The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[Chuck D. Head]

OK, I had a decent trip to the Goodwill "surplus" store, but like usual it was a circus. All sorts of oddballs rooting through big bins of dirty jumbled junk. It looks like a school of pirahnas when they bring out new bins from the back, but this time I jumped in and started digging....

 

These three were $1 ea (all cd / dvd are $1):

 

PS2 - Warhawk

PS2 - Spyro 2

Dreamcast - NFL2k Complete

 

This stuff was $1.59 a pound for a total $6.51 for all:

 

NES - Metroid (nice condition)

PS1 controller (nice)

PS1 Spongebob controller

Genesis controller 3 button

Playstation RF switch

Playstation RCA av cable

Surge protector strip (nice one)

Light bulb for the wife's fish tank hood

super sweet RCA brand RF modulator (RCA in RF out w/ channel 3/4 switch)

 

SomeGuy beat me to a few other Dreamcast games, one of which was Nights

 

Morgan

[AtariLeaf]

Picked up one of these for $2 at Value Village:

[Silverfleet]

I hit up a Savers yesterday, and scored 3 NES games and a nice regular Saturn controller. The 3 games were Dr Mario (boxed, no instructions), Road Runner (also boxed with no instructions) and Arkanoid (loose, but with instructions). No, the Arkanoid controller wasn't there. I paid $18 for all of that. I figured it's worth it because Arkanoid seems to be getting scarce, and I haven't seen a boxed Tengen game in the wild since I bought Gauntlet brand new back in grade school. I passed on some other stuff, like a $2 PS2 Eye Toy and a $7 Gamecube.

[+FujiSkunk]

At the same thrift where I found a Vader 2600 two weeks earlier, I scored this dandy little haul this past weekend.

 

 

That's my first Sega Sports controller, and three of the Master System games plus Cyberball for the Genesis are new to my collection. All of the boxed games included the manual, so I finally have a manual for Phantasy Star. The only drawback was the cartridges had the former owner's name written on them, but at this point I'm not complaining.

 

I actually left behind a lot more SMS games, mostly more commons that I already have, sometimes twice over. But I figure if any are still there next weekend, I'll take them off their hands.

Edited July 21, 2010 by FujiSkunk

[Jess Ragan]

Have you tried that Sports Pad? Although I don't put too much stock in his reviews, the Video Game Critic claims that it's the absolute worst trackball he's ever used. I dearly hope this is only his opinion, because trackballs for game systems (especially the newer ones) aren't easy to come by and this is currently the only one in my possession.

[Shephda]

OK, I had a decent trip to the Goodwill "surplus" store, but like usual it was a circus. All sorts of oddballs rooting through big bins of dirty jumbled junk. It looks like a school of pirahnas when they bring out new bins from the back, but this time I jumped in and started digging....

 

These three were $1 ea (all cd / dvd are $1):

 

PS2 - Warhawk

PS2 - Spyro 2

Dreamcast - NFL2k Complete

 

This stuff was $1.59 a pound for a total $6.51 for all:

 

NES - Metroid (nice condition)

PS1 controller (nice)

PS1 Spongebob controller

Genesis controller 3 button

Playstation RF switch

Playstation RCA av cable

Surge protector strip (nice one)

Light bulb for the wife's fish tank hood

super sweet RCA brand RF modulator (RCA in RF out w/ channel 3/4 switch)

 

SomeGuy beat me to a few other Dreamcast games, one of which was Nights

 

Morgan

 

Nice haul!.

We have a Goodwill® store here exactly like that one. We refer to it as the "Pick-n-Pull".

Reminds me of the bar scene from Star Wars®. Some of the "humans" will kill to get at that one item that will sell for a million dollars on e-Bay® and release them from their pathetic life.

[Almost Rice]

I picked up Dell 3 laptops P3 to P4 era for $5 to $10 each. I just need some ram and HD.

[+FujiSkunk]

Have you tried that Sports Pad? Although I don't put too much stock in his reviews, the Video Game Critic claims that it's the absolute worst trackball he's ever used. I dearly hope this is only his opinion, because trackballs for game systems (especially the newer ones) aren't easy to come by and this is currently the only one in my possession.

 

Haven't tried it yet, but I'll post a review when I do. Since this is my first, I'm not yet really familiar with the controller or what kind of game support it has. I got some homework to do!

[SnapCraft]

Have you tried that Sports Pad? Although I don't put too much stock in his reviews, the Video Game Critic claims that it's the absolute worst trackball he's ever used. I dearly hope this is only his opinion, because trackballs for game systems (especially the newer ones) aren't easy to come by and this is currently the only one in my possession.

 

Haven't tried it yet, but I'll post a review when I do. Since this is my first, I'm not yet really familiar with the controller or what kind of game support it has. I got some homework to do!

 

I have, I kind of like it with a little Zaxxon 3D (believe it or not). I think the SMS Trackball is better than the junky Atari 2600 version--by far.

[Uzumaki]

Have you tried that Sports Pad? Although I don't put too much stock in his reviews, the Video Game Critic claims that it's the absolute worst trackball he's ever used. I dearly hope this is only his opinion, because trackballs for game systems (especially the newer ones) aren't easy to come by and this is currently the only one in my possession.

 

Haven't tried it yet, but I'll post a review when I do. Since this is my first, I'm not yet really familiar with the controller or what kind of game support it has. I got some homework to do!

 

I have, I kind of like it with a little Zaxxon 3D (believe it or not). I think the SMS Trackball is better than the junky Atari 2600 version--by far.

 

In joystick mode, I find it works great for Reactor for 2600. Yes it works on 2600 and just about any console that are compatible with Atari controller.

[Shephda]

Nice small score today at the thrift for $16.

Donkey Kong Country

Wing Commander: The Secret Missions

Earth Worm Jim 2

Super Street Fighter II

Mega Man X

[Reaperman]

grabbed a few psp UMD's at the thrift store yesterday for $6 each. not a super deal, but I think a pretty fair price. They had a bunch but I got:

 

Star Wars Battlefront II

Sims 2

Daxter

Ratchet and Clank Size Matters

 

Two of them had a cracked cases, so I used it as an excuse to order 10 replacement cases.

UMD's were just a really dumb idea from a durability standpoint. Sure we can use them forever without problems, but the rest of the world sure can't.

[Chuck D. Head]

Picked up one of these for $2 at Value Village:

Thats a hell of deal and not easy to find. Is it the one in the pic, cause it looks very clean? Does it work? How does it play? Sigh, I keep dreaming of finding that Scramble handheld at a thrift store someday....Morgan

[thegamezmaster]

Not a bad day. Picked up Snes Harvest Moon for $4 and N64 Harvest Moon for $2. Also got a brand new Eveready Wii rechargable setup for $10. Not too bad.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Not a bad day. Picked up Snes Harvest Moon for $4 and N64 Harvest Moon for $2. Also got a brand new Eveready Wii rechargable setup for $10. Not too bad.

 

 

Great deal! Did you find two Harvest Moon's for two different systems "in the wild"? Where did you find them?

[thegamezmaster]

Not a bad day. Picked up Snes Harvest Moon for $4 and N64 Harvest Moon for $2. Also got a brand new Eveready Wii rechargable setup for $10. Not too bad.

 

 

Great deal! Did you find two Harvest Moon's for two different systems "in the wild"? Where did you find them?

 

 

Belive it or not at two different thrift stores!

[AtariLeaf]

Picked up one of these for $2 at Value Village:

Thats a hell of deal and not easy to find. Is it the one in the pic, cause it looks very clean? Does it work? How does it play? Sigh, I keep dreaming of finding that Scramble handheld at a thrift store someday....Morgan

 

Yep that's the one I bought but its a little flakey. I doesn't always want to turn on and doesn't always stay on. I took it apart and cleaned the contacts so its a little better but the components look very cheap. As for how it plays, well lets just say that even if it did work perfectly I wouldn't be spending much time with it LOL. Not nearly as good as the Entex Space Invaders handheld I got a week or so ago.

 

Also picked up a loose NES Tengen RBI Baseball 2 for $2, a CIB Genesis Micro Machines for $4 and that CIB Genesis Starflight for $8 that I was eyeing last week

[4Ks]

Picked up one of these for $2 at Value Village:

Thats a hell of deal and not easy to find. Is it the one in the pic, cause it looks very clean? Does it work? How does it play? Sigh, I keep dreaming of finding that Scramble handheld at a thrift store someday....Morgan

 

Yep that's the one I bought but its a little flakey. I doesn't always want to turn on and doesn't always stay on. I took it apart and cleaned the contacts so its a little better but the components look very cheap. As for how it plays, well lets just say that even if it did work perfectly I wouldn't be spending much time with it LOL. Not nearly as good as the Entex Space Invaders handheld I got a week or so ago.

 

Also picked up a loose NES Tengen RBI Baseball 2 for $2, a CIB Genesis Micro Machines for $4 and that CIB Genesis Starflight for $8 that I was eyeing last week

 

Those dedicated home arcades are cool, but getting a good one can be expensive. I really wish I had bought the Coleco Pac-Man mini-cabinet I saw at Slackers for $25, since those things go for at least twice that anywhere else.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

I haven't found old school carts in the wild recently...until today. They were in a box on the ground so you wouldn't know unless you were looking and digging in the boxes. My 10 year old son found these for me while my dumb-ass was going to look at the crappy CD's they had. My new side-kick rules!

 

They had a bunch of common Colecovision carts but to be honest, I was short on cash as this was the last sale of the day and was found on the way back home. Plus, in with the Coleco were N64 games and did I mention that all games were $1 each at this sale? But, DK Junior for Coleco was priced the same as Zelda for N64 so I had to pick out what really looked good to go with what I had the cash for. I was especially happy with the random yard sale XONOX single-ender find although wish it was 2600, who's trading? I did screw up a bit on the Centipede because it has no end label which I failed to check in the blasting Arizona heat. Anyway, I came out with this stuff, check that AZ Cardinals foam hat!

 

 

:!: PICS :!:

 

 

 

 

$3 - AZ Cardinals Football Foam Hat, retails on their website for $35 and the only one on ebay wants $30 plus ship.

 

$10 - Two 7-Disc Baby Einstein DVD sets so 14 of them and some are still sealed.

 

$1 each / ($4 TOTAL) - some Random DVD's with Kindergarten Cop for my son, he loves Arnold, a passion that is not shared by father/son.

 

$1 each / ($13 TOTAL) - 1 CIB Genesis Game, 3 ColecoVision Games, 9 N64 Games, Free Alien 2600 manual, Free 007 Box and Manual/No cart.

 

$5 - XBOX G.I. Joe game, I screwed up on this. I think I was getting frustrated after going to a bunch of sales and not seeing any games so near the end before the good find, I bought something. Silly, I know. It looks cool but I don't have an XBOX, anyone want this?

[SEgamer]

Got an SNES with all hookups, 5 games (wario's woods was the only good one) for $20. No controller, but I have a spare somewhere around here.

 

Also got an Atari Flashback 1 for $8, not realizing that I need the model 2 version to make a portable 2600. Oh well, maybe I can figure out how to make a portable NES out of it. (weird that it is a nintendo on a chip)

 

Last thing was an orange N64 for $25. 5 n64 colors down, 4 to go.

[Cliff Friedel]

grabbed a few psp UMD's at the thrift store yesterday for $6 each. not a super deal, but I think a pretty fair price. They had a bunch but I got:

 

Star Wars Battlefront II

Sims 2

Daxter

Ratchet and Clank Size Matters

 

Two of them had a cracked cases, so I used it as an excuse to order 10 replacement cases.

UMD's were just a really dumb idea from a durability standpoint. Sure we can use them forever without problems, but the rest of the world sure can't.

These are starting to get a lot cheaper. I think the DS is finally winning the war. It's a shame too, the PSP, especially the older ones, really are nice systems. I think the price and not using carts just hurt them in the end. the UMD disks are just too cumbersome and fragile to carry with you in any quantity. I personally like it a lot better though.

[Rik]

I saw a Vectrex today at the Flea Market for $70.00, no games, and 1 controller.It worked fine judging by the built in Asteroids type game.I couldn't test if the game port worked.What are the chances of taking this thing home and later finding the game port is shot?The vendor said ALL sales final.

[thegamezmaster]

This weekend got a 20th anniverary gameboy micro free just for checking out a psp3000 to see what was wrong. Spindle motor was shot. Now need to get an ac adapter.

[SRGilbert]

These are starting to get a lot cheaper. I think the DS is finally winning the war. It's a shame too, the PSP, especially the older ones, really are nice systems. I think the price and not using carts just hurt them in the end. the UMD disks are just too cumbersome and fragile to carry with you in any quantity. I personally like it a lot better though.

Not trying to start something here, but was it ever really close between the DS and the PSP? Don't get me wrong, the PSP is one awesome peice of kit, but if it was a war........

[RickHarrisMaine]

I saw a Vectrex today at the Flea Market for $70.00, no games, and 1 controller.It worked fine judging by the built in Asteroids type game.I couldn't test if the game port worked.What are the chances of taking this thing home and later finding the game port is shot?The vendor said ALL sales final.

 

I would have grabbed it.