Hey guys, first off let me thank everyone here for your amazing work on this fantastic service. I have been spending the last few days going ham prettifying my collection with the help of all your guides, covers, etc. My collection is very modest, partly due to the fact I lost almost all my games to a house fire a few years back, so to make what I do have look super professional satisfies me a great deal.
That being said, I figured I'd add a little of my experiments to the pot here. While mulling over whether or not to buy a case of UGC's, I started brainstorming to see whether there were some cheaper solutions for a smaller collection like mine. Money has been tight in the collecting department recently, so I didn't want to drop $80 on a pack of 100 cases, and it just didn't feel right paying $2+ for each case when I could be buying them for .75 a pop. I tried some things and ended up with this.
Things you will need:
You start off with a large disc case like this one. They are most commonly used for PC games (but you know that). They are easily found online, or at thrift stores for pennies. Because the PC games inside them are pretty much useless, often times they will sit in the store and rack up discounts. I happened to have a huge cache of them from back when I used to buy all the Sims and the latest MMOs. For this one I'm using Star Wars Galaxies (sigh). Another advantage to this is if you prefer the black color to the clear of the mass produced UGC. You may also be able to find other colors.
http://i.imgur.com/alRBFKJ.jpg?1This is what the inside looks like before cutting. The plastic is thick and hard to cut with a knife alone, so I took my heat gun (a hair dryer would work) and warmed up the area I was going to cut off. BE VERY CAREFUL ON THIS PART! It would be very easy to melt the plastic, warp the case, or burn yourself. Only heat until the plastic becomes ever so slightly glossy, and use a sharp knife. I guess I should add the obligatory *try at your own risk*.
http://i.imgur.com/6a1dk7J.jpgThis is what the inside looks like after cutting. I removed the center piece, the disc guides, and the divider on the spine of the case. Get as close as you can, but it doesn't have to be perfect. (Ignore the corner, this case was repaired for something else)
http://i.imgur.com/EiL9A8A.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/iq1G9yP.jpgNext, I cut out a piece of the EVA Foam equaling 5" x 7.25". This will fit snugly inside one side of the DVD Case. Make sure to use your floor mat efficiently! After cutting the piece, I placed a cartridge on the foam and traced it, then cutting a cartridge sized hole from the center of the foam. Like so. I'm using N64 carts here, but you could theoretically use any cartridge that will fit in the box.
http://i.imgur.com/PvR0xJV.jpgThe cart should fit quite snugly.
http://i.imgur.com/8S05DHD.jpgThis is optional, but if you really dont like the ugly look of the hole in the back, you can glue a piece of craft foam to the back of the foam brick. I don't mind, so I just glued it directly into the case. This is what I ended up with.
http://i.imgur.com/h410C3F.jpg?1http://i.imgur.com/cJajUae.jpg?1You will have to mess with the measurements a little. I find that 3375x2146 works well. I also like to make the spine wider, but that's just my preference.
I have a few cases left so I will be trying this with some SNES titles in the future. I'll update then.
