Cart question

[davepesc]

I kinda brought this up on the Marketplace forum, but I am really wondering. Why are some carts made without plastic behind parts of the label?

 

Some carts have no plastic on one side or the other, susally in vertical strips in line with where the prongs are.

 

Why?

[Albert]

This was certainly done as a cost cutting measure in order to produce cheaper cartridge shells. These cartridges do not have a complex and multi-piece dust cover mechanism, and consist of just two pieces, the top and bottom halves of the shell. I have always assumed that the two holes at the top of the cartridge were part of the process of getting the two prongs into the mold without them having to be separate pieces.

 

I avoid these carts for making homebrew games, as labels tend to get indented over these holes.

 

..Al

[davepesc]

I figured there would have to be a cost factor, bit I didn't think it could be that much. I didn't think about getting the prongs into the mold, though.

 

Either way, it's very annoying. Even if the label doesn't rip, the exposed glue on the insude of the cart just arrtacts dust and other funkies.

[Albert]

I figured there would have to be a cost factor, bit I didn't think it could be that much. I didn't think about getting the prongs into the mold, though.

 

Either way, it's very annoying. Even if the label doesn't rip, the exposed glue on the insude of the cart just arrtacts dust and other funkies.

 

I'm sure the simpler, two-piece cartridges are less expensive both in terms of parts cost and the additional effort required to actually assemble the more complex dust-cover carts. It's unfortunate that they didn't find another way to create the prongs without those annoying holes. Especially since I'd much rather use cartridges without dust covers for new homebrew games. That dust cover mechanism is a pain in the neck.

 

..Al