You all know about me working on replicating the SEGA Clamshell cases here early this year, and while I've been focusing on the NES case mould I've had a few people contact me about 2 companies that already offer the SEGA Clamshell cases. This information drove me to stop what I was doing and investigate the "competition"
NOTE! These cases in this review are NOT my cases! ...just sayin'
Here is a photo with an authentic SEGA Clamshell next to 1 case from
Global Game Gear and 1 case from
Piko InteractiveAUTHENTIC SEGA CLAMSHELL
Global Game Gear's Replacement case
Piko Interactive's Replacement case
So there are a few noticeable differences (like the cart holding clips and the cheap artwork sleeve material that is also smooth gloss. But I'm going to compare each replacement case separately.
The Global Game Gear caseSo the first thing I noticed was the artwork sleeve, it is a clear, gloss finish sleeve that is thin, like the cheap black DS cases on ebay. Not only that, it's not aligned on the cases face properly! (It has a 3MM dead space on the top of the face where the artwork sleeve should cover)
They also have the strong, Sharpie? smell... but that leaves after a few days out in the open.
Spine Thickness: The Global Game Gear case is a hair thinner than the authentic case (like 1-2MM's MAX) not a very big deal, but I can tell then I have them hand in hand.
The texture of the Global Game Gear case compared to the Authentic are slightly off. The Global Game Gear cases is missing the the smooth band inside the case's spine. And on the outside edges of the Global Game Gear case is missing the textured accent.
The Global Game Gear case's Tab is smaller than the authentic: (The Authentic case is the one in the back)
I think my MAIN issue with the Global Game Gear case is the quality of the plastic and quality of the mould itself. The game cart holding clip is on the bottom of the holder, and I touched it to see the give and it broke! Without me doing anything! Then I started to notice that the plastic on the entire case was like this! The plastic is brittle and this might sounds weird, but not as "soft" as the authentic SEGA clamshell. (Almost like it's not even the same plastic material) I have also read reviews on this case and Amazon and there were at least 3 people commenting about the closing clips on these cases snap off and break every once in a while due to the brittleness of the plastic.
Then there is a poor edges of the cases (See below 2 images) You can see the edges of these cases are not smooth and shaped nicely. (This is a result of not getting a good mould made) and the jagged edges just make the case seem hokie-pokey (personally).
Global Game Gear does not seem to be selling these anymore on their site nor on Amazon. But they come in a 3pack and end up being $3.99ea Shipped. (Within the USA)
The Piko Interactive caseSo this case is a bit better than Global Game Gear's case. The Piko Interactive case has the correct spine thickness as the authentic cases, but after that it has many of the same issue as the Global Game Gears cases. (Almost like Piko Interactive used Global Game Gear's case as their template)
The artwork sleeves are clear and glossy finished, they are thin (The same stuff as the Global Game Gear's) These sleeves ARE the proper size (going all the way to the top and bottom of the front and back face matching the authentic cases) But the sleeve's seal is weak, I accidentally "unglued" it by trying to stick a cover in it. And the edge of the sleeve is jagged and not smooth (poor finish)
Plastic stinks as well, however the plastic feels right, it's not brittle, and the overall edges of the plastic case is a smooth finish (Better mould than the Global Game Gear's one)
The hanging tab is small, just the like Global Game Gear case. (Funny thing, the Tab is the IDENTICAL size as the Global Game Gear's case)
So the closing of this case appears like the authentic case however, it's only the appearance, you can tell looking straight down on the top of the case, neither side of the case connects, leaving a gap at the spine and both sides. So the spine buldges out like 1MM (not a huge deal) because it's not square.
So both the Piko Interactive and Global Game Gear cases have these thumb holders, the authentic case does not.
These Piko Interactive cases come in a 10 pack which makes them $2.80ea Shipped. (Within the USA)
This is a photo of all 3 cases, side by side, showing the quality of the top spines (it goes bottom to top: SEGA, Piko, Global Game Gear)
To the best of my knowledge neither Global Game Gear nor Piko Interactive offer to buy these cases in 100pcs with price breaks.
Sorry, I just kind of threw this review together, hope you all enjoy it!
So my cases (when I do them) need NONE of these issues and be around $1.00ea when you're at 100pcs... or something like that.
