Any advice about cleanly removing Game Boy cartridge labels?

PekoponGBPekoponGB
in Collector's Corner
One issue that arrises quite a lot with Game Boy games is the yellowed cartridge. It exists with the NES as well, but with the cheaper plastic of Game Boy, it seems to be way more obvious and gross looking. I know there are ways to remove the yellowing, but it all sounds a little dangerous and too scientific for me.



What I'm wondering is if there is an easy way to remove a label from a Game Boy cartridge without damaging it, and using a gluestick to stick it on a more clean cartridge. There aren't any tricks involved here as I'm not some sort of sketchy seller up to no good, I just want my ugly copy of Bionic Commando on Game Boy to look nice. I have a few duplicate common games like Tennis and Alleyway that I can experiment with, but I'd like to know what I'm doing before I try. (Not exactly an experiment that way, but you get what I mean.)



Supposedly there's a method involving steam, but I'm not exactly sure how it works or what to do. I've looked at a couple of videos and I'm not really sure I understand it, nor am I sure if it would work with a thick Game Boy label. If I could get this to work, it would open up a lot of options for me on what copies of games I can buy. Course removing the yellowing would be best of all, but I think in my case just swapping the labels would be better. Again, I'm not up to any tricks, I'm just annoyed that the copy of Bionic Commando I bought was not what the picture showed. The label is in great shape, but the cartridge itself is horrible.



Any advice?

Comments

  • QuazeQuaze
    If you have a reasonably steady hand, this can be done quite easily. You'll need a set of tweezers and a hair dryer. First you warm up the cart with the hair dryer for a couple of minutes (from maybe 6-8" away) to soften the glue on the label. Next with the glue softened, you peel up a tiny corner of the label. I have a scalpel I use for this part to kind of slide it under the label, so you don't get any pick marks in the corner of the label. Next I grab onto the corner I've lifted with the tweezers, and slowly peel the label up/back. As I peel the label, I apply heat more directly to aid with the removal.



    I've done this a few times while replacing shoddy-looking back labels on carts, and you don't even need to glue the label back down. In my experience, the label always peels off with all of the adhesive still intact. Once you've transferred the label to a new cart, again apply heat with the hair dryer for a minute to "reactivate" the glue, and ensure a good bond to the new cart. Hope this helps!
  • PekoponGBPekoponGB
    Wow! That's more helpful of a response than I ever thought I'd get! I'll give it a shot.  
  • NickTLGNickTLG
    Soak it in Bestine for a really long time, will be like a brand new sticker, ready to stick. Tweezer/blowdryer method works well but you end up with a kinked up edge.

    I'd much more highly recommend using a Retrobrite equivalent on the existing plastic.
  • guitarzombieguitarzombie
    You also have to make sure that theres glue there. Sometimes the glue is already dried and stuck to the plastic and you'll just rip the label. The more yellowed the cart and shittier the label looks id say the chances are high the glue wont melt because its dried.
  • empireempire
    I'd just leave it. If it bothers you so much then sell it and buy one in better shape.
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