Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

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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(KEEP ALL TRADE REQUESTS HERE OR IN PM'S)
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(KEEP ALL DISCUSSION NOT RELATED TO GUIDE DROPS HERE!!!)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists(master drop lists and recent drops):

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

Recent Guide Drops(by date,also check the second post in this thread):
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
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167157

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
Barnes&Noble
BestBuy
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuides.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, Guinavere and anyone else who has created and maintained the guide thread before, as well as to all of those who find out either advance information on drops or provide a list of which ones dropped when we do have a drop.

The post below this one contains a list going back at LEAST six months of the more current guide drops, which stores they occured at and which ones dropped. Note that sometimes(Oblivion guide, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)there are multiple versions of a guide, be it that there are Prima versions, Brady versions and the occasional Nintendo and Doublejump guides.

Please specify WHICH version has dropped when mentioning possible guide drops. Thank you.


 
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Just got back from cc, confirming the Super Mario Galaxy Premiere Edition guide. Also got Army of Two from the previous drop...

The cashier didn't believe me they could be clearanced for $0.01, had to get someone (looked like a mgr) who told her to do something to check. I asked him "so you can't sell them for a penny?" He said "oh, just need to check that there's nothing wrong with the system, if they are correct, we can sell them for a penny." So I got them for a penny!

Scanned MGS4, Zelda TP Premiere Edition, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mass Effect were all full priced.
 
[quote name='fuss']FYI - I am not working Monday. So if there is any drops I will not be there to find out about it. Sorry about that folks.[/quote]

No excuses! Back to the salt mines!

Thanks for the heads up.
 
[quote name='erehwon']Is the SMG guide the hard cover one?[/quote]

[quote name='slowdive21']Mini drop at CC:

Super Mario Galaxy softcover .01

Also checked Mass E regular, ACreed regular, GoW2, Wii Twilight P (white cover) -all still full price. Confirmed in OH and IL.[/quote]


I'm checking the website now and the following are backordered/not listed/down to $9.99 (some listed $10 are a penny in B&M):
Devil May Cry 4
Assassin's Creed
Mass Effect w/ Art Book
Grand Theft Auto 4
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ninja Gaiden 2
Pokemon Pocket Pokedex Vol 2
Orange Box

Anyone have any more guides to add?
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']I hope I can get the Mario guide... But it doesn't seem likely since the Union Square CC has crap for selection.[/quote]

If they have multiple, please leave me one!
 
Just came back from circuit city to confirm that the Super Mario galaxy guide is one penny. I got the remaining 3 guides for free, the lady decided not to charge me. My circuit city also had these guides that I'm interested in. Does anyone know if these are pennied? I didn't want to clear the whole place, 3 mario galaxy guides was suspicious enough. I'll come back though if these are pennied:

God of War 2
Assasin's Creed
Oblivion guide (The old one, not GotY edition)
Twilight Princess
Viva Pinata
 
[quote name='KarlMarx']Just came back from circuit city to confirm that the Super Mario galaxy guide is one penny. I got the remaining 3 guides for free, the lady decided not to charge me. My circuit city also had these guides that I'm interested in. Does anyone know if these are pennied? I didn't want to clear the whole place, 3 mario galaxy guides was suspicious enough. I'll come back though if these are pennied:

God of War 2
Assasin's Creed
Oblivion guide (The old one, not GotY edition)
Twilight Princess
Viva Pinata[/quote]

Viva Pinata is (mentioned in the second post). People have reported that Twilight Princess and Assassin's Creed haven't. I'm not sure about the others.
 
[quote name='KarlMarx']I'll come back though if these are pennied:

God of War 2
Assasin's Creed
Oblivion guide (The old one, not GotY edition)
Twilight Princess
Viva Pinata[/quote]

I'll start with the mandatory 'read the thread'!

not pennied:

God of War 2
Assasin's Creed
Twilight Princess Wii

Pennied:
Viva Pinata
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I'll start with the mandatory 'read the thread'!

not pennied:

God of War 2
Assasin's Creed
Twilight Princess Wii

Pennied:
Viva Pinata[/quote]

I read the first page and didn't find a lot for Circuit City on the master list wiki page. Then I read the last few messages and saw my question was answered :whistle2:#. Thanks for answering though. What about the old oblivion guide?

Edit: Thanks, didn't realize 2nd post had more info on circuit city.
 
Can anyone check BB? I was just there and there were some huge gaps where there 6 guides yesterday in multiple areas. assassins creed bundle was one I noticed missing.
 
[quote name='Antic']Can anyone check BB? I was just there and there were some huge caps where there 6 guides yesterday. Assassins creed bundle was one I noticed missing[/quote]

Oh, shoot - it IS a Monday, isn't it? Did you have any prices checked while you were there today?
 
[quote name='Antic']Can anyone check BB? I was just there and there were some huge gaps where there 6 guides yesterday in multiple areas. assassins creed bundle was one I noticed missing.[/QUOTE]

I didnt check because my friend wasnt there. Huge gapping gaps that appear today seems to be an indication.
 
I've been away (I still am, but I just hit a BIG score at BB) - it may be YMMV but I'm finding penny guides of:
DMC4
Condemned 2
Army of 2 w/ comic
Mario Galazy HC
Phantom Hourglass HC
Pirates of the Burning Sea
FFT War of the Lions
World in Conflict
Rainbow 6 Vegas 2

Gonna check more shortly, but they are limiting me to one copy of each guide a day (or until the next shift change happens).
 
[quote name='Visc']I've been away (I still am, but I just hit a BIG score at BB) - it may be YMMV but I'm finding penny guides of:
DMC4
Condemned 2
Army of 2 w/ comic
Mario Galazy HC
Phantom Hourglass HC
Pirates of the Burning Sea
FFT War of the Lions
World in Conflict
Rainbow 6 Vegas 2

Gonna check more shortly, but they are limiting me to one copy of each guide a day (or until the next shift change happens).[/quote]Condemned 2 and Pirates of the Burning Sea were ones from the last set of drops at BB, as I picked them up the last go-around.

The other ones, I don't think they're pennied from prior drops, AFAIK.
 
World in Conflict, Condemned 2, and Pirates were already pennied out, but the others seem new. Thanks, Visc!
 
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I picked up two of the three SMG guides at the Fort Wayne CC. Hope to trade one for the Blue Dragon guide that was pennied at GS.

The only guide I checked at BB was Lost Odyssey and it is still $19. I tried to see what the Dead Space art book cost and no one could figure it out. One guy said $5 for it, but I decided to pass. I don't usually like to pay much for art books.
 
Adding more to the penny list I got from this BB today (sorry for old ones, and they still may be YMMV):
Crysis
Orange Box
Enemy Territoy Quake Wars (new one)

I also wound up finding a different cashier and picked up the rest of the Mario Galaxy HC and Phantom Hourglass HC (only one left of each)

I may have to find a box for all these books I'll have by the time I leave back for Connecticut Tuesday (that will be safe to put on a plane), since I am going to proceed to ransack this place.
 
Ok, so I spent last night doing inventory till the wee hours of the morning, but I still went over to the store to see if there was any drops today at BBY. And go figure, the one Monday I have off THERE ARE DROPS TODAY. I did not get a good look at the list, of all the people in my dept the one I do not really get along with was working and doing the price changes. There was about 10 guides on the list, I did not even see it long enough to get a full count or look at it. All I know for sure was the God Of War COO and some of the smaller generic lots-of-cheat books. That all he had in the cart that he was pulling.

Sorry for the lack of a list, if anybody else was working today they would have been cool with me getting a copy of the list. Sorry folks :(
 
Don't worry, fuss, I got most of them listed already - I didn't check the GoW one though, so thanks for that - I'm going back to that BB 4 blocks from my hotel.
 
[quote name='Visc']Don't worry, fuss, I got most of them listed already - I didn't check the GoW one though, so thanks for that - I'm going back to that BB 4 blocks from my hotel.[/quote]

Good, I am glad for that. Trust me, I would have MUCH rather worked Monday am over doing that looooooooong inventory. Even if I did get a good amount of overtime I wish I could have got out of it lol.
 
the best part is (for me) that since I'm not home til ThursdayFriday, I'll have my usual BB to raid when I do get back.

They're going to be worried about me for not seeing me all week ;)
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']Thanks for all the info Visc!! Gonna try to hit up one of mine today and see what I can find.[/quote]

Just dumb luck really.

I had time to kill now that my screening at NASA was done for the day, and there was a best buy by my hotel, so I grabbed a few guides, scanned them, and proceded to swab the drool pooling on the ground before starting my raid.
 
Hmmm seeing that the Zelda Phantom Hourglass HC pennied out, I'm guessing that the Twilight Princess did as well.
Hopefully the employees haven't pulled the guides by the time I get to a Best Buy tomorrow.
 
Picked up most of the ones Visc posted.

You can add the following to the BB drop today:
GOW: Chains of Olympus
Bully: Scholarship edition
Bourne Conspiracy
Incredible Hulk
Assassin's Creed Limited Edition

Confirmed both HC (LOTZ: Phantom Hourglass and Mario Galaxy for 0.01)
 
OK, here's what I snagged and what was marked for a penny at my BB:

Bully: Schloarship Edition
Bourne Conspiracy
Incredible Hulk
Rock Band
DMC4
Army of Two
GoW: COO
Rainbow Vegas 2
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Cheat Code Overload
Secret Codes 2008 Vol. 1
Codes & Cheats Summer 2008
Codes & Cheats Spring 2008

Found a couple regular Assassin's Creeds (no Deluxe Editions) and they rang up full price. :(
 
FFT: War of Lions at BB? Fingers crossed...

So I went to CC today, and got away with 5 Mario guides, I just used a "clearance" excuse, although a bit earlier this guy said those guides were to be given away with the games. Thankfully he wasn't at the register.
 
Woah! What an incredible drop. I can confirm SMG Hardcover, PH Hardcover, DMC4, FFT: War of the Lions, and Orange Box. Too bad I left my computer before seeing Assassin's Creed LE pennied. I think I'm going to head out on a second trip to pick one up that I know I just left.
 
[quote name='jgamezcua']You can add the following to the BB drop today:
Assassin's Creed Limited Edition
[/quote]

:bomb: I knew I left too soon! I really want that one. I price checked: Fire Emblem RD, FF Tactics 2 (DS), and Lost Odyssey and all were FULL price. If only I checked Assassin's...
 
I can confirm Assassin's Creed Limited Edition in MD, along with most of the other drops. I didn't try Bully, GoW, Incredible Hulk, Bourne Conspiracy, or Rock Band. Looks like I'll be making another trip tomorrow.
 
Well, I found out there's a huge hoarder in my area. I was in Best Buy this afternoon around 4:30 and saw some Super Mario Galaxy Hard Covers. I figured I never get lucky with scanning for a penny, so I'd check on CAG. Just went there and only could find Bourne Conspiracy and a Phantom Hourglass HC. The cashier said that someone had a couple dozen penny guides just about 10 minutes ago :bomb:.
 
[quote name='MondiBlue']Well, I found out there's a huge hoarder in my area. I was in Best Buy this afternoon around 4:30 and saw some Super Mario Galaxy Hard Covers. I figured I never get lucky with scanning for a penny, so I'd check on CAG. Just went there and only could find Bourne Conspiracy and a Phantom Hourglass HC. The cashier said that someone had a couple dozen penny guides just about 10 minutes ago :bomb:.[/quote]
:cry: My nemisis is a siek in his 50s who comes in with boxes for his buys, an eBayer I am sure. I bet I get nada tomorrow. Wish me luck and sorry for the off-topic vent.
 
Got:
Orange Box
Mario Galaxy HC
Zelda PH HC
Assassin's Creed LE
Bully Scholarship Ed.
Bourne
GoW Chains of Olympus

1 for me, 2 for friends, and more left for those that want em (Joliet, IL) except for Zelda, which I grabbed the last 3 of. No FFT makes me a sad panda though :(

Also, for some reason, there were Mario Galaxy guides in like 4 places throughout the store, so there are still tons left last I saw.
 
Second post is updated with today's drop. I stopped by Best Buy on my way home from finding Little Big Planet and I didn't see ANY of the guides on the drop list.

However, I checked the in store customer kiosk and found out that Orange Box had dropped. Assassin's Creed LE was NOWHERE to be found though and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was up on the site as being sixty eight cents.
 
As I posted earlier (from my cellphone), my area got cleaned out hardcore. I was only able to score one FFT guide they missed and Bully. I'm pissed because there were 5 or 6 Assassin Creed LE and I wanted one badly. Time to check out the trading thread...
 
as I'm leaving the local best buy for trip #3 (I have to walk back and forth to hte hotel, so I'm taking my time), what do I see just across the street?

Circuit City.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

3 Galaxy softcovers, a coupoe rainbow six vegas, a NSMB, an Oblivion...I think there was more too, I can't remember (not in the hotel room).
 
I too can confirm the following:

1. God of War: Chains of Olympus
2. Bully: Scholarship Edition
3. Rainbow 6: Vegas
4. Final Fantasy Tactics
5. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

I did see a Final Fantasy XII guide but it rang at full price. I had some Gift Certificates to burn and decided to get it.

The only one I'm bummed out on missing is the Assassin's Creed: LE guide. I'll check another BB tomorrow to see if they got it.

--Michael
 
I am Able to confirm the following:
Quake Wars
Army of Two with Comic
R6V2
Bourne Conspiracy
GOW: COO
DMC4
Bully Scholarship Edition
LOZ:pH Hard Cover CE
SMG Hard Cover PE
Orange Box
Incredible Hulk
Orange Box

Also, Regular Assasin's Creed rang up at 10.50$ and ME: 2 pack at 9$
 
Thanks to the person who originally mentioned the drop.

I think we can chill on the confirmations. I think 6,493 confirmations are enough. If there is anything missed, then please report, otherwise, I think IATCG has got the second post updated, so we are all set.

I just want to make sure I (and everybody else) haven't missed anything that wasn't already reported, so it would be easier to see that without all of the confirmations since we already know what dropped.

Thanks...
 
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