All these many years I have really taken for granted that my Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive games come with solid plastic cases. These cases (a.k.a. clam shells or or snap-cases) not only protected the games from damage but they also make them look great. NES and SNES games with their original cardboard boxes are often heavily damaged or just missing entirely. When we were kids and when these games were new we just didn’t care enough to preserve them.
Today there are options; some of which I explored previously with case protectors and bitboxes.
More recently I was really happy to find second-hand ‘Shockboxes’ (snap-cases) for my growing number of Neo Geo MVS cartridges.
Previously when I have purchased new Shockbox cases from Southtown-Homebrew each case with cover art ended up costing me about $15 CAD after the exchange rate and shipping costs from the USA. Admittedly they are expensive which is why I can’t buy as many as I’d like as often as I’d like too. So I was excited to find a bunch of them from a fellow collector. After buying these 18 used cases and having a local print shop print and cut the cover art I’m at about $10 per case. It’s a good chunk of change but still noticeably gentler on the wallet.
Beautifully Massive!
Genesis/Mega Drive next to Neo Geo MVS
Did I say there were big? ‘Cause they’re really big. Above you can see both an open and closed Shockbox to get an idea of how they open. They are very similar to Walt Disney VHS tape cases.
For fun I included ESWAT for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive so you can really see the difference between a true arcade video game cart and a typical home system cart. You’ll also see custom Mini Marquees for NAM-1975 and Samurai Shodown V that I made not too long ago.
Cover Art Inserts
Above is a giant pile of beautiful and freshly printed cover inserts for my newly aquired Southtown-Homebrew Big Bear Shockboxes. There are more here than I currently have Shockboxes for but I do have another 8 Shockboxes en route! Also purchased from another collector.
Shockboxes
And here is the finished product. I am glad I had the print shop trim the cover art inserts. I tried cutting two myself and I could get the job done but it was never perfect. It’s also a fair bit of work sliding these inserts into the cases. They are a very tight fit and it takes some time and patience to maneuver them right into the bottom and into the corners.
When I’m ready to buy more I will go back to southtown-homebrew.com. I’ve purchased many Shockboxes and inserts from them in the past and they always do a great job. If you’re in the USA and spending USD then shopping at southtown-homebrew.com is a no brainer. They offer awesome products paired up with excellent service. It’s really hard to find Shockboxes used and locally so I am very glad that southtown-homebrew.com constantly has stock.
The Sega Dude Highly recommends Southtown 😀
Shockboxes from southtown-homebrew.com
Neo Geo MVS Inserts from southtown-homebrew.com
Retro Megabit 
hey buddy ! wow man, your articles and your game collection are becoming awesomer…rr.r Can we say that ? lol No joke its really awesome and I enjoy reading ad seeing your stuff. Thank you and keep it up !
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Hey Luis! Yes, awesomer is a word and thank you for saying so! 😀
There are too many amazing retro video games out there… I wish I could get it all. And even though it has taken me many years I’m starting to realize I just can’t. That being said I’m really glad I discovered the Neo Geo. It’s a really good compliment to my Sega collection.
I am finding that I really have to start budgeting for my purchases. A few items here and there can really add up. That balance between the real world and the hobbit is key to making sure it’s stays fun!
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woah! You’ve changed the name of your site! That’s bold ^_^ Is it because you’re writing more and more about Neo Geo? It surely is addictive collecting for that system…
Lately I’ve bought loads of Neo Geo games.. but I’ve made pretty good deals ^^
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Sega is still my main thing but I’ve always had lots of love for SNES and NES and others. So as I’m starting to expand on what I write about I wanted to have a name that felt more appropriate. I’ve had the idea of a long time just never pulled the trigger. And I don’t mind renaming the site because I don’t ever want to be afraid of re-imagining what I like doing. It’s not a business.
Also, I’m still hosting with WordPress so the old name will redirect to the new pretty seamlessly.
And despite both labels ‘Retro’ and ‘Megabit’ being pretty heavily used on the scene I still like the name and I had fun picking fonts and colors and a lay out all that jazz 🙂
I’m looking forward to hearing about all your new Neo Geo games! I’m at 97 Neo Geo games now!
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