Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread X(Ten)

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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 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/...d.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. Please, whenever possible, use RED font to make the drop info stand out. Thanks again.

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/...ighlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/....php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...ad.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=142400
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=167157
Guide Nine:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187222

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
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.

Common Guide Drop Related Questions(FAQ):

FAQ - If you are new (or a vet with a few questions) look here SECOND! (After reading the above!)

Q: What Are Penny Guides?
A: 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.

Q: Do all guides from all stores drop at the same time?
A: No. While most chains have nationwide drops within their own store (as in every BB will have the same drops coast to coast), not every different chain drops at the same time (what drops at BB is NOT necessarily dropped at GS). When in doubt, check post TWO for drop info.

Q: I found a penny guide and a clerk denied me! I'ma report 'em!
A: Whoa, hold your horses there, pardner! First of all, not a question. Second, just because something is on the shelf, the clerk does NOT have to sell you that item. Most stores are PRIVATE property and as such can deny you just about anything they want - including a sale. The best advice is to not be rude, not be arrogant, and just try hard to get them to have pity on you.

Q: Why don't the clerks want to sell me their penny guides? Aren't they just throwing them away?
A: As stated above, the stores are ordered by the publisher to trash the guides, and are then given credit for those guides. If they don't do this, the publisher won't give them the credit - it's like losing a sale. On the employee level, selling a penny guide can sometimes get them in trouble (or even fired!) I know it seems silly, but this is their job we're talking about! Respect the man (or woman) behind the counter and you'll get a lot more guides than otherwise!

Q: Should I just ask if the store has penny guides then?
A: No, since that denotes that you have some insider information as to the runnings of these businesses.

Q: What if the clerk wants to know how I know so much about guide drops?
A: If asked where you got your info about guides that pennied, simply say either 'the internet' or 'a friend of mine told me they're on clearance'.

Q: But clerks will know what a penny guide is, right? I can talk to them like anyone else here...
A: Never use the word pennied to ANY store clerks unless you have built up a good rapport with them. Even then, it may seem a little fishy if you know more about their shop than they do.

Q: Are guides labeled as a penny on the shelf?
A: Sometimes. Most times, no. GS seems to label everything that gets a price drop, so often times guides will be stickered. But even so, they most likely won't sell them to you. A sticker does not mean 'have to sell'.

Q: I tried to buy a guide that this thread said was pennied and it didn't ring up as such! What gives?
A: Either 1) Our source was wrong (this rarely happens and is usually verified a FEW times within maybe an hour of posting), or 2) The clerk changed the price. It's usually number 2.

Q: What's the easiest way to get penny guides? This sounds like TONS of work!
A: Best Buy is probably the best place to get guides, followed by GameStop, GameCrazy, Toys R Us and then Blockbuster. From what I've seen though, probably 95% of guides that people get are snagged at BB - the rest come from the other stores. But it never hurts to try!

Q: Has there been a drop recently?
A: If you are asking this question you didn't fully understand the OP - go back and read it once more. When a drop happens, it will be posted, and then placed in the second post - trust us.

Q: How do you guys know so much about penny guides?
A: We sometimes have inside sources with the information from the stores themselves; other times, fellow CAGS just like you or me simply take suspected guides to the register and ask them to ring them up, to check their prices. Feel free to do this yourself, and help give back to the community by telling us what you find! However, DON'T ask "Has anyone checked XXX lately?", unless you are in the right thread (discussion area).

Thanks to GrilledWitOnions for creating the above FAQ, which should eliminate the need for such questions popping up in the thread from this point on out.
 
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[quote name='ackbar7']I have actually thought something like this would be the death of this and some of the clearance we see in other forums. There is no reason BB sells guides for a penny. There is not reason the Sears sells some of their games for $1 or $2. If HWV wants to get rid of the stock of their used games they could get more the $5 for Fable 2, Halo Wars, MGS4, etc. The solution to some of the problems that those companies are having would be to auction that stuff on ebay or sell on Amazon rather than selling it to us for absurdly low prices. I hope I am wrong, but it only makes sense.[/QUOTE]

Won't happen. It's waaaay too much work, and would end up costing the company money in labor to repack, ship, unpack, inventory, list, and reship all that junk. And the vast majority of clearanced items really are junk. Only 1/50 clearanced games or guides are "sleepers," ie they sell better on the secondary market than in stores. Not to mention that BB is most likely violating their terms of agreement with the penny guide publishers by auctioning the guides cheap on ebay. If you look at the BB ebay outlet store carefully, it's actually only one or two stores participating (West Covina or something). If every BB in country were selling their penny guides on the outlet, we'd see hundreds or thousands of each title. I've never seen more than 15 or so listed, even the popular ones.

And I actually kind of like the outlet, it's better than throwing them away. I got a MGS 4 guide for $5 delivered. Although it was covered with yucky stickers. Yucky, yucky stickers.
 
[quote name='Bezerker']Bait & Switch. I'd call corporate or the BBB[/QUOTE]


1) Please look up Bait and Switch
2) Please do not call corporate or BBB
 
[quote name='confoosious']1) Please look up Bait and Switch
2) Please do not call corporate or BBB[/QUOTE]

I think you missed the joke.
 
I dont see a joke.

A guide rang up 1¢, cashier was confused, so she did what a cashier should do when she's confused and thinks there may be an error in the system, and called over her manager. The manager IMO should have let the customer have the guide for 1¢ and immediately had any penny guides still on the floor, pulled. Instead, he did a price override. That was his choice, as it was the customers choice to either buy or pass (or in this case, buy and then return).

There is no bait and switch, UNLESS the guide was stickered for 1¢. As the cashier was surprised by the price that rang up, one would assume that the guide was stickered for full price.

Calling BB corporate would do nothing, but put the word out to that store manager and his district manager to be more efficient in pulling penny guides immediately.

No joke, nothing to see here. Move along.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']...nothing to see here. Move along.[/QUOTE]
"This isn't the reduced price guide information we're looking for..."
 
[quote name='GunBusterX']My Best Buy had a handful of Mirror's Edge guides that are pennied. I took it to the cashier and it rang up as 1 cent. She looked confused and called over her manager. The manager, also confused, over-rode the price and sold it to me for full price $24.99. It pissed me off but I really couldn't do anything about it. I returned it five minutes later to the same manager and got all my money back.[/QUOTE]
FacePalm_picard.jpg


Why would you even pay for it? I would have first argued the fact that they are on sale.
 
[quote name='Bezerker']Bait & Switch. I'd call corporate or the BBB[/QUOTE]

This was the joke. Berzerker was being sarcastic, and it really seems like nobody aside from myself caught that.

I'm pretty certain he was poking fun at all the newbie CAGs that always roll through here saying they'll call corporate, raging about how they should have been sold the guide for a penny if it rang up as a penny, etc.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']This was the joke. Berzerker was being sarcastic, and it really seems like nobody aside from myself caught that.

I'm pretty certain he was poking fun at all the newbie CAGs that always roll through here saying they'll call corporate, raging about how they should have been sold the guide for a penny if it rang up as a penny, etc.[/QUOTE]

Huh... sarcasm is usually lost when delivered on the internet.

I'm not sure what makes his statement sarcastic... but ok.
 
Do you know when it pennied, arsenal? If so, I'll make a seperate drop list just for the one guide. If not, I may just add it to the list of pennied guides for Blockbuster.
 
I have no idea. I just walked in today and there were a bunch of guides on clearance. they were all around 5-10 dollars, except for that one, which showed up as a penny /"out of system"...so not sure when it dropped.
 
[quote name='GamerKingFaiz']Are pennied out guides YMMV?[/QUOTE]

They are generally universal penny drops at the retailer that carries them. Getting a clerk to give it to you for a penny, that is most certainly YMMV.
 
Random glitch in the Matrix: I was at best buy yesterday and for kicks I asked an employee to look up the L4D guide and see if they had any in the back.

They didn't, but it was showing up on their intranet version of the website as $.01 instead of $19.99 like it is on the internet.

I tried to order it to be shipped to the store, but it wouldn't let us. The site wanted me to pay $5.49/guide shipped regardless of whether I bought 1 or 20.(tried both:p)

In the end I walked out with a $.21 gift card I bought to use for that. I guess I'll use it up on the next drop. :)

EDIT: It's not as much as I feel entitled to penny guides(because I don't) but I don't like them pulling guides from the store to sell on Ebay.

I do feel entitled to free games such as Warhammer and X-Blades if they have them, because it's their coupons that their idiots in promotions came up with that give me the free games. :D
 
FYI: went shopping at the BB in Bailey's Crossroads, VA... they had about 15 copies of Madden 09 on the shelves, I got two...
 
I got a bunch of Madden 09 guides for kicks once, and then they put out more!

I ended up giving them to my dad for fire starter. :p
 
Are price drops YMMV at BB? Sorry because I know it's already been asked. I found a crap-load of Fallout 3 guides yesterday, but the emplyees told me they were 24.99 instead of 12.99.
 
[quote name='CaptainJoel']Are price drops YMMV at BB? Sorry because I know it's already been asked. I found a crap-load of Fallout 3 guides yesterday, but the emplyees told me they were 24.99 instead of 12.99.[/QUOTE]


Some prices (Manager's specials) are YMMV at BB, but I don't think I've ever seen it happen with guides (possibly Halo 3, but I couldn't swear to it). When they told you they were $24.99, did they actually check the computer, or did they just read it of the price tag?
 
[quote name='CaptainJoel']Are price drops YMMV at BB? Sorry because I know it's already been asked. I found a crap-load of Fallout 3 guides yesterday, but the emplyees told me they were 24.99 instead of 12.99.[/QUOTE]

Should be 12.99 universal, at least here in central Va they are.
 
They had just gotten done moving around all of the stock and cleaning out clearance things and I asked, because I knew from here that it was supposed to be 12.99 and he told me he had just scanned them early in the day and they were 24.99. They were hardbacks, though, so I'm not really sure if they were different from the ones that are 12.99.
 
If they were yellowish in cover, they are the collector's edition guide. If they are the regular fallout case picture on the front, then it's the regular edition.(greenish/grey)
 
They were the regular cover from the game's case. I really wish I could've found a scanner. I really would like to get one since I'm picking up the GOTY edition tomorrow.
 
There's a GOTY edition guy coming out(out now probably) in regular version and CE. The regular version is $4.xx more than the original regular version is at BB if you buy the GOTY guide on Amazon.(free 2 day shipping with the Prime trial too!)
 
[quote name='arsenalcrazy8']I have no idea. I just walked in today and there were a bunch of guides on clearance. they were all around 5-10 dollars, except for that one, which showed up as a penny /"out of system"...so not sure when it dropped.[/QUOTE]

Do you happen to remember any that were 5-10 dollars? I haven't paid more than $.01 for a guide in over 10 years, but there might be some I'd pay $5.
 
The local Best Buy finally pulled the Fallout 3 CE guides that had been sitting on the shelves for months. I was really hoping to get one for a penny, too :cry:
 
My BB had a sign in front of a boat load of guides. Buy Fallout 3 and the guide was free. This was the original regular edition. Also, if you bought another guide they would give you fallout 3 free as well.
 
Well, it's official for me, all of the Best Buy stores by me suck ass when it comes to trying to get guides from them anymore.

I hit up a further away one yesterday afternoon, taking about 6-7 guides from the last drop up to the register, only to have them give a shpiel about how 'the guide is supposed to go with the game for .01' and all sorts of other excuses for not selling them for .01.

Mind you, there was nothing that I really minded losing in the small pile(a couple Pikmin, a couple LOTR: Conquest and like 3-4 others)I brought up, but at least if they were 100% honest from the start and just said 'we have to destroy these'.

Oh well....if anyone wants to try for them, I left behind 2 Rise Of The Argonauts and one Madden 09 guide(lol), it's the Stroudsburg, PA store.
 
GameStop had some guides pulled today. It looks like Pokemon - Shadows of Almia, Zelda - Twilight Princess, and the Broken Steel Fallout 3 Guide.

I'll have more updates when I actually go to work tonight.
 
I picked up a random Godfather II guide that I found at BB yesterday.

The girl said someone came in at the last drop and bought 30 or so guides to sell to friends.

That was impossible since I didn't leave that many, so I'm thinking she was talking about me. I only got ~17 at that store though, so I think she was exaggerating.
 
[quote name='SirChadlyOC']GameStop had some guides pulled today. It looks like Pokemon - Shadows of Almia, Zelda - Twilight Princess, and the Broken Steel Fallout 3 Guide.

I'll have more updates when I actually go to work tonight.[/QUOTE]

Is that Zelda guide for the Wii? I'd love to get that for .01 :applause:
 
[quote name='SirChadlyOC']GameStop had some guides pulled today. It looks like Pokemon - Shadows of Almia, Zelda - Twilight Princess, and the Broken Steel Fallout 3 Guide.

I'll have more updates when I actually go to work tonight.[/QUOTE]

Thanks SirChadly. I'll wait on a confirmation from other posters, as usual, but still thanks nonetheless for the info.
 
Also, Resident Evil 5: Limited Edition and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY were removed from my wish list. Anyone can confirm that they dropped?
 
Confirmed that FO3 Broken Steel/Point Lookout guide is pennied. In addition, the Fallout 3 guide (for the main game, regular paperback edition) is also pennied at GameStop.
 
I can confirm that Pokemon: Ranger was pennied, along with Broken Steel/Point Lookout and the Banjo Tooie guide.

RE5 LE was pulled, but the guy at GS said he had to send it to another store, so I don't know what the story is there.
 
The guys had pulled all pennied guides at my store, Banjo Tooie, some Pokemon one, Fallout 3 regular and Resident Evil 5 CE at my store but said someone claimed the RE5 one and gave me a Fallout 3
 
Yep. confirmations on what I said before as well as Resident Evil 5 CE, and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

Also, one of the Codes and Cheats books pennied, as well. I want to say it was the Spring 2009 edition?

I'm not sure about Elder Scrolls GOTY or regular Fallout 3 because my store has been sold out of those for months.
 
Second and third posts have been updated. If there are any that I missed, please post them in RED in a post in the thread or PM me with them.

Thanks to all who contributed info for this drop.
 
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