By sort of popular demand...the Dumpster Diving Treasures thread...

Bumping an old thread, I know, but I just found a fully functional x-plorer 360 controller in the garbage can outside my dorm. Semester ends Saturday so everyone's moving out; all kinds of stuff getting tossed. Dunno why anyone would pitch a working guitar controller though. Oh well, my gain! :bouncy:
 
[quote name='Pirate331']Bumping an old thread, I know, but I just found a fully functional x-plorer 360 controller in the garbage can outside my dorm. Semester ends Saturday so everyone's moving out; all kinds of stuff getting tossed. Dunno why anyone would pitch a working guitar controller though. Oh well, my gain! :bouncy:[/QUOTE]

Careful what you grab during college move outs. I was an ass for doing this, but I knew people would trash dive so I would purposely put gross stuff in there. The people who lived next door to me would even take food out of the trash (probably because the bin was stack so high it wasn't technically "in" the trash). I would do horrible things to that food before putting out only to see it gone 5 minutes later...
 
only thing I see in the trash over here is old CRT computer monitors and TV's, once in a while if I see a big heap of stuff out on the curb I'll take a look though.

Shake out the TV to get them roaches out. LOL.
 
Not exactly a dumpster diving story, but I asked a Gamestop if they were done with a "Punch-Out!!" display that had no copies of the game o the sides, and I took that home. It's friggin' awesome! My friend found a whole bunch of posters for stuff like Batman and a Xbox 360 case. I'll check out that Gamestop when I get a Sunday off.
 
You know, all you really have to do is ask the Gamestop employees and they may even give you 'spare' cases for games they have assloads of(all of the prior year's sports games, for example)and all sorts of other goodies that they themselves didn't want to take home and are just going to be dumpstered anyway.

It sure beats digging around in their dumpster, especially if your Gamestops are like mine and may share one with Subway or the one other Gamestop around here in the same plaza as a tattoo/piercing shop.

Thus far I've never dumpster dived at any stores, mainly because in some states it's highly illegal, and knowing my luck my state is probably one of the ones it's very much illegal to do it in.

Although, I will admit that I've 'curb crawled' before(much like Pirate331 said he did to find the 360 guitar controller) and I've brought home more than a few tables and other furniture in my time.

Best find ever though had to be when I found a trash can loaded to the top with Atari 2600 games . Even better was that there was a complete(with wires) Atari 2600 system buried UNDER those games.

I found all sorts of good stuff in the year or two I curb crawled, but then the local colleges started providing dumpsters for the college kids to unceremoniously chuck their stuff into in huge piles. There was no way I was gonna crawl into a giant dumpster and step on or in who knows what.
 
Wow, I was unaware of this thread. The bumping of this old thread corresponds with my own trash find. I'm not normally a garbage picker, but while I was walking from yard sale to yard sale, I found a shopping bag with a few Genesis games in it.

McDonalds Treasure Land Adventure
Dynamite Headdy
Sub-Terrania
Columns
Fantasia CIB
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits CIB
 
[quote name='igorponweed']Not exactly a dumpster diving story, but I asked a Gamestop if they were done with a "Punch-Out!!" display that had no copies of the game o the sides, and I took that home. It's friggin' awesome! My friend found a whole bunch of posters for stuff like Batman and a Xbox 360 case. I'll check out that Gamestop when I get a Sunday off.[/QUOTE]
They were Batman: AA and Madden 10 posters :D
I didn't keep the 360 case, though, because it had tears on the sides.
Also, I may check in today and see if they have any displays they're not using.

EDIT:
Pictures of the posters (uploading links only due to file sizes):
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6559/sdc10357i.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1844/sdc10354s.jpg
 
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[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']Wow, I was unaware of this thread. The bumping of this old thread corresponds with my own trash find. I'm not normally a garbage picker, but while I was walking from yard sale to yard sale, I found a shopping bag with a few Genesis games in it.

McDonalds Treasure Land Adventure
Dynamite Headdy
Sub-Terrania
Columns
Fantasia CIB
Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits CIB[/QUOTE]

That's a nice find who would throw away those games especially with 2 treasures in the mix :D
 
I used to go dumpster diving with my bro and our friend a good bit, as there wasn't much to do in our town except go to Wal-Mart. We were told it was okay in our area so long as they weren't chained shut. Only place I know that did this was Big Lots (well, Wal-Mart had theirs sealed off).

We once pulled out two huge bags full of DVD cases from Blockbuster (my friend cleaned them off and then we seperated the regulars from the few original XBox/GC cases mixed in.) Also that trip, I got a friend of mine the hard plastic VHS case to Spy Kids 2. He has and insane DVD and VHS collection and just used it to stash excess $1s.

Another time at Frito Lay (yeah we dumpster dove for day old chips), I pulled out a busted dolly (the bar at the bottom for holding boxes was cracked. We managed to fit it in the trunk enough and got it to my friend's place. His dad tore the bar off and just used the wedge at the bottom to move fridges and sofas when my friend moved.

When I was moving, my dad and I stopped for boxes. He found a few action figures in Blockbuster's... hockey players and Mike Piazza, and I found a few Nintendo Powers in relatively good shape (I gave them away as I had a subscription at the time)

My bro found a few things at Radio Shack. I think the only thing of note really was a single computer speaker that worked after he rewired it (the wire was torn all the way out). He got a cordless phone that was junk, but did find someone with the same phone and gave them the battery.

My bro also dug out some flowers in busted pots at the grocery. He took them to his gf's mom in plastic bags and she transplanted them into her garden.

A few bummer stories... my friend who would go with me drove a Tempo, so it wasn't roomy. One day we went out back at a grocery and they had one of those big spinning gum displays in there. I wanted it badly, but there was no room and I knew noone to call. I ended up pulling almost all of the pegboard hooks off it as my dad had the garage covered in the stuff.

Another time we went to Frito-Lay and there was a lawn mower in there. He said it was shot but might be worth it but he had his trunk full and was tired. I looked in and said the rope was missing so someone probably tossed it. He said noone was that stupid, but I tried to tell him there defintely were people that stupid and noone I know of would pull the rope out of it and leave the engine, deck and blades on it.

Finally, again when moving we hit up K-Mart. They were remodeling the store at the time and threw away the shoe seats with the mirrors. Sadly, they were busted all to hell.
 
[quote name='Nebenator']They were Batman: AA and Madden 10 posters :D
I didn't keep the 360 case, though, because it had tears on the sides.
Also, I may check in today and see if they have any displays they're not using.

EDIT:
Pictures of the posters (uploading links only due to file sizes):
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6559/sdc10357i.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1844/sdc10354s.jpg[/QUOTE]
Okay, okay. I know how much you hate Batman and love sports games, so I can just take that Batman one off your hands.
 
Most of the stuff I find at yard sales and thrift stores around here looks like it should have been thrown away. I'd dread to go dumpster diving out of fear of what condition it'd be in. After all, if total, filthy dirt-soaked garbage is being sold, how bad must somehting be for the locals to actually dispose of it?
 
[quote name='igorponweed']Okay, okay. I know how much you hate Batman and love sports games, so I can just take that Batman one off your hands.[/QUOTE]
Riiight
 
i just scored the following the otherday out of the garbage that my store shares with the gamestop next door. thank god everyone at my store is lazy and im usually the only one that takes it out to see this stuff. all of this stuff was "field destroy" and even the "field destroy defective" stuff worked fine

mad catz ps3 racing wheel
x3 OEM microsoft rechargeable batt packs w/ cables
x3 OEM microsoft xbox live headsets
x1 PC dvd left 4 dead (cd key used)
x2 PC DVD sims 3 (not yet tested)
x1 PC DVD ghost recon advance warfighter (working cd key too)
x2 nintendo ds lite usb chargers
x1 sony OEM usb wall charger
x1 wiimotion + (resoldered connector. working fine)
x1 wiispeak (not yet tested)
x2 universal s-video cable for all next gen
x1 OEM microsoft 360 component cable
x1 SONY ps2 MEMORY card
x2 wii rechargeable battery packs
x1 psp accessory mega pack

i should have sold some of the stuff. the pc games im keeping along with the wiispeak and motion plus and ps3 wheel. the other crap i just gave to friends
 
My late grandfather was helping to clean his nephew's basement and found in the corner a 1960s toy robot in the "discard" pile, complete with all accessories and the original box. He cleaned it up (though couldn't get it to work), and I put it up on eBay. Sold for $500.
 
[quote name='Nebenator']The photos are in! Link to album (same loot, 4 different pics):
http://img12.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=sdc103752.jpg

Note: There has been some trouble seeing the pictures. This is probably just because I only recently posted them on imageshack[/QUOTE]

Woah! You better let me have a few! You should put an Xbox with the posters to compare the size.
 
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[quote name='Nebenator']The photos are in! Link to album (same loot, 4 different pics):
http://img12.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=sdc103752.jpg

Note: There has been some trouble seeing the pictures. This is probably just because I only recently posted them on imageshack[/QUOTE]

What's that Red Faction Guerrilla item I see in the first pic? I have the game, so I'm assuming that's probably a demo of some sort.

If they didn't stop people from posting beta codes for trade/sale a while back on CAG you could probably put that Uncharted 2 one up and get a few for it.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']What's that Red Faction Guerrilla item I see in the first pic? I have the game, so I'm assuming that's probably a demo of some sort.

If they didn't stop people from posting beta codes for trade/sale a while back on CAG you could probably put that Uncharted 2 one up and get a few for it.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that's RF:G. I don't think there were any bonuses, though. (It's just an overview of the game). I'm going to ebay some, keep some, trade/give some, ect.
 
cimg0251b.jpg


Found these in a recycling bin at school. A little dusty, but both are working.

eWaste so does not belong in the recycling bin for paper.
 
I found all kinds of stuff on tree-lawns when I lived in Cleveland. My grandma and I used to collect anything decent we saw (couches, boxes of clothes, appliances) clean it, and then sell it at a yard sale once we accumulated enough stuff. I remember one month I made around 400 bucks and I was only 13 or 14. Pretty kick ass. Actual dumpster diving though hmm... I found a few pairs of brand new shoes that I sold for 50 bucks. Recently I found 30-40 pepsi caps that I redeemed for rock band songs.
 
Back when I was in college, I was on my way to class when I happened by a fenced off area where people drop off trash bags and the like (and by fenced off, I mean a wooden fence with a rather large opening on the one side). As I passed by it, I was looking in its generally direction and realized there was packaging for the original Xbox laying on its side. "Hm." I thought. "How sick would that be if that box actually had an Xbox in it." Well wouldn't you know it, I walked in there, picked it up, and there was in fact an Xbox console in it! There were no cables or controller or anything in it, just the system. So instead of going to class, I rushed up to my friend's dorm room to hook it up.

We used his cables and controller to start the machine and it seemed to start up just fine. Seemingly, it's only problem was that it had issues reading discs. Lucky for me, this same friend liked to take apart and mod Xbox's, so he had a spare disc drive that he wasn't using that he tried installing in this system for me and it was a success! So whomever threw out this entire console, only did so because of a bad disk drive! So after I went to GS and picked up some cables and a controller, I now owned what was basically a free Xbox! I salute you, my Xbox-chucking-in-the-dumpster friend. Thanks to you, I've now gotten to experience years of Halo joy... and the entire rap song collection you left on your hard drive!
 
This thread reminds me of why I pretty much deface and ruin anything like this I toss. If I throw somehting out, it's garbage and it's not some freebie to be given away. It's why I've thrown out toys and game cartridges that have hammer damage and a drill taken to them.

Hey, you didn't want to buy it, so don't cry and moan when I junk it.
 
[quote name='Diosoth']This thread reminds me of why I pretty much deface and ruin anything like this I toss. If I throw somehting out, it's garbage and it's not some freebie to be given away. It's why I've thrown out toys and game cartridges that have hammer damage and a drill taken to them.

Hey, you didn't want to buy it, so don't cry and moan when I junk it.[/QUOTE]

To waste and consume, it's the American way!
 
[quote name='Diosoth']This thread reminds me of why I pretty much deface and ruin anything like this I toss. If I throw somehting out, it's garbage and it's not some freebie to be given away. It's why I've thrown out toys and game cartridges that have hammer damage and a drill taken to them.

Hey, you didn't want to buy it, so don't cry and moan when I junk it.[/QUOTE]

My response to that would be: "Hey, you didn't want to put in the effort to sell it, so don't cry and moan when I salvage it for nothing."
 
Well, I do have a story from the "other side" so to speak. I know that when I worked at Macys I remember sets of silverware and sheet sets and whatnot being thrown out because they were displays or something that were missing pieces or something being thrown out. Note that these were perfectly good items and all the pleading and begging in the world wouldnt get me to keep that $200 flatware set that was missing a few spoons. And since employees cant walk out of the store (gotta go through security every time) with anything other than their personal, effects everything goes into the trash. For any divers that want to score some pretty good stuff, try a local department store. Probably have to dodge mall security but anyone that can outrun Paul Blart is golden in this situation.
 
[quote name='cloudmd23']My response to that would be: "Hey, you didn't want to put in the effort to sell it, so don't cry and moan when I salvage it for nothing."[/QUOTE]

Nice. But to each his own. Cant argue if he damages it when he throws it out, but on the flip side you cant argue with people that will take what you dont want. Im not gonna yell at a bum that finishes the half eaten burger I threw out, but he better not yell at me for making a little burger pyramid out of toothpick and the reminants of my burger either.
 
[quote name='tankass']Nice. But to each his own. Cant argue if he damages it when he throws it out, but on the flip side you cant argue with people that will take what you dont want. Im not gonna yell at a bum that finishes the half eaten burger I threw out, but he better not yell at me for making a little burger pyramid out of toothpick and the reminants of my burger either.[/QUOTE]

True enough.
 
Decided to try this sport of "Salvaging" for myself tonight. Went down to my local game stop, they have a sweet set up for the dumpster, its unlocked and is surrounded by a fence so it makes it easy to hide and take ones time picking the bags and boxes out of the way. I found about 6 gift cards ( all used of course) a wii stand out of the box, and several ps2 game boxes all missing the game disc but still have the manuals inside which I found odd. Threw most of the loot onto my trade list if anyone is interested.
 
Totally crazy random find, while waiting in line on the street friday in my car as myself and my family were trying to get out of the park from the fireworks display, I looked over next too me along the street and on top of someones garbage bin was a pristine Original NES box... So I grabbed it... Yeah so it was just the box, and inner foam with all the manuals and stuff but cmon! I needed one anyway for my original NES and my games collection. Needless to say my wife laughed and shook her head. :)
 
My trash men look through my trash for stuff. I don't put anything "good" in there but I've watched them look through things to see if any of it was worth keeping. I've only seen them set side a thermal wrap thing that was meant to keep water hot on this stupid as seen on TV pasta tube thing. I'm guessing he just wanted to use it as a cushion for the handle on the back of the truck.

Back in college though people would take food from the trash. I would do stuff to it and watch them take it
 
[quote name='RoadDogg']Back in college though people would take food from the trash. I would do stuff to it and watch them take it[/QUOTE]
:roll::roll::shame: So instead of doing the nice thing and even just giving it away to the local food bank, you would 'do stuff' to the food you were throwing out and get a sick laugh out of the people taking it to eat?
:roll:

Good going. Hopefully you didn't kill anyone with your tainted food.
 
[quote name='cloudmd23'] So instead of going to class, I rushed up to my friend's dorm room to hook it up.

[/QUOTE]

This is my favorite line in this whole thread . . . a true college memory.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']:roll::roll::shame: So instead of doing the nice thing and even just giving it away to the local food bank, you would 'do stuff' to the food you were throwing out and get a sick laugh out of the people taking it to eat?
:roll:

Good going. Hopefully you didn't kill anyone with your tainted food.[/QUOTE]

Hardly. Everything I threw out was well past its expiration date or opened. Food banks wouldn't want to go near it, even before I did stuff to it. If someone wants to eat expired brownies from an opened container in the trash, they might as well have some pencil shavings and spit on them.
 
Unless an item clearly smells or tastes 'spoiled' I've eaten items 'way past' the expiration date before. Mind you the food banks probably wouldn't have taken them, but to taint food(even expired food) so no one else could use it is just wasteful.

Then again, look at which country we live in, so it's no frickin' wonder.
 
[quote name='RoadDogg']Hardly. Everything I threw out was well past its expiration date or opened. Food banks wouldn't want to go near it, even before I did stuff to it. If someone wants to eat expired brownies from an opened container in the trash, they might as well have some pencil shavings and spit on them.[/QUOTE]

Real classy. :booty:
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Unless an item clearly smells or tastes 'spoiled' I've eaten items 'way past' the expiration date before. Mind you the food banks probably wouldn't have taken them, but to taint food(even expired food) so no one else could use it is just wasteful.

Then again, look at which country we live in, so it's no frickin' wonder.[/QUOTE]

I remember making cornbread from Betty Crocker packets that were eight years past their expiration date. I was looking for that green-gray powdered ergot color, but I guess they were okay. Grains'll last a mighty long time in the right environment; they kept that stuff in the pyramids :cool:
 
Does it help at all if I said the people taking it were douche bags that kept me up most of the year by trying to get under aged girls to get drunk with them in their room at 4am? And that I just disliked them in general?
 
[quote name='RoadDogg']Does it help at all if I said the people taking it were douche bags that kept me up most of the year by trying to get under aged girls to get drunk with them in their room at 4am? And that I just disliked them in general?[/QUOTE]
Why not just keep them awake when they're trying to sleep in return then? I've hit the 'panic button' on my families car remote before at 4am when the d-bags who live next door were sound asleep to make up for them slamming their car doors hard at 6-7am when they're leaving for the day.

Tit for tat is my motto. You annoy me, I'll annoy you back.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Why not just keep them awake when they're trying to sleep in return then? I've hit the 'panic button' on my families car remote before at 4am when the d-bags who live next door were sound asleep to make up for them slamming their car doors hard at 6-7am when they're leaving for the day.

Tit for tat is my motto. You annoy me, I'll annoy you back.[/QUOTE]
Amen to that:applause:
 
Found some cool stuff today. Got a 16-bit Genesis, 4 controllers and Jurassic Park and Baskteball for it. (Cords too.) Also got a NES controller, a Gamecube controller, a third party Xbox controller, Xbox AV cables and 3D WorldRunner for NES. Don't really know what I'm going to do with it though. Anybody want to buy it? :/
 
Thought I'd revive this thread. My dad recently found about 50 to 60 1lb bags of M&Ms in the garbage. Why? I don't know why anybody would throw them away, but they're perfectly fine. One box wasn't even opened. And we've been eating them for days and haven't gone blind yet. :p

He also found 2 giant boxes full of bags of popcorn. Not as good as the M&Ms, but still cool. :)
 
[quote name='Access_Denied']Found some cool stuff today. Got a 16-bit Genesis, 4 controllers and Jurassic Park and Baskteball for it. (Cords too.) Also got a NES controller, a Gamecube controller, a third party Xbox controller, Xbox AV cables and 3D WorldRunner for NES. Don't really know what I'm going to do with it though. Anybody want to buy it? :/[/QUOTE] You found all this in a dumpster?
 
Who knows why they threw them out.

But maybe this is why. My uncle is a truck driver and once got a bunch of boxes of pecan twirls. All because walmart I think ordered a certain amount and got what they ordered, so they by policy couldn't take extras. So he ended up with a crapload of them. Gave his friends some, gave us some. By the time everyone was sick of them he still had quite a few. Maybe they just threw them away because they knew they wouldn't eat them.

My uncle doesn't drive for walmart, but maybe he had a load that went there. Or it could've been someone he knew. :/ Either way there was a whole pallet that went to the driver haha.
 
[quote name='JUDOHAWK']Who knows why they threw them out.

But maybe this is why. My uncle is a truck driver and once got a bunch of boxes of pecan twirls. All because walmart I think ordered a certain amount and got what they ordered, so they by policy couldn't take extras. So he ended up with a crapload of them. Gave his friends some, gave us some. By the time everyone was sick of them he still had quite a few. Maybe they just threw them away because they knew they wouldn't eat them.

My uncle doesn't drive for walmart, but maybe he had a load that went there. Or it could've been someone he knew. :/ Either way there was a whole pallet that went to the driver haha.[/QUOTE]

That's what I'm thinking. They ordered too many bags and they didn't all sell, so they just threw them away. We do it at work all the time, only with construction materials, not food. I never throw away food. :cool:

Also, yes, this was all in the dumpster. Blockbuster's dumpster to be exact.
 
[quote name='Access_Denied']Thought I'd revive this thread. My dad recently found about 50 to 60 1lb bags of M&Ms in the garbage. Why? I don't know why anybody would throw them away, but they're perfectly fine. One box wasn't even opened. And we've been eating them for days and haven't gone blind yet. :p

He also found 2 giant boxes full of bags of popcorn. Not as good as the M&Ms, but still cool. :)[/QUOTE]
Where was the dumpster? Was it a store or something else?
M&Ms should have dates on them, not that they're suddenly not safe to eat after the date. Still, a store would (should is more accurate... it's technically illegal to sell food after the date and a store can get fined if they get caught doing it) probably throw them out if they weren't sold by the date.
Perhaps they had a rodent/insect problem near where they were stored and threw it out to be safe. Better waste $50 or so of M&Ms than sell a bag full of ants/rat turds to someone and get sued for big bucks. :lol:
Or perhaps they were improperly stored... maybe they accidentally spent a few hours in the sunlight so they threw them out thinking they might be all melted.
Or I could be talking out of my ass.:lol:
 
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