The Blockbuster/Gamerush Thread XVIII

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Welcome to the Official CAG Blockbuster/Gamerush video game deal thread.

SPECIAL NOTE (B1G1 free on $14.99 and under used games through August 4th):
All used games under $14.99 are buy one get one free through August 4th NOW OVER.

The second post has games that you may want to trade in to Gamestop to transfer some credit from BB to GS. Unfortunately with the end of the $10 extra promo at Gamestop this is much less useful than before. Some people may have the $15 bonus coupon or want to use the current GS deal (trade 3 get an extra 10%, trade 4 get an extra 20%, trade 5 get an extra 30%) so we'll keep that post going until the B1G1 free ends at Blockbuster.

Even though the B1G1 sale is now over, I'm leaving this info up for a few days for those who bought stuff and still want to trade it in to Gamestop (you have till the 10th there).

SPECIAL NOTE #2 (DS Lite's and new DS games now available at most BB stores!):
Starting just on July 15th, most Blockbuster stores got shipments of DS Lites and a wide assortment of new DS games that they've never had for sale in the past. Titles include NSMB, Professor Layton, Mario Party DS, and High School Musical ;).

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ALERT: Preorders available for a few select games at most Blockbuster stores

Most regular Blockbuster locations (in addition to Gamerush stores of course) are currently taking preorders for NCAA 09, Madden 09, Star Wars Force Unleashed, Fallout 3, Soul Calibur IV, and a few others (YMMV on the cashier knowing about it). $5 is required for a deposit.

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What is this thread for?
The primary function of this thread is to discuss current trade-in and sale promos and to post any trade-in values you have obtained. Please post trade-in values with the date of the trade (or quote) and system. One of the CAG Wiki editors will then add them to the Wiki.

It is also permissible to discuss system availability, credit issues, etc. As long as it is related to game trades or sales at Blockbuster it is generally OK to discuss it here.

Unlike more tightly focused clearance threads, it is OK to discuss more general Gamerush/Blockbuster issues here as well as trade requests as long as they are kept to a minimum (and usually just during specific deals).

Due to the questionable stability of the Gamerush brand, it is also permissible to discuss ways of converting credit from Blockbuster to other stores (ie, which games may be used for trading in to other stores such as Gamecrazy or EB/GS). As of right now, we have no indication of Gamerush's imminent demise, but given Blockbuster's ongoing financial difficulties we need to be aware of the possibility.

What is this thread NOT for?
Please do not discuss the flipping of games from one Gamerush store to another should another such opportunity arise (through trade-in deals which we haven't had recently anyway). It is one thing to "play the market" with trade-in values from one chain to another (GR to GC to EB) - free market buy low/sell high and all that. But taking advantage of loopholes in a single store's policies/promos is frowned upon and has, in the past, led to trade-in bans from GR.

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Blockbuster Game Trading Info
- You must sign up for a trade account in addition to your regular Blockbuster account
- You must sign up for a new trade account at every store you wish to trade at, even if using the same main account
- Trade-in credit can be placed onto your store account or onto a "Value" card
- Credit on store accounts can only be used at that one store
- However, credit can be transferred from the store account to a card at any time
- Value cards can be used at any location
- Clerks at one store cannot see your trading/purchasing history at another store via your account
- Gamerush stores often do not get new game stock until the Friday of the release week, thus a few days later than most retailers

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Gamerush vs. regular Blockbusters
All Blockbuster game-related discussion belongs here. Most threads created in the Deals forum will be merged in to here. There seems to be the impression by many CAGs that if they don't have a Gamerush store near them then this thread does not apply to them. However, regular (non-GR) Blockbuster stores often run the same promos and generally have the same trade-in values. I'm going to elaborate on the last sentence as people apparently don't understand that when I say regular BB's have the same trade-in values as Gamerush that it means [hightlight]regular Blockbuster stores accept game trade-ins just like Gamerush stores[/highlight].

The key differences:
- Only Gamerush stores sell used video game hardware and generally have a much wider selection of new hardware. Many regular BB stores had a PS3 bundle available over Christmas and since then they have expanded their hardware sales. As of right now (Spring/Summer 2008) most Blockbuster stores are now selling PS3's, Xbox 360's, and Wii's. They just started in mid July selling DS Lites at most stores as well. As a result of not selling used hardware, however, regular Blockbuster stores will not take hardware in for trades.

- Both Gamerush and regular Blockbuster stores take preorders for new games for a $5 deposit (or you can pay any other amount beyond that). Gamerush stores will get many more games in than the regular stores but unfortunately a preorder at either place is not a guarantee you will get the game. Sometimes they do not get certain titles in even if you preorder them months in advance.

- While many Gamerush stores have cut back on their new game stock, some regular (non-GR) Blockbusters have started selling new games. They usually have a very limited selection of top-selling new 360, PS3, and Wii games. I will be maintaining a list below here for those with Blockbuster credit but no access to a GR store.

- Trade-in values are controlled centrally and are uniform across all Gamerush and Blockbuster locations EXCEPT if the Blockbuster is a franchise location. You can tell from the receipt if your store is a franchise store. All Gamerush stores are corporate-owned so they will have uniform pricing.

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New games that may be available for purchase at non-GR Blockbusters
For those with access to only regular Blockbuster stores but wanting to take advantage of the decent trade-in values Blockbuster offers, this is the list of new games being sold by many regular Blockbuster locations. Note that they will generally not get new games on the release date. They will most likely have them a few days to weeks later. Stock is usually very limited and they do not seem to get restocks of most games. So once something is sold out they will most likely not get it back. Many of the "older "new games in the list below may be hard to find at this point.

:ds:
Guitar Hero On Tour
High School Musical
Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
Mario Party DS
My Fashion Designer
My Weight Loss Coach
NSMB
Professor Layton
Zoo Tycoon 2
(and a bunch of other older titles they just got in on July 15th)

:psp:
God of War Chains of Olympus

:360:
Army of Two
Bioshock
Blue Dragon
Bully
Burnout Paradise
Call of Duty 4
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Guitar Hero III
Halo 3
Ironman
Lego Star Wars TCS
Lost Odyssey
Lost Planet Colonies Edition
Mass Effect
Narnia
NBA Live 08
NBA 2K8
Project Gotham Racing 4
Rock Band Bundle
The Orange Box
Turok
Viking Battle for Asgard
Wall-E

:ps2:
Guitar Hero III
Spiderman Friend or Foe

:ps3:
80GB PS3 bundle for $600 (PS3, Surf's Up Blu-Ray, HDMI cable, 20-week rental card)
40GB PS3 ala carte (no bundle)
Army of Two
Assassin's Creed
Burnout Paradise
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Guitar Hero III
Lego Star Wars TCS
NBA Live 08
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction
Rock Band bundle
Turok
Uncharted
Viking Battle for Asgard
Wall-E

:wii:
Battle of the Bands
Blast Works
Boom Blox
Dragon Quest Swords
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Guitar Hero III
Houses of the Dead 2 & 3
Link's Crossbow Training
Mario Kart
Mario Party 8
Mario Strikers Charged
NBA Live 08
Ninja Reflex
Rock Band bundle
Sega Superstar Tennis
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Wall-E
We Ski

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Current Trade-In Deals

There are no trade-in deals at this time. The trade 3 get an extra $5 per game is still in affect at some (very select) locations.

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Reported Trade-In Prices

Trade-In Price Wiki
 
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so word is that there will be some new kind of sale since this B1G1 is over? Anything confirmed yet? I think it's time for a new BBV thread after 296 pages now
 
[quote name='Warner1281']a couple already do. But the general answer is, about 8-12 months from when your store started carrying them.[/quote]


Is there any way to tell which one's do without calling each one?
 
[quote name='DaDeuce']Is there any way to tell which one's do without calling each one?[/quote]

Since many stores around me just started carrying them a couple months ago, the earliest I would expect to see any used Blu-rays in my area would December. I do see a lot of new titles for sale though. Turning into Best Buy in there nowadays.
 
[quote name='Nikadimas']Since many stores around me just started carrying them a couple months ago, the earliest I would expect to see any used Blu-rays in my area would December. I do see a lot of new titles for sale though. Turning into Best Buy in there nowadays.[/quote]


If only they had some of Bestbuy's prices. Almost all the BR's I've seen new at Blockbuster are $3-$5 more expensive than Bestbuy
 
[quote name='milmanias']For those that traded Warhawk in, how did you get around the "not for resale" label? I tried to trade my copy in but they wouldn't take it.[/quote]

Either trade the big box that it comes in, print out a new barcode from coverproject.cc, or just cut out the area that says not for resale and tell them you had to mail in the barcode for a rebate.

I also thought of a good excuse for why you might be trading in multiples of a game. Tell the person that you forgot to take the game off of your "request list" on Goozex. Hopefully the person wont know what Goozex is (meaning they wont know about only being able to request 1 copy of a game at a time).
 
Alright CAGs, get crackin'.

It's possible there's a hidden gem in here for GS->BB trading:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193013

By the way, new thread will be up when I can get to it. I am WAY backed up on work at the moment. It might be tonight, or it might not be. I want to make some big changes to the OP so I need to put some effort into it. In the mean time, there's nothing wrong with this thread ;).
 
BB TIVs (over the phone):

The Club 360 - $15
NCAA MM 08 360 - $22

NCAA MM 08 is $24.99 used on GS.com ($12.49 after 50% off) $12.49-> $22
The Club is $29.99 used on GS.com ($14.99 after 50% off) $14.99-> $15

Not sure if Edge and the 10% off coupon would stack. Can anyone confirm these prices?

*edit* After Edge and 10% coupon: The Club $11.99-> $15
NCAA MM 08 $9.99-> $22
 
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Those should be good games to flip to BB, but are there going to be any cheap games to flip back that are atleast 1:1?
 
You should be able to pretty close to break even with newer Wii titles with the 40% trade bonus, but the big flip 'em back and forth days are likely gone. Either way, the smart money was on leaving the majority of your credit at GS, because it is always easy to get 2:1 going back to BB.

This essentially means any new releases are going to be 1/2 price for quite a while for me, as I slowly slide over the GS stuff to pay for them and buy them at BB.

If there were some PS3 games on that list, I would likely keep a few though.
 
whoever gave the tip about buying mario kart wii and selling it online...THANK YOU!

Recouped my initial costs within 2 hrs. I was going to sell one of my EDGE cards, but that would have resulted in a 10% or more loss. Buying mario kart got me a 1:1 ratio AFTER fees and shipping costs. :applause:
 
[quote name='io']Any chance any of the Beatles posters are getting the 50% discount? I've already bought 2 there at full price (my son really wanted them) but I held off on that $39.99 album cover one but would gladly snag that at $20..[/quote]

No Beatles posters have been marked down yet, but the Black and White John Lennon poster with him holding up the peace sign has been 15 dollars for about 3 months now (used to be 30). I went to about 15 BBVs during the perfect storm and only noticed one , but I didn't look at the artwork at every store.

Some notable 50% framed artworks I remember are:

Empire Strikes Back (not Return of the Jedi or A New Hope. Trust me :cry:)
Terminator
Jaws
Sex and the City
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
The Office
Top Gun
Beowulf
Bunch of Nascar ones...


Plus theres a new Dark Knight one with the Joker holding up the playing card in front of his face.
They also got in Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Goldfinger, and Spiderman arwork as well.


There were more, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
Even if these posters aren't labled correctly, try price checking and you might get lucky. I did buy one Empire Strikes Back poster at BBV for 20 and immediately drove about 1/4 of a mile to the next BBV and it rang up for 40. I think one closed at 11 and one closed at midnight if that makes any difference.
 
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[quote name='Bezerker']Either trade the big box that it comes in, print out a new barcode from coverproject.cc, or just cut out the area that says not for resale and tell them you had to mail in the barcode for a rebate.[/QUOTE]

Great idea with coverproject, I'll try this. I bought it used so don't have the big box, so I'll glue the code in. If that doesn't work I'll cut it out. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
[quote name='SonictheHedgehog1337']No Beatles posters have been marked down yet, but the Black and White John Lennon poster with him holding up the peace sign has been 15 dollars for about 3 months now (used to be 30). I went to about 15 BBVs during the perfect storm and only noticed one , but I didn't look at the artwork at every store.

Some notable 50% framed artworks I remember are:

Empire Strikes Back (not Return of the Jedi or A New Hope. Trust me :cry:)
.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I bought one of the John Lennon ones several weeks ago but it was broken in one corner so I returned it. But when I was out with my son a few days ago on one of my last big flipping runs we saw another so I bought that. He now has 3 BB framed posters in his room (Abbey Road, the Lennon one, and the one with the head shots of all 4 Beatles). That album cover one is just a bit too much at $39.99. Abbey Road was $29.99 and I didn't mind paying that (keeping in mind how cheap in real money it was ;)). The other was only $19.99 and the Lennon one at half price was $14.99. I did see that Empire Strikes Back one at half price a long time ago too. I'm sort of surprised I didn't buy it as that has always been my favorite movie. But the kids, unfortunately, aren't that much into Star Wars. Well, my oldest son used to be, but now he's into music. He wants a drum kit now :roll:. And I have yet to buy Rock Band (waiting for one or both of the new music games to come out).

Interesting side story: back when I had my Gamerush around they used to give me all sorts of promo materials so my oldest son's room was full of oversized promo Nintendo game boxes, a huge Star Fox standee, a huge Lego Star Wars II standee, and several other things. He cleared that all out a few weeks ago to make room for his music posters :cry:. Now I'm not really sure what to do with all that stuff. My younger son may want it, but we'll see...
 
[quote name='io']Interesting side story: back when I had my Gamerush around they used to give me all sorts of promo materials so my oldest son's room was full of oversized promo Nintendo game boxes, a huge Star Fox standee, a huge Lego Star Wars II standee, and several other things. He cleared that all out a few weeks ago to make room for his music posters :cry:. Now I'm not really sure what to do with all that stuff. My younger son may want it, but we'll see...[/quote]

Thats really cool. I used to ask for that kind of stuff from stores when I was younger. Sometimes I'd give the manager 5 or 10 bucks if it was something really cool. I never had any luck with Blockbuster or Hollywood Video though. My old Hollywood video used to have an old school Genesis Sonic and Tails poster that was about 15 feet tall (from the floor to the ceiling.) When they were about to take it out to remodel the whole store, I checked in all the time and asked about it. They said thay'd give it to me but i never heard from them. :cry: One day it was just gone.
 
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I'm definitely in for that Joker Card Dark Knight Poster for $15, maybe even that Kanye one to gain a Wii sweepstakes entry...Definitely, going to check that out this week.
 
[quote name='makstaks']whoever gave the tip about buying mario kart wii and selling it online...THANK YOU!

Recouped my initial costs within 2 hrs. I was going to sell one of my EDGE cards, but that would have resulted in a 10% or more loss. Buying mario kart got me a 1:1 ratio AFTER fees and shipping costs. :applause:[/QUOTE]

That was me! YAYYYYY!

I picked up 3 more today. Now I'm officially in the black for cash outlay, including gas. So now I've basically picked up $700 of GS/BBV credit for free. Wooohoooo. :bouncy:

Remember, if you do this, DO NOT lowball on Amazon or ebay just to sell. The price on Amazon should be around $72 and the price on ebay should be around $65. You end up getting $55 each net. This should cover your tax.
 
[quote name='confoosious']That was me! YAYYYYY!

I picked up 3 more today. Now I'm officially in the black for cash outlay, including gas. So now I've basically picked up $700 of GS/BBV credit for free. Wooohoooo. :bouncy:

Remember, if you do this, DO NOT lowball on Amazon or ebay just to sell. The price on Amazon should be around $72 and the price on ebay should be around $65. You end up getting $55 each net. This should cover your tax.[/quote]

This is spot on, I sold one i found at GS for 69 earlier today :). Its nice to get a lil cash with all that store credit (also dont forget about wii sports/fit...)
 
Wii fit is too much of a pain in the ass cause it's so bulky.

I could probably convert ALL my GS/BBV to cash but the reason I was flipping was mostly to be able to pick up whatever games I want whenever I wanted. Converting to cash kinda makes it not as fun.
 
[quote name='SonictheHedgehog1337']

Some notable 50% framed artworks I remember are:

Empire Strikes Back (not Return of the Jedi or A New Hope. Trust me :cry:)
Terminator
Jaws
Sex and the City
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
The Office
Top Gun
Beowulf
Bunch of Nascar ones...



[/quote]

I''ve never seen an Office art piece at my local BB's. Could you possibly let me know what it looks like? Thanks.
 
[quote name='confoosious']
I could probably convert ALL my GS/BBV to cash but the reason I was flipping was mostly to be able to pick up whatever games I want whenever I wanted. Converting to cash kinda makes it not as fun.[/quote]

I've been trying to explain this to my wife... I cashed out my initial cash outlay of $500 by getting an MGS4 bundle, plus another $160 picking up RockBand for the Wii for one of her freinds. She can't understand why I have the amount of credit that I have and just don't cash it all out. As a finance guy, I really can't either, but it's like a security blanket now. :)
 
[quote name='sprintfinanceguy']I've been trying to explain this to my wife... I cashed out my initial cash outlay of $500 by getting an MGS4 bundle, plus another $160 picking up RockBand for the Wii for one of her freinds. She can't understand why I have the amount of credit that I have and just don't cash it all out. As a finance guy, I really can't either, but it's like a security blanket now. :)[/quote]

If you cash out, you are most likely to spend it on something else. With GS/BB credit you are forced to buy games. :D
 
[quote name='emg28']If you cash out, you are most likely to spend it on something else. With GS/BB credit you are forced to buy games. :D[/quote]

LOL. Thats why i am hesitant to cash more money out. There are many games i want in the future...but i already have a ridiculous backlog of games right now :bomb:
 
[quote name='bornrunnin31']I''ve never seen an Office art piece at my local BB's. Could you possibly let me know what it looks like? Thanks.[/quote]

i'm not sure if there are more than one office art piece but I've only seen one at one of the stores I've been to. It has most of the main characters in their conference room sitting behind it. and there are like post its around the art piece that has what i assumed were quotes (didn't really read it) on them. nothing too eye popping but if its 50% might bite
 
Is Mario Kart Wii really in that high demand? Last time I went into Gamecrazy there were 3 just sitting on the shelf behind the counter and I've seen copies at 2 of the Gamestops I've been to in the past week. I ordered my copy of GS.com and just got it today. It's very enjoyable, but I got a rude awakening when I went online.
 
Heh...does anyone else have a problem trying to get their GS credit into credit, and not merchandise? Yesterday I dropped off some games and ended up getting about ten DVDs, mainly box sets and tv shows, for about $60 in credit...and today I traded six games and only got $7 in credit after getting two Soprano's seasons, the Indiana Jones box set, Mind of Mencia, and The Rocky Anthology (total cost was $60).

Guh, I'm running out of room for all of my games and DVDs...but the GameStop Buy 2 Get 3 (or 4!) on Blu Rays and DVD Boxsets is just so tempting...
 
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