It's been a while since I've have some time to hit up the local stores like this but the last couple of days have been really slow at work so I've been able to take a lunch hour and do some looking around. Everything's on the Kansas side for this installment.
Again, typical disclaimers- I don't really look at stuff in ugly green boxes as I don't have a Microsoft system. I'm mainly looking for Nintendo stuff and things to fill out my PS2 collection so, of course, my definition of "nothing of note" varies from many others.
Tuesday
Toys R Us (K7ish area) - No Lost Magic. Even tho it didn't get great reviews, for some reason I've wanted it since running into the clearance and not getting it in Topeka last week. Struck out again here. Things of note that were in stock and clearanced price: Suikoden Tactics (they've had copies here for at least 3 months), Metal Gear Solid 3, and 2 copies of Rocket Slime which I strongly considered getting but it was still around $20 so I decided against.
KMart (Santa Fe) - Didn't get anything here either, but did see a couple of things that stuck out. If you can't find Baten Kaitos Origins for $15 at TRU, they have it for $20 at KMart. I also saw a couple of copies of Disgaea 2 in the little clearance display box. Also, if you're looking to fill out an "old" collection of XBox 360, there were $15 copies of stuff like Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and Phantasy Star Universe. Don't know if there was any additional stacking discount on top of anything.
Wednesday Lunch
Circuit City (119th/Metcalf) - Nothing that I can remember right off hand. They had 2 large bins of stuff but none of what I was looking for from CC (Lost Magic, Magical Starsign). Looked fairly picked over.
Circuit City (Oak Park Mall) - Finally! Heck, more luck than I expected. They didn't have anything marked right but I decided to give a try. I saw a copy of Phoenix Wright 2 (only one, I think) for $20 so I said "what the heck" and also a copy of Magical Starsign for $30. They ring up Magical Starsign and at $8 and I was happy and then when my order rang up for only $20 as Phoenix Wright only was $10, I was thrilled. There is a second copy of Magical Starsign there, but it was hiding behind something else so you might have to dig. In fact, at both CC's, there didn't seem to be much order at all and this was to the stuff on the shelf. There were no bins at this CC and it looks like a lot of stuff is marked incorrect but that's the best kind of sale if you've done your homework. The only down note is that, while driving back, I realized I completely forgot to check for Valkyrie Profile 2, which was what I wanted to go there for in the first place.
Wednesday Night
Sears (~99th/Metcalf) - The other place I've been wanting to score big at is a Sears. There are sales on Mario&Luigi (DS), older Nintendogs versions, Mario Strikers (GC), and old Mario Party games (if you can find them). This one had none of the above, unfortunately. As people have been reporting in the Sears thread, nothing's really marked right and it's not until you put it in the system that it might come up. Unfortunately, since I didn't see the ones I set out for and there's not really a complete list, there were probably some good deals I completely overlooked. There were a pair of pretty full bins of all sorts of stuff including some good games but I'm not sure what is on clearance and what is just on "sale" for $19.99.
KMart (95th/Metcalf) - Not much here, either. It had a similar maybe even slightly larger collection of $15 and $25 XBox 360 games in the little clearance box but that's about it. Didn't really see anything of interest.
Sears (Shawnee Mission Pkwy) - I'm not sure how pricing goes on this since it's a converted KMar-- err--- Sears Grand. This store has always priced things differently from both Sears and KMart so I think it's typically a crapshoot. They did have some of the pink Sears clearance tags out (none at the above store) like the one in Independence Center has had from time to time, but nothing with an earth shattering price. However there was a pretty good selection of games that were a few bucks off and are hard to find if clearanced elsewhere so maybe it's a good place to save $5 on something you've wanted. All of the following were in the low $20 or less but not real cheap: Elite Beat Agents (really should have pulled the trigger on this), Castlevania: POR, Kirby Canvas Curse and for the GBA: Mario Tennis, Pokemon: Sapphire (yes, they still have a copy), and Final Fantasy 4. Also, they had a giant display at the front that I'm not sure how I missed when I came in, listing games at "under $20" but with no tags or anything. There were some decent finds there if they turn out to have a good price and unlike a KMart, they typically have someone back in electronics but it was getting late so I decided to pass tonight.
It was fun to get back into the swing of things. There's just not a ton out there for me to snag since older generation stuff is trickling out a slow rate, I have most of the DS stuff I want, and I don't have any next gen units yet.
SI