Buying vs Printing Art Covers?

[crazywaffle124]

Is it better to buy the original art covers, or just print them using nice paper and this website? I found all the real art covers for the games I want, but its a bit more expensive than printing it here. To anyone who has printed wii/gamecube/ps2/ds/gba covers, do they turn out extremely similar to the real covers? Or should I just buy the authentic ones?

[Einhander]

Is it better to buy the original art covers, or just print them using nice paper and this website? I found all the real art covers for the games I want, but its a bit more expensive than printing it here. To anyone who has printed wii/gamecube/ps2/ds/gba covers, do they turn out extremely similar to the real covers? Or should I just buy the authentic ones?

Man you beat me to this. I was going to ask this. As much as I love the Cover Project, nothing truly is the same as the original. Now here is a rule of thumb. The cartridge based systems are very hard covers to collect for. PS2, PS3, Wii is very easy to collect for so you won't need to print most of those covers.

There is some downside to collecting the originals for NES, SNES, and N64. For one, it's not easy to get them in mint condition. Secondly, you won't be able to use them for your games even if you do collect them in mint condition. Not if you want them to stay mint. And lastly, the prices can be insane. So that's where the Cover Project comes in.

For Genesis, I think it's best to get whatever original case you can find.

I really do miss my old SNES box covers. I think I threw them away as a kid and I deeply regret it. I had no idea that they were worth anything, heck I was probably just trying to clean my room to impress my mom. I don't actually remember throwing them away, but something tells me I or someone did. I would do anything to have them back, but I guess that's life. 

I will make it a long term goal to collect the originals that I used to have. Anything that is a game I didn't have as a kid, I can probably just settle with the Cover Project, because it's more of a nostalgia thing.

Also, I really wish Nintendo made cases like the Genesis, because those were destined to fall apart. They didn't really think it through or were just trying to save a buck.

[TDIRunner]

My rule is this:  If it's a disc based game, I won't buy it unless it's CIB.  If it's a cart based game, I don't care if the original box is there.  In fact, I tend to stay away from CIB because of the premium price.  I don't display my boxes anyway since everything goes into UGC or similar cases. 

With that said, I always reserve the right to break those rules if the price is right.

[Quazimoto]

If you can get the original covers for not too much more than printing them, I'd go that route.  Mainly because if you ever sell the game(s), you're likely to get a bit more for them with original covers versus a printed cover.

That said, if you use the right paper (I personally use Red River's 8.5x14 Double Sided 50lb Matte Photo Paper), printed covers turn out excellent and you'd almost have to know what you're looking at to distinguish them from originals.

[TDIRunner]

If you can get the original covers for not too much more than printing them, I'd go that route.  Mainly because if you ever sell the game(s), you're likely to get a bit more for them with original covers versus a printed cover.

That said, if you use the right paper (I personally use Red River's 8.5x14 Double Sided 50lb Matte Photo Paper), printed covers turn out excellent and you'd almost have to know what you're looking at to distinguish them from originals.

That's the same paper I'm using.  I'm about to put in another large order as I'm out at the moment and need to print a crap load of new replacement covers. 

[Quazimoto]

^^^  Yeah, I'd recommend that paper to anyone.  It's relatively cheap and even with a cheapo Kodak all in one printer, it pops out great quality covers.

[crazywaffle124]

^^^  Yeah, I'd recommend that paper to anyone.  It's relatively cheap and even with a cheapo Kodak all in one printer, it pops out great quality covers.

If I am just printing out manuals and pc art covers, should I just stick with regular glossy paper? The only times I need to print art covers if for PC games and GBA games

[romevi]

My rule is this:  If it's a disc based game, I won't buy it unless it's CIB.  If it's a cart based game, I don't care if the original box is there.  In fact, I tend to stay away from CIB because of the premium price.  I don't display my boxes anyway since everything goes into UGC or similar cases. 

With that said, I always reserve the right to break those rules if the price is right.

My motto as well.
There are times where I get the box, though, such as for carts that won't fit into UGCs without modding. As easy as the cases are to mod, I'd rather use that unmodded UGC or DS box for something else and get the original cardboard box. I hate cardboard boxes as it's tougher and more expensive to get boxes in better shape, and they look ugly on the shelf beat up, but I found that getting a box protector actually hides some of the blemishes. I'm guessing because it reflects light like regular cases do.

[Quazimoto]

^^^  Yeah, I'd recommend that paper to anyone.  It's relatively cheap and even with a cheapo Kodak all in one printer, it pops out great quality covers.

If I am just printing out manuals and pc art covers, should I just stick with regular glossy paper? The only times I need to print art covers if for PC games and GBA games

You could do that.  Glossy photo paper works well for manuals (well, the manual cover, I used regular old print paper for the inner pages).  I've used glossy photo paper for a few DVD covers and they turned out nicely, so it works well.

[Mel]

I am just wondering what makes the replacement cover look different from the  original cover? Does anyone have a picture that would show the differences between the two covers?