SRGilbert

That's weird, my Tapper doesn't look quite like that. I have other Sega carts like that though, but my Tapper looks more like an Activision cart but without the locking grooves.

I haven't been on much lately, been a busy summer so far, but I've been trying to keep up with everyone's finds! I've actually done very well this summer, but posting hasn't been a top priority. I have a bunch of stuff to post when I get a chance, but I think this is worth bragging a bit about right now! Stopped at a garage sale (one of many many sales) on Saturday. Couple of older ladies, a few tables of the usual junk. Did a quick look around didn't see anything and gave my wife the, "ready to go?" look. She says, "You didn't want that Donkey Kong game?" I'm like "Huh, where?" "Right there, on that table." Sitting in the middle of a table was this: Yes, it's an original shrink wrapped DK64. It's gorgeous, no tears, no fading, only a minor crease at the top. No price tag. So I ask one of the ladies, "how much for this?" She: "I don't know, what's it worth?" (Yeah, right.) Me: "I'm not sure, what do you think you want for it?" She: "How about four dollars?" SOLD!

Not a thrift find, but a guy I know locally sold me a very nice copy of River Raid II, with manual but no box for $20, which I thought was an excellent deal.

What I want to try is using that Gamecube to Playstation adapter with my Capcom PS gamepad. It's basically just like a cross between a Genesis and SNES controller anyway!

Haven't been posting lately, but I have been watching everyone's scores! This is several weeks worth of finds (maybe months? ) In no particular order: From a couple of different toy shows and antique shows, some cool hand helds. The pinball game was $15, the boxing game was $8 and the Mini Arcade was $15 Flea market, $10, about the cheapest Pong clone you've ever seen, and it's from like 1983! Flea markets and yard sales Bart VS Space Mutants $2.00 TG16 Time Ball and GBA Mario Kart - $5 each GBA Zelda and NDS Personal Trainer Cooking - $1 each (nice deal on Zelda!) Got this whole lot with Nerf case for $25 at a yard sale today 10 Gameboy games from a Goodwill for $2 each (I know, Goodwill?) This lot from another yard sale today, $17 total Nice Genesis lot from a yard sale with all hookups, three controllers, and 10 complete games including Contra Hard Corps for $5.00! Yard sale - sweet Wall-E interactive toy. No remote though, but still cool for $5. Without remote, they go for $50 on ebay, with remote over $100, and that's loose and played with. Fully functional Wii with power supply (and SURPRISE, New Super Mario Bros - didn't know that was in there until I got home) no AV cable (I have an extra) or controllers, but it was in great shape and only $30! Being my "extra" Wii, I will give soft modding this one a shot and see how the emulation is. I've also picked up the usual stuff like CD's and movies, including some cheap Criterion Collection sets. So far, not a bad summer, just wish I could find some Atari stuff!

Where were all you JJ-naysayers back when the movie came out? I was very vocal in my hatred about it back then, and almost nobody came to my side!

Jeez, first thing I though was, why would he want Genesis carts?

I've seen that too, often with a "not for sale" sign.

Nice score! Not sure if I would make a 3 hour round trip for one game personally, but still very nice! Was that all she had? Did you ask how she got it?

Ah, that's different then! Where in MI are you?

Hmmmm......that actually might have be me. To be fair, I only asked $30 for that lot, and was very clear about what it was, including a number of pics. I picked up the set at a garage sale on impulse for the same price then decided I didn't need it. Basically I threw the pirate games in for free. Now this jackass, we had exactly the same thing a while back in Lansing.

I'm more concerned with those who join JUST to sell stuff.

If you are counting emulation, a modded original Xbox is the only way go. Other wise, it would be tough choice between the 2600 or Genesis.

So, I've been buying and playing games going on 30 years, but only began seriously collecting for the past 5-6 years or so. I've got some 30+ systems and handhelds, and more than 1200 games for them. That's not the problem. The problem is that I've managed to accumulate at least two of almost every piece of hardware (not games.) I guess the thinking is that in the event that my primary system dies, I'll have a backup. Or, I'll have a system set up to play in the rack, and a boxed set on the shelf, that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hoarder! I sell stuff ALL the time, but I still have a hard time paring it down to just one of everything. Like for instance, Vectrex. I had a working but beat up system that I bought on Ebay, then I found a killer deal on a boxed set that was like new. So the old one went in the closet, and the new one became my display. Problem is that I can't let go of the old one because #1 - I'd hate to not have a backup, and #2 - it's nice to have a second controller! Speaking of controllers, I've got them almost literally coming out of my ears. It seems I can't pass up a weird controller for a decent price, not matter how poorly they are designed! Also, I have a thing about having PAIRS of controllers. If I find one, then I like to have two, which is weird because I don't really play that much with other people. So one will go on display, the other in a tub of controllers. And if a system has four controller ports, then hell I better have four working controllers on hand! So N64, Dreamcast, Gamecube (4 Wavebirds and 4 regular), Xbox...you get the picture. And with some, like the N64, I'm paranoid that the sticks will wear out, so I've got a whole box of them (plus I like all the colors!) With games, I'm not so bad, I keep those to one of everything! On the other hand, I also know that I have hundreds(!) of games that I've never even tried out, much less put any real playtime into. When I do sit down to play, I almost always go right to the old standards. Maybe I'm just getting a little bored too. I know I live for the hunt of finding stuff in the wild, but those finds are few and far between now a days. Plus, I've already run through all the low hanging fruit, so to speak. So now I'm at that stage where it's put up or shut up as far as spending money, anything I don't already have is not going be cheap and I'm not sure I want to cross that bridge. Do you guys (and gals) have any rules you try to live by to keep your collections under wraps? I've read where some of you have sold off entire collections(!) only to start right over again. Was that worth it? Is it still fun the second time around? (Doesn't seem like it would be to me.) Anyway, forgive the ramblings of an old gamer.................

If you just want one to play, you'll get more cash for the Sears.

Nah , I had one a while back, but traded it off.

Feeling like I'm getting back in the groove a bit. This weekend turned up a few nice finds. Flea Market: GameCube power supply - $.50 (needed one to bundle with an extra Cube to sell) Goodwill - Dreamcast Rippin' Riders - $1.99, NES Super Mario Brothers 3 - $1.99, Master System After Burner (100% complete, and very minty) - $.99 Generic Thrift store - Phillips CD-I gamepad (the one that looks most like a Sega three button) - $.99! I searched high and low for anything else for the system and came up with nothing. These things are super rare too! So weird to find random stuff like this. Glad I knew what it was though, they sell for like $40-70 just for the pad.

Just as I said in the post. The Compumate was just found during a random search for Atari, had it on my watch list for days. I finally bid about an hour before it ended and was the only person to do so, so I got lucky!

I had this idea years ago, just never got around to it. He just needs a flash cart and he'd be set.

A few decent finds to kick off the year. From a Goodwill: Odyssey2 system with 10 games. The interesting thing about this set is the black removable controllers and the NES style power supply. Power supply was dead, but thankfully you can use NES compatible ones. Games were nothing special, but a good selection. Got the lot for $19.99. From a local vintage game store, boxed Arcadia Supercharger/ Phaser Patrol. I've wanted one forever and I knew he has had it for at least 5 years. Tried to haggle him down from his $40 asking price, but he wouldn't budge. Oh well, $40 isn't really too bad, plus he has a return policy. It works great though, already have all the games loaded on a cheapie MP3 player I had. At my local Disc Traders, I saw this in one of their showcases: a 1987 ActionMax game system with 3 extra games. This thing is a hoot, I'd never even heard of it before, much less seen one. Who would have thought that not only was there a game system that was nothing but terrible gun games, but one that uses VHS tapes for the games? Sign me up! I couldn't pass it up for $29.99 Last one isn't a thrift find, but an Ebay score. A 100% complete Spectravideo Compumate, which I picked up for $48 shipped.

I think Raised on Radio is a great album, and Be Good To Yourself is as good as any Journey song they did. Randy Jackson (yes of American Idol) is terrific on bass, and Neal Schon rocks on the trail out solo.

Does my Bride of Pinbot pinball table count? I'd love to have a few video machines though. I have a Mame setup of sorts, with an X-arcade, but it's not the same. Problem for me is that all my favorites either use Vector monitors, weird control schemes or both. That makes emulation somewhat tricky. If I had my dream setup, at the very least it would have to include a Star Wars, a Tron, and a Spy Hunter.

Sounds to me like some folks are just upset that they didn't find the games themselves. Sorry guys, but if I see a rare item at a good price that I know I can sell, and don't want it in my own collection, I'm probably not going to just leave it behind just so you can find it. In the summer, I spend 8-16 hours on my weekends hitting yard sales, estate sales and flea markets to find things for my collection. At the same time, I'm also looking for items that I can resell to justify all the time I spend, not to mention money to pay for the things I keep. Perfect example, in October I picked up a Sega Saturn lot (boxed system, and a bunch of games, controllers and accessories) for $30 at a flea market. I barely even looked at it before I handed him the money. Turns out one of the games was Saturn Bomberman, which I sold just last week for $75.00. I'm hoping to get at least another $150 for the rest. I also grabbed a pair of nice Ray-bans at Goodwill a few weeks ago for $2, sold them for $75 too! Do I need the money? Nah, not really. But I enjoy the hunt, and it's part of the game to me. If I had to try to make a living doing this, I'd end up homeless.