Spine cards? Let's talk about spine cards. Rewind the clock to about 1997. I had just started importing and joining various online mailing lists and stuff. Back then it was mostly Yahoo groups and e-mail lists. I then stumbled into a conversation where someone declared that if you didn't have the spine card, you didn't have a complete game. My initial gut reaction, was that this joker was an idiot. I was studying Japanese in college, so I knew that those cards didn't say anything important. However, I didn't say anything. No one else seemed to resist the idea very much either. As much as I would like to lash out at and blame collectors for spine card stupidity, I think a lot of people, including myself are to blame. I and other people at the time didn't resist it because it automatically made what we had more valuable. We just made damn sure we didn't throw those things out anymore. Of course after spine cards, it was only a matter of time until the warranty card was also deemed necessary for "completeness" and the whole thing got even more stupid.
Now, let's talk about spine cards here in Japan. Truth be told, when it comes to CD based games, I go for copies without the spine card. The box, manual, and game are the only things important to me. They don't have to be in perfect condition, but they need to be in good shape. Reading the boxes and manuals is something I have enjoyed doing since I was a kid, and I reread them regularly. Anybody else? Anyway, back to spine cards.
Since my favorite series of all time is Ninja Gaiden, I decided I had to have a copy of Kaze Kiri. I checked all the shops and unfortunately, they all had the spine card. So I knew I would be paying at least a hundred bucks, depending on condition. I found one, at Mandarake of all places, that was in good shape but the price was cheaper because it said the spine card had some damage. The price was about $118 U.S. so I opted for that one. Truth be told, the "damage" to the spine card was very minimal. There was a couple of small indentations and that was it. Mandarake is usually a little more expensive, but they seem to judge condition very harshly. Remember, the copy I paid for with a tiny amount of spine card damage was $118. They had another copy there that had a no damage 'A' rated spine card. The price? $280! The price jumps that much for that tiny little piece of paper.
Can't even LOL at that.
Topic: The spine card market.. (Read 725 times)
