Thrift Shop Stories

[atarigamer]

It would be cool if everyone posted their thrift shop stories here. From major rare findings to major rare let-downs.

 

Post them all, I think they are kinda fun to read .

[Jess Ragan]

I really miss the pawn shop in Alma... they had all kinds of great stuff, especially for the 2600. You know how in most pawn shops, you'd find maybe a small box of 2600 games, and most of them would be common? Not here. This place had very large boxes filled with a rainbow of titles, some common, some unusual, and some quite rare. That's where I found my first Chase, and that's the only place I've ever found Supercharger cassettes (I'm still kicking myself for passing these up).

One trip to this pawn shop kind of reminded me of what just happened recently in New York. I was browsing around looking at all the games, and on every TV, they had footage of the Oklahoma City bombing. It was a monumental day in history, and I was out thrifting... ^^;

 

JR

[atari70s]

short and sweet....

 

i got atari game Crazy CLimber for 80 cents . hmm anything else i got other 140 games but nothing like Crazy CLimber.

[Tempest]

I got Chase the Chuckwagon for $2.50 once.

 

Tempest

[bcprs1]

There is nothing good anymore up here in New England. I havent found anything decent in a long time. For some reason, everyone thinks that common Atari games are worth a lot. I just shake my head and laugh when these guys at the flea markets tell me games like Pac-man and combat are rare and "hard to find"

[StanJr]

The thrifts around here are an adventure. Usually when you go, there is nothing, but occasionally you run across Video Olympics and the drought has made you nuts for games so you buy it anyway. there is a small time comic shop that buys and sells collections so occasionally you'll nab something unique there, but never anything over a 4 rarity.

We also have a couple of "Peddler's Malls" kind of a creepier flea market. Those turned up Pole Positions and a pair of much needed paddles for me!

 

My latest trip last weekend turned up a couple of Warlords and some Slot Racers. Whoopee!

 

Thrifty Stan

[beattheindierock]

I tend to find some great games around once in a while. I picked up Tooth Protectors (my only super rare game) for .50 at Goodwill(!). But I also have that problem at thrift stores and flea markets with everyone assuming any and all Atari games are "super-rare antiques video games". I have pretty much given up on trying to fill in my commons at the flea market. But even still, there is no better thrill then getting up every Saturday and Sunday morning to go out scavenging.

[MattyXB]

I got Miner 2049er Volume II complete for only 5,-DM (US$ 2.26) and Spider Kong (maybe Prototype) for only 2,-DM on a fleamarket.

 

For all other Rare games that I get, have I paid more money.

 

On ebay has someone get 255,-DM (US$ 115.30) for a complete Miner 2049 Volume 2 the last day.

 

Matthias

[bangles66]

Secret Quest you got it right there's nothing in any of the thrift stores around here lately. I've been all over the northeast this year and stopped at alot of thrifts and found nothing.

 

I did back in the early nineties find a 5200 complete in box with games, only $25 (I should've saved the box).That's my best thrift find.

 

The problem is 10 or 15 years ago most people I think didn't think of or would be caught dead in a thrift, thats when you could find stuff all the time. Now almost everybody knows about the thrifts and unless you know someone there or get there when the stuff hits the store GOOD LUCK. I mean most of us have to work we can't go the the thrifts everyday when they open (unless you have one heck of an understanding boss).

 

I think the thrifts now n days are just more of a luck thing. Its time to try to find a new place to find stuff. Its hard with e-bay and the net people know more now what stuff is worth.

Ok enough ranting.

[videotwit]

I am usually the first to complain about how dry the thrifts are, but today I had my first bit of real luck in quite some time. I just picked up a copy of Spy Hunter for 80 cents on my way home from work!

 

I know, Spy Hunter is no Tooth Protectors, but it is the first game I've actually needed for my collection that I've found in the wild in over a year -- usually I have to resort to trading for things I need. I'm quite happy!

[atari70s]

how about a boxed 5200 4 port with 3 boxed games for 10.00? ( 5.00 for a loose 2port next to it)

 

dad got at a thrift shoep boxed 2 port (2 in the box) complete for 15.00

 

so 30.00 for 3 boxed games 2 boxed systems and 2 spare units 8 controlers all work

[ubersaurus]

Intellivison 1 with intellivoice with 13 games all boxed and with manuals and overlays. 5 bucks. Decent enough find, I suppose.

[AtariKari]

Hi - (newbie)

 

My best find was a Vectrex, Web Wars and Star Trek for $35, at a flea market in Chicago four years ago. I kept it together long enough to ask how much "the old TV over there" was, but just about lost it after buying the thing. Then there was the Entex Turtles for .07 in Madison, WI.

 

2600-wise, I picked up a color-label Ram-It in Richmond for 25 cents. I just got back from Austrialia, where I got two boxed "GENERAL" 2600 clones, which use 5200 joysticks. $2.50 USD. BTW, if anyone could direct me towards a clone resource, it'd be much appreciated.

 

Worst loss: passed on a Miracle keyboard cart for the NES. It didn't have a keyboard, so what's the point

[Stella'sGhost]

Once I went to local flea market looking for games but I thought I wouldnt find anything. Something pulled me to a certain section of the market which was full of junk, floor to ceiling. I made my way to a quiet "lost" corner of the area and under several boxes of records and tapes found a box full of atari carts, with some intellivision ones mixed in. I don't know how the hell I found it but I did! - you don't understand how messy that place was - There were some sports games, activision games, atari old series carts..nothing too rare but still for 2 dollars each I was glad. But that's not all, weeks later at the same market I found a booth where this lady was selling mostly old nintendo games, which I had passed by before but never really looked carefully, but this day on the bottom shelf she had a box with about 100 atari games in it, some very uncommon, needless to say, that was a good day, and this kid asks me as I was going through the box, "what is that?" and I said, "atari games" and he goes, "whats atari?

....I have no response to that.

[ubersaurus]

That's when you take the nearest paddle controller and use it morning star style and whap him.

[Ze_ro]

Once I went to a thrift store, and I found absolutely nothing. That's the story.

 

Wait, did I say once? I meant five hundred times.

 

I guess that means I'm getting kinda bitter. I really shouldn't be though. Over the last week or so, I've actually found quite a bit of stuff. At the Goodwill store, I picked up 5 boxed (with manuals and overlays) games including Pitfall (They had about 20 or 30 games all boxed... but some were doubles, and I had most of them) and a Dolphin cartridge (My friend had already raided the place and told me they had a Dolphin left... he already had it). And just today, I picked up three Genesis games at Value Village. Nothing amazing, but at least it's something. It's been quite a while since I've made a good Atari find though unfortunately

 

--Zero

[+Zeptari]

Nothing to fantastic, to most. But I did find a game in the wild I've been looking for, for some time now. The sega genesis version of virtua racing. Got it for a decent price too. $7.

I have to collect for multi-systems... Sometime's i don't see a 2600 cart I don't have for months!!! Like secret quest said...

atari carts have pretty much dried up around here.....

Now that I found virtua racing in the wild it's on to a wild copy of pitfall 2!!!

[Paul Slocum]

My best find was Flip&Flop and Bristles for the Atari 8 bit computers both still shrinkwrapped. I don't really collect 8-bit carts, so I sold them. I paid $3 each and sold them for $150 each! I put all the money into my 2600 collection.

 

My coolest 2600 find was Beat Em and Eat Em for $1. I thought it was funny to find that in a thift store.

 

-Paul

[PatrickDBowlingo]

Three Imagic games (Laser Gates, Solar Storm and Star Voyager) all mint in the box with instructions for $1.50 each.

 

All at the same place at the same time.

 

I also picked up a boxed Beam Rider for the 5200.

 

2 days ago I bought a Sega Game Gear for $8 with a Road Rash cartridge and a Game Gear car adapter for 75 cents.

 

I also picked up a tabletop electronic Stargate for $2 at the Goodwill.

 

Its been a nice couple of weeks

[PatrickDBowlingo]

I also picked up a bunch of Sega Genesis games mint in box for $1 each.

[Cassidy Nolen]

Found 41 loose carts for $2.95. Quantity made up for quality this time. All worked, but all were common.

 

I have one little shop that has turned up some good stuff. I got a 4 port 5200 with trimmings and 10 games for 25.00. Not super, but I ended up selling mine and keeping that one because it was flawless.

 

Worst I have seen, and of course not bought was a 7.00 Combat game. I do not think they were that much in 1980!

 

Happy Turkey day, yall.

Cassidy

[Ze_ro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Zeptari:

I have to collect for multi-systems... Sometime's i don't see a 2600 cart I don't have for months!!!

---

 

This is why my Intellivision collection exists. I kept coming across so much of the stuff, that I decided I might as well start collecting it too. (This also explains my Master System...)

 

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cassidy

Found 41 loose carts for $2.95. Quantity made up for quality this time. All worked, but all were common.

---

 

Ouch! $3 for common games? I usually pass on that kind of stuff unless I'm desperate, or haven't seen anything in months... Well, I'm sure that somewhere in that pile there was at least a 4.

 

--Zero

[Cassidy Nolen]

I got ALL of them for that price. Not too shabby?

 

Cassidy

[Scooterb23]

I know most of you read it in another post, but one more time:

 

I missed a boxed $3 Quadrun because I didn't own a system, got a system a couple of days later, game was gone...

 

 

Best find? A stack of 25 games - all with rarity from 3-6 for 50 cents each

[El Destructo]

Do flea markets count? That's where I bought Tempest for $35...not the cartridge, the full-size arcade cabinet.

 

The screen didn't work, but I knew it couldn't be too bad since I'd seen it working in the lobby the week before.

 

That's my best find. It was only a couple of years ago, so the deals are still out there. Keep the faith, Atari fans...

 

-El D.

 

[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: El Destructo ]