We’ve done plenty of dust cover reviews here on Hackinformer. I thought that I had come across all of the best ones, but when I saw these covers, I knew I had to review them. Today we’re going to talk about the wide variety of dust covers from The Printer Boy! Follow me, you won’t be disappointed.
About (from PrinterBoy):
‘Like many video players, my love for video games has led me to acquire a wide variety of consoles that have allowed me access to a number of games; but with this enormous amount of fun comes a great responsibility, keeping them clean. Although it is fun to spend time with your collection, to maintain it, to clean it and to pamper it, when you have several consoles, the cleaning already begins to be a problem. This is how we designed the first dust covers to measure, with the idea of protecting, without losing style in the process (And incidentally confuse visitors).
PrinterBoy started around 2015, designing the first dust cover for the Nintendo Game Cube, and opens the online store with only 5 designs for consoles; we have currently finished most of the designs for the most popular consoles of Nintendo, Sony, Sega, and Microsoft, but our goal is to cover (hehe) all existing consoles, if up to the Sega CD + 32X.
Do not let your console bite the dust! Protect them with PrinterBoy.’
As usual, here is an unboxing video:
NOTE:The photos in some instances do not show the full detail of the product. The darker dust covers are printed true to color, but since they’re a flat 2-dimensional surface, it doesn’t show too well in lesser lit scenarios. The downside here is that if I turn on the flash, the reflective qualities of the material used bounces the light right back at the camera. So please forgive the pictures, I did the best that I could.
Style Options:
So let’s talk about all of the style options for the dust covers. As you can already tell by my video above, PrinterBoy has basically a dust cover for every console out there. But the fun doesn’t stop there. One of the aspects that makes PrinterBoy’s products great is the different styles available. Now, let it be known that not every single dust cover has multiple options. Additionally, some have more options than others. This could depend on if the system itself has color variations or if Talk about how there are multiple options for most of the covers. Since there are tons of covers on their site and lots of options across the covers, I’m just going to discuss the options for the covers that I got.
The Atari 2600 cover comes in two flavors overall. The all black one is called the Vader, mainly because Darth Vader was all black. It has different switches and ports (more about how I learned that down below) than the other 2600 model. That other model is the one with the woodgrain on the front. It has been affectionally known as a Light Sixer. It’s like Light Saber, another Star Wars reference, but also it has 6 switches. So you can find both of these on their product page, but they are separate consoles technically, so pay close attention when you’re shopping.
The NES dust cover only comes in the one color. I was disappointed to see that they didn’t create any other color schemes. Even if they did a Mario or Metroid or maybe a PAL NES or Famicom color scheme and sold them for more, I’d be happier overall. In that same vein though, they remained true to the colors that exist in the original, so they at least were spot on with the North America colors.
The PS2 Slim that I got was silver even though I have a black Slim PS2. But honestly, that’s neither here nor there. The black system looks really slick with a silver accent on it like the silver. But if you’re someone who has a black, never fear, they have you covered (see what I did there). Additionally, there is a white one if you have one of the elusive SingStar edition PS2 Slims.
The Nintendo 64 was probably the most prolific system that I reviewed a dust cover for. This console had black charcoal (grey), smoke (clear grey), jungle green, watermelon red, grape purple, ice blue, and fire orange. That’s not even including the system revision that was a Pokemon console that featured Pikachu on the top. Well, PrinterBoy has all of those iterations for you to choose from no matter which you have!
The original PlayStation model was bigger and bulky than it’s slimmed down little brother. But they have a cover for that system. However, it only comes in the standard gray that the console came in. Unfortunately, the system didn’t have any mascots that didn’t venture out onto other consoles, so there is no other color scheme or theme that PrinterBoy sells. But be aware that if you have the PSX version of the PlayStation, they carry that cover too.
With the Sega Saturn, there are actually more than two versions of the system. In the North America territory alone we received two versions of the black model. One has circular power, reset, and eject buttons. The other version had slanted, oval shaped buttons. Sadly, PrinterBoy doesn’t carry the version with the slanted buttons. But they do have the circular buttons. And if you have a white Japanese or PAL version Sega Saturn, they definitely have that available for you.
The SNES Classic only comes in one color here in the US, so there is only one color available for that.
The XBOX One (original model) comes in a few different flavors. You most likely have a black one if you have an XBOX One and they have a matching cover for that. They also have a white one if you have a white original XBOX One like I used to have. They also carry some fun Gears of War themed covers as well. Those are discussed a little more in detail further down the way.
The Gamecube was the second for the most amount of console varieties. Most of us here in the North America region saw the purple. Whether we had it or our friend(s) had it, we saw it the most for whatever reason. So if that’s the one that you have, rest easy, because PrinterBoy has it. If you’re someone who had or has I should say, an orange, a silver, or a black Gamecube, those covers exist as well!
Quality & Durability:
There’s a lot to love about these dust covers. Aside from all of the variety that we’ve already mentioned, you can also fall in love with the build quality here too. First of all, whatever process PrinterBoy uses to print onto this fabric is brilliant. There are no streaks, no blotches, no changes in color of any sort. And best of all, when washing the dust cover, you don’t experience the colors running. The look of the prints are fantastic too, they’re practically photo-realistic! And the sizing of everything that is printed is one for one accurate. Nothing is bigger or smaller than it’s console counterpart.
The stitching is very nice too. I tried to stretch and tug at the covers to see if the stitching would start to give, it didn’t. I was also wondering if tugging on it would yield them to stretch out, it didn’t. The only downside of the stitching is that sometimes, at the end of the stitch, it might veer off track a little. It might go slightly diagonal. But this is something that my scrutinizing eyes would notice only. Nobody else would ever really catch it. If they did, I would tell them not to worry because it’s on the very back.
With regards to the material itself, it’s some interesting stuff. I sort of wish it came in a more matte configuration. This way it wouldn’t be so reflective and these things would be perfect. Furthermore, PrinterBoy doesn’t mention the type of material that it is that they use. They simply bring up the fact that it’s a synthetic material (obviously) and it’s custom made. I doubt it’s anything that only PrinterBoy uses, but whatever it is, it’s some nice stuff!
As far as cleaning the cover, the directions deliberately state the following. They want to you not put it into a washing machine. My guess is it’s just because it really twists up the material. I would definitely agree with them. I don’t think it would tear the material or unstitch it, but I do think it would wrinkle it beyond all reason. What they want you to do is to simply shake off the dust cover or gently wipe it off with a dust rag or duster of your choice. I know, I know, it sounds like something you could just do to the console thus never buying a cover in the first place. But it makes more sense to wipe off fabric and not the electronics.
Lastly, they mention never to iron it. Heed these instructions, dear reader. The last time I ironed something I wasn’t supposed to (real silk), I put an iron sized hole in it. My guess is that they know that the material is sensitive to heat. And speaking of heat, this probably retains a lot of heat. So they also recommend never using the console with the dust cover on, you may very well overheat your system!
Pricing:
Now we can talk about the pricing. Right off the bat, I will say that I’m saddened that there isn’t bulk pricing. I believe that the more you buy the cheaper the price should become. These covers range in size from very small (NES Classic) to very large (XBOX One) and thus range from $8USD to $17 USD. But on the flip-side, I do admire that the cost for something seems to stay the same whether you choose a plain looking cover or you choose its special edition brother, such as in the case of the XBOX One covers.
So let’s use the Nintendo 64 dust cover as a point of reference and gauge it against other dust cover companies I’ve already reviewed. I chose the Nintendo 64 because all of the companies have multiple versions of it available. This makes the most sense because it’s got plenty of comparative qualities to it such as color, fabric, and other styling.
When comparing it to the version that the Pat Rat Shack sells, we find that the Pat Rat Shack is more expensive by $9. Now of course both products have pros and cons. The Pat Rat Shack uses duck cloth which is practically indestructible, but they come in very drab colors as it were.
And when we compare the Nintendo 64 covers against DigitalDeckCovers, we find that they are $14 more. The obvious take away here is that DigitalDeckCovers has multiple fabric options to choose from, but otherwise they feel flat and lifeless in comparison. I would still opt out for the lesser expensive covers from PrinterBoy.
Now the hard part here is remembering that the PrinterBoy products come from Mexico. That is only a problem for people who don’t live in Mexico and don’t do their research. A simple google search will help you see if you can import the product into your home country and if any duties or taxes will be assessed. Those are things that the seller cannot help you with. Additionally, your own country’s customs could delay the delivery too. Again, that is not the seller’s issue. But time is money, so if you feel that it is too expensive to wait any longer than 2 weeks, then you should either reconsider, or be patient and not leave reviews on his site as if it is his fault.
Review of Individual Covers:
Sega Saturn: The cover that I got for my Sega Saturn doesn’t fit quite as well as the other covers do. But in this instance, I’ll forgive it altogether. The dust cover looks so nice and it really does look true to form. Printerboy even has slots in the back so that if you want to use the Sega Saturn’s expansion port for the added VCD support, you can. This cover really looks slick. I would complain about the fact that there isn’t a slot on the top so that if I have my memory expansion cart plugged in, I can still use the cover. However, since this cover isn’t as snug, I can still leave the cover on and the couple inches of the expansion cart don’t really affect the effectiveness of the cover.
Sony PlayStation: This might be the best match to the console out of all of them. It’s almost exactly true to color, it fits so perfectly, and it looks fabulous. There are a couple of downsides to it though. The first one being that there is no way to leave your memory cards in the system. This is a bummer because you can leave your cords in, but not the memory cards. Even just having little flaps over holes for the memory cards make more sense. The other downside is that for those of us who use the serial port in the back, it’s partially covered. Most PS1’s don’t have this and the ones that do are rarely used, so I understand this. But my hope is that maybe the cover could be resized to accommodate that.
Sony PlayStation 2 Slim: This cover also looks glamorous. I’m actually really surprised that they found a way to make a cover fit such a small console so well. Not only that, but there are openings in the back for the cords and the cover still fits snug. This cover suffers from the same issue that the PlayStation cover does. Which is the obvious lack of memory card holes or flaps. This is something that you’re going to hear me hammer in. The least that could be done here is have 2 card pouches on the case itself, maybe hidden away on the underside, and that way I can keep my memory cards with my system. Otherwise, my memory cards have to hang out somewhere else and I have to retrieve them every time.
XBOX One: This Gears of War cover I was sent to review was too big for my XBOX One S. So, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test to see how well it fit. But it definitely looks sexy as hell. I would say that if you have the black original XBOX One, this will look so glamorous. A nice mixture of red and black evokes the game series’ spirit and bite. But there is a black and white version of it as well if you don’t like red as much. The black and white version would match the white original XBOX One as much as it would match the black one. The picture below is from PrinterBoy’s site because he actually has it on a console.
Nintendo 64/Nintendo 64 Blue: These both fit on the system quite well. I think that the blue looks a little too over the top for me personally. However, if you have the blue Nintendo 64, you’re not going to want to cover it up with the plain Jane grey cover. You’re definitely going to want to match it. The same goes for the other colors. Most of us though have a grey Nintendo 64 and that cover is just fine too. I couldn’t really find a single negative to say about these. I think that they look as good as they can and they do the job. Now, of course, the game that you have in your N64 will have to come out before you can put the dust cover on, but that’s a given.
NES: The NES dust cover isn’t anything too over the top. It looks color accurate and has the accurate openings on the back and side. Other than that though, there’s nothing to write home about. It looks better than some of the other dust cover company’s solutions that we’ve reviewed. And honestly, that’s good enough. There are no color variants for the dust covers that they provide, so that’s a downside. But it looks classy and protects the NES and it definitely needs protecting as it gets older. The upshot here is that since the NES is basically a VCR for game cartridges, you can always leave a game in.
Atari 2600: I thought that this one was a little bit strange overall. I thought that this dust cover was a little bit off, and here’s why. The font on the front was obviously different. The ports that are printed on the back of the dust cover are not what I have in that place. The ports on my Atari 2600 are in a different location. It turns out that if you have the Vader style 2600, you need to buy that cover to match it. But if you buy the normal woodgrain style cover, the thing fits accurately and there is still a slot for the built-in video cord to come out of the system properly. So it will still work for you overall.
Gamecube: The Gamecube dust cover is, by far, the cutest of the bunch. It’s like your Gamecube is wearing a cute suit, complete with pockets and a belt. The pockets and velcro strap that is located on the back both serve a purpose too. The pockets are on the left and right side and are depicted as the vents that are on the sides of the Gamecube. They are there deliberately for storing your memory cards in. Now, this is a smart idea and useful to the system. If there aren’t going to be any memory card slots so that I can keep my cards in the system, at least I have a way to keep the cards nearby.
The strap is for keeping the dust cover on snugly. They couldn’t do this without the strap because the Gamecube’s handle gets in the way. PrinterBoy did a really good job at giving you more than enough space around the ports too! This keeps people like me with the big HDMI adapters happy. I don’t have to worry about taking my EON GCHD out at all.
SNES Classic: This also comes in NES Classic, Famicom Classic, SNES PAL Classic, and Super Famicom Classic flavors (as mentioned above). My guess is that no matter which one of them you choose, you’ll feel like you won’t need it. Honestly, this is such a small system and if you feel you need to cover it up, you probably aren’t playing it all that much. I play mine a lot, like probably too much and I would just rather leave it naked. Otherwise, if you aren’t playing it that often if ever, I would almost recommend the box that the item came in. Just pop it back in there and leave it proudly on a shelf.
If you play it every so often, a simple blow on the top of the system will probably rid it of any dust because the thing is damn tiny. Of course, it’s your call, if you want to cover your Classic edition console, these will keep it dust free for sure. You will have to close the controller flap every time you want to put it in the dust cover.
Interested in buying a dust cover from PrinterBoy or maybe just want to see all he has to offer? Click here!
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