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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[quote name='Dhuk']I think most of the guides are still at the stores in the back. probably costs more to have them ship it back.[/quote]

I don't know the current process. But back in my day, we would get a magazine and book pull list. We tear the cover off the front cover and put those in a mail envelope and mail those directly back tot he publisher for a refund. The rest of the book/magazine went into the trash after the employees got their pick. They won't ship the entire thing back, just a possible portion to the distributor/publisher to ensure that they had the number of guides the store claimed.
 
went to gamestop today, found about 25 guides... awesome ones too.... the manager denied me.... said he couldnt sell them for a penny..... usually i put up a fit... but wasnt in the mood. Is it just their choice? or are they required to sell them to me because they are on the shelf?
anyone else encounter this?

cheers
bug_nuts
 
[quote name='bug_nuts']went to gamestop today, found about 25 guides... awesome ones too.... the manager denied me.... said he couldnt sell them for a penny..... usually i put up a fit... but wasnt in the mood. Is it just their choice? or are they required to sell them to me because they are on the shelf?
anyone else encounter this?
[/QUOTE]

There's one time a gamestop store told me that I had to buy or reserve a game in order for me to get the penny guides.....
 
[quote name='bug_nuts']went to gamestop today, found about 25 guides... awesome ones too.... the manager denied me.... said he couldnt sell them for a penny..... usually i put up a fit... but wasnt in the mood. Is it just their choice? or are they required to sell them to me because they are on the shelf?
anyone else encounter this?

cheers
bug_nuts[/QUOTE]

They are not required to sell you anything in the store if they do not want to. I gave up on all the local Gamestops for penny guides long ago as I would get denied more often then not. I now ask if they will sell me the penny guides if I find any before I even bother looking since I am not going to do their job and pull the guides just to make it easier on them for being lazy.
 
It looks completely updated to me, except maybe God of War II at CC, which some people have reported finding recently (found three myself on Friday). IATCG does a great job here.
 
[quote name='ninja dog']ummm, the op seems outdated. is this thread still updated?[/QUOTE]

im assuming drops dont happen every day........
 
[quote name='ninja dog']ummm, the op seems outdated. is this thread still updated?[/QUOTE]

The 2nd post is the one that has all the updates in it.
 
Any of you who haven't been back to your BB since the Big Pull & Reprice should check back. I was one of the many who arrived early on that fateful Monday morn to be greeted by empty shelves. I even asked the smug blue-shirt if Mass Effect LE specifically was in the back or trashed.

"Gone," he replied.

Sure enough, now that some of the prices have been changed to $14.99, I check back and, whaddya know...Mass Effect LE .01 along with much of the pulled invent. as well as some penny guides I don't think they even HAD before the drop.
 
[quote name='jjmai']There's one time a gamestop store told me that I had to buy or reserve a game in order for me to get the penny guides.....[/quote]

Normally, I would just walk out once I was told that I HAD to reserve something or buy something to get a guide or nine, but I plopped down a pre-order for Godfather 2 for PS3 to help out the one employee who found me a Rise Of The Argonauts art book that was tucked away in the back.

Thing is, if the system is still the way it was a couple years ago, you CAN cancel the pre-order at another store and that'll hurt the numbers of the person you cancel it with.

That's how I help out those who rigidly follow company policy and are smug about it, since it supposedly counts as a negative against their pre-order numbers. :lol:

I'm just a nice guy like that. :D

[quote name='ninja dog']ummm, the op seems outdated. is this thread still updated?[/quote]

The second post IS updated, except for the recent finds at CC, since the chain is going to be effectively dead in two weeks or so anyway.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Thing is, if the system is still the way it was a couple years ago, you CAN cancel the pre-order at another store and that'll hurt the numbers of the person you cancel it with.

That's how I help out those who rigidly follow company policy and are smug about it, since it supposedly counts as a negative against their pre-order numbers. :lol:
[/quote]

This. The manager from my favorite gamestop just got transferred to another building, so I'm cancelling all my pre-orders at the old building and taking them to where he's at now. Loyalty speaks volumes.
 
[quote name='jjmai']halo 3 & mario galaxy guides 1cent at blockbuster[/quote]

I went to BBV and these were not on the shelf, checked SSBBrawl and it was full price still.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Thing is, if the system is still the way it was a couple years ago, you CAN cancel the pre-order at another store and that'll hurt the numbers of the person you cancel it with.[/QUOTE]

Wait, cancelling a pre-order hurts the person that processes the cancellation, not the person who sold the pre-order in the first place, even in the same store? :whistle2:#
 
I forgot to mention that my BB has bothered to put a handwritten "50% off" sticker on guides from the last drop, whether $14.99 or $0.01.

I didn't bother to attempt to get half off my stack of penny guides.:lol:
 
[quote name='B:L']Wait, cancelling a pre-order hurts the person that processes the cancellation, not the person who sold the pre-order in the first place, even in the same store? :whistle2:#[/QUOTE]

correct
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']This. The manager from my favorite gamestop just got transferred to another building, so I'm cancelling all my pre-orders at the old building and taking them to where he's at now. Loyalty speaks volumes.[/quote]

That's how I am too, since my formerly BEST local GS for grabbing guides from has turned into my WORST one now.

The manager who used to let me walk out with half the damn store worth of guides was/is never on duty and the people who are there now(transferred from other stores when the bulk of the old crew got fired or quit)are so hard line on the pennied shit it's ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, I won't cancel on them, since I get along with them pretty well. But the one guy who 'forgot' to scan my one HWV game during the 10/20/30% promo, then bitched at me when I wanted the extra 30-40%(used my edge card)in credit for that ONE game, he's going to be getting a negative one one of these days SOON from me. :D

That guy and the one snippy bitch who was standing next to him telling me I already signed off on the games and they wouldn't redo the transaction have at least ONE coming. ;)

Although, she has been MIA since then, so maybe she already got the boot. :applause: I can only hope, cause I swear she was ragging that day. Total fuckin' c---.
 
oh so theres a reason why they always get so happy when you preorder something? i always thought they were just a little weird.

is there a full list of games that have pennied out at BBV, cus i know mine has lots of older guides, does it matter if its a franchisee store? (mine is)
 
[quote name='bug_nuts']i just preorder...... go back and get my money back later.... i have pre orders at nearly all 8 stores in my area lol.....[/quote]

i had been doing that too, but in a few posts i read someone say that it hurts the employees numbers or something that have to cancel the preorders or w.e...is this true? i still dont understand the deal with the preorders and why they make a big deal and try to run you through a list of games to preorder and does it really matter if you cancel?
 
Were there guides pennied yesterday along with the hats? If so, it's really odd we're getting the information so late this time.
 
[quote name='eugaet']Were there guides pennied yesterday along with the hats? If so, it's really odd we're getting the information so late this time.[/QUOTE]

The hats have been pennied for a while, just no one ever said any thing about them
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']The hats have been pennied for a while, just no one ever said any thing about them[/quote]

I wish I knew that, I've seen them sitting on displays as recently as Saturday.

I don't know what guides would have pennied yesterday, since they got rid of so many just a few weeks ago. Also, I didn't notice anything missing from their website just now.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']The hats have been pennied for a while, just no one ever said any thing about them[/quote]That's just really depressing. I was going to buy them at $5, but never got around to it.

I would hope that someone would speak up next time.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']The hats have been pennied for a while, just no one ever said any thing about them[/quote]

Nope, this is incorrect. They dropped to $5 a while ago, but they pennied yesterday. No guides have pennied from GameStop since that last huge, epic drop.

On Sunday, a few new "Mumbo Jumbo" brand games pennied. I remember "Ricochet Infinity" on PC, "Platypus" on PSP, and "Luxor: Pharaoh" on PS2.

I had never before seen a PS2 or PSP game get pennied out before. In the past, I've seen them transfer new games to used, such as with all the Game Boy Advance games a couple of years ago. Pretty weird.

If you were to find those games in the dumpster and trade them back in to GameStop, they'd give you $1.50 in store credit for each. Very weird manuever on their part.
 
[quote name='eugaet']That's just really depressing. I was going t
I would hope that someone would speak up next time.[/QUOTE]

I didnt know they were pennied until my gamestop(dick manager) got rid of the 70+ guides and 25-30 hats the one weekend I didnt go there. Checked the dumpster to find a crap load of guides covered in rice/meat/smoothies/crap. Kinda got me mad since he rather dump them then sell them to me, even after he got two of my preorders and also signed up for edge card under him
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']I didnt know they were pennied until my gamestop(dick manager) got rid of the 70+ guides and 25-30 hats the one weekend I didnt go there. Checked the dumpster to find a crap load of guides covered in rice/meat/smoothies/crap. Kinda got me mad since he rather dump them then sell them to me, even after he got two of my preorders and also signed up for edge card under him[/QUOTE]

go back and cancel the preorder when he is working.
 
[quote name='62t']go back and cancel the preorder when he is working.[/quote]

I really should. I should get like 10 friends to preorder with my favorite employee, since he is the man, and then when the gay manager "Jorge"(pronounced Whore- Hey) is working we all go and cancel under him. But I guess I'm just too nice.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']I really should. I should get like 10 friends to preorder with my favorite employee, since he is the man, and then when the gay manager "Jorge"(pronounced Whore- Hey) is working we all go and cancel under him. But I guess I'm just too nice.[/quote]

Should do all your pre-orders with reg employees anyways because they always get the shaft when the hammer drops from corp.
 
There's too many pages to go through so this has probably been mentioned before. Am I the only person who has never seen any game guides priced at $.01 in their lives? Seriously. I've never even seen these things go on sale let alone be priced at $.01...
 
[quote name='Punisher0587']There's too many pages to go through so this has probably been mentioned before. Am I the only person who has never seen any game guides priced at $.01 in their lives? Seriously. I've never even seen these things go on sale let alone be priced at $.01...[/quote]
They are only priced at $.01 with a price tag about .0001% of the time. The guides are a penny when ringing them up at the register even if the tag say $10,000.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']They are only priced at $.01 with a price tag about .0001% of the time. The guides are a penny when ringing them up at the register even if the tag say $10,000.[/quote]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try it out next time.
 
[quote name='Punisher0587']Thanks for the info. I'll have to try it out next time.[/quote]
Well gamestop is YMMV as a lot of the time they say that they cannot sell the guides because of the evil unicorn that will punish them unless they sacrifice the guides to the magic dumpster.
 
[quote name='Wolve11']Both stores I went to had all their stuff pulled already as always.[/quote]
Did you see my PMs or did you just decided not to respond? just asking:D
 
Same here. Never had problems getting penny guides elsewhere except for Gamestop.

I wish I could have gotten some hats at least :whistle2:( They were pulled.
 
I checked 5 BBV this weekend, the Super Mario guides all gone. :(
At one, I was buying a new copy of the game, and asked for the guide, and the girl told me they had just got rid of them all.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']I snagged 2 Super Mario Galaxy softcover guides at BBV for a penny each yesterday.[/quote]
edit: nevermind my mistake
 
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[quote name='gordojones88']I snagged 2 Super Mario Galaxy softcover guides at BBV for a penny each yesterday.[/QUOTE]

Is this a new drop? I don't see it on the 2nd post.
 
I picked up FF:RoF and the WoW Dungeon guide. My WoW dungeon guide was NOT pennied. It was even the first edition one I picked up (pre BC dungeons)

Are there any explanations as to why this might be?
 
[quote name='KABUKISTAR']Is this a new drop? I don't see it on the 2nd post.[/quote]

It was posted a week ago, it's just never been added. Time for an update.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Second post is updated with the Blockbuster drop(Super Mario Galaxy softcover).

I forget. What were the other drops that occured?[/quote]

In the BBV thread a few days ago.

Codes & Cheats Summer 2008
Mario Kart Wii
Halo 3 (unconfirmed?)
SMG
 
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