Every collector who collects Japanese retro video games or CD albums knows obi. An obi or spine card to some, is a piece of paper attached to the outmost left of the CD case that contains information such as the CD they bought, price of the CD, and promotions of the publisher. Obi is not limited to Compact Disc (CD), it is also used in books and laser discs. Although Obis are mostly available for the Japanese market.
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| Obi of a video game (KONAMI 80's Arcade Gallery game). |
In the view of collectors, an obi is an essential part of buying CD's especially in used goods stores because it has a feeling of completeness, aside from pristine condition of the manual and the disc. Used item sellers who sells with an obi can mark their items a bit higher, some were able sold their item higher than the original price.
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| Tokimeki Memorial Laser Disc Obi |
When I am buying used video games, specifically PlayStation games, I always looked if an obi is included. On sellers online, some sellers are unaware of an obi exist and some of them tried to thrown it out not knowing of its vitality on their items. Some of people who bought CDs in record stores, after removing the protective sleeve, they just throw it away. For my game collection, I bought a clear CD jewel sleeve in order to attach the obi inside, just like new. Collectors nowadays are not bother at the price, they always looked at the completeness and condition of the item.
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| Obi attached to the CD Jewel using a clear CD sleeve |
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