The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[Tanooki]

So yeah I had a small bit of nice fortune at one goodwill on the weekend I figured I'd share, not bothering with images though this time.

I got $14 into it, but the entire boxed set (box outer sleeve is somewhat thrashed on both edges) of Wii's Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock, and it appears the guitar most likely has never been used as it's all still in pieces and bags.  The decal sheets are still sealed up too and the strap is still bundled and tied up in its location, game looks to have been used a little as it's not perfect so someone looks to have just played in gamepad mode.  I know guitars used to be throw aways but gained in some value in recent years, found that the box set it like worth $60 so that's a score.  And elsewhere in the store a boxed set for PC Zoo Tycoon with the add-on disc too in its little cardboard box set for $2 and that's worth like $40.

 

The one other find, it's utterly mind blowing for me at least.  It's damaged, worst being the hole up top someone made when the original tab sheered off.  But yet despite that I caught this as it went out on the floor with a $2 sticker on it and snatched it fast.  I knew it was real, just not how old or more until I looked later.  Even a beat to hell one in worse shape than this with rust and paint loss is worth over $100.  This one is fairly clean and works perfectly.

[Bruce Tomlin]

On 11/7/2020 at 6:11 PM, fakecortex said:

That's crazy! I've seen carts with phone numbers on them, but ssn?! If someone finds a lost game, how would they even return it? Go to the police and have them tracked down by social security number? Wow. So stupid, haha.

SSN might imply a military family. Back in the 70s a lot of my family's stuff had my dad's SSN on it.

[HoshiChiri]

13 hours ago, Bruce Tomlin said:

SSN might imply a military family. Back in the 70s a lot of my family's stuff had my dad's SSN on it.

I grew up on base in the 80s/90s, don't remember that being a thing... although our cocker spainel had my mom's SSN tattooed on him- vet said it was the best way to make sure if he got picked up by animal control to prove he had an owner. This was done off-base though (and obviously before microchipping pets was a thing.)

[Silverfleet]

Not exactly a thrift find, but you gotta hear this one.

A few months ago, a buddy of mine sent me a text. He was cleaning out a relative's house who had deceased and came across some "old games". After looking over what he found, I was going nuts. I told him what it all was and what it goes for in case he wanted to sell it. He said, "No, this isn't for me, this is for YOU. You want this stuff? Otherwise, I'm going to toss it". Well, yeah I wanted it! I tried offering him money and he refused. We settled on some bike parts and good beer. I also repaired a guitar for him last year, so he said it was payback for that as well.

Tonight, I finally met up with him. This is what he gave me:


Tons of NES games, most with instructions! There were even manuals that didn't go to these games that I needed for my existing collection, like Zelda and Castlevania III.

 

Some quality Game Gear games, especially Space Harrier and Halley Wars.



Rental case SMB2 and a sealed SNES Ascii Pad. Gotta love those old NES rental cases.



CIB Diablo for the PS1, which is hard to find.



Some GBA games, one of them being Doom!



And to top it off, some quality cassettes in excellent shape!

The NES game haul had some really great games. Here's some highlights:



Mega Man with the instructions! I have never seen the instruction manual for this game. The cover art looks even worse, which I didn't think was possible.



Batman Returns, which is tough to find. Good little beat-em-up that came out at the end of the NES's run.



GI Joe: The Atlantis Factor, a game I've always wanted but never had.

And the crown jewel:


Sword Master with the instructions!!! This is a cool side scrolling Castlevania-esque game, and I have never seen a copy with my own two eyes until tonight.

There was even more, but it was later-gen stuff and my friend kept it (and rightfully so). I still cannot believe he gave this stuff to me; I am floored. They were going to toss it out! I can't believe this stuff is still out there. This is my first gaming pickup since before the pandemic started, and I would say the wait was worth it. 

[Asaki]

16 hours ago, Silverfleet said:

Sword Master with the instructions!!! This is a cool side scrolling Castlevania-esque game, and I have never seen a copy with my own two eyes until tonight.

Never even played this one. Kind of looks like Castle of Dragon.

[Silverfleet]

4 hours ago, Asaki said:

Never even played this one. Kind of looks like Castle of Dragon.

It's the sequel to Castle of Dragon! I have that game as well, and it's one of those games that looks great, sounds great, and unfortunately plays terribly. Sword Master is much better. 

[Asaki]

I always liked Castle of Dragon when I was a kid, even though I couldn't get very far.

[Silverfleet]

28 minutes ago, Asaki said:

I always liked Castle of Dragon when I was a kid, even though I couldn't get very far.

I don't think I can get past the 1st stage! ?

[+thegoldenband]

Both Castle of Dragon and Sword Master have an odd gimmick: after you get a GAME OVER, you keep the health you earned in your previous attempt! Or something like that, anyway.

 

I beat Castle of Dragon earlier this year and need to replay Sword Master, as it's one of a steadily-shrinking number of games that I've only beaten with the aid of savestates. I like both games, though the double-jump in Sword Master is unreasonably finicky -- it plays like a glitch, not a feature.

[KeeperofLindblum]

Had a sort of "thrift find", by which I mean a random side of the road find. Was on my way to work when I spotted... a CRT TV on the road! I picked it up and continued to work.

 

Tested it when I had a moment at work, and it was working great! Has some minor cosmetic damage, but otherwise it's a nice flat CRT Sanyo. (Remote beside the TV is for the one next to it.)

 

I'd post the model number, but the sticker on the back was all torn up and faded. 

 

 

[joeatari1]

^^^Nice find, I have the same TV at home.  It has a good picture but nothing extraordinary.  I haven't used it in a few years though.

[+thegoldenband]

That reminds me -- a while back I saw a really nice CRT with component inputs by the side of the road, but (a) it was huge, (b) it might have been weather-ed upon, and (c) the power cord had been cut.

 

Broke my heart, but I couldn't justify taking it, especially given the likelihood that it just didn't work (I hope that's why the cord was cut, and not just out of spite/lawsuit paranoia?). My Toshiba with composite inputs is enough for me, at least for now.

[fakecortex]

I've seen TVs on the road or by dumpsters with their cords cut before too, makes me upset. What kind of life did that tv have before it was heartlessly struck down? What kind of old games could it have gone on to play? ? I'm wondering if it has to do with not getting in the way when the trash guys pick it up; like maybe it's at their request?

[Asaki]

Replacing the power cord isn't difficult, though.

But yeah, definitely a gamble, especially if it's been left out in the rain for a while.

[ussexplorer]

On 11/14/2020 at 9:19 PM, Silverfleet said:

Not exactly a thrift find, but you gotta hear this one.

A few months ago, a buddy of mine sent me a text. He was cleaning out a relative's house who had deceased and came across some "old games". After looking over what he found, I was going nuts. I told him what it all was and what it goes for in case he wanted to sell it. He said, "No, this isn't for me, this is for YOU. You want this stuff? Otherwise, I'm going to toss it". Well, yeah I wanted it! I tried offering him money and he refused. We settled on some bike parts and good beer. I also repaired a guitar for him last year, so he said it was payback for that as well.

Tonight, I finally met up with him. This is what he gave me:


Tons of NES games, most with instructions! There were even manuals that didn't go to these games that I needed for my existing collection, like Zelda and Castlevania III.

 

Some quality Game Gear games, especially Space Harrier and Halley Wars.



Rental case SMB2 and a sealed SNES Ascii Pad. Gotta love those old NES rental cases.



CIB Diablo for the PS1, which is hard to find.



Some GBA games, one of them being Doom!



And to top it off, some quality cassettes in excellent shape!

The NES game haul had some really great games. Here's some highlights:



Mega Man with the instructions! I have never seen the instruction manual for this game. The cover art looks even worse, which I didn't think was possible.



Batman Returns, which is tough to find. Good little beat-em-up that came out at the end of the NES's run.



GI Joe: The Atlantis Factor, a game I've always wanted but never had.

And the crown jewel:


Sword Master with the instructions!!! This is a cool side scrolling Castlevania-esque game, and I have never seen a copy with my own two eyes until tonight.

There was even more, but it was later-gen stuff and my friend kept it (and rightfully so). I still cannot believe he gave this stuff to me; I am floored. They were going to toss it out! I can't believe this stuff is still out there. This is my first gaming pickup since before the pandemic started, and I would say the wait was worth it. 

When the local video rental place in my small town closed down. Not only did I purchased the small collection of Genesis games from him. I asked him about the trash bag full of rental cases for the games. He said he was going to throw them out. So I got those for free.

[Elvis]

OK Friday I went to a indoor flea market. I found a gospel album record and 4 video games. Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis for the Xbox. Yes I know it is a bad game but I always wanted it and Batman. Superman too. I did not own a Xbox in those days. I wanted one though and go it later. I also got Sega Jordan VS Bird, SNES Play action Football. I used to rent it some back in the day. Hudson soft Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball for the super Nintendo. 10 dollars a game but he said 5 dollars off each game. So 20 dollars. So how did I do. and do you own any of those games.

 

 

 

[Mitkraft]

@Elvis If you are interested in gospel albums I actually have quite a few in my “to sell” pile that I never seem to get around to cleaning, grading, researching and listing.  Send me a message if you’d like me to dig them out and show you what I have.

[Bruce Tomlin]

Still staying home and digging into the attic now that the Texas weather has finally stopped being hot. But I finally found my Gamecube (and the missing Zelda TP disc that I knew was in it), my fat PS2, and my "dev" Sega Genesis (with a DB-9 installed in the "modem" port for serial debugging at a blazing 4800 baud!). Also a big box full of Sega stuff including a floppy disc game copier. (it supports SNES but didn't have the slot adapter)

[Tanooki]

I found a few things the last few days, no pics, I'm lazy.

 

Online I snapped up a deal for 2 inoperative handhelds, a GBC and a DMG unit.  GBC looks like an easy fix, rotted battery connector (not the PCB attached side), and then a DMG that pops on and off with lines in the display which is also an easy fix, paid about 40 for them which unworking stupidly they're worth more than that now.  I'm currently repairing, refurbishing, and upgrading all the GB family of systems as I enjoy it to make a few bucks.

 

A week ago and this is related to earlier ago today, I hit this goodwill locally and they're infuriating now as they're full ebay PLUS on games...today was $80 for Pokemon XD on Gamecube, so I ignored it.  But last week I found for $3 for original 90s Pokemon and BD&A N64/GB (RBY) era beanie plushies which are worth around $100 together about.  Today, after getting annoyed, I checked the bin again, found another this 8-10" tall 1998 Pikachu which has a battery box, motor and lights and sound for $2.  It's like a $30-40 plushie and the last owner left the batteries out so no rot, now it's near my desk.   And then swinging around back towards home, half price books was about half price?!  I finally got Advance Wars for a price I wanted to pay ($20, not $35-40) so that's going into my GBA here today to play.

[Elvis]

Today I got EndWar, Destiny, Gears Of War 3, for the Xbox 360. And Bulls VS. Blazers, and Ren&Stempy Veediots for the SNES. King Of The Monsters for the Sega Genesis. All used. And I noticed something. All my PS1 games I bough new years ago 20 dollars or less they sold them for big time money. SNES games I own with boxes big time money. Wow. I got PS 1 games new 20 and under for most of them. Wow.

[+GoldLeader]

On 11/30/2020 at 9:18 AM, Bruce Tomlin said:

Still staying home and digging into the attic now that the Texas weather has finally stopped being hot. But I finally found my Gamecube (and the missing Zelda TP disc that I knew was in it), my fat PS2, and my "dev" Sega Genesis (with a DB-9 installed in the "modem" port for serial debugging at a blazing 4800 baud!). Also a big box full of Sega stuff including a floppy disc game copier. (it supports SNES but didn't have the slot adapter)

Is that an MGH (Multi Game Hunter) by chance?   I have one of those.   My original one broke for the SNES side so I sent it in for repair and it came back broken on the Genesis side!  Then I got one cheap on eBay because it had no cart adaptor for either side,  So now I have a working one on both SNES and Genesis, though I never use it as I have Everdrives etc. haha...

[fakecortex]

On 11/30/2020 at 11:18 AM, Bruce Tomlin said:

Still staying home and digging into the attic now that the Texas weather has finally stopped being hot. But I finally found my Gamecube (and the missing Zelda TP disc that I knew was in it), my fat PS2, and my "dev" Sega Genesis (with a DB-9 installed in the "modem" port for serial debugging at a blazing 4800 baud!). Also a big box full of Sega stuff including a floppy disc game copier. (it supports SNES but didn't have the slot adapter)

I have a Super Magicom, which supports snes and genesis. Used to confuse the crap out of my friends bitd, but I had one hell of a snes library ?

[+GoldLeader]

On 11/14/2020 at 9:19 PM, Silverfleet said:

Not exactly a thrift find, but you gotta hear this one.

A few months ago, a buddy of mine sent me a text. He was cleaning out a relative's house who had deceased and came across some "old games". After looking over what he found, I was going nuts. I told him what it all was and what it goes for in case he wanted to sell it. He said, "No, this isn't for me, this is for YOU. You want this stuff? Otherwise, I'm going to toss it". Well, yeah I wanted it! I tried offering him money and he refused. We settled on some bike parts and good beer. I also repaired a guitar for him last year, so he said it was payback for that as well.

Tonight, I finally met up with him. This is what he gave me:


Tons of NES games, most with instructions! There were even manuals that didn't go to these games that I needed for my existing collection, like Zelda and Castlevania III.

 

Some quality Game Gear games, especially Space Harrier and Halley Wars.



Rental case SMB2 and a sealed SNES Ascii Pad. Gotta love those old NES rental cases.



CIB Diablo for the PS1, which is hard to find.



Some GBA games, one of them being Doom!



And to top it off, some quality cassettes in excellent shape!

The NES game haul had some really great games. Here's some highlights:



Mega Man with the instructions! I have never seen the instruction manual for this game. The cover art looks even worse, which I didn't think was possible.



Batman Returns, which is tough to find. Good little beat-em-up that came out at the end of the NES's run.



GI Joe: The Atlantis Factor, a game I've always wanted but never had.

And the crown jewel:


Sword Master with the instructions!!! This is a cool side scrolling Castlevania-esque game, and I have never seen a copy with my own two eyes until tonight.

There was even more, but it was later-gen stuff and my friend kept it (and rightfully so). I still cannot believe he gave this stuff to me; I am floored. They were going to toss it out! I can't believe this stuff is still out there. This is my first gaming pickup since before the pandemic started, and I would say the wait was worth it. 

 

Hey,  I know this isn't a contest,  but still I felt like telling you:

 

YOU WIN!!  

 

Nice score!!

[bluejay]

15 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

 

Hey,  I know this isn't a contest,  but still I felt like telling you:

 

YOU WIN!!  

 

Nice score!!

Our friends from 2002 say otherwise.

Edited December 8, 2020 by bluejay

[Silverfleet]

2 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

 

Hey,  I know this isn't a contest,  but still I felt like telling you:

 

YOU WIN!!  

 

Nice score!!

Ha, thanks! The kicker about all of this is the condition of everything. It's like all of this went into a storage bin sometime in the mid-90's and forgotten. Every single game board is perfect with no corrosion or anything. The cassettes don't look like they have ever been played. 

I think I used up all my gaming karma for the next few years with this haul.