Flea Market Score!

[teh_d3th_st4r]

So I went to the Electronics Flea Market over at De Anza College in Cupertino, and most of the time I'm there I'm looking for vintage Computers and Video Games, usually I'll only walk away with a few little gems, but I got a score today.

 

For $15 I got the following:

 

ATARI 2600

 

A refurbished Heavy Sixer (works perfectly)

A 2600 Jr. (untested yet)

5 Joysticks (2 for parts)

2 Paddle sets (1 for parts)

2 Power supplies

37 Games

 

Pac-Man (2)

Asteroids (2)

Swordquest: Earthworld (2)

Swordquest : Fireworld

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong Jr.

Berserk

Maze Craze

Crystal Castles

Yars' Revenge

Missile Command

Kung Fu Master

Freeway

Enduro

Pitfall!

Skiing

Kangaroo

Sky Diver

Ms. Pac-Man

Centipede

Space Invaders

Racquetball

Battlezone

Strategy X

Pole Position

Night Driver

Warlords

Vanguard

Moon Patrol

Tac-Scan

Star Wars: ESB

Star Voyager

Frogger

Super Challenge Baseball

 

SEGA MASTER SYSTEM

 

Master System II

Light Phaser

2 Controllers

Power Supply

8 Games

 

Shinobi

F-16 Fighting Falcon

Out Run

Gangster Town

After Burner

Parlour Games

Black Belt

Rambo III

 

SEGA GENESIS

 

Genesis II

Power Supply

2 Controllers

1 Game

 

Hard Drivin'

 

So I made a pretty good haul, I might sell the extra Heavy Sixer (I already have one) so if anyone is interested, message me.

[lhfreak]

HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL!

 

Nice score!!!

 

[shadow460]

$15 is a good price for the heavy sixer alone. Consider everything else part of your tax free weekend!

[phaxda]

Shhhhh. Don't tell people about that flea market...

 

Good score, though. I slept in today!

[Philflound]

I keep trying to go to this flea market every Sunday that's like an hour away from me and so far it's been raining. It may rain tomorrow too. I'm glad there's still good stuff to find in the wild!

 

Phil

[Polybius]

Wow, What a score!

[teh_d3th_st4r]

Shhhhh. Don't tell people about that flea market...

 

Good score, though. I slept in today!

 

ROFL, I very nearly stayed in bed as well, I was up late the night before drinkin' bourbon and playing Halo 3. I was pwning teenagers, telling them that they suck and implying that their mom is a whore.

 

But man, I love that sweet ass flea market, I've been going there for the last 17 years or so, it's awesome.

[atarinut76]

I keep trying to go to this flea market every Sunday that's like an hour away from me and so far it's been raining. It may rain tomorrow too. I'm glad there's still good stuff to find in the wild!

 

Phil

Hey Phil, your a few hours from me what flea market do you go to?

[luckyinheritor]

That sounds an awful lot like what I got outta my parents' basement! Few different, few less games though. Good find!

[Philflound]

I keep trying to go to this flea market every Sunday that's like an hour away from me and so far it's been raining. It may rain tomorrow too. I'm glad there's still good stuff to find in the wild!

 

Phil

Hey Phil, your a few hours from me what flea market do you go to?

 

I don't want to give away my sources. Actually I've never gotten there and again didn't go this week because of the rain. This Sunday is supposed to be nice though from what I can tell.

 

Phil

[Pitfall Harry]

I hit a flea market today. It was my first such visit in quite some time. I was rather surprised to see a few Atari items still out in the wild after all these years. First, I spotted an Atari 600 XL Home computer in its factory original box. At a different vendor's locale, I spotted 30 or so loose Atari 2600 game cartridges. None were too rare, nor were there any games that I didn't already have in my collection. So I left them there. From memory, some of the games were:

 

Pitfall (2 copies)

Pitfall II

Centipede

Missile Command

Combat

Ice Hockey

Fishing Derby

Private Eye

H.E.R.O.

Frogger

Frogger II: Threedeeep!

G.I. Joe

Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back

Pac-Man

Joust

Kangaroo

Demon Attack

and others

 

At least I didn't walk out of there empty-handed. Near the end of the day I spotted a guy selling old NES games for $2 each. I picked up 3 Wisdom Tree games that I did not have. I know it's nothing at all great to brag about, but Ned Flanders would have been envious.

 

I'm just amazed this stuff is still out there.

[Philflound]

I would've at least grabbed the Frogger II. I went to my flea market yesterday. It was in Dover, NJ. And it was horrible. Mostly new crap like socks, t-shirts, and cell phone cases. One lady had an Atari with a few games but was asking $40. She also had some boxed and sealed NES, which I probably would've bought at $3 each, but she wanted $10 each. She had nothing spectacular or maybe I would've spent that much. Anyway, it was a bust for me. I'm going to my normal thrift store today to see if anything good came in the past week.

 

Phil

[Pitfall Harry]

I would've at least grabbed the Frogger II. I went to my flea market yesterday. It was in Dover, NJ. And it was horrible. Mostly new crap like socks, t-shirts, and cell phone cases. One lady had an Atari with a few games but was asking $40. She also had some boxed and sealed NES, which I probably would've bought at $3 each, but she wanted $10 each. She had nothing spectacular or maybe I would've spent that much. Anyway, it was a bust for me. I'm going to my normal thrift store today to see if anything good came in the past week.

 

Phil

 

 

I didn't grab the Frogger II cart because I already have duplicates of it, three deep. And that strikes me as having the perfect number for this particular game.

[Philflound]

If it was cheap, I still would've bought it. Throw it up on Ebay and you'd probably get between $10-20.

 

Phil

[Pitfall Harry]

If it was cheap, I still would've bought it. Throw it up on Ebay and you'd probably get between $10-20.

 

Phil

 

I can understand you would have bought it. Everybody has different goals when it comes to collecting. For me, I have never looked at video game collecting as a source of income. I have always enjoyed finding old video games out in the wild for the sheer challenge of it. Virtually every item in my video game collection was acquired from doggedly scrounging through thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets, and very occasionally, by means of trades with other collectors. I've never sold anything on eBay, and I have no inclination of ever doing so. That's not an indictment on eBay or on eBay sellers. All I am saying is, that just isn't me.

 

Video game collecting has always been a hobby for me, pure and simple. If I see a Frogger II out in the wild, it is enough just to have spotted it. I'm a bit like an explorer who ventures deep into a forbidding jungle to track down rare game. Not to capture it per se'. The satisfaction I glean merely from sighting a rare jungle beast often justifies the safari.

 

Of course, if I spot a game I don't already own (not bloody likely), or if it's a game I don't have at least one backup copy of and I play it a lot, then I'll buy it and add it to my collection. But I cannot see the logic in buying a game for the sole purpose of selling it. It is fun for me just to have seen the game and left it there for some other collector to discover and get a great deal on a rare item he or she did not already own. If I buy to sell, then video game hunting becomes more of a business and less of a hobby. I do not savor the idea of pitting one video game collector against the other on eBay, who will then invariably drive the price to a point where neither will get a good deal on a game I bought for much less and didn't even want in the first place.

 

Now, I realize the overwhelming likelihood has it that the Frogger II game I left behind will not be found by another video game enthusiast. Far more likely, it will be swooped up by one of the legion of iPod-toting business tycoons who scour five or six flea markets every day to buy anything and everything they have the slightest inkling might have "collectible" re-sale value on eBay. I can't stop the rain. And I surely can't stop it by becoming one of them. That is their business, not mine. But if I leave rare video games where I find them, then I have done my tiny little part of keeping the dream alive for the next intrepid game hunters who doggedly follow in the paths I blaze.

[teh_d3th_st4r]

If it was cheap, I still would've bought it. Throw it up on Ebay and you'd probably get between $10-20.

 

Phil

 

I can understand you would have bought it. Everybody has different goals when it comes to collecting. For me, I have never looked at video game collecting as a source of income. I have always enjoyed finding old video games out in the wild for the sheer challenge of it. Virtually every item in my video game collection was acquired from doggedly scrounging through thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets, and very occasionally, by means of trades with other collectors. I've never sold anything on eBay, and I have no inclination of ever doing so. That's not an indictment on eBay or on eBay sellers. All I am saying is, that just isn't me.

 

Video game collecting has always been a hobby for me, pure and simple. If I see a Frogger II out in the wild, it is enough just to have spotted it. I'm a bit like an explorer who ventures deep into a forbidding jungle to track down rare game. Not to capture it per se'. The satisfaction I glean merely from sighting a rare jungle beast often justifies the safari.

 

Of course, if I spot a game I don't already own (not bloody likely), or if it's a game I don't have at least one backup copy of and I play it a lot, then I'll buy it and add it to my collection. But I cannot see the logic in buying a game for the sole purpose of selling it. It is fun for me just to have seen the game and left it there for some other collector to discover and get a great deal on a rare item he or she did not already own. If I buy to sell, then video game hunting becomes more of a business and less of a hobby. I do not savor the idea of pitting one video game collector against the other on eBay, who will then invariably drive the price to a point where neither will get a good deal on a game I bought for much less and didn't even want in the first place.

 

Now, I realize the overwhelming likelihood has it that the Frogger II game I left behind will not be found by another video game enthusiast. Far more likely, it will be swooped up by one of the legion of iPod-toting business tycoons who scour five or six flea markets every day to buy anything and everything they have the slightest inkling might have "collectible" re-sale value on eBay. I can't stop the rain. And I surely can't stop it by becoming one of them. That is their business, not mine. But if I leave rare video games where I find them, then I have done my tiny little part of keeping the dream alive for the next intrepid game hunters who doggedly follow in the paths I blaze.

I only sell the leftovers, if I find a fat stack of game stuff in the wild for a price I can afford, I'll buy it, keep what I need, and then sell the rest to collectors for a reasonable price.