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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WoW Bestiary, WoW Strategy Collection, Oblivion GOTY, FFA2 are all still a penny.

And whoever cleaned out Elyria, OH and took them right across the street to the exchange - wow.

Dave
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Um, I think people will pay that much:

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEGO-STAR-WARS-Complete-Saga-Guide-PS3-Xbox-360-Wi_W0QQitemZ330304269490QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item330304269490&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A13|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEGO-STAR-WARS-Complete-Saga-Guide-PS3-Xbox-360-Wii_W0QQitemZ130283239339QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item130283239339&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A13|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEGO-STAR-WARS-Complete-Saga-Guide-PS3-Xbox-360-Wii_W0QQitemZ270334319258QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item270334319258&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A13|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Some strategy guides become really sought after and sell for $100+.....

EDIT - Oh, and delivery confirmation is only $.18 when you print your shipping label through paypal. You can ship 10 pounds for less than $6, including DC#, so $30 for 5 trades seems a bit much. It helps to bulk order your boxes and mailers, so they're only like $.30-$.50 each.[/QUOTE]


Damn, I sold my last October for a paltry $50. The funny thing was, I only got something like $20 for the 360 game. Kinda crazy when the penny guide is worth more than the actual game.
 
A couple of things...

1. Tales of Vesperia has still been 17.99 at every GS I have gone to (7 stores in all in different parts of Michigan)

2. Rivertown Best Buy in Grandville has pulled all pennied guides and tied them to their respective games with a sign that says "Buy the game and get the guide for free". Not only did this piss me off, but nearly all the guides look like they were involved in Vietnam.
 
[quote name='mvp828']A couple of things...

Tales of Vesperia has still been 17.99 at every GS I have gone to (7 stores in all in different parts of Michigan)[/quote]

Same for me. I checked 3 different GS and all came up at 17.99.
 
[quote name='spookyhurst']Damn, I sold my last October for a paltry $50. The funny thing was, I only got something like $20 for the 360 game. Kinda crazy when the penny guide is worth more than the actual game.[/quote]

I just paid $5 for a pile of guides at CC and Complete Saga was in there. Guess I'll need to keep that one away from the baby.
 
Hit a couple stores on Friday before I went up to the mountains for the Weekend.

Hit quite a few GSs with no luck, then I came across two that didn't have many guides at all, but one of which was quite worthwhile.

#1 GS
Gears of War 2 Last Stand Edition x2 0.02 (Just struck up some conversation with the reps and talked about some games and movies, basically befriended them and it worked quite well.)
#2 GS
C&C: Red Alert 3 (free) that's all they had

BB picks;
Burnout: Paradise x2 (rang up at .34 a piece, but they gave them to me for free)
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (rang up full price, but had a penny sticker on it, got it for free)

Today I hit a BB;
Orange Box x2 0.02 (nothing there except those and the rep got all anxious cuz they weren't supposed to sell guides for a penny)
 
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No love at the Noerthern VA BestBuys and GameStops that I've hot in the past week looking for these recent deals. I'm siumltaneously happy and jealous of you all with the big finds! :applause:

If anyone has excess that they want to sell or trade (games, BluRays, HD-DVDs), hit me up off the thread. :)
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Holy cow. The jig is up. My store pulled their remaining guides last night. I left half of it there yesterday for others on the way home just in case. I knew at the time I should have grabbed everything. They completely reorganized the guides alphabetically, would have taken hours. They have never pulled any penny guides that I know of, still an Army of Two bundle there I left for testing. I fear I may not score again at the store, what a shame. There must have been a company wide memo. They still haven't even restocked all the new guides like COD:WaW, GoW2, Fable II, Left4Dead, Fallout3. I asked an employee a week ago that you have none of any new guides and he said they are still sitting in the back, which ones do I want, he'd get them. So they paid somebody to pull the penny guides, reorganize everything, but still have not restocked their most valuable guides that sell quickly. I know for a fact there are no other CAGs in my area. I now really regret not grabbing everything there. What got trashed:
10x Soul Calibur IV LE
10x Spore LE
10x Mercenaries 2
10x Fracture
10x Wario Land Shake It
5x Dragon Quest IV
5x Battlefield: Bad Company
5x Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
on a whole lot more.[/QUOTE]

So your the guy they were talking about lol I know for a fact you cleared out Cedar Bluff's Best Buy :) they said you had buggies full of guides & that they trashed the rest. I bet you were the guy that got my Super Mario Galaxy guide that I hid a couple of months ago too lol I saw your MGS4 LE guide under the shelf but I put it back for you so you can get it when it pennies.
 
I have been to 10 BB's in Minneapolis North Metro. They have all been re-organized, and peeny guides pulled.
Actually, one location had Bad company. But it scanned at 414.99.
Crap.
Oh well.
 
Since it seems like half of the guides that dropped from the Best Buy drop are back to full price or close, does anyone have a compiled and verified list of the ones that DID go back up in price?

Also, I noticed people talking about Tales Of Vesperia not being pennied at GS, even though it was on the list of ones that pennied. If we have verification that that one went back up, then I'll remove that as well.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I noticed people talking about Tales Of Vesperia not being pennied at GS, even though it was on the list of ones that pennied. If we have verification that that one went back up, then I'll remove that as well.[/quote]

As of Thursday February 5th I was able to get Tales of Vesperia for a penny at one of my local GameStops.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Since it seems like half of the guides that dropped from the Best Buy drop are back to full price or close, does anyone have a compiled and verified list of the ones that DID go back up in price?

[/QUOTE]

I posted this a few days ago. There may have been one or two others that were mentioned as well.

[quote name='Josef']

Here is an updated list of the guides that people have reported to have been raised back up to full price (look to be mostly Prima guides):

Spore LE bundle
Crash: Mind over Mutant
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning bundle
Fracture
Madden 09 LE bundle
Wario Land: Shake It!
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
Battlefield: Bad Company
Pokemon Pocket Pokedex Vol. 2

Luckily, it seems a lot of the better ones are still pennied.[/QUOTE]
 
I was able to get two Spectrobees Beyond the Portal Guides as well as TWO Final Fantasy IV guides for DS yesterday.....I guess they were old drops, but I'll take them for .04!!!
 
[quote name='gordojones88']Okay, I just listed my Lego Star Wars for $1,000,000,000 on Ebay. So it must now be worth that much right? Quick everybody go sell theirs too. On half.com where there is no time limit, you just list the price, the prices range from $1 to $100. Nobody and I mean Nobody is going to pay that much. Except little Jimmy playing on the computer with his Mom's credit card. [/quote]

Thanks for discounting my intelligence there. I run an eBay store so I know how to use the completed listing function. They have been selling for $70.00 - $90.00 consistently. There's a recent closed auction at $87.00

I understand that anyone can make up a buy it now price, but no one can just make up a closed price. If it comes up as green in a completed listing, someone paid that much for it.
 
[quote name='Devil May Cry']Yes, that's why I love CAG so much. It's a very honest place.

Oh, and yeah, shipping guides is expensive. I just shipped out 5 today and it cost just under $30.[/quote]

What?

How did you ship them, Priority?

Folks - ship Media Mail. Pack them extra well, and ship media mail with delivery confirmation.

The cost is a fraction of Priority Mail or even Parcel Post.

Unless you sent them internationally, there is no way 5 guides cost $30 to ship.
 
[quote name='Orrimarrko']What?

How did you ship them, Priority?

Folks - ship Media Mail. Pack them extra well, and ship media mail with delivery confirmation.

The cost is a fraction of Priority Mail or even Parcel Post.

Unless you sent them internationally, there is no way 5 guides cost $30 to ship.[/quote]

I ship all my stuff overnight. Only $2X.XX. lol yeah right. Such a rip off
 
I'm a little confused as to why Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is selling for that much.

Even the Lego Indy guides are selling for $15+ a piece. Am I missing something here?

Been collecting guides for years now, and with 300+, perhaps I should be checking these prices out.

Sold my FFVII Versus and Resident Evil Archives for decent money, but those are actually hard to come by. Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is not what I would consider rare by any means.

Animal Crossing Wild World selling for $60+??

Persona 3 selling for $50-ish??

Dead Rising selling for $30+??

Man, I smell a sale coming on...
 
Went to a Best Buy last Friday and hit the motherload of penny guides. Unfortunately, one of the cashiers flagged down the general manager of the store regarding the price and I was ultimately denied purchase of all the guides for a penny. Instead, I was offer to buy them at 50% off the retail price. :dunce:

This is the first time I've ever been stopped and denied for buying these guides for a penny.

I missed out on a nice looking Mass Effect Limited Edition guide among a couple dozen others. :whistle2:(

Afterwards I went to another BB a few miles down the road and scored 2x SC IV:LE guides (which comes with the soundtrack!). :cool:
 
You should have told the manager that their retail price is what the guides ring up as, so you would gladly purchase them for 50% off their retail price... since he probably didnt specify MSRP :)
 
[quote name='dyeknom']You should have told the manager that their retail price is what the guides ring up as, so you would gladly purchase them for 50% off their retail price... since he probably didnt specify MSRP :)[/quote]

Haha, unfortunately she went by the price printed on the guides.

I'll go back to the store in a few days and see whether they re-shelved the guides or sent them back after I did all the work for them. XD
 
[quote name='Josef']I posted this a few days ago. There may have been one or two others that were mentioned as well.[/quote]

Damn!!! You mean I won't be able to grab every copy of the Madden LE bundle guide that I find now? Thanks for the list nonetheless though, Josef and thanks to all of those who mentioned getting denied on them and their prices being raised back up.

EDIT: I edited out the ones from Josef's compiled list. Did I miss any that have been reported and confirmed to be back to either full price or close?
 
I went back to the BB where they went in back and got a couple guides I asked for. Unfortunately, there was an old guy manning the video game area, and he said that all the guides they had were there on the rack. When I looked at the guides, I saw a bunch of the ones that used to ring up for a penny (Spore LE, Wario, etc.). I also noticed a couple other guides that weren't there the other day, Bully Scholarship Edition and Super Mario Galaxy. After coming home and looking at old drops, it looks like these should ring up a penny. Gives me hope that there might be other old guides lurking in back that could be brought up front again.
 
4 more Best Buys this weekend but no luck.

2 Gamestops in the same mall, got a Disgaea compilation at one but then the other had a GOW LE that they refused to sell.

Another gamestop, I bought one Tales of Vesperia but then they asked if I wanted some more guides and they gave me another TOV and some FF guides.
 
Just a random thought...the guides that went back up in price from last week's drop could potentially go back to being a penny again in the future. ;)
 
[quote name='Orrimarrko']I'm a little confused as to why Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is selling for that much.

Even the Lego Indy guides are selling for $15+ a piece. Am I missing something here?

Been collecting guides for years now, and with 300+, perhaps I should be checking these prices out.

Sold my FFVII Versus and Resident Evil Archives for decent money, but those are actually hard to come by. Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is not what I would consider rare by any means.

Animal Crossing Wild World selling for $60+??

Persona 3 selling for $50-ish??

Dead Rising selling for $30+??

Man, I smell a sale coming on...[/quote]

Because stupid people have money to spend too. :roll: Seriously with internet help forums, why would anyone spend over MSRP on a printed guide? Anything you want to know about that tough part in the game can be found with a little Googling.
 
[quote name='Richard Longfellow']Because stupid people have money to spend too. :roll: Seriously with internet help forums, why would anyone spend over MSRP on a printed guide? Anything you want to know about that tough part in the game can be found with a little Googling.[/quote]

I hope you aren't selling with that attitude. I profit from people who like sealed games and hard to find games/guides. I would never call them stupid.

Your argument could go to games too. Why spend $75 on FFVII when you can mod a system and dl it way cheaper than that?
 
So I went to GS this weekend looking for Far Cry's 2 Guide, and maybe if the stars aligned properly a MGS 4 LE guide. Got lucky with the Far Cry 2 guide, and due to time, I actually didn't even get a chance to ask about or look for the MGS Guide. After coming back from my appointment, I went back to the GS and asked about the guide, the clerk told me that they had gotten rid of them!
I told the guy, "But I was just here about 2-3 hours ago"
He said "Sorry dude we already trashed them..."
The store was kind of busy, so I didn't ask him anything else. I just put on my Sherlock Holmes hat, and prepared myself to put on my Dirty Jobs Gloves. Being that this was a small shopping center, I walked around back to where the dumpster was, and found 2 boxes and a couple of small bags filled with guides. They were neatly placed right on the floor in front of the dumpster, luckily with not garbage or Human DNA on them. Even still I left the boxes that they were in on the floor, as there still was some water flowing by the boxes. I brought the car around and loaded up any decent looking guides.

My Haul just from memory, as I haven't had time to catalog anything yet:
Assassin's Creed x 2
Battlefield Bad Company x 2
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway x 2
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 x 2
Devil May Cry 4 x 4
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice x 1
Disgaea Compilation x 0
Far Cry 2 x 3
Fracture x 3
God of War x 2
Legend Of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon x 2
LEGO Indiana Jones x 2

Madden NFL 2009 LE Bundle x 4

Mass Effect x 2
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames x 2
Metal Gear Solid 4 LE x 0 :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb:
Naruto: Broken Bond x 2
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm x 1
Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 x 2
NCAA Football 2009 x 2
NFL Head Coach 09 x 0
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl x 0
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Pokedex x 0
Pokemon Emerald x 2
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers
Rise of the Argonauts x 3
Sims 2: Apartment Life x 2
Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood x 0
Sonic Unleashed x 2
Spore Official Strategy Guide Limited Edition Bundle x 1
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duel & Jedi Alliance x 2
Super Mario Galaxy(softcover) x 6
Too Human x 2

Warhammer Online Atlas x 1
Warhammer Online x 2
Wario Land: Shake It x 3

No such luck on the MGS 4 LE.

Let me know if you guys need anything from the list that I have at least 2 copies of. I haven't gone dumpster diving in a long time; you see what CAG and the economy have got me doing!
 
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[quote name='Jiggadabaptist']So I went to GS this weekend looking for Far Cry's 2 Guide, and maybe if the stars aligned properly a MGS 4 LE guide. Got lucky with the Far Cry 2 guide, and due to time, I actually didn't even get a chance to ask about or look for the MGS Guide. After coming back from my appointment, I went back to the GS and asked about the guide, the clerk told me that they had gotten rid of them!
I told the guy, "But I was just here about 2-3 hours ago"
He said "Sorry dude we already trashed them..."
The store was kind of busy, so I didn't ask him anything else. I just put on my Sherlock Holmes hat, and prepared myself to put on my Dirty Jobs Gloves. Being that this was a small shopping center, I walked around back to where the dumpster was, and found 2 boxes and a couple of small bags filled with guides. They were neatly placed right on the floor in front of the dumpster, luckily with not garbage or Human DNA on them. Even still I left the boxes that they were in on the floor, as there still was some water flowing by the boxes. I brought the car around and loaded up any decent looking guides.

My Haul just from memory, as I haven't had time to catalog anything yet:
Assassin's Creed x 2
Battlefield Bad Company x 2
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway x 2
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 x 2
Devil May Cry 4 x 4
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice x 1
Disgaea Compilation x 0
Far Cry 2 x 3
Fracture x 3
God of War x 2
Legend Of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon x 2
LEGO Indiana Jones x 2
Lost Odyssey x 0
Madden NFL 2009 LE Bundle x 4
Mana Khemia: Alchemists Al-Revis x 2
Mass Effect x 2
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames x 2
Metal Gear Solid 4 LE x 0 :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb: :bomb:
Naruto: Broken Bond x 2
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm x 1
Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 x 2
NCAA Football 2009 x 2
NFL Head Coach 09 x 0
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl x 0
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Pokedex x 0
Pokemon Emerald x 2
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers
Rise of the Argonauts x 3
Sims 2: Apartment Life x 2
Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood x 0
Sonic Unleashed x 2
Spore Official Strategy Guide Limited Edition Bundle x 1
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duel & Jedi Alliance x 2
Super Mario Galaxy(softcover) x 6
Too Human x 2
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise x 1
Warhammer Online Atlas x 1
Warhammer Online x 2
Wario Land: Shake It x 3

No such luck on the MGS 4 LE.

Let me know if you guys need anything from the list that I have at least 2 copies of. I haven't gone dumpster diving in a long time; you see what CAG and the economy have got me doing![/quote]

Wow that is an amazing dumpster dive (even tho u didn't have to dive in) and i'm sure CheapAssGamer would be proud of you as he is the dumpster diving king from back in the day but i don't think he retired from diving!
 
Wow. Man I really don't like the manager at my gamestop even more. You know how I said that my near by gamestop has over 70 penny guides. The manager didn't pull them even though he new it was pennied. He refused to sell/give them to me 2 times.

Welll I went back today with a friend to pick up left for dead for him. Guess what. ALL the penny guides were gone. NOT THROWN out or Sent back, but SOLD BY THE MANAGER to customers. They had about 4 guides left actually TAGed at $.01. He refuses to sell them to me then 1 week later prices them at a penny. They had every guide I wanted/needed. Grrr.

Just some that I remember being there like 4 days ago.
Battlefield Bad Company x3
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway x2
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 x3
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice x6
Disgaea Compilation x4
Far Cry 2 x4
Fracture x5
Legend Of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon x 2
LEGO Indiana Jones x 4
Lost Odyssey x3
Madden NFL 2009 LE Bundle x3
Mass Effect x9+
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames 4+
Naruto: Broken Bond x5+
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm x3+
Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 x 2
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl x4
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Pokedex x3
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers x5
Sims 2: Apartment Life x 2
Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood x3
Sonic Unleashed x4
Spore Official Strategy Guide Limited Edition Bundle x5
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duel & Jedi Alliance x4
Super Mario Galaxy(softcover) x14
Too Human x4
Warhammer Online Atlas 3
Warhammer Online x4
Wario Land: Shake It x 2
Dragon Quest IV 10+
Final Fantasy IV x3+
Final Fantasy A2 3+
Zelda Phantom Hourglass 4+
can't remember rest, but wow. I wouldn't have even grabbed all just 1 of each I wanted.(bolded.)

Checked the dumpster. Got war hammer bundle that I gave away and a Fall out 3 without a back cover for me
 
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[quote name='Richard Longfellow']Because stupid people have money to spend too. :roll: Seriously with internet help forums, why would anyone spend over MSRP on a printed guide? Anything you want to know about that tough part in the game can be found with a little Googling.[/quote]

Because not everyone has their computer right next to their game system(s)? Most of the user made guides are deplorable and don't include the detailed maps from the normal, store bought versions. As for people paying over MSRP for something, it's their money and if they want/need it for their collection or whatever, then they'll pay whatever they feel is appropriate for it.

[quote name='sacreddoctor']Wow that is an amazing dumpster dive (even tho u didn't have to dive in) and i'm sure CheapAssGamer would be proud of you as he is the dumpster diving king from back in the day but i don't think he retired from diving![/quote]

I will have you know that I have NEVER dumpster dived for anything in my life. This is namely due to the fact that I'm a short lil mo fo and if I had to climb INTO the dumpster, there's no real guarantee I would be able to climb my fat ass back out. Otherwise, I might consider doing this.

Couple that with the fact that two of the three Gamestop stores by me are in shopping centers with tattoo parlors or restaurants and that's another great reason why I wouldn't do it.

It also doesn't help that none of what I have now on my TL is selling at all, so why would I want even MORE shit to clutter up the house?
 
[quote name='sacreddoctor']Wow that is an amazing dumpster dive (even tho u didn't have to dive in) and i'm sure CheapAssGamer would be proud of you as he is the dumpster diving king from back in the day but i don't think he retired from diving![/quote]


CheapAssGamer is a pretty cool guy. He gets penny guides and doesn't afraid of anything.
 
[quote name='Jiggadabaptist']
I haven't gone dumpster diving in a long time; you see what CAG and the economy have got me doing!
[/quote]



I hope you didn't get any Kung Pow Chicken on your Spectrobes!


.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Because not everyone has their computer right next to their game system(s)? Most of the user made guides are deplorable and don't include the detailed maps from the normal, store bought versions. As for people paying over MSRP for something, it's their money and if they want/need it for their collection or whatever, then they'll pay whatever they feel is appropriate for it.[/quote]
I think people are giving longfellow a hard time here. I agree with him. There are stupid people in the world, and some of them use the internet, and some of them use it to buy things. Some people are just ignorant of what things are worth though. It's not stupidity but more being conformed by years of advertising and consuming: it seems like a really nice LE guide SHOULD be worth $20. And then you get in a bidding war, and pretty soon it's $35... $40...

But, my point is that to me ignorance is not a valid excuse. If you can search ebay for Mario Kart Guide, you can search google and find gamefaqs. It's not as pretty but it's FREE. (BTW to say this is akin to modding a system or playing a rom is not the same. Modding takes time, money and risk. Roms/download etc takes risk. GameFAQS takes no risk save misinformation).

Now of course some want to have the 'real thing' (myself included). I bought a few strat guides early on in my game collecting, paying full retail. And then I (luckily) found out about penny guides. With all things in my life, I try to be the least ignorant about the subject at hand as I can. If I'm going to go full-on into doing something, I do plenty of research and figure out what's best. When I was younger this wasn't the case.

So, in my eyes, buying guides above retail is nonsense but forgivable. It's the people that I've told "this item is way too pricey" and they just shrug and say "Oh well", those are the stupid people. Guides probably aren't as well known for being cheap, but if something can be cheap, it will be cheap, eventually.
/rant
 
[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']I think people are giving longfellow a hard time here. I agree with him. There are stupid people in the world, and some of them use the internet, and some of them use it to buy things. Some people are just ignorant of what things are worth though. It's not stupidity but more being conformed by years of advertising and consuming: it seems like a really nice LE guide SHOULD be worth $20. And then you get in a bidding war, and pretty soon it's $35... $40...

But, my point is that to me ignorance is not a valid excuse. If you can search ebay for Mario Kart Guide, you can search google and find gamefaqs. It's not as pretty but it's FREE. (BTW to say this is akin to modding a system or playing a rom is not the same. Modding takes time, money and risk. Roms/download etc takes risk. GameFAQS takes no risk save misinformation).

Now of course some want to have the 'real thing' (myself included). I bought a few strat guides early on in my game collecting, paying full retail. And then I (luckily) found out about penny guides. With all things in my life, I try to be the least ignorant about the subject at hand as I can. If I'm going to go full-on into doing something, I do plenty of research and figure out what's best. When I was younger this wasn't the case.

So, in my eyes, buying guides above retail is nonsense but forgivable. It's the people that I've told "this item is way too pricey" and they just shrug and say "Oh well", those are the stupid people. Guides probably aren't as well known for being cheap, but if something can be cheap, it will be cheap, eventually.
/rant[/quote]

I wasn't so much giving them a hard time as just saying that the Gamefaqs guides aren't always the best and personally I'd rather have the real deal to flip through and to pair up with my game when/if I go to sell it in the future.

However, the prices that some of these seemingly more common guides are selling at is a bit baffling, considering how easy some of the games themselves seem to be.

But, in many cases, I wouldn't doubt it if the people paying the exorbitant prices for them are collectors who can't find them anywhere for cheaper.

I know I would never pay $80 for ONE stupid guide, since I would just use the online ones than pay THAT much for one, but there ARE people who would pay it and if they're willing to then so be it.
 
Come on...it's a guide that some half-assed writers sat down and created over a couple run-throughs at best. Most of the time they don't even REALLY know what they are talking about. There must be exceptions, of course. I'm guessing Fallout guides are among the worthwhile ones.

However, most guides in my experience only explain "what is to be done" with as little as possible detail, a pic here and there, and gamefaqs almost always trumps them. Hard situations always have a youtube solution, it seems.

Scored a SC4 LE guide off BB, lol. Thanks to the thread writers! Still, bought it mostly for the fact that it was a cent...the strategy in there is nub crap, and there's barely any art.
 
Stupid question (probably already know the answer): are all the guides that should be a penny at Circuit City still a penny? My Circuit City has a whole bunch of incredibly random old guides sitting on the shelf that I wouldn't mind picking up for a penny.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']Stupid question (probably already know the answer): are all the guides that should be a penny at Circuit City still a penny? My Circuit City has a whole bunch of incredibly random old guides sitting on the shelf that I wouldn't mind picking up for a penny.[/quote]
As others have noted, CC deals are incredibly your-mileage-may-vary (YMMV). Meaning it depends on the store. So you gotta be a man/bitch/self-respecting customer enough to gather up all you want and get a price check on them.
 
Some of the guides are really well done. The MGS3 Snake Eater guide has interviews, promotional artwork, and even a few pages of the MGS comic. It is one of the best guide I used. Now there are bad one like Tales of Vesperia, which has no map and missing many of the side quest. For the wherehouse side quest they tell people to figure it out on their own.
 
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[quote name='Doomstink']Stupid question (probably already know the answer): are all the guides that should be a penny at Circuit City still a penny? My Circuit City has a whole bunch of incredibly random old guides sitting on the shelf that I wouldn't mind picking up for a penny.[/quote]

I got someone to price check a bunch of guides on a register away from the checkout and I only took up the ones he said were a penny. Then some came up as a bundle or something and the cashier called up the manager who after seeing my reaction to his idea of 30% off sticker, offered all of them (about 10) for $5.
 
[quote name='ndjn3979']Come on...it's a guide that some half-assed writers sat down and created over a couple run-throughs at best. Most of the time they don't even REALLY know what they are talking about. There must be exceptions, of course. I'm guessing Fallout guides are among the worthwhile ones.

However, most guides in my experience only explain "what is to be done" with as little as possible detail, a pic here and there, and gamefaqs almost always trumps them. Hard situations always have a youtube solution, it seems.

Scored a SC4 LE guide off BB, lol. Thanks to the thread writers! Still, bought it mostly for the fact that it was a cent...the strategy in there is nub crap, and there's barely any art.[/quote]

The original God Of War guide came with a DVD version of the guide, so if the paper guide wasn't all that helpful you could pop in the dvd and switch over to the other video channel on your tv and WATCH what you had to do next.

That's about the ONLY way I'd consider ANY of the guides out now as being worth $20 a pop, since they're otherwise pretty useless. The most many of these guides are worth is the junk out price of one cent.

But I'd still rather have the paper guide over some version from Gamefaqs, since I don't have to run downstairs to read and then back upstairs to use the info I just got from GFaqs.

Now, if Sony would figure out some way to get the PS3's browser to function while IN a game, that would be ideal. Then, I could just surf to GFaqs while playing a game, search the FAQS and then find the solution without having to leave my room.
 
For those looking for a cheap MGS4 LE Guide, you may want to hit up your local Circuit City, last couple I went to each had some at 40% off (may be 50% by now) May not be a penny, but if you really want one, might as well get em cheap there before they suddenly all disappear and become UBER RARE OMGWTFBBQLOLZORZ
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']My gamestop threw out a Fall out 3 Regular edition guide, along with other pennied guides. Was that pennied>? or just thrown out by accident?[/quote]

GS Corporate tells them to trash them. How'd you find out? If you saw them in the trash, then they are fair game and you should grab them! Unless someone dumped a slurpee on them...
 
[quote name='radman99']GS Corporate tells them to trash them. How'd you find out? If you saw them in the trash, then they are fair game and you should grab them! Unless someone dumped a slurpee on them...[/quote]

I went into gamestop today and saw that the 70+ penny guides that they refused to pull/sell were gone. SO i checked the dumpster today. Most was crap. All war hammer and 1 Fallout 3. I grabbed the Fallout and left. They had everything great 3 days ago. What I think they did is they Tagged everything at .01 and sold it over the weekend. ALl the penny guides were priced at $.01 over their 19.99 tags. Why would they tag all the guides a penny before throwing them out. None of the others did that.

That's what kinda got me mad though. First the manager refuses to sell me the penny guides, then restocks them, then denies me again, THEN when i don't go. . . price them at a penny and have everyone else buy them. I would have liked just 1 of their 3 lost odyssey guides and a few others.

Edit: I asked if it was pennied because it's not on the list and the LE is still full price.
 
Thanks CAGGIES, picked up 4 or 5 pennied guides at the west LA Best Buy including Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, DragonQuest IV, Mercenaries 2 and a couple others.

They had plenty of Fracture and Battlefield: Bad Company but those came up at $14.99

They also had a variety of other penny guides, Crash Bandicoot and some other crap. No limited editions, though.

Left 1 FF: CC guide and 2 Ninja Gaiden DS copies on the shelves.

Note that Culver City didn't have jack shit earlier today as far as penny guides or Ninja Gaiden DS goes...
 
All I was getting at with my post about Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga going for so much (and I couldn't understand why), was exactly that - why?

Some guides are on the "rare" or hard to come by side. There are a couple that I have been looking for for a few years to no avail.

However, Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is not one of them.

It's a recent guide, not short printed, and doesn't offer a lot in the way of help that you can't figure out on your own.

So, what could possibly make this guide that desirable?

(Don't say because people are stupid and spend their money foolishly, because that's not an answer.)

Somewhere along the way, the guide got the reputation of being valuable, and that's my question - how?

If no one knows, fine. But someone didn't just sell one on ebay one day for $75 out of the blue.

Hell, even Resident Evil Archives were selling for $50, and that is a much more difficult book to find.
 
My guess isLego Star Wars is a game aimed at kids, and when they get stuck they asked their parents for the guide. Plus you can use it for Lego Star Wars 1, 2, and Complete Saga that on just about every system. This might explain why for a recent guide that every store carried is going so much. I know it doesnt make much sense when it is usually RPG guides that each store got 1 or 2 copies going for $30
 
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