest and if one day you come across some replacements with the same inner then by all means stock up for a rainy day. Retroswim's suggestion is also good (just picked up some cheap Saturn sports games for the longboxes) but I'm finding that less and less an option since everyone else is doing the same thing. I know a number of stores that only buy sports games so the can pretty up the games that actually sell.
That's the bottom line for me at least, as long as you're replacing it with an equivelant of what it shipped with then it's a worthy replacement regardless of where it came from. However if I was building a huge collection and had some beat up games on the shelf, I'm not going to look at them every day. If it was a game I really cared about and wanted to display I'd just wait and find one in nice condition right from the start. But like I say that's just me, everyone is different and takes different priorities in their collection. I've got some Saturn and Dreamcast games here that are beat up and I don't really care about, I've got some really nice ones here that I enjoy and take care of, I've for a couple of games here that accidentally got damaged and I need replacement cases for, but I'd make sure to get the right replacement and not just replace it with any old case.
I need to find someone that makes those slightly thicker Japanese Dreamcast cases, I need one to replace a cracked Fighting Vipers 2 case.
When I get a game that comes in a standard jewel case and it's scratched or stained with glue or similar, I replace the transparent part of the case but leave the inner part. The problem comes with PAL Dreamcast / Playstation cases and with those thicker jewel cases...
Yes, that's what I meant--the disc holder (I wasn't very eloquent with my wording, heh...). And that totally sucks that different titles had different disc holders. Seems like it would be near impossible to track down and know exactly what games used what jewel case styles without purchasing the games sealed. Ugh. So after extensive searching I found this site which sells trays that look like the Dreamcast first-party style (no "compact disc" logo, and disc holder looks right). I ordered 50 trays to sample. Also, I bought 50 outer cases from here, and that site claims that the cases are high quality as they are made to be machinable on an assembly line. I'll let you guys know how these look when they come in.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same game in the same territory has slightly different cases occasionally (happens with CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays all the time). Except for unique ones (like the ones with the Electronic Arts logo), the manufacturers would use different cases depending on where they were located, when the discs were made, case supplier with the lowest bid, etc... If it was a popular game, and they had to do a second (or more) pressing of games to sell, then it's very likely that the second pressing could be different. And from game-to-game, if one game is manufactured at plant A, and another game from the same company went to plant B, the cases could be slightly different (like round nubs for holding in the manual vs the thin lines, or any number of slight differences). If it's not a specific Dreamcast case, or a specific game/game developer case (like the EA ones), then replacing it with a compatible new one should be acceptable by anyone. If you can't _tell_ it's been replaced, then it doesn't really matter. If it's a unique case that you just can't stand to look at, replace it but keep the original somewhere in case you re-sell it. Give the buyer the opportunity to have the original special case.
