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Cool and Collected

Collecting pop culture toys, comics, and collectibles collections

May 1, 2011 By 9 Comments

Preserve your vintage toy boxes and packaging

A lot of times, I’ll find a sweet vintage toy at a yard sale and am always excited when it has the original box. Unfortunately, most of the boxes have seen better days, and are bent, ripped, taped, and mildewed, but I’m always optimistic that there is something worth salvaging. For many vintage toys, the box can actually be worth more than the toy it contained, so before you toss a hopeless box in the trash, why not try and see if you can save it?

Here is a pretty rough box for a GI Joe vehicle from the 80’s. A large chunk of the box was cut out for the file card on the back, and the GI Joe points were removed as well. There was also a large piece of clear packing tape holding it all together.

vintage gi joe box preservation and restoration

I could have just tossed the box in the trash and saved myself a half hour of my Sunday, but I have a bit of preservationist in me, so I went to work. First, I removed the tape with a small paintbrush and a good bit of Naphtha. The Naphtha dissolved the adhesive and the tape came off easily.

vintage gi joe box preservation and restoration

Next, I cut a piece of cardboard to serve as an insert which would reinforce the structure of the box, which was pretty much non-existent due to the large area that had been cut out on the back.

vintage gi joe box preservation and restoration

This is a great technique to use with old board games, and it prevents them from getting smashed if heavy items are placed on them.

vintage gi joe box preservation and restoration

It might not look like a brand new box, but it saved what was left for that collector out there who has always wanted one of these with the original box, but could never afford one in mint condition.

vintage gi joe box preservation and restoration

Now doesn’t this look better than just the vehicle by itself?

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. christopher tupa says

    May 2, 2011 at 10:07 am

    Great tip! Never thought of doing this for boardgames, i may have to to this with some of my vintage games! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Brian says

      May 2, 2011 at 10:17 am

      This is a great way to save those old board game boxes with split corners. And, I like it because it doesn’t cost a dime and it’s easy to do.

      Reply
  2. Paxton Holley says

    May 2, 2011 at 11:57 am

    Well played, sir. Very nice tip.

    Reply
  3. Donna Jesmer says

    February 13, 2014 at 9:47 pm

    I have some old star trek boxes in good shape should I save them?

    Reply
    • Tito P. says

      August 31, 2016 at 2:02 pm

      I normally try to save all of my original packaging when I can and especially if it displays nicely with the toy it came with.

      Reply
  4. Tito P. says

    August 31, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    What kind of cardboard did you use? It looks pretty thick. I’ve been looking for long term solutions to help preserve my G.I. Joe boxes and was thinking of putting a box in the box to help keep it’s form. The hard part was finding a box to fit the various boxes I have and I love your idea of custom building them.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      August 31, 2016 at 3:18 pm

      I used some pretty hefty corrugated cardboard, but pretty much anything would work.

      Reply
    • Chris J says

      November 18, 2016 at 1:48 am

      Tito, you don’t have to find a perfect sized box to fit inside your boxes, just find a larger box and trim it down to fit inside. Tape the inner box together to keep it strong.

      Reply
  5. Gordon says

    May 19, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    I have a lot of vintage matchbox car boxes that are bent and brittle. is there a safe way to make them pliable enough to re-shape them?

    Reply

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