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Aliexpress Cases. All is good....

Sparkoids

Sparkoids

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I ordered some of those Neo Geo cases from aliexpress and the quality is outstanding - better than original AES cases. Worse than clamshell Neo Geo X but very good.

The sleeve artwork is excellent quality and is double printed. Now onto the PGM side...

... the carts are loose inside the outer cases since they are too big to fit in the vacuum formed inner part of the case. Those inner sleeves are removable (unlike original AES cases) so I am going to vacuum form replacements that do fit the PGM carts perfectly. The only issue is they will be made from 0.5mm plastic instead of the 0.25mm these Chinese cases came with.

Overall the whole experience was a good one, the cases are of a very high standard, the printed sleeves excellent and I would recommend the seller who I have purchased from previously.

Any questions shoot away....

Retro Arcade CN Store
Store No.3148024
 

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Nice to hear they are solid. I've thought about replacing my old Neo shockboxes with these to save some space, I ordered a few to check quality but it will be a while before they arrive.
 
I got my cases in, I only ordered two to check for quality before ordering a larger batch for all my games. The quality is very good, they are very close to original SNK old style cases. Only minor issue is that the clear plastic was a little loose on one, but you can't really tell once you put the insert in.

Cases Front.jpgCases Side.jpg

Comparing them to original cases the dimensions are the same, but the Aliexpress cases sit slightly taller because of the edges of the vinyl at the top and bottom are slightly stiffer. They may flatten with time like the originals. I work in a print shop so I made my own inserts. The insert seems to be rounded instead of flat due to the heavy cardstock I used. Original inserts are pretty thin, but the plastic in the Ali case is pretty tight and I had difficulty getting the insert all the way down with 28 lb paper. A medium weight index stock would probably be ideal, but I don't usually keep that on hand here.

Cases Spines.jpg

The insert to hold the game feels like the same kind of cheap plastic the original cases used, so they will likely crack with age eventually. It is a separate piece, I used some thin double sided mounting tape on the back that my wife uses for craft projects to keep it in place. The inserts can fit a home cart in a pinch but it's not ideal.

IMG-0858.JPG IMG-0859.JPG
Comparing them to Southtown's Shockboxes, I don't think these are as high quality, but that's mostly due to the fact that they stayed pretty faithful to how the Neo old style case was made, and a Shockbox is made of sturdier plastic. Also the Shockbox insert files don't have the same dimensions, so if you want to print it yourself you need to edit the inserts a bit to fit properly. If you want to save a little space or you have a mixed collection of home and MVS carts and want to keep a uniform appearance, I'd give these a thumbs up.
 
sorry for the
GohanX said:
I got my cases in, I only ordered two to check for quality before ordering a larger batch for all my games. The quality is very good, they are very close to original SNK old style cases. Only minor issue is that the clear plastic was a little loose on one, but you can't really tell once you put the insert in.

Cases Front.jpgCases Side.jpg

Comparing them to original cases the dimensions are the same, but the Aliexpress cases sit slightly taller because of the edges of the vinyl
Click to expand...

Thanks for the impression and pics! So they are a bit smaller than southtown shockboxes?
 
Yeah I forgot to get a pic with a shockbox and the case to do a comparison, but it is quite a bit shorter and a little bit more narrow. The space savings was the primary reason for me getting these cases. It doesn't really seem like that much, but when it's spread over 20+ carts it makes a difference.
 
I've also been considering these and southtown shockboxes. The latter will end up costing about 50% more but I feel while the cases may be more solid they are just going to be obnoxiously large and space hogging.
 
The Southtown boxes are notorious for cracking at the seams. They look great but are fragile at the opening point.
 
Yeah I did see an unboxing video and the package had a note of sorts inside saying to let the cases warm up to room temperature first so the vinyl becomes more flexible and to avoid the cracking you mention
 
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