Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Eight(MODS: Please lock, Thread Nine is up)

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IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

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First off, let me welcome you all to the new guide thread. Second, I'd like to ask you all to please keep conversations not pertaining to guide drops or which ones you've grabbed to a minimum to avoid cluttering the thread. It's not that I don't enjoy the chit chat, but that it may stop others from locating information on the newest drops.

That being said, let me thank Cheapy for creating this site, without which I would've spent probably 10 times what I HAVE spent on games and guides. Moreover, let me thank each and every one of my fellow CAGs for continuing to contribute to making this site a great place to find out about sales and clearances of the items we as gamers use most. Without a great community, NONE of this would be possible.

Furthermore, I would like to thank our Wiki editors HeatDolphin and Rocko for updating the Wiki. Great job.

Now, with that out of the way(and before I get to rambling), let's get on to making this new thread.

Useful Information(and links):

Game Guide Trading Clearinghouse(old one, locked now):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102021

Game Guide Trade Thread(current one):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175548

PLEASE keep ALL trade requests in there or PM's. Thank you.

Reduced Price Guide Discussion Thread(please keep all conversation NOT related to guide drops HERE. Thanks.): http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists:

Master Drop List(by store, alphabetically):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28master_lists%29

Recent Guide Drops(by date):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28recent_drops%29

What is the purpose of this thread?

The purpose of this thread is to let our fellow CAGs know when a guide has dropped to a low price(it's NOT ALWAYS A PENNY), so they can go out and grab guides for themselves and for trading with other CAGs.

Anytime you have guide drops to report, post them here. Please specify at which store you found them and which guides you found and list them in alphabetical order. Thank you.

What are penny guides?

Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a full credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.

Prior Reduced price game guide threads:
Guide Three:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50515&highlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142400

Finally, below is a list of website links, each of which goes to their respective guide page. Whenever possible, I will update the links with better ones(if available).

Amazon
B&N
BestBuy
Borders
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuide.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, who did threads 3,4,5 and 6 and provided me with the links to them.

Thanks to Gwen for allowing me the honor of giving something back to CAG by doing this new guide thread. I hope you all enjoy it and it isn't TOO hard to read.
 
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I can usually get to BB on Mondays to check and they have scanners at mine so I scan everything and can report here but I wasn't able to get there today....even a "I went to BB and scanned everything but no deals" post helps.
 
[quote name='SpiderLocMTGO']It's usually first Monday of the month, which will be next Monday, so I doubt very many people bothered to check.[/quote]

I did not know that thanks for that useful info...I'll probably still go and check every Monday anyways, it's on the way home from work.
 
[quote name='SpiderLocMTGO']It's usually first Monday of the month, which will be next Monday, so I doubt very many people bothered to check.[/QUOTE]

It also helps to check the guide section at bestbuy.com every now and then to see what guides have been removed.

BTW, not only has nothing been pulled recently, there's still guides from the last 2 drops on there (Heavenly Sword, Lair, etc).
 
I was at BB today a couple of hours ago and I didn't find anything new. I took some old guides up to be scanned, but none were a penny.
 
I went to BB today and got these for a penny.
I'm not sure if any of them are new.

Gears of war
enemy territory: quake wars
the darkness x3
naruto: rise of a ninja
meet the robinsons
thrillville
 
[quote name='darkslime']I went to BB today and got these for a penny.
I'm not sure if any of them are new.

Gears of war
enemy territory: quake wars
the darkness x3
naruto: rise of a ninja
meet the robinsons
thrillville[/QUOTE]

thanks, but those are drop from last 2 months
 
[quote name='supaet']naruto: rise of a ninja

isn't that new?[/quote]

Nope, that was two drops ago. The last drop was Gears of War (pc), and some other guide I cannot remember right now.
 
[quote name='neocisco']At BB, GoW-PC has dropped but not GoW-360, correct?[/QUOTE]

no the 360 version dropped long ago.
 
[quote name='dragonjud']Nope, that was two drops ago. The last drop was Gears of War (pc), and some other guide I cannot remember right now.[/quote]


oh god, can someone please update wiki? I keep seeing that guide in bb, didn't know that it dropped....

I thought the last drop was blue dragon.
 
Shoot. I found some Super Paper Mario Prima guides at Circuit City, but they sold at regular price. If somebody claims that CC is very automated, it's not like BB. I couldn't price check them because I had no evidence!
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']Shoot. I found some Super Paper Mario Prima guides at Circuit City, but they sold at regular price. If somebody claims that CC is very automated, it's not like BB. I couldn't price check them because I had no evidence![/quote]Did that drop at CC? Looking at the front page, and the wiki, I can't find it mentioned, but maybe it happened recently and I missed it in the last few pages. I thought it had dropped at BB, and GS/EB, but not CC. Thousand Year Door (the gcube paper mario) dropped there, but not SPM, if I'm not mistaken.
 
Circuit City typically will have the guides pulled, much like Blockbuster I believe, before dropping them out of the system or to a penny or whatever. At least, that's what I've been led to believe for all this time. We definitely need clarification on this though, if CC changed their policy.
 
[quote name='ozzymandd']Didn't Circuit City have some sort of deal where pennied guides scanned as something like "bundle required?"[/quote]

Yup. They don't get pennied, they just get pulled. One of the guys who sets endcaps and sections told me today that just last week he redid the guides and threw a bunch out. I died a little inside.
 
I still wish that at times the stores did like some Best Buys did back when I went apeshit grabbing the tons of guides I have now and bundled them with the actual game they're for for one set price. Albeit, some of those bundles weren't a deal ($60-65 for Fiddy Cent game and guide), but with how hard to find some guides are now for some games, it'd practically be a steal for some of the ones I saw.
 
guides are just remove from the system at cc. Assuming you find one they will likely just manually adjust to give you the price on the sticker.
 
CC sucks...last summer, I found a Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls guide at one in FL, and it scanned for about a buck and change...and it took about half an hour and two managers to finally tell me that they couldn't sell it.

fuck Circuit City.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']CC sucks...last summer, I found a Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls guide at one in FL, and it scanned for about a buck and change...and it took about half an hour and two managers to finally tell me that they couldn't sell it.

fuck Circuit City.[/quote]

Oooh I hate that crap! Common sense says if you hang a customer up for a long time, you give him a break.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']CC sucks...last summer, I found a Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls guide at one in FL, and it scanned for about a buck and change...and it took about half an hour and two managers to finally tell me that they couldn't sell it.

fuck Circuit City.[/quote]

That's like the copy of the Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars guide I found on Black Friday in a big bin up by the customer service desk marked $ .99 . I found the other things I came there for that afternoon and grabbed that before heading to the register. It rings up full price.

It took them 30-40 minutes to finally concede and give me it for the .99 price. But, I fought for that price every step along the way.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']CC sucks...last summer, I found a Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls guide at one in FL, and it scanned for about a buck and change...and it took about half an hour and two managers to finally tell me that they couldn't sell it.

fuck Circuit City.[/quote]

Oooh I hate that crap! Common sense says if you hang a customer up for a long time, you give him a break.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']CC sucks...last summer, I found a Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls guide at one in FL, and it scanned for about a buck and change...and it took about half an hour and two managers to finally tell me that they couldn't sell it.

fuck Circuit City.[/quote]

That's like the copy of the Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars guide I found on Black Friday in a big bin up by the customer service desk marked $ .99 . I found the other things I came there for that afternoon and grabbed that before heading to the register. It rings up full price.

It took them 30-40 minutes to finally concede and give me it for the .99 price. But, I fought for that price every step along the way.
 
Something I just noticed on the Best Buy web site. Almost all of the Nintendo-published guides (Animal Crossing: Wild World, Super Paper Mario, Zelda: Twilight Princess) have been removed.
 
[quote name='loxthefox']Something I just noticed on the Best Buy web site. Almost all of the Nintendo-published guides (Animal Crossing: Wild World, Super Paper Mario, Zelda: Twilight Princess) have been removed.[/quote]Did all of the Z: TP guides disappear or just the non-LE version?
 
They disappeared from the site a couple weeks ago actually - my best buy has all of them and they still aren't pennied out yet.
 
[quote name='Visc']They disappeared from the site a couple weeks ago actually - my best buy has all of them and they still aren't pennied out yet.[/QUOTE]

It seemed like AC left a while ago, but Zelda and Paper Mario were on the site as of at least 4/1.

Also, with all the unpennied Nintendo guides missing from the site (New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs, and Pokemon D/P (both regular and Pokedex) have been gone for awhile), we could have an all Nintendo drop next week.

It's unlikely, but seriously, how much ass would that kick?
 
Don't expect Nintendo Player guides to be pennied. Don't.

Went to the Caeser's Bay Best Buy, and I curse the cleaner for getting most of the good guides... except I scored a few. Some Warhawks, and Final Fantasy IIs. Tabula Rasa in huge stacks, as well as Unreal Tournament III. I'm considering on selling them or trading them.
 
You know, I really wonder... Does Nintendo tell stores to not put certain items on clearance/sale/penny, at least for a certain time frame? I mean, for whatever reason, Nintendo products refused to drop in price unless Nintendo themselves announce it. As crazy as it sounds, it would explain Wal-Mart still selling Eternal Darkness for $50, Target still selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for $35, and Best Buy not pennying NP guides well over a year old.
 
I went to BB yesterday with no intention of looking for penny guides. I happened to pass by the guide section and decided to browse. I noticed a shelf tag that had FF3 (DS) priced at .01! I thought of this thread and started to look for other pennied guides. I ,also, found Video Game Achievements + Unlockables. It actually had a yellow sticker with the price showing .01. I had no problems when I paid. The cashier noticed the price and he kind of frowned.

Are the .01 price tags common at other BBs? I have never seen this before at any others.

Also saw Gears of War but I didn't know it were pennied.

Picked up FF3 and VGA + unlockables.
 
[quote name='emg28']I went to BB yesterday with no intention of looking for penny guides. I happened to pass by the guide section and decided to browse. I noticed a shelf tag that had FF3 (DS) priced at .01! I thought of this thread and started to look for other pennied guides. I ,also, found Video Game Achievements + Unlockables. It actually had a yellow sticker with the price showing .01. I had no problems when I paid. The cashier noticed the price and he kind of frowned.

Are the .01 price tags common at other BBs? I have never seen this before at any others.

Also saw Gears of War but I didn't know it were pennied.

Picked up FF3 and VGA + unlockables.[/quote]

Actually, I've only ever seen guides marked with the .01 price or shelf tag a couple times. Once was when my local GS had pulled the guides to mark them .01 and someone accidentally put them back on the shelf with the sticker marked .01 on them.

And yes, Gamestop(or maybe just the anal retentive DM for them around here) has them put a .01 sticker on them just as they pull them and get ready to dumpster them. This is yet another thing I don't understand about Gamestop, but I gave up trying to understand their policies a LONG time ago. I mean, why waste the sticker when you're just going to throw them out and perhaps mutilate them(rip off covers, etc) before tossing them? It makes NO SENSE.

The only other time I've ever seen guides marked .01 was out in Seacaucus, NJ back when I went nuts grabbing guides when I first started finding them for .01.

Other than those two instances, I've NEVER seen anything marked .01 on the shelf or item itself EVER.
 
Best Buy does a really good job with getting rid of penny guides, consumer wise. They sell them to us consumers! And they go through all the trouble of marking them with a penny. That's how I got lucky with the Ninja Gaiden and the FFIIs. That seems to be the few things they can do right...
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']Best Buy does a really good job with getting rid of penny guides, consumer wise. They sell them to us consumers! And they go through all the trouble of marking them with a penny. That's how I got lucky with the Ninja Gaiden and the FFIIs. That seems to be the few things they can do right...[/quote]

Agreed. I fear that one day this will all end! :cry:

Also, I have actually started to look around and have bought a few items from Best Buy that I would not have if I was not there to look for penny guides.
 
[quote name='iluvmywife']Agreed. I fear that one day this will all end! :cry:

Also, I have actually started to look around and have bought a few items from Best Buy that I would not have if I was not there to look for penny guides.[/quote]

ha ha im the same whay I cant just go up there with 4 penny guides so I try to find something cheap.
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']Best Buy does a really good job with getting rid of penny guides, consumer wise. They sell them to us consumers! And they go through all the trouble of marking them with a penny. That's how I got lucky with the Ninja Gaiden and the FFIIs. That seems to be the few things they can do right...[/QUOTE]

Not all BBs do this. Some do a great disservice to the consumer by yanking them all the night before, or if they are found on the shelves, they refuse to sell them. This happens all the time at one local BB in Batavia, IL. The media manager there is an absolute scrooge about it. (Though, I've censored how I really feel about her....)
 
Picked up .01 FF Guide at Game stop. My fist sucessful penny guide purchase at a Game Stop. Guy also gave me a free metal gear solid 4 DVD!!! (with beta test? I haven't opened it yet).
 
I have a feeling we may see new penny guides tomorrow at Best Buy. Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles and Fire Emblem seem likely candidates.
 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Guides&sp=+currentprice+skuid&id=abcat0711000
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin 8695575
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles 8630458
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 8630261
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings 8624875
WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 8624857
Sim City Societies 8604913
Halo 3 (Spanish Edition) 8554744
World In Conflict 8535374
Bioshock 8513833
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Agmar World 8400045
Halo 2 (PC) 8355022

Are all a penny on the BB site.
 
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