I’m a great believer in game box protectors. With vintage games only getting older, anything that helps them (and their related paraphernalia) to stay in great condition without being fully archived is a great investment.

I recently got some box protectors for my Japanese Game Boy/Game Boy Color games. There are two sizes for Japanese Game Boy games, the original size which are very small, and a later size which is about 4/5 of the ‘standard’ Famicom box size. This later size continued through the Game Boy Color era too.

Previously I had stored my small Japanese Game Boy games in Japanese Game Boy Advance protectors, which were okay in one direction, but way too big in the other two.

Similarly, I kept my larger Japanese Game Boy games in Famicom box protectors, which was a closer fit but still quite a lot of room at the top.

It’s great to finally have my Game Boy games secure in snug fitting protectors.

Adaptations for less common sizes

I was glad to find these Japanese Game Boy sizes, as a good fit is important for protection. It’s hard (or impossible) to find decent box protectors for less common box sizes, so here are some adaptations of sizes designed for other purposes that I use. While usually not perfect, they are good enough for solid protection without too much internal movement.

Japanese Game Boy Advance size works very well for the ‘mid size’ Famicom boxes

Only a small amount of room to move.

Western Game Boy protectors obviously work perfectly for Virtual Boy boxes.

NES protectors work nearly perfectly for the large size Konami Famicom games.

The unique Gun Sight box is nearly an exact match for Euro NES size protectors.

Famicom protectors work okay for small SG1000 games. It’s not really the right size in any direction and is very tight, but protects okay.

Large SG1000 boxes are a perfect match for an older style ‘too big’ NES protector size I found.

And these new small Japanese GB work very well for Famicom Mini GBA games

And finally, I’ve recently tried Nintendo 64 cartridge protectors on my small box Famicom games.

The fit is not perfect, much like the SG1000 games in large box Famicom protectors, they’re too tight in thickness, but too large in other directions, so they fit, but are somewhat tight. Until there is a better option, it’s a decent solution.

Customs

I had customs done for all these SG1000/Mark III box sizes. It’s a fully one off for Alex Kidd BMX (it’s the only box of that size), but a few each for the two card game sizes and big box Mark III gold.

Unfortunately the producer of these customs has quit the business, so I’m on the lookout for a new producer, if anyone knows of one!