Repairs

Repairing games is a very nuanced thing, depending a lot on what each individual game needs. Our most frequently done repairs are replacing rules and repairing or reinforcing boxes.

See below for detailed descriptions of some of our more common fixes.

Repairing Boxes (Split Corners)

To repair and reinforce game and puzzle boxes, we use book tape. It's transparent, and designed to work long-term on paper products. It's more expensive than other quick solutions, like scotch tape or masking tape, but that's because it does a better job.

If you want to repair or reinforce your own boxes, you can find book tape at Staples, or online on Amazon for a little over $10 per roll. If, however, you just want a little bit, get in touch and we'd be happy to tape something up for you. We charge 25 cents per corner taped, or edges on a case-by-case basis, based on length.

Before you get to taping, however, sometimes someone else has already tried and made a mess of it. Then it's best to remove whatever was previously used (if possible), clean the surface of any adhesive residue, and then go in with your own tape. For removing adhesive residue, we use a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol, being careful to keep it only on the adhesive. Newer items are often plastic-coated, so it's not usually a big deal (but surprises in this sense are not usually good ones), but when you get into vintage items, rubbing alcohol can remove the print from the box while you're trying to get the adhesive off. In those cases, gently clean it as best you can and use a longer strip of tape, to extend past the edges of the adhesive residue, to ensure your tape is connecting directly to the box itself.

Repairing Boxes (Other Problems)

Cardboard boxes are not the sturdiest of containers, so they are liable to develop faults in more ways than one. Also, sometimes people don't follow instructions for how a box is supposed to open. The top photo (Tabletop Curling) shows a box that was opened down the side, which was glued, while it had a flap at the top being held closed by a sticker. We glued the side back together, and reinforced the glue with book tape.

Tuck boxes, especially small ones, are prone to ripping from the stress of being opened. The Disney Pictopia box had ripped diagonally halfway down the back from one corner, and to a lesser degree from the other corner. We reinforced the torn cardboard with more book tape, extending it past the end of the tear, and putting the tape on both sides of the cardboard.

Sometimes holes appear in the middle of a box, rather than a tear from the edge. The method is the essentially the same - smooth the edges back into place as best as possible and cover on both sides with book tape. In the event that the book tape isn't wide enough to cover the entire hole, rather than layering tape, we do also have a vinyl laminate that comes in a much wider roll.

Repairing Puzzle Pieces

We pride ourselves on testing all of our puzzles to make sure they're complete before listing them for sale. Sometimes, however, we get a puzzle that, though complete, isn't in great shape. We get enough incomplete puzzles through that we really don't want to mark any as incomplete if we don't have to, so we fix them up as best we can.

The top photo shows one particularly well worn and creased piece from a vintage Woody Woodpecker puzzle. We touched up the creases with paint so it didn't stand out nearly so much, and added a coat of puzzle glue to give it back some of its structural integrity.

The next photo down is a much smaller flaw, but even a small flaw, if left unchecked, can cause problems. The photo was lifting off of the piece, so we went in again with puzzle glue, and now it's as good as new!

Replacing Pieces

Whether a game comes to us missing pieces, or a customer approaches us about replacing a missing piece from one of their games, it's a challenge we're happy to tackle.

The top photo is some replacement vehicles for a Rushhour game that a teacher had in their classroom, the original vehicles of which had been found broken. Fortunately, the online community is very helpful and we had no difficulty finding 3D models of the correct pieces, which we 3D printed and sent on their way.

The second photo is from Vampire: Prince of the City, which was missing one cardboard token. We photocopied (onto cardstock) a token from the set that was missing, and then laminated it to help it last longer. This is a process we've done numerous times.

Reducing Waste

There are a lot of ways to reduce waste. One thing we sometimes do (on request) is laminate custom scoresheets, so you don't have to waste paper and ink making more.

Another thing we do is, when we have puzzles missing pieces or games that are just not worth fixing, we don't see them as broken per se. We see them as craft supplies.

Puzzle pieces get painted and varnished and turned into jewelry. Or strung together into a garland.

Game pieces, likewise get used as craft supplies or used to replace another game's missing pieces.

Be sure to check in leading up to Christmas for our ornaments!