Actiplaque

The label on this cartridge has noticeable Actiplaque.

Actiplaque is a term used to describes blotchy discolorations which appears on the labels of vintage video game cartridges. It was first noticed on Activision cartridges for the Atari 2600 a few years after they were manufactured, but many other cartridges from different companies and different consoles have labels which are now deteriorating in a similar manner. The precise cause of the blotches is unknown, but it is assumed it has something to do with low-quality adhesive and paper. The ugly blotches negatively affect a game's value to collectors, so various attempts at preventing or reversing the problem have been tried. As cartridges age, the problem becomes more prevalent, so finding especially old cartridges with little or no Actiplaque is now very difficult.

Cause

The precise cause of label discoloration is not known, but the majority of the video game preservation community assumes it is due to an adhesive with a high silicone content used on thin paper stickers. Considering the wide variety of affected labels across so many manufacturers, there may be multiple causes and other culprits have been suggested like low-quality plastic leeching into the label or exposure to dampness or ultraviolet light. However, the fact that cartridges from specific brands are more likely to have the problem than others rules out most environmental causes since collectors typically keep all their cartridges in similar environments.

Affected Cartridges

Actiplaque was first noticed on Activision cartridges for the Atari 2600 shortly after they were released, but similar discoloration has become common on many other brands across multiple consoles, as well as on diskettes for home computers. Below, I list publishers whose games are especially susceptible.

Publisher	Example	Notes
Activision		Not as prevalent on the blue and white text labels, but extremely bad on their graphic labels. Activision carts on other consoles have fared much better.
Bally		A large variety of Astrocade carts are now showing signs of discoloration.
Children's Computer Workshop		Most noticeable on their Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 cartridges.
Epyx		The shape of their Atari 2600 cartridge is very similar to those used by Activision, so it may be the same manufacturer.
Fairchild Semiconductor		Most Channel F games are now discolored. The problem seems to be more prevalent on the US cartridges rather than the German cartridges.
Parker Brothers		Common on their ColecoVision and Commodore 64 carts. It happens on their Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 as well, but not as bad.
Various		Cheaply printed diskette labels also see this problem, but there are too many publishers to list individually.

Strangely, although the vast majority of Activision Atari 2600 cartridges experience the discoloration, some have survived the decades without hardly any affect. Whether this is due to having them in a particular environment or being manufactured in an alternate manner is yet to be determined.

Preservation

Before and after a cleaning treatment.

Video game preservation collectors, like with most other collectors, prefer video game media in as pristine condition as possible. So, their goal for video game media is to prevent further discoloration, and, if it's possible without causing more damage, repair it.

Prevention

Since the discoloration appears to be coming from the adhesive, the best way to prevent further discoloration is to remove the label and dissolve the existing adhesive, then reapply the label with a high-quality adhesive. However, this is difficult to do safely, and, unless performed by someone who is knows what they're doing, will probably cause more damage.

Repair

Some people have had limited success in decreasing the discoloration by removing the label with something like steam or naptha, treating the label with stamp gum remover and mildew stain remover, and then reapplying it. Details and additional examples of this process can be found here.

Replacement

High-quality clean scans of most games exist, look nearly identical to the original, and can be printed or purchased online, so it's not much work to replace a cartridge with a new label. However, collectors tend to prefer an original discolored label over a pristine replacement label, so, even though the label will look much better, replacing it will actually decrease a cartridge's value to collectors.

Media

Videos

Description.

See Also

• Retrobright
• Video game preservation