I've NEVER seen an Atari game at a thrift or garage sale

[tremoloman2006]

I have been collecting games since 1995 and I have only seen a handful of games at thrift stores or garage sales. The few carts I have found were dirt common games for extremely high prices. Ever since the newsgroup days I have been jealous of all the amazing thrift store stories.

 

Ditto!

 

P.S. LOVE your avatar!

[jhd]

I started collecting Atari 2600 games around 1990. At that time, most garage sales, rummage sales, etc. had big boxes full of games for around $20. There were no thrift shops where I then lived.

 

Over the past 10 years, I have only very occasionally seen Atari 2600 games at thrift shops (and none at garage sales -- though I have not been to very many in recent years). With one recent exception where I found some R5s , all of the Atari 2600 games I have seen in thrift shops have been dirt common.

 

For the last 18 months or so, I have seen hardly anything video game related at the thrift shops, rummage sales, etc. -- there is the occasional bare console (usually Genesis, NES, or N64), often random controllers, but virtually never any games of any sort. If there are games, it will be PS 2 or Xbox sports games. It has been well more than a year since I even saw SMB/DH!

 

I'm happy, however, as I have 140+ original 2600 games and Stella (and the PS 2 classic Atari and Activision game collections) to cover the rest!

[seanhq]

I find Atari games at various local Goodwill's and other Thrift stores in my area once in a while, but as others have mentioned, they want way too much for them. Sometimes you can get them 50% off which helps. I guess it comes down to if you really want/need the game what you are willing to pay at a Goodwill, etc.

 

On the other hand, if you have neighbors like be who have garage sales almost daily it seems who don't like retro gaming, you can find some real gems like I did the other day.

 

I picked up BMX Air Master and Up 'N Down for $1.00 USD a piece. My neighbor was like "hey Sean, you like old games right? Do you want to buy these tapes?". Yeah, he called them tapes. Hehe. I looked through his shoe box of games and only found the two mentioned above worth picking up as the others were super common and I already have a bunch of games I'm looking to sell (shameless plug for 27 Atari carts).

 

Attached is a picture of the two cartridges I picked up from my neighbor. The BMX Air Master label is blotchy but the game plays fine and the Up 'N Down label is pretty nice considering how old it is... oh and no, these 2 games are not for sale

Edited October 7, 2009 by seanhq

[+save2600]

...The BMX Air Master label is blotchy but the game plays fine and the Up 'N Down label is pretty nice considering how old it is... oh and no, these 2 games are not for sale

 

Nice Atari tape score! lol Older people have always called them tapes it seems. On a semi-related note, it's funny... 8-Track tapes can go either way! On their labelling, they often refer to themselves as an 8-Track cartridge. lol

[seanhq]

...The BMX Air Master label is blotchy but the game plays fine and the Up 'N Down label is pretty nice considering how old it is... oh and no, these 2 games are not for sale

Nice Atari tape score! lol Older people have always called them tapes it seems. On a semi-related note, it's funny... 8-Track tapes can go either way! On their labelling, they often refer to themselves as an 8-Track cartridge. lol

Yeah, the Atari tapes are pretty nice, however I can't seem to get them to play in either my cassette or 8-track player. Maybe I should try my vinyl record player?

 

I know what you mean about 8-track tapes. I've heard them called cartridges too, but technically it's a cartridge with "tape" inside.

 

Either way I'm pretty happy with my yard sale finds. I plan on hitting the various Goodwill's in my area this morning/afternoon. Wish me luck, maybe I'll find more tapes

Edited October 7, 2009 by seanhq

[Kenny_McCormic]

It all dried up about 10 years ago, damn shame I gotta rebuild my collection through ebay and pay $3 for a common game.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Kenny_McCormic

[+chriswhit]

Here in Maine there are lots of flee markets loaded with Atari games cheap. There are a few Video game stores that still sell them to. There also in the Uncle Henry's a lot which is where I've got some of my best finds though you have to buy a whole lot of stuff.

[+save2600]

It all dried up about 10 years ago, damn shame I gotta rebuild my collection through ebay and pay $3 for a common game.

 

Keep your eyes peeled on the Marketplace here. Lots of reputable people selling small collections for cheap and lots selling individual games for way cheap.

[NCN]

It all dried up about 10 years ago, damn shame I gotta rebuild my collection through ebay and pay $3 for a common game.

 

Keep your eyes peeled on the Marketplace here. Lots of reputable people selling small collections for cheap and lots selling individual games for way cheap.

 

And that's pretty much how I will be building my collection, ground up.

[seanhq]

It all dried up about 10 years ago, damn shame I gotta rebuild my collection through ebay and pay $3 for a common game.

 

Keep your eyes peeled on the Marketplace here. Lots of reputable people selling small collections for cheap and lots selling individual games for way cheap.

 

And that's pretty much how I will be building my collection, ground up.

I just added a bunch more games to my 2600 for sale list and with a crazy price for all of them. You might find some that you're looking for.

[gamme]

I get piles of Atari games, NES games, SNES, and so on every weekend at tag sales.

The trick? ASK!

 

At every garage sale / tag sale ask EVERYONE. I would say 15% of the time, the owner of the house says, "Oh yeah! Can you hang on a second?"

They come out with a box of old games. Or they say how it is 'up in the attic, can I have your number?'

 

I get random phone calls all year from people who finally get to their attic or storage center and then call me.

 

Of course I go to about 20 tag sales every Saturday morning from spring to fall...

 

Bingo - asking random friends is a good way to find stuff too. Most of the games out there are in storage.

[simbalion]

When I started collecting retro-game stuff and old computer stuff in the late 90's, you could find stuff all over my area of Ohio. Our local Goodwill and the flea market were loaded with stuff all the time, including stuff I later found to be quite rare. Now our flea Market is fading away, though one gaming dealer still stocks Atari carts for $1 apiece. Good Will around here got snobby several years back when they consolidated and moved to their bigger store. They quit accepting old game systems and computers, also jacking up the prices. Also, Ohioans in my region became addicted to the 'everything new and shiny' disease. Every 5-7 years they kept moving to new houses and neighborhoods just to play keeping up with the Joneses. That really impacted seeing anything besides baby clothes and moving materials at sales around here. When people move that much and have babies that much, it dries the market up really quick. I didn't like the 90's, but I wish our old Goodwill was back with all the neat stuff they had in the late 90's.

[hoskie]

I frequent a number of different thrift and Salvation Army stores and I have yet to find a single Atari game "in the wild."

 

That being said, I've gone home with loads of NES, Genesis, and Saturn games! ... and I've nabbed a couple of systems as well. The prices are usually rather skewed, but if you find the right employee, you can haggle.

 

It should be noted that sometimes small items (that people would be inclined to steal) like game carts are kept behind a counter (even if they're only priced at $1.99). At one thrift store I go to, they keep all of their games in a glass case near the costume jewelery. ... they don't even display them so you can read the end labels - they're just all shoved haphazardly into a plastic bin - but you need to nab an employee if you want to rifle through it.

[Atari-Jess]

I've amassed the vast majority of my collection thanks to the thrifts.

 

I still find carts now and again (I'm in Toronto for the record) but I haven't seen big finds in quite some time.

 

I started collecting about 10 years ago (late comparatively!) and I'd just about say finds are dead. I used to be able to pick up entire systems with 20+ games for 20 bucks? 10 bucks? Now I see the occasional common for $3, and that about scores it.

 

I'm happy I have my collection and that I managed most of it on my own, I hope in good time It will have proven itself a wise investment, sure has been fun to play with!