The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[Asaki]

Just picked this lot up for a grand total of $9.50 The box has a Sony receiver w/remote, Audiosource full surround and bunch of monster cable plus all the Atari stuff and video card.

But does the video card box actually have the right video card inside?

 

Every time I find a box like that at a thrift, I look inside, and of course...someone bought a new card, and put the old (useless) card inside the box =|

[Hyperboy]

But does the video card box actually have the right video card inside?

 

Every time I find a box like that at a thrift, I look inside, and of course...someone bought a new card, and put the old (useless) card inside the box =|

The card is there but the cables/dongles and everything else is missing. That's usually the case for me too, only junk inside.

[Asaki]

Cables and dongles for a video card?

[Hyperboy]

S-Video and composite and a DVI to VGA dongle.

[Fushek]

Was buying Odyssey 2 games for our collection (my wife's system that she grew up with) in the bargain bin at our local Exchange store. Great deal at .50/each for the boxed games that we didn't have. They had TONS of extras of each game. As I was checking out with around 24 games, the store manager asked if I had "cleaned him out". I said no that I left the duplicates ... and then he said he'd sell me all of the remaining Odyssey games for a total of 2.50. Ummm ... OK! So I walked out with everything that you see below for around $31.00. Bunch of Atari 2600 commons ... the 5 Atari Lynx games are sealed. The last two pictures are the ones that we're keeping for our collection.

 

[Asaki]

S-Video and composite and a DVI to VGA dongle.

I didn't know video cards came with those things, I just have a bunch of them laying around.

[orangest]

 

Goodwill pickups for $5.99 each:

 

DS:

Dragon Ball Origins

Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans

Bleach-The Blade of Fate

Bleach-The 3rd Phantom

 

Wii: Sonic Sega All-Stars Racing

 

PS2: Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution (sealed)

[cybercylon]

Was buying Odyssey 2 games for our collection (my wife's system that she grew up with) in the bargain bin at our local Exchange store. Great deal at .50/each for the boxed games that we didn't have. They had TONS of extras of each game. As I was checking out with around 24 games, the store manager asked if I had "cleaned him out". I said no that I left the duplicates ... and then he said he'd sell me all of the remaining Odyssey games for a total of 2.50. Ummm ... OK! So I walked out with everything that you see below for around $31.00. Bunch of Atari 2600 commons ... the 5 Atari Lynx games are sealed. The last two pictures are the ones that we're keeping for our collection.

 

 

I rarely see stuff like this in the Exchange stores around the Pittsburgh area... at least not in that quantity.

Edited October 14, 2013 by cybercylon

[Hyperboy]

I rarely see stuff like this in the Exchange stores around the Pittsburgh area... at least not in that quantity.

Last year the Exchange on McKnight Rd wanted me to buy a boxed Odyssey2 and around 15 boxed games, I had already bought a few hundred dollars worth and when they offered me know the Odyssey 2 stuff for $30 my son bought it for his collection. Its hit and miss at the exchange but worth looking the store over for out of place stuff.

[Fushek]

I rarely see stuff like this in the Exchange stores around the Pittsburgh area... at least not in that quantity.

 

They expanded about a year ago and added some older stuff at that time (Commodore, Atari, Intellivision and Odyssey). The Commodore stuff found their way into the bargain bin (which I bought most of) and I was biding my time until the Odyssey stuff did. Also bought some old board games while I was there that I resold for some VERY nice profit (my best eBay sales ever, actually). That store has been very good to me. I've stopped at other stores and didn't see anything nearly as good as this one, but this one is about 1 minute from where I work so I can stop in anytime that I want and know exactly what they have.

 

Definitely always worth looking around and checking out the "odd" stuff that they're not sure how to price or stuff that won't move quickly.

[cybercylon]

Last year the Exchange on McKnight Rd wanted me to buy a boxed Odyssey2 and around 15 boxed games, I had already bought a few hundred dollars worth and when they offered me know the Odyssey 2 stuff for $30 my son bought it for his collection. Its hit and miss at the exchange but worth looking the store over for out of place stuff.

That is one I frequent as well as the newer one in Oakland. I heard the one in Monroeville can have the older stuff, but that is a PITA for me to get to.

 

All hit or miss I guess. Mostly, I have been looking for older PS2 and PSP rpgs that I missed, and have gotten some decent deals by being patient... when their inventory goes up, the price goes down...

[Hyperboy]

That is one I frequent as well as the newer one in Oakland. I heard the one in Monroeville can have the older stuff, but that is a PITA for me to get to.

 

All hit or miss I guess. Mostly, I have been looking for older PS2 and PSP rpgs that I missed, and have gotten some decent deals by being patient... when their inventory goes up, the price goes down...

My best haul was from the Monroeville store back 3 year or so, every other visit has been weak.

I bought every single Atari cart they had from all the stores, they were going to get rid of them. I paid .10 each cart if I took the whole lot, I did and there was over 200 carts, mostly commons.

[CGQuarterly]

 

Craigslist find. Everything in the picture was $140. The CD drive works just fine, as does the 6-button controller. Not the best selection of games outside of Raiden, but for that price, I ain't complaining. The crazy thing i that this was on CL for a week before I saw it. It was miscategorized and not well-listed, and I love in a small town outside of a metropolitan area, and people don't generally want to drive all the way over here.

 

Thrift scoops from the last couple of weeks. The gaming significance of the "OBEY" hat is only obvious if you're a regular over at PCEngineFX. The little calculator is from Commodore, so that's neat. Sensible Soccer and the A-Train Construction Set are still sealed. The thingy still in it's package is a PS2 -> PS3 controller adapter. The two PC games in the jewel cases are The Zork Anthology and The Roberta Williams Anthology, and the GB game is Kirby Pinball whatever (came inside the black GB.

[Seethransom]

Lucky to find that converter!

 

I'm jelly about the Jag...

Edited October 15, 2013 by Seethransom

[mmbe]

Here are some of my most recent purchases:

 

Ebay - $3.99 with free shipping for both:

 

GBA - Batman Begins cartrtidge

GBA - Catwoman cartridge

 

Local Garage Sale - $2.00 each - all complete

 

PS2 - Disney's Treasure Planet

PS2 - Driven

PS2 - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow

PS2 - Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon

[vrocko]

Well, the yard sale season is winding down in these parts. Haven't had time to post much of my finds this summer either, what little there was. The funny thing is that most of my best finds weren't even game stuff! Plus, I'm to the point where it's hard to find stuff I don't have, so I only buy game items it I think I can make a profit reselling it.

 

Game stuff:

 

Red Wii, one game, all hookups, Red Wiimote Plus with Nunchuch - $45.00 (yard sale)

 

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Nintendo 3DS - $45.00

 

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Loose SNES Justifier Gun - $3.00 (yard sale)

 

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Sony PSP (fat) 100% complete in box, and like new - $40.00 (yard sale)

 

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Nintendo GBA-SP Black, case 2 games, accessories - $5.00 (yard sale) - Absolutely like brand new. Just wish it was a brighter screen model.

 

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Coleco Donkey Kong Junior Table Top - $20.00 - It's in fantastic condition too, (flea market)

 

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Mattell Battlestar Galactica Handheld (1979) - $7.00 - Again, top notch condition (antique store)

 

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Tomy "Daring Driver" Mini Arcade - $10.00 (antique store)

 

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Electronic Scrabble game - $5.00 - (yard sale) This one is weird, you still use an actual Scrabble board, but this acts as an opponent.

 

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Random Wii and PS2 games (yard sale) - $2-$3 each

 

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Sonic Pinball game from Tomy - $2.00 - I like pinball, I collect Tomy toys, and I'm a huge Sonic fan, what's not to love? This is actually the SECOND one of these I've bought this year, after never seeing one before.

 

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Sears Talking Computron with box and manual - I think from around 1985 - $1.00 works too!

 

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Tomytronic Tron game, 100% complete in box, and fantastic condition - $58.00 shipped - Ok, this was from Ebay, but still a hell of a deal! I've wanted one of these for years. It's a fun game too, which is probably why they are hard to find in good condition since kids actually played them.

 

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Except for a few odds and ends that was is for thrifty game finds this year.

 

Now, on to Non- game stuff!

 

Yamaha SHS-10 Keyboard from 1986, $20.00 - (yard sale) - Absolutely like new condition, probably never played, the strap was still wrapped up in plastic. This thing is super cool, and quite collectible as well, comparable ones go for $200-$250 on Ebay.

 

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Casio SK-1 Sampling Keyboard from 1985, 100% complete in box, all paperwork etc. - $7.00 (Thrift store) - Again, like the Yamaha, just perfect. I don't really even play keys (bass or guitar for me) but these are so much fun! The SK-1 was the first commercial sampling keyboard for the masses.

 

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Gibson Tenor Ukulele 1960 - $400 - (Craigslist) Ok, doesn't sound very thrifty, but this thing is AWESOME, and $400 was a STEAL. Make in Kalamazoo, MI, it's my first Gibson anything.

 

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And the find that has probably seen more use than anything above since we picked it up a few months back (except maybe the ukulele)

 

A Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine - This caught my eye at a sale in a nice neighborhood. I had read bread machine reviews a few years ago and recalled this being a good brand. Looked it up on my phone real quick and confirmed that this was a $250 machine and was in brand new condition, with manual. Maybe the best $15.00 I've spent all year! We use it at least once a week, I even used it to make strawberry rhubarb jam just this evening.

 

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Battlestar Galactica! Haven't seen that one in awhile. Used to have one but I think it got sold at a garage sale. Not a bad game if you're into the red led lights for vipers and raiders.

 

[MagnaFarce]

Last night my friend texted me and asked me if I wanted to go to the flea market this morning. It had been a while since my last excursion, so I was all for it. Had some really exciting finds! Listed in the order I bought them.

Children's Discovery System in a really ratty box with three cartridges and some paperwork. The battery compartment is fused shut from corrosion, so I'll have to go at it and see if I can't fix it up. Got it all for $5.

 

Two N64 rumble packs and two memory cards, all in this box for $5. I've been thinking about getting a rumble pack for a while, so this is pretty nice. The transparent one has a bit of corrosion in the battery compartment, but it looks like an easy fix.

 

Burnable Laserdisc. Exciting stuff for a Laserdisc collector like myself since I don't see them very often. Unfortunately, it's not a blank disc, as it has a recording of some first grade classroom on it.
Commodore power supply from same vendor. $4 for both, talked down from $6.

 

These are all from the same vendor, but I put them in two separate pictures because the 5200 is so freakin' huge. The Atari 5200 console had no controllers, power supply, or switch box. I bought it for $5 after I talked them down from $15. The disc cam is something I've wanted for a while because I consider it an interesting part of consumer camera history, and the Dreamcast controller was picked up on a whim, both for $1 each.

 

Three boxes of double density floppy disks, perfect for my Atari 520STfm. All three for $4, talked down from $6. There were fourteen more boxes, all sealed, but I was getting low on cash and didn't feel like I really needed many more than three boxes.

 

A bunch of memory and cards I got in a package deal. My friend was buying a couple hard drives and cables for $10, but the seller said he'd throw in a few more hard drives and all this if we'd give him $15. I threw in the other $5 and got all these out of it. I'm probably only going to keep the pile on the right, so if anything on the left looks like something you'd want let me know and you can have it for the cost of shipping.

 

 

Another good find my friend had was an M-Audio MIDI controller for $15. We're going to custom paint it for when his band does live shows.

Edited October 17, 2013 by MagnaFarce

[Asaki]

I've been thinking about getting a rumble pack for a while, so this is pretty nice.

 

There's a mod someone posted somewhere here to make the Rumble Pak use the 5 volts from the console instead of having to use batteries, you'll have to find it. It's super easy, and I haven't noticed any ill side effects from it yet.

 

...the Dreamcast controller was picked up on a whim, both for $1 each.

 

By now, I've got four official DC controllers (all white), one MadKatz controller (which I'll probably mod into a joystick or something one of these days), a Jump Pack, a TremorPak, and I'm not even sure how many VMUs I have now...a black one, a red one, I think two white ones, and I recently picked up the Sega branded 4x card.

 

...I think I might be just about fully stocked...

 

On a side note, I had to look up what the Jump Pack was called. Now I know.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Asaki

[Master Phruby]

Picked up a 3DO FZ-1 at Goodwill today. It works but doesn't have a controller. Came with a Soccer in the tray. Also picked up another Game Cube controller. They had lots of original Playstations. One even had a memory expansion card plugged into the expansion port. Not sure what good that is.

[Asaki]

Went to Play 'n' Trade the other day, and the used game market seems to be getting even worse =( A handful of good games that are too expensive, and everything else is just sports and junk. They didn't have a single Sega Genesis game worth buying.

 

Ended up grabbing Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for $10, I've been meaning to grab that one for a long time now.

 

I almost grabbed an N64 game, but when I picked it up, rust dust literally fell out of it O_O Not a gamble I felt like taking.

[Seethransom]

I just got my Coleco off of eBay for $18.88 +12shipping. Came with 5 games. No RF cord, which is why they could not test it. There is no light that turns on, so I knew it would work.

 

I found a Wii at Goodwill for $40. It was only missing the numchuck. I have the Homebrew on it, but have not figured out how to play back-ups yet.

 

The Goodwill also had a NES, and SNES for $25 each. They were beat, and had no cords. I passed on those.

 

I am just about finished with my collection (Still need Adventure)...for now Now, I want to find stuff to sell, to make my money back).

[+thegoldenband]

Went to a Craigslist yard sale today that advertised video games, and came away with:

 

- six Genesis games, all CIB, including Starflight with map (!) - $21

- complete US Microvision collection, including working system and one or two loose doubles; everything CIB except the system itself - $75

 

I actually wrote to the seller beforehand to confirm that he was enforcing his "no early birds" policy. He confirmed it, but noted that he'd had people coming by his house two days before the sale (!!). I got there 20 minutes early and, sure enough, there were three guys already there, waiting for them to bring the video game stuff out. One of them had gotten there at 7:00 a.m., two hours before the posted starting time.

 

The other guys seemed basically reasonable and respectful, but this guy's behavior was pretty ridiculous. He seemed personable enough beforehand, but once the games were out, he was darting in front of everyone, grabbing everything he could get his hands on, and pretty much acting like Gollum. I think he even claimed that he expected to have first dibs since he'd been waiting the longest (to which I replied "This isn't a deli"). He cherrypicked the Master System games, grabbing ALF, King's Quest, and a couple other titles I might like to have had (though I already have ALF), but I was mainly there for the Genesis and Microvision anyway.

 

I think he pissed everyone off (including me), and I believe he wanted to buy the seller out completely, but I think the seller preferred to deal with the rest of us first; maybe this guy's antics put him off too, or maybe he just thought he'd get a better price that way -- who knows. I commiserated with the guy's wife before I left, as I think she was pretty flabbergasted by the feeding frenzy. At least the Gollum guy seemed like a collector rather than a reseller, but still, it was pretty distasteful.

 

Either way, I got what I came for, so I'm content. The other Genesis games are nothing special (though I got Hit the Ice, which I believe is fairly rare), but the Microvision deal is a pretty good one, no? I thought it was one game shy of a complete US collection, but I think the one that's not there is either a variant or a European exclusive.

[Seethransom]

Those kind of creeps take the fun out the whole thing.

[Grig]

Wow what an assclown

[AtariLeaf]

Wow what an assclown