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='sunnysky']Just a quick reflection to the people who are still hanging onto their LE copies of Fable II, Gears II, etc, and passing on 2-4 guide trade offers, or $10+.
Sooner or later, the Standard guides will be pennied as well, and there were many more of them made. And many of us (who have been badgering you to try and trade with us) will no longer be making offers.
I know I've made several offers to some users on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, if I want something bad enough, I'll just settle on getting a deal from Amazon.
Speaking for myself. I'm just here to have fun and make trades. If I wanted to make a huge profit, I would go straight to Ebay.[/quote]

I like that post.
I'm going to do one of these-> :applause:
 
[quote name='sunnysky']Just a quick reflection to the people who are still hanging onto their LE copies of Fable II, Gears II, etc, and passing on 2-4 guide trade offers, or $10+.
Sooner or later, the Standard guides will be pennied as well, and there were many more of them made. And many of us (who have been badgering you to try and trade with us) will no longer be making offers.
I know I've made several offers to some users on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, if I want something bad enough, I'll just settle on getting a deal from Amazon.
Speaking for myself. I'm just here to have fun and make trades. If I wanted to make a huge profit, I would go straight to Ebay.[/quote]

Amen, Brother! Who wants a GoW2 LE? I'm adding it to my list!
 
[quote name='sunnysky']Just a quick reflection to the people who are still hanging onto their LE copies of Fable II, Gears II, etc, and passing on 2-4 guide trade offers, or $10+.
Sooner or later, the Standard guides will be pennied as well, and there were many more of them made. And many of us (who have been badgering you to try and trade with us) will no longer be making offers.
I know I've made several offers to some users on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, if I want something bad enough, I'll just settle on getting a deal from Amazon.
Speaking for myself. I'm just here to have fun and make trades. If I wanted to make a huge profit, I would go straight to Ebay.[/quote]


I'll trade you my Fable II LE for your High Horse. All I have is a stupid little donkey.
 
Awsome! My thread killer tag even eliminates subsequent posts! CML by the way, I was serious about adding LE guides.......

I would have posted in the Guide Discussion Thread, but I already killed that one.
 
[quote name='sunnysky']Just a quick reflection to the people who are still hanging onto their LE copies of Fable II, Gears II, etc, and passing on 2-4 guide trade offers, or $10+.
Sooner or later, the Standard guides will be pennied as well, and there were many more of them made. And many of us (who have been badgering you to try and trade with us) will no longer be making offers.
I know I've made several offers to some users on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, if I want something bad enough, I'll just settle on getting a deal from Amazon.
Speaking for myself. I'm just here to have fun and make trades. If I wanted to make a huge profit, I would go straight to Ebay.[/quote]

Considering the fact that the last offer I got for one of my 'trade only' guides was a month of time on Xbox Live, which is totally fuckin' useless to me since I never even had my original XBox hooked up to it and I don't have a 360, I'll keep my LE guides for right now.

No offense meant to the person who made the offer, but if it's not on my WANTED list on my TL, I don't want the item you think one of my guides is worth to you.

Thanks for stating what you think is the obvious though, but the LE guides will almost always hold more value for real collectors over the normal edition guides.
 
No i agree with what that other dude said.....GET RID OF YOUR LE GUIDES NOW BEFORE THEY'RE WORTHLESS and i for 1 am willing to take any Fable 2 LE or GoW 2 LE that people have too many of!! Just PM me if you have any extras and i'll send you some of my madden 09 LE / SPORE LE or if you're lucky i might offer up some of my SC 4 LE!!! Lets get these out the door while they're hot!
 
Fable II LE guides were going for about $23.00 last week on eBay, so I don't think anyone is in a rush to get rid of them. I only got one and I am planning to hang on to it for a few years and keep it sealed.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Fable II LE guides were going for about $23.00 last week on eBay, so I don't think anyone is in a rush to get rid of them. I only got one and I am planning to hang on to it for a few years and keep it sealed.[/QUOTE]

Well it is 3 years and my new Kingdom Hearts 2 LE guide is worth about $20, $10 less of what I paid.
 
I don't particularly see any reason to keep a game's guide outside of a collector's item reasoning...Really, once I've beat a game that I'll never play again (Fable 2 is a damn good example) I can't stand having the guide around. It's somewhat like an eye-sore to me.

To each their own :p
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Fable II LE guides were going for about $23.00 last week on eBay, so I don't think anyone is in a rush to get rid of them. I only got one and I am planning to hang on to it for a few years and keep it sealed.[/QUOTE]

Just because you see alot of auctions with Buy it Now for $23.00 or starting bids of $20+ doesn't mean they sold.
 
[quote name='sunnysky']Just a quick reflection to the people who are still hanging onto their LE copies of Fable II, Gears II, etc, and passing on 2-4 guide trade offers, or $10+.
Sooner or later, the Standard guides will be pennied as well, and there were many more of them made. And many of us (who have been badgering you to try and trade with us) will no longer be making offers.
I know I've made several offers to some users on multiple occasions. Sooner or later, if I want something bad enough, I'll just settle on getting a deal from Amazon.
Speaking for myself. I'm just here to have fun and make trades. If I wanted to make a huge profit, I would go straight to Ebay.[/quote]


Some CAGs forget that these guides were picked up for only a penny. I use extra guides to hook up other CAGs and at the same time get the guides I missed out on. I'm just making an observation, not trying to point anyone out. To each his own... I guess.
 
[quote name='n00bie']Just because you see alot of auctions with Buy it Now for $23.00 or starting bids of $20+ doesn't mean they sold.[/quote]
That's true but you can look at completed listings. I searched just now for "Fable 2 Limited Guide" and found 7 results (two of which were with the game so not counted). In order of price sold: $26, $24, $20, $13. One did not sell (w/BIN of $25). In this case, to me, there seems to be not a lot of the guide on ebay and most are selling pretty well. Maybe I did a bad search though; I really expected a lot more results.

Edit: That damn SCIV LE I have an extra of is selling at the about $3. :p
 
[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']Edit: That damn SCIV LE I have an extra of is selling at the about $3. :p[/quote]
Wow. You could have traded or sold it to me!
 
[quote name='eau']Wow. You could have traded or sold it to me![/quote]
Well, I still can if you have anything I want :D Maybe I wasn't clear in that mean other guides are selling for about $3. Mine's still in my closet. I was just curious as the the price it was going for since Fable II was doing so well, and SCIV is a guide I actually have.
 
Just my 2 cents.

Some pennied out LE guides should be trade 1 to 2 for regular guides or perhaps a dollar should be added to cover extra cost of shipping.

I trade one Mass Effect LE guide with Art Book and the other guy added a $1 with his guide to help cover cost of shipping. I currently have a Mass Effect LE guide with Art Book pending for two reg guides.

Now if you actually pay for a guide like a Lego Batman or Lego Indiana Jones then I think it is ok to ask for several guides in return.

What I don't understand is people putting down sellers on ebay then posting here wanting a ton of stuff for a penny guide?

Like I said, it's just my 2 cents.
 
Dang Soul Calibur 4 LE is only selling for 3 bones and who are these dumb shits that selll them on eBay for so little? I mean shipping alone is 2.50 and then if you put them in a bubble envelope there's another 50 cent or more and then the listing fees and selling fees. Wow but i guess the good thing is if i really wanted a copy of that then instead of paying to mail one of my guides just buy it off the duffuses on eBay!
 
BB dropped the guides at my local one on the 4th. On the 5th, they were back up to regular price. Shitty. Still want one of those Soul Calibur IV LE guides, but it rang up $25(!). fuck that noise.
 
Don't think so...IF there's another drop coming up from BB, it'll probably be a couple of Mondays from now (I think it's usually the first Monday of the month, could be wrong).
 
[quote name='cblakerobinson']Don't think so...IF there's another drop coming up from BB, it'll probably be a couple of Mondays from now (I think it's usually the first Monday of the month, could be wrong).[/quote]

there's not much for BB to drop right now....maybe finally Halo 3 and GTA 4 but everything else is still pretty fresh so yeah give it at least a couple weeks for another drop but i'd say a month in a half at least or more!
 
[quote name='sacreddoctor']there's not much for BB to drop right now....[/quote]

Not much to drop?! There's a glut of "The Legend of Spyro" guides are my BB that are just screaming to be pennied. There's also loads of Endwar, Command and Conquer, Haze, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Prince of Persia CEs, etc. clogging up the shelves.
 
[quote name='emg28']Some CAGs forget that these guides were picked up for only a penny. I use extra guides to hook up other CAGs and at the same time get the guides I missed out on. I'm just making an observation, not trying to point anyone out. To each his own... I guess.[/quote]

That's the thing with me though, is that I don't mind trading an LE guide or one that may be worth a few bucks(ICO guide), but I'm not about to accept an unfair trade(where I'm the one getting shorted) just to help someone out. I mean, sure, if I have a shitload of a certain guide and I've determined that the guide isn't worth jack, I'll toss in some extra copies just to get rid of them.

I want what I want/need from my TL list of items I'm looking for. If it's not listed, that means DON'T PM me trying to make your own deal because chances are I don't need what you're offering. Simple enough, but I guess I have to restate it here since I KEEP getting offers for shit I don't want and can't use.

Not trying to be an ass about it, but I'd rather have a bonfire with the guides than take in shit I don't want/need and be stuck staring at that in place of the guides.
 
[quote name='n00bie']Just because you see alot of auctions with Buy it Now for $23.00 or starting bids of $20+ doesn't mean they sold.[/quote]

Ugh, I hate it when people tell me this. I sell on eBay routinely (its my second job) so I always check completed listings and go by the average price that they are ending at. As another poster mentioned, the Fable II LE guides are selling at right around $23.00.

And yes, it really won't make a difference if I hang on to the guide or sell it later, but I really can't see the value of the guide going down much from where it is (worst case, it'll be worth around $15.00 in a few years).
 
I was at a Gamestop today and was able to pick up The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass(softcover), Rise of the Argonauts, and Warhammer Online for a penny each and I didn't see them reported on the first page. I could be wrong though and sorry if I overlooked it.
 
[quote name='Fayt13']I was at a Gamestop today and was able to pick up The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass(softcover), Rise of the Argonauts, and Warhammer Online for a penny each and I didn't see them reported on the first page. I could be wrong though and sorry if I overlooked it.[/quote]


>>>Dropped on 1.29.09
Click to expand...
 
I'm thinking of taking a little vacation today and going to a city 45 minutes from here...I hope the random drive would be worth it, but I don't know...Nevermind, think save money!

Regardless I'll check on some penny guides somewhere, you guys will be sure to get my update as I do have no life.
 
Actually on Jan. 31st at 1:41am I reported my 79 guide haul from the dumpster and mentioned the 13 LoZ:pH soft cover guides I grabbed.
Maybe nobody noticed cause it was in the guide discussion thread and not this one.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']Actually on Jan. 31st at 1:41am I reported my 79 guide haul from the dumpster and mentioned the 13 LoZ:pH soft cover guides I grabbed.
Maybe nobody noticed cause it was in the guide discussion thread and not this one.[/quote]

I laughed pretty hard at this one...Wow, that's funny.

I do love penny guides, but not enough to lunge into a dumpster...I would laugh even harder if I found a clip from a camera, of you getting caught in the act...That would make my week.
 
[quote name='sacreddoctor']Dang Soul Calibur 4 LE is only selling for 3 bones and who are these dumb shits that selll them on eBay for so little? I mean shipping alone is 2.50 and then if you put them in a bubble envelope there's another 50 cent or more and then the listing fees and selling fees. Wow but i guess the good thing is if i really wanted a copy of that then instead of paying to mail one of my guides just buy it off the duffuses on eBay![/QUOTE]

Well, consider that the initial investment is only one penny. If they sell the guide for 3 dollars, the buyer is still going to be paying for shipping. Most eBay sellers (myself included) round up the shipping costs slightly, to ensure that packing materials are also paid for.

So the SCIV LE guide goes for $3, plus $5 for shipping. Shipping the thing Media Mail only costs $4, plus another 30 cents for a good envelope (I tend to ship books in paper catalog envelopes, with cut-to-size cardboard supporting them). That 70 cents plus about another 50 will cover the fees. Bam-- a profit of almost $3.00.

Seems paltry, but if you sell an assortment of a dozen of these in a month, suddenly you have an extra $30. Combine that with good bulk auction listing tools, and it's worth the trouble when it's time to buy groceries. :D
 
[quote name='thehoweller']I laughed pretty hard at this one...Wow, that's funny.

I do love penny guides, but not enough to lunge into a dumpster...I would laugh even harder if I found a clip from a camera, of you getting caught in the act...That would make my week.[/quote]

Well as I said in my post way back when, the dumpster was except for the guides. The only thing in there is cardboard otherwise. There were still 20-30 more LoZ:pH sitting in there.
I'm not the only one to have done this.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']Well as I said in my post way back when, the dumpster was except for the guides. The only thing in there is cardboard otherwise. There were still 20-30 more LoZ:pH sitting in there.
I'm not the only one to have done this.[/quote]

Somewhat like saying you're not the only one to ever streak in public...I'm still going to laugh :)

But yeah, you've definitely got determination.
 
This guide has vanished from Gamestop webpage. My car is in the shop again, anyone can confirm if it went to a penny?

Wanted: Weapons of Fate Official Strategy Guide
 
[quote name='hellmutt']This guide has vanished from Gamestop webpage. My car is in the shop again, anyone can confirm if it went to a penny?

Wanted: Weapons of Fate Official Strategy Guide[/quote]

The game isn't even out yet.
 
[quote name='guessed']The game isn't even out yet.[/QUOTE]

Hah hah. Serves me right for just blindly comparing the list without thinking :D
 
Nothing pennied out today at GameStop, but a couple of guides dropped in price.

Madden 2009 OSG - $9.99
Tom Clancy's End War OSG - $9.99

I know all of you were waiting this long to pick up a useless, 6-month-old Madden guide, but you didn't want the LE edition when it pennied out a few months ago. Now's your chance to get it! MOVE QUICK! MY STORE ONLY HAS 9 LEFT!!

In seriousness though, this is the first time I recall GS dropping prices on crappy non-first party guides. Hopefully this is a one-time thing and not a delay in the usual penny system.
 
Grabbed about 15 guides from a local Best Buy today...A shit-ton of NFL Head Coach guides, some Warcraft Bestiary guides, the Warhammer Bundle, and some achievement guides for the 360.

Thanks again!
 
[quote name='neocisco']Those Head Coach guides will come in real useful when you need to start a fire.[/quote]

The rest of them suck too, that is probably why they were still there.
 
[quote name='SirChadlyOC']In seriousness though, this is the first time I recall GS dropping prices on crappy non-first party guides. Hopefully this is a one-time thing and not a delay in the usual penny system.[/quote]

I thought they usually dropped the DoubleJump guides to $9.99 before they pennied. I remember they did it for Persona 3, Mana Khemia, Disgaea 3, and Disgaea Compilation. I don't remember about Operation Darkness, though, and I haven't been here long enough to see if it happened with any others. I'm looking forward to the Persona 4 guide dropping to that price. They're becoming quite scarce around me.
 
I grabbed two of the Assasin's Creed artbooks from Best Buy which had been seperated from their bundles. The regular guides were nowhere to be found, but one of the artbooks had the $34.99 sticker from the bundles on it so they used the SKU from it to ring up the artbooks at .01 each.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I grabbed two of the Assasin's Creed artbooks from Best Buy which had been seperated from their bundles. The regular guides were nowhere to be found, but one of the artbooks had the $34.99 sticker from the bundles on it so they used the SKU from it to ring up the artbooks at .01 each.[/quote]

I was happy when I picked up an AC guide when they were pennied at BB. When I got home, I looked over the guide and I noticed that it was the artbook only. :whistle2:| I didn't know that the guide came packaged with the artbook. I was able to find a guide, at a BB that I rarely go to, a couple of weeks later.
 
[quote name='emg28']I was happy when I picked up an AC guide when they were pennied at BB. When I got home, I looked over the guide and I noticed that it was the artbook only. :whistle2:| I didn't know that the guide came packaged with the artbook. I was able to find a guide, at a BB that I rarely go to, a couple of weeks later.[/quote]

They had two versions, the guide by itself and the guide with the artbook and I believe I've found both. Now I can say that I've found all three ways the guide/artbook can show up: guide only, artbook only, bundle

Mind you, the guides and artbooks would be alot more useful if I had the game still, but I sold it because I felt kind of ripped off by the huge twist about 20 minutes into the game.
 
Just a head's up for Orlando area people. the Kissimmee, FL Best Buy off the John Young Parkway had all the pennied guides on the shelf and priced at $.01 last week.
 
[quote name='ChernobylCow']Any word on when the Dead Space guide might drop? There are several at my local BB.[/quote]

It will most likely penny out on April 6th as that is when the next drop should occur. I've got a feeling that we'll see most of the October and prior Prima guides getting cleared out as well as the CEs for games like Fallout 3, Prince of Persia, Gears 2, MGS4...

I can only hope the Fallout 3 CE pennies out. I would love to get one for a penny.
 
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