Goodwill?

Amazingly my discovery of a ten dollar NES a few years back started my on my classic system kick... picking up old systems I used to have on the cheap... Picked up A zelda and original FF for 2 bucks apiece once... got my Genny there too for 10 as well... most of the time there is nothing, I havent shopped there in years... some of the people scare me :)
The best find was an old Atari 2600 and games somebody donated... and they really took care of it... but the asking price was ridiculous so I passed
 
Spent about $120 tonight:

NES system w/ 2 controllers and NES advantage
Adventures of Lolo
Rad Racer
Sky Shark
Anticipation
Fighting Golf
Operation Wolf
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
Milon's Secret Castle
Duck Hunt
Batman
Tengen Super Sprint

SNES games:
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Bonkers
Aladdin
Boxing Legends of the Ring
Zombies Ate My Neighbors

N64 games:
Banjo-Tooie

PS1 3rd party fighting stick

Original Gameboy with Super Mario Land 2


Gamegear system w/ nylon case (no AC)
Super wide gear
Chuck Rock II
Fred Couples Golf
Poker Face Paul's Solitare
World Series Baseball
World Series Baseball '95
Chopperlifter III
NBA Jam
Sonic II
Spider Man return of the Sinister Six
T2
 
[quote name='sonderiaom']Though I love the internet, this form of the global marketplace really pisses me off. I used to love to go to the goodwills, value villages and garage sales to pick up some good stuff. Now they put their stuff on this ebay-like structure, and if they ever do have anything good in the stores, people pick it up to put it on ebay.[/quote]

Eh, I say more power to them. The higher stuff goes, the more money they have to do their charitable work. It's a not-for-profit company after all.
 
[quote name='eshbums']Spent about $120 tonight:

NES system w/ 2 controllers and NES advantage
Adventures of Lolo
Rad Racer
Sky Shark
Anticipation
Fighting Golf
Operation Wolf
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
Milon's Secret Castle
Duck Hunt
Batman
Tengen Super Sprint

SNES games:
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Bonkers
Aladdin
Boxing Legends of the Ring
Zombies Ate My Neighbors

N64 games:
Banjo-Tooie

PS1 3rd party fighting stick

Original Gameboy with Super Mario Land 2


Gamegear system w/ nylon case (no AC)
Super wide gear
Chuck Rock II
Fred Couples Golf
Poker Face Paul's Solitare
World Series Baseball
World Series Baseball '95
Chopperlifter III
NBA Jam
Sonic II
Spider Man return of the Sinister Six
T2[/quote]

That stuff would have been cheaper on Ebay. I hope you didn't buy it to resell. I sold a NES and Gamegear bundle on Ebay earlier this year and would have loved to have gotten that much for them.
 
I rarely find video game things at my local good wills/value villages. The only thing that i *almost* got was a genesis with 2 controllers and no hook ups for 19.99 (i saw it on the 50% off day but i didnt have the money.) Came back another day to find that purple tags were 99c that day. I remembered that the genesis was a purple tag and pretty much kicked the door down and ran to the electronic section only to find that it was long gone #-o. They always have a few nes and snes games mostly sports games but the occasional mario/duck hunt or so and ive seen mortal kombat for genesis and n64 on seperate occasions. Its just very hit or miss but you never know which makes it fun to raid the store going through every aisle as they seem to have almost zero orginization and your just as likely to find nes games next to pottery as you are next to a nes system.
 
And I thought the best deal I ever had was a 120 dollar pair of near new doc martens for 5 bucks. I did run across a copy of I think it was Air Combat 4 for 5 bucks, but the disc was scratched to all hell
 
[quote name='Rictor']That stuff would have been cheaper on Ebay. I hope you didn't buy it to resell. I sold a NES and Gamegear bundle on Ebay earlier this year and would have loved to have gotten that much for them.[/QUOTE]

No it's not to resell. And it might have been cheaper to try and find all of this on ebay, but there's something satisfying about rooting through a bunch of casettes to see an N64 game peeking out. It's the thrill of the hunt.

A couple weekends ago I got a brand new Audio V Rocker for $19.99, cables and AC were still in the bottom.
 
A few days ago got Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for NES for $4. The carts were in excellent condition. Had to do the old blowing trick to get them to work, but not sure if thats a problem with the carts or my NES (since I have to do the blowing trick all my games).

Other than that I have never seen anything good at Goodwill.
 
eshbums

Why do you keep buying all of that crap. None of those things you've listed are that great of deals. If anything you could get allot more on ebay for your money.
 
[quote name='ne2eire']A few days ago got Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for NES for $4. The carts were in excellent condition. Had to do the old blowing trick to get them to work, but not sure if thats a problem with the carts or my NES (since I have to do the blowing trick all my games).

Other than that I have never seen anything good at Goodwill.[/quote]

don't know if you've read this fact yet (it gets thrown around online a bit), but blowing into your NES games does more harm than good. your breath fires a bunch of moisture into the contact area which can accumulate over time and corrode the contacts, and by extension, those of your NES as well. a much better cleaning method (that can be done on the cheap), is to dilute some rubbing alcohol w/water. dip a q-tip in it, and squeeze out most of the excess, so the head of the q-tip is moist, but not drippy. gently rub the q-tip along the contacts of your NES cart, and replace the q-tips as you go, until they come out clean. ensure that no cotton has come off onto the contacts, allow them to dry (so long as you haven't soaked them, this shouldn't take more than a few seconds, but remember not to blow them dry!), and you should be good to go.
 
[quote name='puddytay']eshbums

Why do you keep buying all of that crap. None of those things you've listed are that great of deals. If anything you could get allot more on ebay for your money.[/QUOTE]

What's the fun in shopping on ebay? I buy all the stuff at the Goodwill's because a) I don't do jack for volunteer work, so in a lazy way I'm kind of helping out and b) it's fun to find the stuff in such a disorganized store, taking it home and getting it to work.

I'm not buying it for an investment or collection, it's just fun.
 
[quote name='ne2eire']A few days ago got Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for NES for $4. The carts were in excellent condition. Had to do the old blowing trick to get them to work, but not sure if thats a problem with the carts or my NES (since I have to do the blowing trick all my games).

Other than that I have never seen anything good at Goodwill.[/quote]

Final Fantasy 2 wasn't released for the NES. SNES, yes.
 
[quote name='allyourblood']don't know if you've read this fact yet (it gets thrown around online a bit), but blowing into your NES games does more harm than good. your breath fires a bunch of moisture into the contact area which can accumulate over time and corrode the contacts, and by extension, those of your NES as well. a much better cleaning method (that can be done on the cheap), is to dilute some rubbing alcohol w/water. dip a q-tip in it, and squeeze out most of the excess, so the head of the q-tip is moist, but not drippy. gently rub the q-tip along the contacts of your NES cart, and replace the q-tips as you go, until they come out clean. ensure that no cotton has come off onto the contacts, allow them to dry (so long as you haven't soaked them, this shouldn't take more than a few seconds, but remember not to blow them dry!), and you should be good to go.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip, I used to have a NES cleaning kit that worked well. Will try the rubbing alcohol if I feel like playing it again.
 
I've had some pretty decent lucky at Goodwill lately on non-gaming stuff...

- Casio MIDI keyboard for $4.99
- Accoustic guitar with only two strings. The wood however is very decent on it and I had some cheap replacement strings. $6.99.

You just got to have a 6th sense on when to be there. :D
 
[quote name='tangytangerine']You guys are pretty lucky, all the Goodwill stores around here have is old lame ass Atari games for $1-$2 a piece.[/QUOTE]


I don't think I've ever seen an Atari game at Goodwill before.
 
Well I managed to find Warcraft 3 for the PC at Goodwill for $5 dollars. I was going to buy Warcraft 2 Battlenet Edition...but it had no cd! Pity, as it was only $2 dollars.
 
Sifting through the piles of Genesis sports titles tonight:

Sonic 1 (the not for resale label)
Adventures of Mighty Max
Rocket Knight Adventures
Batman Forever
Aladdin
Jungle Book
 
Picked this little guy up a while ago, but finally got around to taking pictures.

It's an N64 AM/FM alarm clock radio. There was a little battery corrosion when I bought it, but some baking soda and water cleaned it right up, and it's been working ever since.
n64clock2kb7.jpg


n64clock1wk6.jpg


I never see anything like it on eBay, so no clue what it's worth, but I'm sure it's more than I paid for it.
 
[quote name='eshbums']Picked this little guy up a while ago, but finally got around to taking pictures.

It's an N64 AM/FM alarm clock radio. There was a little battery corrosion when I bought it, but some baking soda and water cleaned it right up, and it's been working ever since.[/quote]

i passed one of these up a year or two ago, and i've regretted it ever since. i'd love to display it on my computer desk.

good find!
 
Finally found some decent scores today.

All $2.00 each

Sega Saturn:
Tomb Raider
Crime Wave
Virtua Racing
Battle Monsters
Off-World Interceptor Extreme

And the SNES:
Pitfall - Mayan Adventure
Batman Forever
Batman Returns
Rocketeer
Pac-Man 2
Super Mario World
Castlevania IV
Super Mario Cart
Mortal Kombat
Super Double Dragon
Out Of This World
Super Smash TV
Taz-Mania
Turtles IV
The Peacekeepers
Outlander
Seperation Anxiety
 
[quote name='eshbums']Finally found some decent scores today.

All $2.00 each

Sega Saturn:
Tomb Raider
Crime Wave
Virtua Racing
Battle Monsters
Off-World Interceptor Extreme

And the SNES:
Pitfall - Mayan Adventure
Batman Forever
Batman Returns
Rocketeer
Pac-Man 2
Super Mario World
Castlevania IV
Super Mario Cart
Mortal Kombat
Super Double Dragon
Out Of This World
Super Smash TV
Taz-Mania
Turtles IV
The Peacekeepers
Outlander
Seperation Anxiety[/QUOTE]

In my experience, good stuff does appear in Goodwills but it gets snapped up quickly. So, when you see a few sports titles at a resale shop, those are the leftovers . . . someone beat you to Castlevania and Final Fantasy.

The only solution is go everyday and spend the entire day there :)
 
[quote name='eshbums']SNES Super Scope - in box
Virtual Boy - complete w/ Mario Tennis

$15 total.

Woo hoo![/QUOTE]


So you have found 4 snes system in the past few weeks? Is this the same goodwill or across multiple locations?
 
[quote name='Snake2715']So you have found 4 snes system in the past few weeks? Is this the same goodwill or across multiple locations?[/QUOTE]

Last night was just the Super Scope...no system.

There are about 7 of them that I try to hit at least once or twice a month.
 
Not the best price by any means, but today picked up:

Sega Saturn w/ 2 controllers and all cables (works great!)
Mortal Kombat 3 in case
Sega Rally in case
Madden 97 in case
NBA Action in case
NHL in case
Virtua Fighter 2 in paper sleeve
Virtua Cop in paper sleeve
Daytona USA in paper sleeve

$40
 
Genesis, hookups, 1 controller and 3 games (Sonic cart, Sonic 2 complete, Last Battle complete) -- $15.25 total.

I've never actually owned a Genesis before, so this is pretty neat for me. The console was covered with dust and gunk on its top, but a bit of water and a toothbrush for the grooves cleaned that up. The cart only game shows a bit of wear on the label but, otherwise, nothing too major. Last Battle looks to be from a video rental place and Sonic 2 has the 'not for resale' stamps on the box and game. All three game carts were surprisingly clean and in great shape.

I also picked up a Tiger handheld, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, for 75 cents. It's got some scratches on its screen--likely due to being tossed into a huge, indiscriminate toy bin--but it works perfectly. The store it was in was rather quiet, so I was surprised when I turned it on to test and it was so loud.
 
I live in a "thrift " city, I just have to drive 3 miles in any direction and there is either a thrift/resale or a goodwill store there.

Over the past 2 years I have gotten some unbelievable deals, but now that the DAV and Goodwills have been comparing ebay prices, the prices have skyrocketed 100%
 
today I found about 5 sealed copies of superman returns (dvd) at my goodwill all marked for $4.20. I found this extremely strange. Possibly stolen? But then who donates stolen goods?
 
[quote name='mcgavin27']today I found about 5 sealed copies of superman returns (dvd) at my goodwill all marked for $4.20. I found this extremely strange. Possibly stolen? But then who donates stolen goods?[/QUOTE]

Robin Hood comes to mind.
 
Wow, I do not know where you guys find your stuff, but after YEARS of thrifting I do not think I have found ONE good video game at a thrift store here. It just isn't worth my time to go into those stores, they have nothing but junk that does not work and overpriced stuff. People only donate stuff here if it does not work, so based on that you will not get a working item out of that place. Our SA is always PACKED with people, and its good if you want to pay 8$ for a pair of used and washed out, out of style jeans, but thats about it. Overall our SA is very corrupt and I would never donate to it or buy from it given the prices that they charge are insane, and I can find clothes brand new clothes for less money in retail stores here.

However I do make a lot of finds at yard sales, so that makes up for that.
 
Mine are the same. My biggest scores at thrift have been by way of accessories. Scored a $5 Arkanoid controller at SA, $5 Power Pad and $20 Game Boy Player (back when it was fairly new) at Goodwill. Never had a decent game score at thrift, though.

Although still somewhat unpredictable, I feel like thrifts have become just like all the other stores in that, while there's a chance for a good score here and there, you ultimately just stick to whatever the store's good at and avoid the rest like the plague. My Goodwill happens to be great for books, but I don't usually even touch their electronics or their clothing; too much crap and it's usually too expensive.
 
I love goodwill and the other thrifts I hit. Sometimes it's a bunch of crap (genny sports or mario/duckhunt) but I have found several good deals lately: CIB Where in time is Carmen Sandiego (NES) $3, CIB Dragon Warrior IV $2.50, Complete Final Fantasy Tactics (Black Label PS1) $2, and an in box R.O.B. for $6.
 
I found a Wiimote for $16 and the classic controller for $10 at Goodwill. I'm using my Wiimote to type this.
 
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