The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[SteveW]

Well, crap on a stick.

 

I wasn't able to drive my mother down to visit my sister in South Louisiana this week, so I just sat around the house fairly bored through my vacation time. I decided I would do something about that. I made a plan to hit a few flea markets that are usually on the route between Dallas and Shreveport. I rented a car yesterday, and headed out this morning. Stopped at a place called Kleberg Flea Market, which was nothing but a few vendors in booths that made third-world marketplaces look good. Lots of Mexican music blaring, and nothing i'd want to buy. Left there, and didn't even get asked to pay for parking.

 

One big flea market I wanted to hit was outside of Tyler, TX. Drove for nearly 2 hours to get there, and it wasn't open. Turns out that they're now only open the second or third weekend of the month, or something. There were a couple of thrift stores I wanted to visit in Tyler, but my printer's on it's last legs, and the map I got off Google Maps wasn't legible enough to be able to tell where they were. So I turned back onto the highway.

 

I next headed on to Greenwood, LA. There, they have a wacky indoor/outdoor flea market. I went there last year and bought a whole bunch of videogame related stuff. Today, there wasn't much to be found. This one guy's outdoor stand was filled with junk that was ruined because he left it out in the weather and never covered anything up. He had a Nintendo arcade game called 8-Ball Action, which was out there in January when I went through last, and it looks like it's been left outside all this time in the rain. In a trailer on the lot, the only covered area at his section of the market, I dug up a Coleco Brain Strainers cartridge in it's plastic clamshell case (no instructions, but still had a warranty card) and also in the case was B.C.'s Quest For Tires II: Grog's Revenge. Also picked up an Atari cart holder and a loose Intellivision Dragonfire. A grand total of $2. Another guy with a partially covered booth had some slightly damp but boxed Intellivision games, including a few Sears variations. The only one I didn't have was Zaxxon, so I picked that one up for $5. Didn't find anything else of interest there.

 

I went on to Shreveport to hit a few thrifts, but the two I went to were closed, and a flea market I checked out was also closed. Eventually, I headed back to Dallas. I wanted to hit a couple thrifts in Longview, TX, but my maps didn't print well enough to figure out how to find them.

 

It cost me around $60 in gas just for this trip, and I only bought $7 worth of stuff. Yes, it was nice to take a roadtrip, but i'm not sure it was worth the effort and expense. Especially after the lousy lunch I had that gave me indigestion for an hour.

 

Sorry to bore you guys with my little saga, I just needed to vent a little.

[Trooper]

Ok, so I went to the first fleamarket of the year, quite nice since I found the following:

 

1 Philips G7000 (Magnavox Odyssey 2 in the US)

1 Philips G7400

1 Intellivision + A "joystick" to put on the controller

 

Nintendo 64 games:

 

Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask (CIB)

Golden Eye (CIB)

Yoshi's Story (Ex-rental)

Mission Impossible (Ex-rental)

Duke Nuk'em Zero Hour (Ex-rental)

 

G7000 games (All CIB):

 

2 - Pairs / Space Rendezvous / Logic

4 - Air-Sea War / Battle

6 - Basketball / Tenpin Bowling

21 - Secret of the Pharaohs

25 - Skiing

27 - Electronic Table Football

28 - Electronic Volleyball

34 - Satellite Attack

36 - Basket Game

44 - Crazy Chase

 

Intellivision games:

 

Masters of the Universe - The Power of He-Man (CIB - Including comic)

Triple Action (CIB)

Triple Action (CIB)

Space Hawk (CIB)

Burger Time (CIB)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Treasure of Tarmin (CIB)

Space Battle (CIB)

Astrosmash (CIB)

Carnival (Box and Cart only)

Lock 'n' Chase (CIB)

Space Battle (CIB)

 

All in all it set me back about $50 (450 SEK)

 

/Troop

Edited April 24, 2006 by Trooper

[SteveW]

I hit a Goodwill store in Fort Worth today. Man, I found a lot of stuff. I don't think i've ever found this much stuff at one thrift before.

 

Victory Run boxed -TurboGrafx-16

TV Sports Basketball boxed - TurboGrafx-16

Clockwork Knight - Sega Saturn

Virtua Fighter 2 - Sega Saturn

 

All of the next titles are Memorex VIS Player programs:

World Vista

Mutanoid Math Challenge

Meeting of Minds

Playing with Language-Games in English

The Manhole

Victor Vector & Yondo: The Vampire's Coffin

Discis Books: The Tell-Tale Heart

Discis Books: The Cask of Amontillado

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective vol. 1 & 2

Sampler CD

 

Altogether, a grand total of $27.06. Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself.

 

That Goodwill had heaps of Memorex VIS software. I didn't even know that there was all that much VIS software in existence. I picked up the most interesting sounding titles, but I left around 30 or 40 titles there. Fort Worth is Radio Shack's home town, which might explain why there's so much VIS software around there.

 

 

Off downtown Fort Worth, I stopped at the Henderson Street Bazaar. There were a whole lot of games out there, but nothing I wanted all that much. I did pick up Shinobi II: The Silent Fury for the Game Gear for $5.

 

My old neighborhood is a little run down from how I remember it in the '70s. The one good thing to come out of that fact is that there's several thrift stores in the area (that were all closed on Sunday). I've got to head back there in the middle of the week and hit 'em, and do it soon.

Edited April 23, 2006 by SteveW

[orangest]

found a loose genesis star control for $3, and beany bopper and human cannonball complete for $5 at the flea market today. the beany bopper and human cannonball had the same red $1.99 stickers and "1X" written in greasepencil on the back as these games that i got at goodwill last week, so i'm thinking that mr. flea market guy discovered them before i did. i also got a complete lost luggage at the same goodwill a few days after my initial find, so that's 10 complete 2600 games (well, 9 games and touch pad) in a little over a week...

[SteveW]

I've found that a lot of people at flea markets get their goods from thrift stores and hike up the prices. I once saw an old TI Home Computer in a thrift, and a couple of weeks later see the exact same TI at a flea market, with the same kid's stickers on it.

[RickHarrisMaine]

I'll remedy this next week, but I probably should have picked up Laser Gates for a measly 2 bucks at the flea here in town. Oh well.

[Trooper]

Picked up some more stuff today, 2 Megadrive I and 2 Megadrive II + About 14 games. Haven't had the time to look through it yet so I don't know which games were in the box.

 

/T

[Prodos8]

Scored a Sega CD II for $6 and NES Fester's Quest for $1 at GW. I forgot to get the little clips off of the Genesis that lock it to the CD unit, so I'll run by there tomorrow and grab 'em.

 

The CD unit boots and plays audio CDs, but I don't have any CD games to try. I assume that since it plays music CDs it will play games too, hopefully.

 

edit:

Went back today and tried to get just the metal mounting plate for the CD unit. However the manager informed me that I had to buy the whole genny unit it was attached to. I tried, unsuccessfully, to explain that I'd already purchased the CD unit the day before and that piece was for it. So I ended up buying the genny for $4 to get the stupid mounting plate.

Edited April 24, 2006 by Prodos8

[badbrad]

Goodwill today.

 

INTV II with both controllers, no power brick. But it had AD&D Treasure of Tarmin and both overlays in the controllers. for $2.00.

[BeerGnome]

yesterday.. allright.. sunday now..

Diversty thrift in Richmond va..

slim pickings, a bunch of NES carts.. all $2, all sports tittles.. the only thing I would've picked up was pro wrestling..

but I passed for the Microsoft Sidewinder force feedback pro stick for $3

 

ironicly.. the had a normal sidwinder stick also for $3 sitting next to it..

it also had a blue sticker on it.. so that day.. it was only $1!!

 

now to figure out how to make it work....

[super_dos_man]

sry I'm a 46 year old noob. i've been playing atari for as long as it has existed but I have never gone to a goodwill store. what is it because you guys always find awesome stuff in there!

[A.J. Franzman]

A Goodwill store is a charity thrift shop or second-hand store, like a Salvation Army store or Value Village (I'm sure there are other common regional names for specific charities or chains). This is how charities make money from household items that are donated to them. More valuable items are typically sold at auction. In large cities or urban areas (such as eastern Los Angeles county where I live) there may be dozens of them, but it takes repeated visits over several weeks or months to figure out which ones are more likely to have items that interest you vs. likely to never have any. I've been to 2 or 3 dozen but only ever find Atari items at about 5 of them.

 

A starting place to find some would be to look in your phone book under "Thrift shops" in the yellow pages if you're in the U.S.

Edited April 26, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[SteveW]

Google Maps is my main source of thrift store tracking.

 

I don't find too much in Goodwill stores, and have virtually never found anything in a Salvation Army store. My best finds tend to be in smaller stores. There's lots of other charities that run thrifts, and it's those that tend to yield the best finds.

 

Flea markets sometimes have good stuff. Large sized flea markets that tend to have more of a variety of vendors. I tend to go more towards the casual sellers who clear out their attics and sell the stuff on the weekend. The thing is, you have to keep a mental list of what you're looking for, and if you're into that kind of thing, possibly keep a game rarity list on you.

 

A lot of the time, you'll come up empty handed. You've got to develop an instinct for where the best finds are. Figure out what thrift stores tend to get videogame related merchandise in on a fairly high basis. I've got a couple of thrifts on my drive that tend to have some decent finds on a regular basis. And I rarely visit others that I've found nothing of interest at. It takes time to really get a feel for good stores and get a regular route going, but once you do, you'll start finding all sorts of great stuff.

[BeerGnome]

In my travels, I've found that the more "corporate" the thrift, like the good wills and the salvation armies are all filled with shitty clothes and attrocious nick nacks.

for real collection thrifting.. you gotta hit the local charity houses.. and of these I perfer the ones that usually deal with the "alternitive lifestyle" related charities, they seeme to always have what I'm looking for.. and are the cheapest.. and all the run down antiques inthe furnature department are FAAAABULOUSS!!!!

 

hell.. divesty thrift right now has four pnuematic home organs right now, and two upright pianos! you could literally out fit a one bedroom apartment in this place for under $100, and then they'll deliver it all to you.

 

then theres the architicture salvage thrifts.. those are fun to float around in.

 

when looking for vidgame related stuff.. I cannot emphasize hitting the studant related thrifts, or indies located near collage campuses.

campus nieghborhoods are also good for the old fashioned dumpster dive..

you be amazed at what some of these kids throw out.. best time to dive? first garbage day of the month.. for this is the magical time that people leave piles of crap in the ally's becouse of moving out, or otherwise, ends of semester are particualry good times for the dive

[super_dos_man]

so basically you guys are saying that if I visit 1 goodwill my chances of cashing in on good loot is 1 to 100

[BeerGnome]

so basically you guys are saying that if I visit 1 goodwill my chances of cashing in on good loot is 1 to 100

50/50 is a better estimation I think

don't forget to tell all your freinds and co-workers that you've gotten into collecting old video games and stuff, you'd be amazed by how much stuff they'll throw at ya

[SteveW]

Hey super_dos_man, where are you located? Some of us might be able to help you find some good locations to check out. "Might" is the operative word here, some people might not want to give up their choice locations.

[Happy_Dude]

Thrifting is only part of the hunt

 

A local electronics store is liqudating their games and I picked up Wario Ware : Touched for AU$20

[Dusk2600]

don't forget to tell all your freinds and co-workers that you've gotten into collecting old video games and stuff, you'd be amazed by how much stuff they'll throw at ya

 

yes, your right. ive had people throw eggs,bricks,insults and other unmentionables, Atari RUINED MY LIFE!!!

 

 

kidding. you r right though i have found so many free items from asking around its not even funny.

[SteveW]

Today, I went out of my usual area, and hit some thrifts in Fort Worth. I went to six or seven and only found something good at one store. Bought Alien Crush for the TurboGrafx-16 for $4, and Sewer Shark for the Sega CD for $2. I passed on a bunch of stuff, like Rise of the Dragon for the Sega CD, Keith Courage in the Alpha Zones for the TurboGrafx-16. They also had a couple of Commodore 64 computers, a boxed third party disk drive, and three jumbo sized boxes filled with floppy disks. I might have to go back for those one of these days.

[Happy_Dude]

Some megadrive finds:

I found Sonic & Knuckles for $1 with Box an Manual. (platinum edition)

Just wondering if it is supposed to come with another sonic game because there was a

Megagames 6 multicart in the case with it.

Also found Another World C.I.B for $1

[Jubal]

Today, I went out of my usual area, and hit some thrifts in Fort Worth. I went to six or seven and only found something good at one store. Bought Alien Crush for the TurboGrafx-16 for $4, and Sewer Shark for the Sega CD for $2. I passed on a bunch of stuff, like Rise of the Dragon for the Sega CD, Keith Courage in the Alpha Zones for the TurboGrafx-16. They also had a couple of Commodore 64 computers, a boxed third party disk drive, and three jumbo sized boxes filled with floppy disks. I might have to go back for those one of these days.

 

 

you picked up sewer shark but passed on rise of the dragon? I guess sewer shark has its fans heh

 

-Jubal-

[SteveW]

No, it's because I already have a copy of Rise of the Dragon that was in far better shape than the one at the resale shop, and I never had a copy of Sewer Shark, and I kinda like some of those FMV games.

 

I'm not the kind of guy who buys stuff just because it's there, I like to pick up stuff that I need for my own collecting purposes, and leave the rest of the games for other collectors to pick up. I don't buy things up just so I can post them on eBay. It's that mentality that keeps me from having anything to do with eBay.

[super_dos_man]

so basically you guys are saying that if I visit 1 goodwill my chances of cashing in on good loot is 1 to 100

50/50 is a better estimation I think

don't forget to tell all your freinds and co-workers that you've gotten into collecting old video games and stuff, you'd be amazed by how much stuff they'll throw at ya

 

what do you mean "just got into collecting?" i've been collecting colecovision and atari for as long as they have been around

[BeerGnome]

so basically you guys are saying that if I visit 1 goodwill my chances of cashing in on good loot is 1 to 100

50/50 is a better estimation I think

don't forget to tell all your freinds and co-workers that you've gotten into collecting old video games and stuff, you'd be amazed by how much stuff they'll throw at ya

 

what do you mean "just got into collecting?" i've been collecting colecovision and atari for as long as they have been around

well.. that is a misquote for one thing.. , for another thing.. don't take it personal..

now.. for how long have you been ACTIVELY collecting? you got five posts down here and are asking questions.. I'm just offering sugestions on increasing yields of the haul.. as per request captain