+Charlie Cat Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hi guys, Does anybody remember the video game store Funcoland. What a great store that was (for me) to purchase video games. When the NES market was fading away and you see all the games pileup in the 1990's. I used to stock up on them like crazy. Where else were you able to buy Super Mario Bros. for 10¢ at the time and a NES console for $10 bucks!! I have nothing against Toys R Us, K-mart, etc to buy games, I was happy to see a 100% dedicated video game store franchise. I used to love picking up there paper circular, and browse through everything. To bad Gamestop bought them out. Now I only see 1 Funcoland and that's in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. *tisk-tisk* Anthony.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboypacman Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Wow i didn't think there was one Funcoland left and you bet i remember them always trying to sale thoses dang NES Cleaners,lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I loved Funcoland! it was actually the first game store I ever went to. Got many great deals there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadragon15 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I remember Funcoland starting the trend of throwing away original boxes and manuals for games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I remember Funcoland starting the trend of throwing away original boxes and manuals for games. What? do you mean the used games? I doubt that funcoland opened up new games and threw away the boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadragon15 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Yes. I'm talking about the used games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 (edited) I remember my funco land (west side of madison, WI) was quite a drive, but I did go there a couple times. They lined the walls with boxes for games they didn't have and didn't price anything. the operation worked like this: grab a box with a game name on it--retail box, or just a placeholder box walk to the counter look up price in a mess of printed pages on their counter decide if it was okay talk to clerk "well I'll see if I have it, but..." have him look for it behind the counter in the drawer find out they don't have it repeat and some people have the nerve to complain about Gamestop, at least it's actually possible to buy a video game there. my funcoland experience was about the worst video game purchasing experience I've had. Edited December 5, 2008 by Reaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadragon15 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Don't forget that when you asked to buy a used game that it would be encased in a cardboard box with the word Funcoland on it. Very annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Charlie Cat Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi guys, Funcoland was great. I was a real ballbuster at that store. I always wanted to past the time and play games on the NES, Super NES and Genesis section. I never used to leave that store and eventually my parents used to drag me out after spending 3-4 hours in the store just playing games that were really only there to try out for a few minutes. I used to beat like 4-5 at a time.and now the Funcoland in Wayne, NJ does what Lamestop does now since it was bought out. Anthony.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 the operation worked like this: [...] Yeah, that definitely rings a bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 the operation worked like this: [...] Yeah, that definitely rings a bell. That seems to reflect my experience as well. The other half was walking up to the door to find a sign that said "be back in 20 minutes". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian63 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi guys, Does anybody remember the video game store Funcoland. What a great store that was (for me) to purchase video games. When the NES market was fading away and you see all the games pileup in the 1990's. I used to stock up on them like crazy. Where else were you able to buy Super Mario Bros. for 10¢ at the time and a NES console for $10 bucks!! I have nothing against Toys R Us, K-mart, etc to buy games, I was happy to see a 100% dedicated video game store franchise. I used to love picking up there paper circular, and browse through everything. To bad Gamestop bought them out. Now I only see 1 Funcoland and that's in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. *tisk-tisk* Anthony.... We used to call them FU__o land as they would really Fu__ you over. Fixed pricing,lousy selection. Terrible trade in prices. They sucked sooo bad. But hey so does game slop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The two Funcolands near me were actually really good stores. Both had good selection and decent prices. They were much better than the Gamestops that replaced them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberfluxor Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I was a young teenager when they were around and remember always wanting to go there. They were a nice setup around here with good selection. At the time the family had a Sega Master System, my brother had an original Game Boy, and I had a Game Gear. We received most of our games from that store chain after playing some Super Nintendo or Genesis on display. Today some stores like Game Crazy are popping up and have a similar model of placing systems out for gameplay and trying before you buy. Many of the local independent game stores don't dare do this as it generally attracts kids that just want to sit around testing games all day, getting junk on the controllers. In addition, can you imagine having several TVs going all day, listening to all of the sound effects over and over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaperman Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 (edited) Today some stores like Game Crazy are popping up and have a similar model of placing systems out for gameplay and trying before you buy. Many of the local independent game stores don't dare do this as it generally attracts kids that just want to sit around testing games all day, getting junk on the controllers. In addition, can you imagine having several TVs going all day, listening to all of the sound effects over and over? yeah, the rapidly expanding gametrader chain does that to an extent too. For a chain, I really like them. They know my name, they know what I want to see and show it to me, but their selection isn't stellar (yet). I also liked gamecrazy when I was in california, but they haven't come out here. Gamecrazy even put up with me bringing in my weightwatchers scale and weighing their copies of gyromite *l* If I just wanted to *play* games, and not try and *buy* 30 at a crack, funcoland might have done that...but I found it impossible to do business there. where gamecrazy and gametrader are fairly awesome. Edited December 5, 2008 by Reaperman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I always liked Funcoland. Yes, some of their policies weren't the best, but like fdurso said - their prices on some stuff were fantastic. I remember beefing up my NES and Genesis collection in the late nineties for practically nothing. I think I still have one of their old price lists somewhere at my parents' place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 As I understand it Funcoland never really died. They bought Babbages and Software Etc to combine into a little shop known as GameStop, a few years later and they bought up EB Games. GameStop is all the old game stores, rolled into one. When they finally buy up Game Crazy, their path to the dark side will be complete. Then GameStop and Obama can rule the world as Father and Son. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadragon15 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Your history is a little flawed. It was Gamestop that bought Funcoland. That is why most Funcolands became Gamestop after the buyout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I am pretty sure the first Funcoland was here in MN. It was in the back of a warehouse in New Hope. They used to deduct $2 from the purchase price for no box and $1 for no manual. They did actually sell CIB games but that did not last very long, maybe a few months tops. I remember bringing them a large box of Atari 2600 and they said "Thanks but no thanks" I also remember they paid a crazy price for Side Pocket, North vs South and Donkey Kong JR Math. I used to study those price guides relentlessly, carefully planning my next purchase, crossing out the games I already had. I guess I was a born collector It always bugged me that they never had Sega master system games, although they did very briefly carry Neo Geo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I still wish they still existed. There are a couple of stores that have old games (going back to the Atari 2600 days) but those are a bit out of the way for me. Still, I could easily build up my Genesis collection again, and maybe my SNES and NES games again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wccw mark Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 funcoland was great!!i bought hundreds of nes & genesis games there over the years.i also like the newspaper looking price guides they had with there used game prices listed.i think i still have a few of those laying around somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prodos8 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Much to my surprise, there are a few Funcoland stores in the Dallas area that didn't become GameStops. The last thing I recall buying from them was a GoldStar 3do system about twelve years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I got my first Neo Geo carts there for $55 each. Ah good times. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Much to my surprise, there are a few Funcoland stores in the Dallas area that didn't become GameStops. The last thing I recall buying from them was a GoldStar 3do system about twelve years ago. Are they actual Funcolands, that still sell NES, GG, and 16-bit stuff, or are they GameStops with a different name? If they're the former, that would totally be worth a trip to Dallas. Funco was awesome in the late 90s. I only dealt with them through mail-order, and buying one or two games was a rip-off... but if you spend $35 or more, you could get CRAZY deals. I bought tons of NES games for a dollar or two, and they were often really rare or obscure games. Funco only priced things based on demand, not supply, so while you'd pay $15 for Contra or TMNT, Wisdom Tree games could be had for pocket change. Feck yeah! Buy your rarities at Funco, and your commons at the thrift store! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prodos8 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 (edited) Are they actual Funcolands, that still sell NES, GG, and 16-bit stuff, or are they GameStops with a different name? If they're the former, that would totally be worth a trip to Dallas.I'm not really sure I just drove by one and then looked'em up on the internet. I didn't actually go into the store. This was a couple of years ago so I'm only assuming they're still around. edit: There seems to be only one store in dallas now. Funcoland Address: Dallas, TX 75225 Phone: (214) 368-0071 Edited December 5, 2008 by Prodos8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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