Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread XI

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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.


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 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

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 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/...d.php?t=187222
Guide Ten:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219547

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, Guinaevere 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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I've never seen any books at my FYE. Much less game guides. Are the stores with guides also still carrying games? (Which are long gone from the local store.)

Good score!

Ironically, after I posted the other day that guides marked with a $.01 price sticker are very rare....I saw my first penny stickered guide. LOL! LotR: Conquest at BB. They had several copies, but only one had the sticker.

That made it so much easier to grab several other guides I knew were on clearance. I just put the penny priced one on top and said, "Boy, I hope all these ring up for that price!" :D
 
[quote name='Josef']Derek, did you use the self scanner for the guides? When I used the self scanner for an Untold Legends guide it came up as "out of the system" or something like that, but it scanned at the register for a penny and the clerk refused to sell it for that amount.[/QUOTE]

Actually this store had no self scanners sadly, I just took all the stuff I thought was old and had them scan it up front
 
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[quote name='Zippon']I've never seen any books at my FYE. Much less game guides. Are the stores with guides also still carrying games? (Which are long gone from the local store.)

Good score![/QUOTE]

Im upset with myself because I live in Buffalo and we had 2 big FYE stores. They both just closed 2 weeks ago. But both had huge guide racks when they were open. If I would have known about them penny-ing old stuff previously, then I might have done more exploring there. As it stands I only have 2 mall FYEs left in the area. Not sure about their guide selection at all.

So Id assume if you still have a big FYE in your area, check out that guide rack. Id just grab anything older than 1-2 years and have them scan it.
 
[quote name='Rollobobo']So did Halo 3 guide drop at gamestop recently??? I didnt see anything about it.[/QUOTE]

It supposedly did and was mentioned, but I assumed that someone would report on other drops, so I was waiting before wasting space for ONE guide dropping.

[quote name='token2k6']OMG if FYE does penny guides I am going to end it all. I was at one over the weekend and they had guides for old games, like C&C 3 (!) I laughed a little and thought 'surely that would be a penny elsewhere!' but stickered at $19.99 I didn't want to bother taking it to the register.

IATCG, maybe you should add a summary of what stores potentially have penny guides that are confirmed in the OP. If I had known, I would have definitely scanned some guides at FYE[/QUOTE]

Blockbuster is another store that does penny guides, though they typically have removed the guides from the shelf before pennying them in the system. However, I believe I mentioned prior about getting guides from FYE.

Actually, if someone had some spare time and could hit up Toys R' Us, they've been stocking some pretty old guides in some of their stores since they supposedly stopped pennying them. But I have a feeling they still DO penny them, it's just that we don't get the info on them anymore like we used to.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Mostly because I'm very bad at taking bait. I always fall for it.

Also, outside of a few exceptions, I mostly flame people who talk about return fraud or inventive ways to rip off retailers. I figured that wasn't the type of ship you guys ran around here but since I hardly ever see a mod step in when such talk goes on, I like to point out shady people. Mostly because I'm naive enough to think that it might detract others from doing the same.

Oh well.[/QUOTE]

Your words will surely set the wicked on the righteous path.
 
I was pleasantly surprised to find Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ultimate Alliance 2 at BB over the weekend. L4D2 rang up $9.99.
 
I had an excellent trip today that took me by a BB and a GS. Picked up a sole CoD: MW Reflex guide at BB and a Fable DLC guide at GS!
 
Do Walmart and Target penny their guides? I saw Halo, Scribblenauts and MUA2 at Target clearanced at $5. Do they ever go any lower? How about GameCrazy?
 
Gamecrazy pennies them, but not very often anymore it seems. As for WalMart, their f'n motto should really be 'always MSRP, ALWAYS', since I have very rarely seen them actually clearance anything to much lower than the MSRP.

But yeah, I think Target does clearance the guides from time to time.
 
I went into Blockbuster the other day, saw a Metal Gear Solid 4 marked at 9.99 but it also rang up as that, or at least the manager told me it did... Also saw a SW: TFU marked at 2.99 but I didn't even bother with that one.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']It supposedly did and was mentioned, but I assumed that someone would report on other drops, so I was waiting before wasting space for ONE guide dropping.
[/QUOTE]

I can confirm the Halo 3 drop. I saw the employee with a box of 50 of em. I asked about anything and he said that was the only one. Even let me flip through the box as proof, and sure enough, only halo 3s.
 
[quote name='Gbear09']I can confirm the Halo 3 drop. I saw the employee with a box of 50 of em. I asked about anything and he said that was the only one. Even let me flip through the box as proof, and sure enough, only halo 3s.[/QUOTE]

FIFTY!! LOL That's as bad as the FFXII LE's the local GS stores had overstocked for a year or so now. They had other guides stacked up on top of them as another shelf for a while.

Does anyone remember when abouts this drop was first mentioned? I think last week sometime. I'll skim the thread in a bit and see if I can find it.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']FIFTY!! LOL That's as bad as the FFXII LE's the local GS stores had overstocked for a year or so now. They had other guides stacked up on top of them as another shelf for a while.

Does anyone remember when abouts this drop was first mentioned? I think last week sometime. I'll skim the thread in a bit and see if I can find it.[/QUOTE]

I think it was either Thursday or Wednesday last week. But it was just one of those big ol' boxes chock full of halo 3 guides.

On a different note I went to a GC and they had a load of guides, all of which were 20% off. Full of tons of CE, Mirrors Edge, MGS 4, AC1. They even had older guides, like Soul Nomad (if they were a penny I'd be all over that), and every pokemon guide not dropped.
 
[quote name='loxthefox']FWIW, the Final Fantasy XIII LE guide is gone from the site. 3 days after it was released. Gotta be some kind of record.[/QUOTE]

Well it was sold out from amazon before it was even out
 
[quote name='62t']Well it was sold out from amazon before it was even out[/QUOTE]


Gone from the Best Buy website also. Totally sold out in my area.
 
Man... Today I went to the Gamestop that time forgot. They even had a couple copies of the Master Assassin Edition for the PS3 and Xbox 360! I found a bunch of penny guides, took out a quarter and then they told me "no". :cry:

They wouldn't sell them to me and told me they had to "send them back to the manufacturer." fuck! Oh well, you win some you lose some.
 
I always ask at Gamestop if they will sell their penny guides before I even would look since I do not want to do their job of pulling all the guides from the shelves if they are not going to sell them to me.
 
[quote name='Owen']I always ask at Gamestop if they will sell their penny guides before I even would look since I do not want to do their job of pulling all the guides from the shelves if they are not going to sell them to me.[/QUOTE]

That's an interesting approach. I strike out so often at Gamestop, perhaps I should adopt this strategy as well.
 
its making me crazy i cant figure out how to start shopping for penny guides or where to even start looking....any help would be appreciated
 
GS has FFXIII CE guides...every store in my state seems to have em. Stopped at a store today and they had 5 of them. They printed 200,000...everyone's freaking out because only amazon and BB online sold out.

anyway, I think I'll have to pick up Fallout 3 GOTY full price. Was hoping it would have dropped by now.
 
[quote name='Shan82']I highly doubt there will be, because of last month, but any word on a drop tomorrow at Best Buy?[/QUOTE]

Nothing I've heard so far. Next month seems more likely.
 
I went looking for some guide love at BB today. No go, but oddly enough, they had a Mechwarrior that I forgot the sequel number for. But I remember the copyright on the back listed up to 2001. I think it was Mechwarrior 2. It did have some tape on the cover and looked at bit ratty. A cookie and a pat on the back if someone can find an older guide than I did!
 
I went to the bestbuy and there wasnt a UPC sticker to ring up the item on the " Fallout 3 GoTY edition Collector's edition guide " . Would that be a penny guide if I found the UPC
 
[quote name='boneless']I went looking for some guide love at BB today. No go, but oddly enough, they had a Mechwarrior that I forgot the sequel number for. But I remember the copyright on the back listed up to 2001. I think it was Mechwarrior 2. It did have some tape on the cover and looked at bit ratty. A cookie and a pat on the back if someone can find an older guide than I did![/QUOTE]

Damn. I thought I had you beat, as my closest BB store has an Age Of Empires III guide in stock now. I don't know if they dug it up from the bowels of the back room somewhere or if they just made another revision of it and re-released it. I was shocked to see it when I went into the local BB to grab some guides during this last drop.

I swear I picked up 3-5 of them from various BB stores here and there when they pennied 3-4 years ago. But I believe I had it price checked and it came up full MSRP.:shock::roll:

[quote name='AndrewsAwesome4']I went to the bestbuy and there wasnt a UPC sticker to ring up the item on the " Fallout 3 GoTY edition Collector's edition guide " . Would that be a penny guide if I found the UPC[/QUOTE]

No. What that means is that someone cracked open that guide to see something in it and they lost the piece of paper that has the UPC barcode on it that is typically sitting behind the guide under the shrinkwrap. Unless it were like the God Of War II guide and had a messed up barcode(rang up a penny from day one) that they put a sticker over to put the price up to MSRP, then you're SOL until it actually drops.
 
Also, I do not know if people are aware of this, but the save 15% off a game guide at Bestbuy works with a game purchase. It does not matter if you get Mr. Happy goes to funtown DS and the guide for Mrs. Happy gets a divorce PS3 limited edition. You will get the 15% no matter what. You will get it if you price match a game, use a coupon etc. It seems to always fucking stack.

So my advice for all those who want the Dragon Age CE guide and hope it pennies for you to score it. Assume you will not score it for a penny. Do you at this point want to trade for it or buy it off ebay? fuck that. Buy it with a game (AC2 for $30, heck a cheap clearance game) get it for 15% off and if it pennies, then return it for your full value if you score another one for a penny.
 
[quote name='Estebon']It does not matter if you get Mr. Happy goes to funtown DS and the guide for Mrs. Happy gets a divorce PS3 limited edition.[/QUOTE]

The second was definitely the best of the two, BTW. If for no other reason than the awesome sex mini-games during the "Rebound" stage.
 
[quote name='Estebon']Also, I do not know if people are aware of this, but the save 15% off a game guide at Bestbuy works with a game purchase. It does not matter if you get Mr. Happy goes to funtown DS and the guide for Mrs. Happy gets a divorce PS3 limited edition. You will get the 15% no matter what. You will get it if you price match a game, use a coupon etc. It seems to always fucking stack.

So my advice for all those who want the Dragon Age CE guide and hope it pennies for you to score it. Assume you will not score it for a penny. Do you at this point want to trade for it or buy it off ebay? fuck that. Buy it with a game (AC2 for $30, heck a cheap clearance game) get it for 15% off and if it pennies, then return it for your full value if you score another one for a penny.[/QUOTE]
I have always gotten 15% off by simply making sure my "Reward Zone" code is entered before ringing up the guide. Gamer Club members have always gotten 15% off the guide with no additional purchase necessary. I have not purchased one for some time, so perhaps they discontinued this. I have gotten the discount at multiple stores in the past.
 
Got this message when I checked my GameStop wishlist just now

Currently Assassin's Creed 2 Official Strategy Guide Collector's Edition is not available for purchase and has been removed from your Wish List.

Drop today? I can't check until this evening.
 
HOLY COW !! I went to the bestbuy for the 3rd day in a row to get more guides and the manager came up to me as I checked out . He then said that he was going to be wrote up in some books because he has allowed the sales of the guides , IS THIS TRUE ??
 
[quote name='AndrewsAwesome4']HOLY COW !! I went to the bestbuy for the 3rd day in a row to get more guides and the manager came up to me as I checked out . He then said that he was going to be wrote up in some books because he has allowed the sales of the guides , IS THIS TRUE ??[/QUOTE]

Probably. People have claimed that managers even get fined for the sale of each "pull and destroy" item (which these guides are). I don't know about that, but each sale is costing the company money, so it seems natural that they would get reprimanded for allowing it to happen.

For those that don't know, the $.01 price isn't really a price. It's used to mark items that are to be returned to the manufacturer for a wholesale refund. With books this usually means ripping off the covers and sending them back in (while throwing the book in the trash). But it's also used for other items, like toys at Toys R Us.

Some CAGs think that penny guides should be sold because "at least they are making a penny!", but they get quite a bit more from the manufacturer if they send the covers back in. Which is why every guide we get is a very, very lucky glitch. ;)
 
[quote name='Matsuura-kun']Got this message when I checked my GameStop wishlist just now

Currently Assassin's Creed 2 Official Strategy Guide Collector's Edition is not available for purchase and has been removed from your Wish List.

Drop today? I can't check until this evening.[/QUOTE]

Drops have happened on Wednesdays or Thursdays at Gamestop before, so it is a possibility. Anyone care to check? I would but I know my local GS store employees would deny it dropped.
 
I can confirm that Ass Creed CE, Forza 3, and Clone Wars Republic Heroes pennied at Gamestop.
 
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[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I wonder if the Bioshock 2 LE/CE/SE guide dropped too, since they released around the same time, I believe.[/QUOTE]

It is still online
 
I'll wait till I get home this evening to see if anyone checked anything else for a potential drop before adding just ONE guide to the second post. And Merchie, skim the posts above yours to find out(aka read the thread).
 
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