Tales From the Thrift!

Cambot

Cambot

CAGiversary!
Walking around this gross little thrift store today, I felt this odd twinge of sorrow upon seeing how lonely and depressing everyday items can look after they've been discarded and assembled in one place. Especially video game items. I dunno, I guess it's the fact that these consoles and games were designed soley for fun, and now they look so sick and beat up. Kind of like the "Isle of Misfit Toys." I guess that's one thing I like about rescuing them from despairity when I have use for them, and give them new leases on life.

Anyway, it's sort of hard to explain, but it occurred to me to get this pics with my cell phone to try to convey the feeling. I might post more to this thread in the future. Feel free to do the same if you have any humorous/interesting stories from dark, dusty thrifts near you.


Here are the games. Tons of Genesis and NES stuff. Most marked $4.99.




Here we have a SNES trying to mate with a Dreamcast, an N64 trying to mate with a Saturn, two Genesises trying to mate with each other and a Genisis trying to make do by itself.



None of the consoles have hook-ups with them. If you want to get them, they're priced seperately and kept... here.




I did pick up something kind of cool, though. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I know it's supposed to copy SNES games. It was $2.99.

 
Oh cool, I wish my thrift store carried that much stuff! Last time I saw an SNES it was $25 and I have only seen a Sega Saturn once at a thrift store.

Most of the games that I see that are gathering dust are usually sports games that no one really wants.
 
Damn... that's a lot of neatly kept stuff. My thrift stores rarely have games/systems and when they do it's only like 1 or 2.
 
I had to take Foreman grills and crap off to expose those consoles. Not as neat as you might think.
 
wonder how much they wanted for the saturn?

Of course, it probably doesn't work.
 
Damn! What I wouldn't give to have a crack at those boxes of cables. You have one impressive thrift store. I rarely see anything video game related at my local thrift stores
 
I wouldn't mind finding out what games they had for the Genesis and Master Systems, as well as if they had any complete nintendo games of all flavors (nes, snes, n64, game boy, etc). Would you be up for finding out for me?
 
[quote name='getmeoutofjoliet']Thirft?[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I had to lean in and squint to see that.

I wouldn't mind finding out what games they had for the Genesis and Master Systems, as well as if they had any complete nintendo games of all flavors (nes, snes, n64, game boy, etc). Would you be up for finding out for me?
Click to expand...

No, just common stuff priced to stay put. No complete Nintendo stuff.
 
whoa, that snes thing is probably super rare.


that's a great selection. people seem to buy up every last game related item at the thrift shops near me. that and I have to search in every single section for gaming stuff-- toys, electronics, music. they could be any where and are every where.
 
what is this thrift store? goodwill? thats the most video game items ive seen for awhile actually.

i went to the new rochelle, ny salvation army a few weeks ago thinking they might not even know about video games. this store was really nasty to begin with even from the outside. i think all salvation armys are like that anyways. looked around for about 10 minutes trying to see if the games were mixed in with the books. i almost gave up until i saw infront of the counter, there are these dreamcast games just waiting to get rescued. they just piled it up like it was trash. i think because the whole shelf probably fell off and they just didnt care to bring it back up. i ended up looking of course and found marvel vs. capcom 2 and 3 sonic games. i asked how much and she gave them for $1.99 each. i was happy but i probably will never go back there.
 
I did pick up something kind of cool, though. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I know it's supposed to copy SNES games. It was $2.99.
Click to expand...

What you have there is a Super Wild Card DX, made by Front Fareast.

I have two of them. Its basically a SNES disk copier. It allows you to copy SNES carts to 3-1/4" floppys. Some larger games take up two floppies.

You can then play the games off of the floppies, with no carts required.

You dont even need to copy carts, you can just put roms onto floppies on a PC and use them in the SWC. And see that parallel port/printer cable port thing in the back? With that you can connect the SWC+SNES directly to a pc and load roms directly into the unit.

The SWC DX made me a very popular person in College. And I paid a helluva lot more than $3 for mine. They originally retailed for $250 and above.
 
I find decent things at Thrift store. I found one recently where the last two visits I have gotten

Vincent MIB Toy from Advent Children ($5.95)
Optimus Prime Heroes of Cybertron MIB ($2)
Lunar Eternal Blue Complete Official Strategy Guide Hard Cover($3 - listed for $80 - $130 0n ebay!)
 
When I find gaming items at my local Salvation Army stores(no Goodwills or any other thrift stores around this area), they're usually overpriced and most of the time they don't even work.

However, I will say that Cool Spot and Boogerman(the 2 Genny games in the lower right of that first pic in your post) were in my personal collection at one point and Cool Spot is kind of hard to find nowadays.

It took forever for me to find a copy at a local game shop, but I got mine for a decent price.

Ahhhhh, if I hadn't traded any of my PS1/Genny games or systems, I would've had probably about 20-30 that are considered 'rare' by some now.
 
Seen a silent hill case at the salvation army today w/ a 1.99 price tag on it so I got really excited. Then opened it up only to find knockout kings inside :(
 
Part of me wants to look around at thrift stores for games, while another part of me says "DO NOT ENTER." No idea why. Guess it's possible cause I wouldn't want to waste my time going somewhere that might not have anything or might not have anything cheap.

Nice find, though. Especially seeing boxed Sega Master System games.

I do wonder, though, why the hell do most SNES' turn that awful piss yellow over the years?
 
[quote name='Tsukento']Part of me wants to look around at thrift stores for games, while another part of me says "DO NOT ENTER." No idea why. Guess it's possible cause I wouldn't want to waste my time going somewhere that might not have anything or might not have anything cheap.

Nice find, though. Especially seeing boxed Sega Master System games.

I do wonder, though, why the hell do most SNES' turn that awful piss yellow over the years?[/quote]

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

It has been posted here on CAG a few times but it often gets lost in the archives. Great article and should answer your question
 
OP that thrift store is a hell of alot more video game rich then all 4-5 of the thrift stores in my area combined lol some of which don't even have a single sports game lingering around :D

Is that Space Harrier 3-D I see only the top of to the left in the one picture?
 
[quote name='Cambot']Walking around this gross little thrift store today, I felt this odd twinge of sorrow upon seeing how lonely and depressing everyday items can look after they've been discarded and assembled in one place. Especially video game items. I dunno, I guess it's the fact that these consoles and games were designed soley for fun, and now they look so sick and beat up. Kind of like the "Isle of Misfit Toys." I guess that's one thing I like about rescuing them from despairity when I have use for them, and give them new leases on life.

Anyway, it's sort of hard to explain, but it occurred to me to get this pics with my cell phone to try to convey the feeling. I might post more to this thread in the future. Feel free to do the same if you have any humorous/interesting stories from dark, dusty thrifts near you.


Here are the games. Tons of Genesis and NES stuff. Most marked $4.99.




Here we have a SNES trying to mate with a Dreamcast, an N64 trying to mate with a Saturn, two Genesises trying to mate with each other and a Genisis trying to make do by itself.



None of the consoles have hook-ups with them. If you want to get them, they're priced seperately and kept... here.


[/quote]

Those games were $4.99 each? If so, thats way tooo high! What was the price for the other stuff?
 
[quote name='EllsinoreOutlaw']Those games were $4.99 each? If so, thats way tooo high! What was the price for the other stuff?[/quote]
Pretty much $5 a piece isn't too bad for a thrift store. I've seen flea market merchants who don't know crap about games selling some used stuff for over $30.
 
$5 apiece for boxed games? If they're complete, it makes it an even better deal. So many places around here don't have boxes for old Sega games, even though the Master System and Genesis titles usually came in such nice plastic cases. I wouldn't be bitching about that place at all!
 
Yeah, agreed. Nintendo games are the ones you usually find outside of their cases due to them being made of cardboard from NES to N64, while Sega had awesome plastic cases for Master System to mid-Genesis (before they cheaped out and went with cardboard for end of Genesis). So it's great to find places that still have some boxed games.
 
Went to local Salvation Army and got my first find in a while
For $3 a piece I got (cart only)

Kirby 64
Mega Man 5 (finally!)
Super Mario RPG

They have 50% off tomorrow, but I didn't want to risk losing out on Mega Man 5. The Mario RPG is my 2nd copy, probably going to sell to a friend or trade it.
 
Another Salvation Army Find today, in Port Richey Fl

For $10 total, bag of cart only N64 games and AV Cble
-California Speed
-Excitebike 64
-Cruisin' USA
-Cruisin' the World
-Goldeneye 007
-Hydro Thunder
-Super Smash Brothers
-Super Mario Kart 64
- One more I cant remeber

And at Goodwill in Hudson Fl
-Complete copy of D - 3DO - $5
-"Complete" Thousand Arms (missing bonus items) - $10
 
Thrift stores are always hit or miss type of affairs. Hell one local Salvation Army around here has the galls to charge $7.99 for the Metroid DS demo cart.... you know the one that game *FREE* with the original batch of DSes that has only one room that you go around shooting in. Needless to say its been sitting there for the past few months. :rofl:
 
I *finally* found a decent PS1 game at goodwill: Worms Armageddon, disc only, for $1.99.

I've been shopping goodwill for YEARS and I don't think I've ever bought a PS1 game there til now.
 
One of my local Salvation Army stores(EYNON, PA for anyone who wants them) got in 2 systems while I was checking out the other day, both of which were overpriced.

SNES(with hookups, one original controller and one third party one with turbo switches on it)$29.99

Playstation one(older grey model, with I think an original model controller, all hookups) ALSO $29.99

They also had COPIES(as in burned copies) of some DC games there I think. I just kind of laughed and said 'this is fuckin ridiculous' to myself as I was walking out.

I seriously think THRIFT stores around here need to remember what that word MEANS because many of them have forgotten it's meaning. $5 to $10 isn't THAT bad of a hit to take for a system if you don't know if it works or not, but $30???

Thing is, the one local shop that guarantees their stuff(and I bought a complete Genny system from about 3-4 weeks ago)also sells SNES systems for $15.

Mind you, the one local Salvation Army had 2-3 NES's(including a top loader with a dog bone controller) and a SNES in a giant box for like $20 one time. Needless to say, that was the day I hadn't brought any cash with me and by the time I ran home and got my $$$, someone had snagged it all.
 
There's a place near my old house in Kansas that will sell anything. Literally anything. They have used deodorant, half empty shampoo bottles, and the last time I was there, I saw jars of chili from the grocery store for $3 each.

Sometimes I find cool stuff, once I found a set of Star Trek: Next Generation commemerative plates for cheap. Best find yet was last trip:

Pokemon FireRed - $3

Extra bonus of having strong poke's on it! I steal them for my copy of the Diamond :mrgreen:
 
I recently got a brand new in slightly damaged box Wii remote for $10 from Goodwill. Thank you Target for your kind donation!
 
I seen a playstation one with two controllers, all hookups, and two games (Soul Reaver and something else) at goodwill yesterday.

Price?

$100.00

Yeah, that's not a typo. Onehundred freaking dollars for a playstation one. I thought it was ten at first and then looked at the games it came with...nothing special and then got a good look at the price tag. Crazy.
 
Only game finds I've gotten at thrift stores:

Boxed, complete NES w/ cords, controllers, and gun, and super mario bros./duck hunt along w/ the superpad.- $10

SNES with no cords- $5
 
Just got back from a local Salvation Army store:

Got a SNES complete w/all hookups for $8.50

And, possibly my best find ever at a thrift:

Guitar Hero II XBOX 360 w/guitar for $26.00

It must have been a return from Target, but it's working great for me! The lady at the register said that they had 4 of them this morning. Thats what I get for sleeping in!
 
I stopped by this thrift after work today and had a couple nice NES finds:

chip-pac.jpg


Rescue Rangers 2
Tengen Ms. Pac-Man

$3.00 TOTAL
 
[quote name='yukine']Is Rescue Rangers for the NES a fun game or something?[/quote]

Oh hell yeah.. one of my favorites.

Didn't play the second one much, though
 
[quote name='briansraregames']Just got back from a local Salvation Army store:

Got a SNES complete w/all hookups for $8.50

And, possibly my best find ever at a thrift:

Guitar Hero II XBOX 360 w/guitar for $26.00

It must have been a return from Target, but it's working great for me! The lady at the register said that they had 4 of them this morning. Thats what I get for sleeping in![/quote]

OK, where the HELL do you live that your Salvation Army stores only charge $8.50 for a SNES complete? Mine charge friggin $30 a pop and half the time, the shit don't work.

Oh and I saw a copy of Commando for NES yesterday at the one local Sally store, didn't pick it up though, since I don't have an NES right now. Although, I was also kinda tempted to grab the complete 2 disc Boogie Nights set they had in that same store for $5, but again, I passed.
 
I got Rescue Rangers 2 cart only for $5 earlier this year, which was a grail for me because the first is one of my favorite NES games, and this one has become one of my favorites too. It's just as fun as the first and feels more like you're playing through an actual episode of the show.
 
I decided to stop by one of the local Salvation Army stores today. They had a sign up saying 'all videos are $1.00'.

After convincing them that Genny games were videos, I picked up:

Arch Rivals(complete)
Dungeons + Dragons(complete)

And, the quintessential game that EVERY CAG SHOULD OWN: fuck

They had a bunch more Genny games there, but nothing of any real worth, only some lame sports titles for Genny and Saturn. This is the FIRST TIME I've seen Saturn games @ ANY Salvation Army.
 
If the Saturn games were like a dollar and had good cases it would probably be worth it to pick up a couple crappy games just for the cases especially if you are a Saturn collector!
 
[quote name='SaraAB']If the Saturn games were like a dollar and had good cases it would probably be worth it to pick up a couple crappy games just for the cases especially if you are a Saturn collector![/quote]

One good case out of the lot and most were sports junk titles, except maybe the one soccer game.

Oh and I forgot to mention, I also snagged a VHS copy of Akira which seems to be in decent shape from the same store. It has a tiny 'not for kids sticker' on it and while I'm tempted to test it out, I also don't wanna risk it snapping in my VCR.

So, I think I may put the video up for trade....if anyone wants it......
 
Ok, I'm sort of going to go on a bragging spree here, I'm so excited:

These have been finds in the last two to three years, all at either the salvation army or a local thrift store known as Rescued treasures. Here goes:

1.) A complete NES system with a copy of Karnov in the system, all the hookups and 2 controllers - $15

2.) A spare NES with Mario Bros., no hookups - $5

3.) A Sega CD model 2 with attachment for Genesis model 1 - $4

4.) A sega 32x with attachment for model 2 Genesis, hookups, and a copy of Doom - $8

5.) Shadowrun (!) (Genesis) - $3, Kid Chameleon - $3, Sonic Adventure (DC) - $3

6.) Megaman 3 (NES) - $3

7.) An N64 with hookups, red controller, Mario 64 - $15

8.) And finally, the last game I can remember - Final Fantasy (NES) - $2! :)

Ya, I've been really fortunate the last few years, the only game I missed was a copy of Earthbound for the SNES for $4, as my friend snatched it first =/. But ya, it's getting harder to find decent stuff recently, and the prices vary by location I'm guessing, for example, my local Salvation Army charges $3 default for all games, yet another Salvation Army just 15 minutes away has a habit of charging anywhere been $3.99 and $14.99 depending on the system. Insanity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top