I didn't have a lot of money to throw around this summer, so I spent my time tracking down the best bargains available. I got some great stuff - and I stayed well within my extremely tight budget!


CIB Willow for NES - part of a 3-for-$10 lot at the Flea Market. Includes ALL original packing materials including a poster featuring all of Capcom's licensed games for NES.
Trog for NES - I vaguely remember playing this as a kid and liking it so I nabbed it for $3 at the Flea Market.
Adventures of Lolo for NES - part of a 3-for-$10 lot at the Flea Market. Loved this series as a kid!
Snake's Revenge for NES - part of a 3-for-$10 lot at the Flea Market. The only US Metal Gear game I needed to complete my collection.
Golgo 13 for NES - Got it for $1 at the Flea Market.
Nintendo Cartridge Case - Got it free from a vendor at the Flea Market! Holds 10 NES cartridges....

I'm back!

After 4 long months of moving home and "enjoying" the resulting reverse-culture-shock and depression, I've finally rounded up all of the stuff I've picked up during my last months in Japan and since moving back to America and took some pics to share.
All of the Japanese stuff was bought in March/April before leaving the country, but the rest I've managed to pick up dirt cheap here in the States:


UFO: A Day in the Life for JP PS1
Ore No Ryouri for JP PS1
Taito Memories Jokan for JP PS2
Taito Memories II Jokan for JP PS2
Taito Memories II Gekan for JP PS2
A.C.E. 3 for JP PS2
Basara X for JP PS2
Evangelion: Jo for JP PS2


Classic Game Boy Hard Case
Innocent Life for PS2
Prince of Persia: The Sands...

First off, the big news I hinted at last time is.....

*DRUMROLL*

After nearly 5 years of living here, I'm finally leaving Japan on April 22nd.
My current contracts are ending and I didn't get any of the new jobs I applied for so I figured now's as good a time as any to head back to the U.S. I know the economy's not so great, but I'm really looking forward to a fresh start back home.

On to the pick-ups!
Since I was trying to save up money last month, I got all of this stuff for about $50:


Pokemon Colosseum GC Guidebook
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon GBA & DS Guidebook
Pokemon Ranger 2 DS Guidebook
Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold DS All-Region Pokemon Bestiary
Klonoa Door to Phantomile PS1 Guidebook
Evangelion N64 Guidebook
Guilty Gear Petit 1 & 2 WonderSwan Color Guidebook
Sonic Adventure...

After getting back to Japan from my winter vacation in the US, I killed my spare time between lessons by going to used book stores...not the best idea if you're trying to save money.
Everything was extremely cheap though!

Anyway, here are my January pick-ups:

GAMES:

オーバキューン (Oh! Bakyuun) for JP PS1 - Guncon game I'd never seen before. 250円
Bomberman Land for JP PS1 - Japan-only, and looks fun. 300円
SEGA ゲームのかんづめＶＯＬ．１ (SEGA Games Can Vol. 1) for JP SCD - I stupidly mistook this for a Saturn game. Oops. Only 100円 though.
Floating Runner for JP PS1 - Looks fun, 100円.
グーグートロプス (GuuGuuTrops?) for JP PS1 - Caveman game from Enix I'd never seen/heard of before. Only 100円.
アナザーマインド (Another Mind) for JP PS1 - Made by Squaresoft. 100円 too.
ポコニャン! (Poko Nyan!) for JP GB - Loved the Super Famicom game and found this one for...

Happy New Year!

I spent my Winter Vacation back home in the US and I had a nice chunk of spending money to blow so I stocked up on games and movies to get me through another year in Japan. Most of the stuff was bought from Amazon.com's Black Friday sales, but I picked up a lot of stuff on sale around Christmastime too.

DVDs:

We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story - one of my favorite childhood movies
The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse - my favorite part of SNL as a kid
TV Funhouse: Complete Series - hilarious!
The Simpsons Season 11 - Got it super-cheap on Amazon
The Simpsons Season 12 - One of my favorite seasons ever!
Thundercats Season Two: Volume Two - I actually got S1V2 also, but I had to return it because one disc was CRUSHED. Still have to track down a replacement to complete the set. :(
The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection...

Got some really cool stuff last month, but the best thing was undoubtedly my new DSiLL:



The box alone is nearly twice the size of a normal DSi box.



The screens are simply MASSIVE. I LOVE it! Every game I've tried looks incredible and the bigger stylus is great for my big hands.



A family portrait for comparison's sake.

I got a bunch of other cool stuff too:

GAMES & DVDs:

Soma Bringer for JP DS Found it for under 400円!
Game & Watch Collection 2 for JP DS - About 1200円...a lot cheaper than using 500 Club Nintendo points!
...

It's time for another extremely late pick-up post!
I didn't have a whole lot of money to throw around last month, but I managed to get a lot of cool stuff quite cheap. Unfortunately I had to pass on some amazing finds last month, like Otomedius for XBOX 360 with the Otomedius Arcade Stick for only $150 (the stick ALONE sells for $300ish) and a Moon (PS1) Guidebook for $10.

Anywho, here's what I DID get:

I got all of this stuff at a Flea Market here in Osaka for 540円 total! The Flea Market was supposedly the biggest one of the year (with 600 booths), but it was like 1/10 the size of the Flea Market back home in Chicago!


Super Mario World Electric Pencil Sharpener - Awesome and only 400円! My girlfriend wouldn't stop teasing me for buying this. :
Moogle/Cloud Strife/Jigen/Ryuk Coca Cola figures - only 10円 each!
THE ブロックくずし...

I had a few friends from the States come to visit last month so I took them on a shopping-tour of sorts. Naturally I bought a bunch of stuff too, haha. We eventually trekked out to Tokyo for TGS 2009 (which absolutely SUCKED this year) and some more shopping in Akihabara.

Here goes:

Games:

Hyper Crazy Climber for PS1 - Looked fun and it was cheap so I picked it up.
Moon for PS1 - Found this for about half it's usual cost at Book-Off! I've been wanting this for a while now too!



七つ風の島物語 (Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari) for JP Sega Saturn - Cool 2D adventure game from Enix I'd been searching for
Alcahest for Super Famicom - Heard about it in another forum and found it cheap
The Eye of Judgement for JP PS3 - only 900円 (about $9) and the...

While most of my friends spent their last month of summer vacationing off around the world, I was stuck at work. One of the "perks" of working part-time is that I don't get any vacation time. D'oh!
But, since my friends weren't around I had a lot more time to go shopping and I found lots of awesome and RARE stuff! Woo ha!



Wii Sports Resort - Thanks to Play-Asia!
Super Famicom Box - Look at the SIZE of this thing! These were in Japanese hotels back in the day and I managed to grab this one on eBay for an AMAZING price. It includes Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario Kart, Starfox, some golf game, and some Mahjong game. Fits great on my shelf and there's JUST enough room left on the right side for my (soon-to-be-purchased) Black Japanese Wii.

(*NOTE* All the other consoles/PC/etc. aren't new purchases!)


...

I finally got my NeoGAF account approved last month and I've been posting my pick-ups there in MarkMan's monthly pick-up threads.

I thought I posted them here too but I guess I forgot. D'oh!

Anywho, here's what I got in July:

Shirts from UNIQLO:

Flasher Gremlin Tee - 390円
Makaimura (AKA: Ghosts n' Goblins) Tee - 990円
Goonies Sloth Tee - 390円

Books:

Evangelion 2.0 Movie Program - AMAZING.

Manga:

Deathnote #4, 8-12 - only 105円 each. Got all the other books last month.
Cowa! - Funny manga by Akira Toriyama (of DragonBall fame)
SandLand - started reading it in English years ago but never finished it. also by Akira Toriyama....

I meant to post this about a week ago but work was crazy-busy and I had the JLPT to deal with last Sunday so I didn't have any time.

Anywho, I tracked down some decent stuff this month despite the fact that money was a LITTLE tight. I've also gotta say I'm pretty sad to see many of my favorite recycle shops out here being changed into teeny-bopper hang-outs full of slot machines and UFO catchers. Two stores I used to hit up almost every weekend back when I lived in Mie Prefecture have ditched nearly all their retro games! Also, a store here in Osaka that used to have a whole aisle full of boxed Super Famicom games now has NONE. Dammit.
I guess I've gotta start paying Super Potato's inflated prices if I want to find anything good now. *sigh*

That being said, I got something AMAZING in June........a GIANT Mr. Saturn plush!


...

May was a pretty great month for me. Maybe not quite as a great as April, but still generally positive.
Things have been going great with my girlfriend and we spent quite a bit of time together every week in May. Took our first mini-vacation together last weekend which was fantastic.

In terms of gaming, I haven't had much time to PLAY games lately as work has been quite busy and I've been TRYING to study for the JLPT test. I'm shooting for level 2 this time and the test is just over 1 month away. Ulp! On a somewhat random note, I've been going CRAZY trying to finish reading GTO (manga). I have books 1-23 and 25, but I CANNOT find number 24! I've been to over 30 bookstores and none of them had number 24, used OR new! It's incredibly frustrating and I'm starting to think it's a conspiracy against me, haha.
Despite all that, I found some awesome retro stuff which always makes me happy. Onto the pics!

MANGA:

...

Man, what a GREAT month!
Everything that was going wrong in my life got resolved and I had a fantastic 26th birthday to boot!

After searching desperately for a job in late March, my boss landed me a sweet gig teaching part-time at a University! It's only 2 hours twice a week, but it pays $40/hr + transportation and the contract lasts for a full year so it's pretty damn fantastic. This job plus the new part-time job I started in early March will earn me a decent income and allow me to finally get my debts paid off. Woo ha!

In addition to all the cool stuff I'm about to list, my greatest "pick-up" this month is undoubtedly my awesome new girlfriend! One of my students introduced us and after going out a few times with a group of friends I had her over for a home-cooked dinner and the rest is history. She's Japanese, extremely cute, and incredibly sweet. She made me a personalized cheesecake at her cake shop for my Birthday!! Check it:...

This past month I had a lot of money woes and lost my highest paying job so I didn't have much in the way of spending money. That being said, I did pick up a FEW cool things in Japan (all of which were DIRT cheap) and got some stuff via mail-order with my US fundage:

MANGA:



GTO Volume 10 & 11 - I started reading the series recently and I LOVE it. I'm actually reading book 11 now.
Parappa The Rapper Plush - I'm assuming this was a McDonalds promo from back in the day. Only 150円.

TOYS/MISC:



Famicom Phone Strap
Super Famicom Phone Strap - Put it on my (crappy, old) phone immediately
Gamecube keychain
N64 keychain
Tsuruhashi Train Station keychain - this is where I live now ...

February was kindof a rough month for me...had a lot of bills/debt to pay off and I lost one of my part-time jobs and 2 private students had to quit due to work/travel plans. Plus missing 2 weeks of work (due to my Grandmother passing away in late January) and NOT getting paid SERIOUSLY screwed me over...I lost about $1500 (in yen) from not working those 2 weeks

That being said, I didn't have much "spending money" and I only picked up a bit of stuff, most of which was dirt cheap or ordered online w/American money:

Books and Manga:



(From left to right, starting at the top)

MANGA - Brave Fencer Musashiden #1 - Randomly found this and picked it up because I'd never seen it before
MANGA - Seiken Densestu: Legend of Mana #5 - FINALLY! I'd been looking for this for 6 months and I was finally able to finish...

I bought an ABSURD amount of stuff in January so I suppose I should explain a bit. The stuff I bought in Japan was bought with extra "spending money" I assumed I had since work was going so well and I was out of debt.
However, on January 15th I was sad to learn that my Grandmother had passed away and I had to head back to Chicagoland for 2 weeks. Since I only work part-time, I won't get paid for those 2 weeks which will REALLY screw me over for the next month or so here in Japan. But my Grandmother left EVERYTHING she had to me so I had a ridiculous amount of spending money available during some fantastic sales in the US and stocked up on games for the new year.

I got most of my stuff using Gamestop's 20% off coupons, and a bit of stuff at the Meijer "Buy-2-Get-1-Free" deal. Some stuff I just randomly found cheap at various stores like Fry's or Disc Replay.

So, without further ado, behold my obscene collection of games purchased...

Since my last blog seems to be popular, here's some pics of almost EVERYTHING I got in Japan during 2008

(I actually sent a lot of this stuff home when I moved to Osaka this summer so forgive me if I can't remember ALL the details about box sets and such!)

*EDIT 09/01/01* I found one more pic and I've put it at the top of this blog for convenience*



From left to right:

-Rosario + Vampire Season II Book 1 - My fav series!
-PC Genjin-Kun (BONK!) Book 1 - It took me AGES to track this down. No idea if I'll ever find Book 2...
-To-Love-る (Trouble) Books 1-3 - A funny manga I randomly got into. It's like Tenchi Muyo but a lot dirtier.
-English of the Dead for DS - House of the Dead 2 (YET AGAIN) but with English-writing practice! Great stuff!
-Famicom Mini: Famicom Mystery/Dig Dug/Pac Man for...

Ah payday, how I love thee!

I moved out to Osaka this past summer but I'd been struggling with money for the last few months so I couldn't go on too many shopping benders (hence the lack of blogs..hah). But now I've finally got some extra spending money and I took a much-needed trip out to DenDen Town in Nippombashi (AKA: Akihabara Jr.).

Here's today's haul:



From left to right:

-V-Tetris for Virtual Boy - 252円 - One of the last V-Boy games I needed to complete my collection
-Japanese Virtual Boy Console - 4780円 - My THIRD Virtual Boy....I couldn't resist! Most V-Boys I've seen here in Japan go for about 9000円 and I almost bought a replacement visor on eBay for $25 so it felt like a good deal. I have a store display V-Boy and a Blockbuster rental V-boy (w/rental case) with various problems so if this one...

Welcome to my blog on CAG. It and I are awesome and you too will become awesome if you continue reading and send 3 easy payments of $29.95 to my Paypal account.

So yeah, not much to say just yet. I'm off to Osaka tomorrow so I can go to immigration and apply for my new Visa Friday morning. Fun stuff..
Well, it's better than sitting in the office anyway! Ha.


In gaming news, I finally finished Okami on Wii last night with 100% of all the items/secrets found and unlocked all the hidden goodies at the end. Boo ya. Also, *deep breath*

CHRONO TRIGGER DS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! *Explodes*

F YES.

Speaking of DS, I highly recommend y'all check out English of the Dead and Band Brothers DX. Both are pretty damn fantastic and just plain fun.

In terms of retro gaming, I recently found 2 games that had eluded me for quite a while.
First off is "Rockman...