Turbo Express Hard Case Foam Replacement!

[FiftyQuid]

So a while back, a member here by the name of playthegame119 outbid me by $4 on an eBay auction for a TG lot.  I didn't want anything in the lot, except for the Turbo Express hard case.  I already have the TurboGrafx-16 console case, so I really wanted the matching Turbo Express hard case.  Well, I decided to contact playthegame119 and make an offer on the case.  I made what I thought was a fair offer and we both agreed to the deal.

The case arrived and the foam was in pretty rough shape (I had been warned about this prior to sealing the deal).  It wasn't this rough upon arrival, but the photo captures how brittle the foam was.  It was not recoverable.



So I decided to tear out the remaining foam.  It was just held in with spray glue.  It was a mess, but the hard case came out nice and clean.


Different types of foam are readily available to me at my place of work.  I was able to source some 1" black plastic foam that was going to be thrown out.


I took some measurements off the TE hard case, and and made up a quick template.  Then I found dead center and cut a properly sized piece out of the larger piece.  The last photo shows a properly cut piece in the lid of the TE hard case.






I took a OLFA box cutter knife, and cut out the pattern.  I made sure to round the corners to match the shape of the TE.  Since the foam I had was only 1" thick I had to cut the pattern out twice and then stack the foam on top of each other to bring it up to the 2.5" depth of the base of the TE hard case.  The bottom piece was a little wider than the top piece so I had to make sure to align them correctly.  It was still a little too low so I had to cut one of the 1" pieces of foam in half giving me another .5" inches of foam.  That brought it up to proper height.









Here's the final product assembled.  I think I'm going to re-cut the .5" bottom.  I sort of just mocked it up with two tiny .5" pieces of foam and I don't like the visible seam. 


All that's left to do is drop in my NEW TURBO EXPRESS that arrived today from BlueBMW after being recapped!  Check it out!









Here it is all closed up, and the money shot with it's bigger brother!














 

[turbokon]

Nice, I want one!!!

[hoobs88]

Nice job! What is an OLFA box cutter knife? I grabbed some spare foam from work with the intention of making my own Turbo Express case but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[FiftyQuid]

Nice job! What is an OLFA box cutter knife? I grabbed some spare foam from work with the intention of making my own Turbo Express case but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Thanks!

An OLFA is just a utility knife.  Similar to a box cutter knife but the blade extends much further.  OLFA is just the brand name;

[esteban]

As I noted in the other thread, you will send this TurboExpress case to me, today. He needs to be re-united with his older brother. Thank you.

 

[Necromancer]

That turned out nice! 

[FiftyQuid]

@esteban - It has already been reunited with it's true big brother.


FYI, that PC Engine/CD combo won't fit in that case.  

Did you dip that TG-16 case in Turtle Wax or Armour All?  I can barely look at it... The gleam!!!  

[Bernie]

Very nice!  Looks really good man. 

[esteban]

@esteban - It has already been reunited with it's true big brother.


FYI, that PC Engine/CD combo won't fit in that case. 

Did you dip that TG-16 case in Turtle Wax or Armour All?  I can barely look at it... The gleam!!! 

Ha! No ArmourAll (British) was required...I just took the picture when the sun was setting/high contrast.

As for the TurboExpress case—please send it to me now. I don't want to take it from you. Thank you.

[FiftyQuid]

Does anyone have any info on these cases?  Were they rental?  If they were why does it seem like there are hardly any around.  Were they available at retail?  I'm just curious.  Normally rental cases have stickers plastered all over them and juice from whomever rented them.  The only ones I've ever come across were always sticker free. 

I've never seen an old advert or any mention of who made them.  Similar ones are available for the Sega Genesis and Nintendo, not sure about the Super Nintendo.  I've seen similar ones without the logo stamped into them as well.  These are just as uncommon.

What is the history of these hard cases?

[Flare65]

There used to be a used video game store in Chicago that sold the larger TG-16 case back in the mid 90's They had a bunch in stock and only wanted 15 dollars for them.  The place has long since closed.  I bought two of thrm and later sold one on ebay.  All the foam in mine has turned to dust due to age.

Never saw any of these cases used in any sort of video rental stores in my area back then.

[ElSeven]

Does anyone have any info on these cases?  Were they rental?  If they were why does it seem like there are hardly any around.  Were they available at retail?  I'm just curious.  Normally rental cases have stickers plastered all over them and juice from whomever rented them.  The only ones I've ever come across were always sticker free.  

I've never seen an old advert or any mention of who made them.  Similar ones are available for the Sega Genesis and Nintendo, not sure about the Super Nintendo.  I've seen similar ones without the logo stamped into them as well.  These are just as uncommon.

What is the history of these hard cases?

About a year ago I bought a pair of the TG16 hard cases off of a collector whom got them directly from NEC in the 90's.  The two I purchased were still in the nondescript NEC cardboard box from their warehouse.  From my understanding, they are official 1st party.  I don't know where they would have sold these as I don't recall seeing them in the turbo accessory fliers or in retail stores like TRU.

[roflmao]

Very nice!

[esteban]

To corroborate what ElSeven and Flare65 have already said: I have never seen the hardcases mentioned/pictured/referenced officially (or unofficially).

Only in the past few years did I even learn they existed.

They are very nicely constructed, clean and durable.

[FiftyQuid]

To corroborate what ElSeven and Flare65 have already said: I have never seen the hardcases mentioned/pictured/referenced officially (or unofficially).

Only in the past few years did I even learn they existed.

They are very nicely constructed, clean and durable.

Yes, very strong and durable cases.  I just find it odd as they were obviously made by someone other than NEC and never an "official" TurboGrafx licensed product (I think), yet there is no company name on the cases.  The molds for these things weren't cheap so I'm surprised they didn't slap a manufacturers logo on there somewhere.  Maybe the company didn't want to be sued, but if people didn't know who produced them how did they sell them?

Did these cases even come with a system inside them?  Who knows...    Aftermarket product, but such a vague history on them.