RF Generation Message Board

I organized my stuff today and tried to make things look pretty good, to celebrate my 1 year collecting anniversary.  i got everything to look  good on shelves, but my controllers are still all just shoved in a entertainment center cabinet.  

I'm looking for ideas on how to store them, what to store them in, or if anyone has cool ideas on how to display them, that would be cool too.  I especially don't like to wrap the cords around the controllers.   ughhhhhhhhh do I hate doing that.  It makes the cord spiral when you unwind them, and I feel like it will shorten the lifespan, though I'm not sure if that's even true.

Here's my shame cabinet  :embarassed:

Just one cabinet of shame? Shame on you. I've got 5+ TUBS filled.
Also, yes, winding the cord around the controller and storing it like that will damage the wire. It's best to curl it up like a water hose and zip tie the wire.

We've had this discussion on the board previously. I think one of the best suggestions brought up, which I think Rich (singlebanana) has a nice setup for, is putting the controllers up on a corkboard.

Yeah, I did a peg board and have really been happy with it.  Of course it's a chore to keep my controllers in order when I finish with them and it takes some time to save all of those bread ties. :)

http://www.rfgeneration.com/blogs/necrom99/UnoNanerCade-Update-3-1757.php

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, this is an old pic and my controllers are now curled up correctly to prevent damage at the suggestion of  NES_Rules.

Incidentally, I have the same exact storage method for my system hookups, except I labeled the drawers by printing out the system logos.

oh wow, I really like the pegboard idea.  For whatever reason that never even came to mind, and I have one for all my tools.  DOH!
Good stuff!

If you want to be fancy, you could likely use magnets instead of hooks, and have a magnetic board instead of the corkboard.

Not to change the topic, but I LOVE that NES you have there. Did you paint it yourself?

Here's my closet of shame.  lol
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gGD5gy15lPU/UPXiwqSn4BI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/s5YEcevPAcM/s576/image.jpg)

...uhh, yeah...
ONE UP THIS, MOOSE!   ;D

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Py_4MWMw59k/T0pC7SHaudI/AAAAAAAAAd8/n2rXGAYbR4M/s640/WP_000360.jpg)

At least it looks like you can get to all the stuff.  I have to pull everything out to get to what's in the back of my little cupboard under the stairs. lol

BTW, is that all stuff to ship out or do you use the priority boxes for storage?

Free boxes that I shoved things in when I moved. Figured I'd reuse them for shipping anyways. The room looks much worse now that I've started unpacking it - it's hard to navigate. Getting the controllers up will be the majority of the items that end up on the floor.  :'(

Sure did, and thank you!

Oh my...

I couldn't take it any more so I ran to Target, got some more plastic drawers and viola!
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F2K5XOoXmDg/UPYyVFtUsYI/AAAAAAAAAYw/pPdKT3wJxMI/s576/IMG_0335.JPG)

Glad it turned out well, Moose.

Man, I gotta do something like that. Mine are just under the couch on a storage bin lid...well, easy access if nothing else.

i should probably find a different method to store my controllers...they barely fit in the  drawers they're in, and i have the cables wrapped around them like everyone here said they shouldn't be XD

Yeah, the peg board method is pretty easy.  Just be sure that you anchor it well into the wall (you don't have to go nuts, simple plastic anchors are fine if they are spaced out).  Also make sure that that your spacers between the board in the wall are long enough to accommodate the hooks for the hangers to go in with ease.  Also, be sure to use washers under your screws.  Pegboard is not an extremely durable material and this will offer some protection from the holes stripping out.  Good luck if you go that route.

Nice NeoGeo cab back there Shadow.  Does it have the headphone jack?  I thought about getting a multicade of classic games for my garage, but I think I'll get a Neo first.  Such great titles on it and you can swap them out fairly reasonably. 

Yep, it has a headphone jack and memory card slots. I've told the story before, but my cabinet has never seen an arcade before. It was purchased direct from SNK from a distributor, but was never rented out. One of my wife's co-workers purchased it, and we got it from him for $250. It needs some restoration work on the side panels, and I need to reconnect the 2nd controller since something came loose during the move.

He was nice enough to include a multicart with the cabinet, which has most of the NeoGeo library on it including romhacks. That would be my suggestion if you don't want to get the expensive MVS carts to start off with.

...back on topic, does anyone think the magnet idea would work well? Can anyone think of any controllers that it would damage? I'd prefer not to hang them on hooks, personally.

Nice grab man, I somehow missed you ever talking about this purchase.

The only thing about the magnet idea that would concern me is that you would have to put adhesive magnets on the backs of your controllers, which I wouldn't want to do to mine. The sticky on those is usually pretty strong and I would worry about damage if I ever took them off and they might give the controller a different "feel" in some cases.  Was there another way you were thinking about to attach the magnets?

That would be my concern as well, if there was a way the magnet would be obstructive and I wouldn't worry about the adhesive I think it could be pretty cool.  It would have to be a pretty strong magnet too, I'd bet.

Even if you use a magnet on the controller, the cords would still flop around.  Still a cool idea if you can find some way to make it work.

i like the practicality of the peg board idea, but visually i don't like it at all...i usually like to have everything look neat and livable, so that friends could come over and not feel like they're in a store or a workshop. for myself i think i just need to get better drawers, i've seen some really wide ones at walmart recently that would do the trick, that way i wouldn't have to pile the controllers on top of each other, they could be laid out side by side.

You'd think that, but it fails very quickly.

Especially if you're like me, and you pick up any 25 cent NES controller at a garage sale.  Even if you already have 15.  I mean, who can pass by a deal!  Besides I might wanna try my hand at making a wireless one one day and it'll help to have some practice ones I can mess up.

I feel your pain

[img width=375 height=500]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8211/8362232903_23ece7e520.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10380461@N08/8362232903/)
IMG_20130105_110532 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10380461@N08/8362232903/) by kabonk (http://www.flickr.com/people/10380461@N08/), on Flickr

[img width=500 height=375]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8502/8363299344_c7524845db.jpg[/img] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10380461@N08/8363299344/)
IMG_20130105_110526 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10380461@N08/8363299344/) by kabonk (http://www.flickr.com/people/10380461@N08/), on Flickr

i'm glad i have no room of shame, those all look almost like a hoarder's rooms :P

I wish I had a room of shame :(

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/9jqtBAm.jpg[/img]


:(

I hear you. I wish I had a room.

are those controllers in a pantry?

So hungry....... should I have Alphagetti or a 3-Button Genesis pad for lunch?

Yeah. My Apartment is small and all I got. That food is for storage for an emergency only.

I love the numerous air fresheners sitting in that closet.  I think that someone is saying their disorganization really stinks.

You guys really need to buy some Display Cases. They are great for everything from DK Bongos to Steel Battalion Controllers to NEO GEO AES pads to Guitar Hero Drum sets :p

[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/P1010259.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=525]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/P1010261.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=933]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/P1010262.jpg[/img]

I tried to get a display case from a Zellers that was closing down. I was told to leave my contact info and list anything I was interested in and that the manager would call me. He never called. I was sad.

They were bad for that here too. It was basically the first person to give them a reasonable cash offer got things. They wouldn't return calls or hold things.

i found my display case at a Xanavision video store that was shutting down. it's pretty good for displaying things but the only thing i don't like is that it doesn't have a shelf halfway up...it's just a big open space. i'd like to sometime find a way to attach a shelf to the glass. maybe some sort of adhesive to attach vertical support bars that i could hang some brackets off.

Kitty litter lol. Even right when I clean it she lays some nasty bombs

I also hear that display cases are great for unruly children to be put into for time outs.

Oops :P

I'm missing something. The only "oops" I see is that I have the cabinet doors slid to the wrong sides. I'm not quite sure what you're pointing out.

After the most recent podcast, I would have thought that picture would freak you out. All that food and all that hardware together in a small space.

And he's pointing out your cords wrapped around the controllers. Its bad for the wires.

No one in that picture is eating though :P

I know its frowned upon to wrap controllers, but I've been wrapping them like that for 2 decades and havnt once had a problem. I make sure to do them fairly loose though.

i do them that way and haven't noticed any problems either. i usually try to do them loosely too, i think it's probably alright if you're careful about it. i can definitely understand how it could damage them though, that's why i'm considering changing my ways now.

FWIW, I've had controllers damaged by winding them too tightly, but I tend to wind mine really tight.

Again it's not food I eat. It's there for storage in case of emergency.

Also I been wrapping controllers like that for nearly 20 years and never had an issue.

It's mostly an issue of how tight you wind it near where the wire connects to the controller. I've had some fray, some develop shorts, or even had some just straight up stop working due to it. I tend to buy used controllers though, and most of the ones that I've had issues with were already in bad shape. As long as you don't wind it tightly around where it connects, you should be fine.

Thats what I've always assumed.

Shadow's right. As long as you wind the cord too tight that it pulls on the connection, everything's fine.

I always did it rather loose

Hey guys, I figured this would fit in here and I have probably brought this up before, but for anyone that collects CIB NES games, what do you guys use for shelving/storage?  I would really like to see pics.  Even if you don't collect CIB, please chime in.  I am looking into buying some shelves/book cases.

Early today I researched the dimensions of NES carts and came up with this.

http://www.chacha.com/question/what-are-the-dimensions-of-an-nes-cartridge-(length,-width,-and-height)

I'm using this info to draw up some plans for the shelf I want to build.

If you put them on their side, they essentially take up the same space as a cart, except you need a deeper shelf. I built the shelf I use mainly for NES games and its a bit deeper than an NES cart, so the boxes stick out about an inch, but it beats keeping them upright and not being able to get as many on a shelf.
[img width=400 height=374]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/collections/NES_Rules/DSCN3363.JPG[/img] (http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/collections/NES_Rules/DSCN3363.JPG)
Click it for a larger view.

Very awesome!

Oh man, you don't even want to see my basement controller hall of shame...

nice shelf unit! i'd like to someday get something like that...maybe a little taller spacing between shelves though. i get what you're saying about putting them on their side for the boxed games, but i don't have nearly enough games in my collection to really need to do that yet.

The shelves on mine are adjustable in inch increments.
When I started designing that, it was large enough to fit my entire collection, now you see how much it holds.

You wouldn't happen to have your original designs would you?

I know I do, just don't know where they would be. And the final result is probably completely different from any of my designs anyway. If you do do adjustable shelves, get a piece of pegboard, put it where you want the holes and clamp it into place, then just go down a line of holes with a drill. Perfectly straight and even holes every time.