The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[Dusk2600]

actually found something at good will.

 

namco controler for the tv. with all the games on it, got it for my gf 1.99

[lemoncurry]

Flea market: Swordquest Waterworld for 3 bucks!

[Wester]

NICE! What Flea?

[n8littlefield]

I found Auto Modelista for the PS2 for $3 today at Salvation Army.

[lemoncurry]

Wester: It was Princeton, WI. The guy had probably 200 carts, and said there were some fresh ones in there that hadn't been picked over. I thought to myself, no kidding!

 

By the way, has anyone ever simplified the rarity list to a text-only format for use on a Palm? That would rock...

[futuramaooy]

Found myself a nice Sega Mega Drive II at a flea market. 2 contrtollers, manual and RF cable.

 

Worked fine, didn't get any games though, but did find SMS games (in box with instructions) and a SMS to SMD converter.

Edited May 4, 2006 by futuramaooy

[n8littlefield]

I went into the Salvation Army today and saw 6 NES games, and got all excited because they had Rescue Rangers, which I need. So, I grabbed California games and Rescue Rangers, and the girl mentions they have a bunch of others, and pulls out about 30 NES games. They were 2.99 each and mostly commons, but I picked up Donkey Kong Classics, Contra, Rescue Rangers, Arkanoid and California Games.

 

I know some weren't worth the 2.99 probably, but as an average I felt they were worth it...Contra, RR and DK Classics especially were high on my want list.

Edited May 5, 2006 by n8littlefield

[kevincal]

Ya, that's worth it. On Ebay even the most common crappy games are more than $3 each because of shipping so, $3 a game isn't bad imo.

[Dusk2600]

went to a garage sale got ps2 gt3, pac man GB,elmo 123 GB, pokemon pinball GB all 1.00 each.

[Seob]

Last week i went to a second hand shop and passed on a 4 euro c64 system, with 2 controllers and tape deck.

Wend back today and found a videopac with complete not broken down controllers for 2 euro and picked it up. Sadly they did't have any games.

Thursday i went to another second hand shop and found some megadrive games:

NBA-JAM T.E. c.i.b. 1,20 euro

T2 the arcade game c.i.b. 1 euro

Super Off-road c.i.b. 1,20 euro

Skitchin only cart and box 1 euro

Talespin c.i.b. 1,20 euro

Two crude dudes c.i.b. 1,20 euro

Ghouls'n Ghosts c.i.b. for 1 euro.

[+FujiSkunk]

I wish I could walk into a thrift one of these days and find some Amiga or Atari ST software, just once.

 

I hear you. It would be nice to find software for any computer besides the PC. Heck, even PC software from the '80s would be nice. Once I found a handful of Apple IIGS titles and I was positively ecstatic. Those kinds of finds don't happen nearly enough.

 

I just realized that I've accumulated some interesting stuff from the thrifts over the past few weeks, even one that was Atari related.

 

First, here's my most recent find.

 

 

It's a Famicom clone. Not an NES clone, but an actual Famicom clone. Somehow this thing made its way from Japan (or somewhere in Asia; the labels have Japanese text) to the U.S., only to end up in a thrift store. How often does that happen? For $5, I now have a system that can play Famicom carts (without an adapter, at least). Anybody have a Dig Dug or Mappy they'd be willing to trade?

 

Actually, if anybody recognizes this system, I need to know its power requirements. The plug looks standard, but the case says zip about voltage or polarity (assuming its DC, and even that's uncertain).

 

A little further back, I picked up a 4-switch woody 2600 for $5. I know, that's not exactly earth-shattering, but it does make for an amusing story. I had actually tested this Atari last year; the thrift store owner asked me to check it out after it had been donated. I discovered that it had a video problem, the typical issue of the RF signal going weak after the system has been on for a while. I told her she probably wouldn't want to sell it in the store like that, but that I would give her $10 for it (it came with a decent set of paddles). She said she would think about it, deciding that she wanted her son to look at it also.

 

Five or so months later, I hear the Atari has been sitting in her garage the entire time, and her son hasn't done anything with it. So, she sells it to me after all, for $5, even after I remind her of my original $10 offer. I now have some hardware for what could be my first mod project, and if I bungle the job, I figure $5 for the good paddles still isn't that bad of a deal.

 

Now, check this baby out.

 

 

It's a Pioneer VSX-D514 audio/video receiver, featuring DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro-Logic II 5.1 surround processing, S-video and component video routing and 100 watts for each of its five channels. Of course, none of those features are exactly cutting edge nowadays, but this is a step up from my current receiver, which doesn't do Pro-Logic II and can only route composite video. The reviews say it was Pioneer's entry-level 2004 model, but that it was good for the money. I just hope it's good for my money. It powers up, but I haven't yet had the gumption to connect all my stuff to it, mostly because it didn't come with a remote. But even without a remote, I couldn't say no to the $5 price tag!

Edited May 7, 2006 by skunkworx

[Bruce Tomlin]

Actually, if anybody recognizes this system, I need to know its power requirements. The plug looks standard, but the case says zip about voltage or polarity (assuming its DC, and even that's uncertain).

If you were to open it up, you could probably take a good guess. First of all, keep in mind that most things which take AC input will be perfectly happy with DC, and things that take DC usually have the negative on the outer connector.

 

So anyhow, if you knew enough about electronics to know what it looks like, you could first look for a bridge rectifier. (Usually either a black square with four pins, or a black rectangle with four pins, labeled +, ~, -, and ~.) That's a clear sign of AC. If absent, look to see where the power connector pins go. If one goes to a big-ass circuit trace that goes all the way around the board, it's going to want DC, and that's the negative pin.

 

As for the voltage, look for a 7805 voltage regulator. If you find one, it will probably want 9 volts. Otherwise, try 6 volts first.

 

 

So anyhow, on to my finds (so far, at least) this weekend.

 

First, earlier in the week, I went by a new thrift (it opened like two months or so ago), and it finally had something other than clothes. I already had a copy of Goldeneye, but $3 should be a solid buy price for a game that everybody knows is good.

 

GEN Barkley Shut Up And Jam 2 ($2)

N64 Goldeneye ($3)

 

On Thursday, I went up to Dallas for a conference over the weekend. I stopped in Waco and found a few things, but nothing game-related except a bare Genesis 2 console (2 or 3 bucks, I'm not sure). One thing I got was a kids book "Mr. T starring in The Everglades Adventure". It was based on the cartoon series, and was missing any sign of the "12 COLLECTOR STICKERS INSIDE". But, hey, it was Mr. T. "Keep cool, don't be a fool."

 

Then I head up to Arlington. At Electronic Discount Sales, I didn't find any sign of an Airport wireless card, but I did find some games. Maybe that was a bit much for a Telegames Tornado copy of Lynx QIX, but it didn't seem to have any water damage, just shrinkwrap warping. And now I have a Lynx with just one game, so I went ahead and got it. Anyone in the DFW Metroplex area who needs a copy of the NES Miracle Piano cartridge needs to go by and pick one up for five bucks.

 

GEN Rings of Power ($3)

GEN James Pond ($3)

GEN Stargate (apparently new-in-box, $

GEN Mutant League Hockey (w/box, $3)

GEN Desert Strike (w/box+instr, $3)

GEN Family Feud (cardboard box+instr+reg card, $5)

GEN Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe (w/box, $3)

Lynx QIX shrinkwrapped ($10) - picked the least tornado-affected copy

 

While I was there, a guy was really happy to see that they had Dreamcasts... until he realized they were bare, and there was not a controller or video cable in the store. And he needed a video cable. I wrote down atariage.com on a piece of paper for him, but who knows if he'll try it out.

 

Up Collin street a few blocks and I miss the Collin Park thrift. I can go there on the way back. I head over to Thrift Town on Abrams, and find two Add'n'Stac VHS cases (which hold DVDs quite well) for 67 cents each. And of course, what else would I see there but a Dreamcast video cable. (I was pretty sure it wasn't a Playstation video cable.) I didn't get it because I didn't need it, and because I know where I could go here in Austin if I needed more.

 

Then I went by two Half Price Books stores, including the #1 store. Nothing games-related, but I did find three import anime laserdiscs for $5 each and two import (non-bootleg) anime DVDs for $10 each.

 

I went out to a few thrifts Friday, but came back empty-handed.

 

This morning I got up and went to the First Saturday flea market in downtown Dallas. I got there at about 7AM, which is probably about the best time, but all I ended up with were nine generic (mostly VGA) boards with EPROMs on them, for $1 each. One of the EPROMs was a 1 megabit chip, and the other eight were 28-pin.

 

When I went looking for lunch, I noticed a Game Rush, so it was my first stop when it was time to go home. At first I was confused by how things rang up, and after figuring it out, I'm not surprised that the Blockbuster guy was confused too. I picked one game from a stack of six, expecting it to have a "half-price virtual coupon" discount, and sure enough it did. It was stickered at $2.99, and it rang up that way. Then I quickly ran back and grabbed the other five. They were also stickered at $2.99, but rang up as $1.00. What happened was that there were TWO different but similar games, and one title was $1.00. The guy didn't notice any more than I did, hit the keys for "5x", then scanned the first one in the pile. Luckily it was the cheap one he scanned that time. So I got all this crap (including six R5 Xbox games, according to DP's online guide) for seven bucks. And someday I ought to sell off a few of my copies of Saturn Xmas Nights too.

 

GBC R-Type DX ($2)

Xbox Outlaw Golf 9 Holes of X-Mas (1 at $1.50, 2 at $0.50)

Xbox Outlaw Golf 9 More Holes of X-Mas (3 at $0.50)

 

At a Half Price Books, I got three assorted Japanese books and...

 

SNES Wizardry V ($4)

 

Down to the Collin Park thrift. Found two games that were both half price.

 

SNES Wheel of Fortune Deluxe Edition ($1.50)

GEN World of Illusion w/Mikey Mouse + Donald Duck ($2.50)

 

Texas Thrift...

 

GEN Super Monaco GP II (w/box+instr $5)

 

And at another Half Price Books...

 

PS2 Oni (w/box+instr+reg card, $5)

GC Metroid Prime (w/box+instr, $

GEN Spiderman/Venom Separation Anxiety (w/box+instr, $5)

Edited May 7, 2006 by Bruce Tomlin

[+FujiSkunk]

Actually, if anybody recognizes this system, I need to know its power requirements.

If you were to open it up, you could probably take a good guess. First of all, keep in mind that most things which take AC input will be perfectly happy with DC, and things that take DC usually have the negative on the outer connector...

 

Thanks for the tips, Bruce. I'll crack the thing open tomorrow and see what's to see.

 

The Pioneer receiver works beautifully, and I found out I can get a new remote for about $20. Woohoo!

[TuzenTCA]

I wish I could walk into a thrift one of these days and find some Amiga or Atari ST software, just once.

 

 

 

Now, check this baby out.

 

 

It's a Pioneer VSX-D514 audio/video receiver, featuring DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro-Logic II 5.1 surround processing, S-video and component video routing and 100 watts for each of its five channels. Of course, none of those features are exactly cutting edge nowadays, but this is a step up from my current receiver, which doesn't do Pro-Logic II and can only route composite video. The reviews say it was Pioneer's entry-level 2004 model, but that it was good for the money. I just hope it's good for my money. It powers up, but I haven't yet had the gumption to connect all my stuff to it, mostly because it didn't come with a remote. But even without a remote, I couldn't say no to the $5 price tag!

 

 

What is Prologic II, I have two Sony Receivers and I hate both of them? I don't like the sound quality that is associated with them. It is as clean and clear as moonlight through the pines, but it isn't very loud. I had a Technics receiver that was when they first came out with surround or some kind of special stereo and it was like 3.1, or something. Didn't have the left and right rear channels. It sounded GREAT, It was always loud and clear and could push any size speaker I wanted to put on it. The Sony’s however, only push the original speakers, and there are so many settings available that it ends up distorting the crap out of the sound. I just want something loud and clean, can't find that anymore.

[+FujiSkunk]

What is Prologic II?

 

It's another way of fudging surround sound out of what is really a stereo (two-channel) signal. While ProLogic splits a stereo signal into three full-range channels and one limited-range channel, ProLogic II can supposedly squeeze five full-range channels into a stereo signal, making it better suited for a typical 5.1 configuration. A lot of games for modern consoles use it, so it's nice to finally have a stereo that can work with it.

Edited May 7, 2006 by skunkworx

[masschamber]

incredible find

2 bucks a piece

2600

Death Trap

Pitfall 2

Tomact

 

7800

Double Dragon

 

colecovision

Sector Alpha

Spectron

Artillary duel

Dragon fire

Space Fury

Quest for Quintana Roo

 

Trs-80

Tennis

[SteveW]

Maybe that was a bit much for a Telegames Tornado copy of Lynx QIX, but it didn't seem to have any water damage, just shrinkwrap warping.

I'm ticked off about Electronic Discount Sales pricing on their QIX Lynx games. They used to have them for $4.99 for a couple of years, along with copies of Double Dragon (which sold out quickly). Then, they marked down their Lynx games to $1.99, which they stayed at for some time. Before going to OKGE '04, I thought i'd pop into EDS to pick up some spare copies of QIX, because a bunch of people said they'd brink their Lynxes, and there was supposed to be a big Comlynx session. I thought it would be nice to give copies to everyone. But when I stopped at EDS, one of their sales people was just finishing marking all of them up to $9.99! They had dozens! Why, if they didn't sell at $1.99, would they mark them up to $9.99? That was just stupid of them, and i've stopped going back there too often.

 

Oh, by the way, you've hit all the thrift stores I was planning on visiting tomorrow! I'm not bothering to hit Collins Street, or Thrift Town, or Texas Thrift now!

 

 

 

The Pioneer receiver works beautifully, and I found out I can get a new remote for about $20. Woohoo!

Are you going to buy one directly from Pioneer? That's what I did when I bought my Pioneer LaserActive floor-model. I got a remote for $20, and I also got on their laserdisc mailing list for years.

[+FujiSkunk]

The Pioneer receiver works beautifully, and I found out I can get a new remote for about $20. Woohoo!

Are you going to buy one directly from Pioneer? That's what I did when I bought my Pioneer LaserActive floor-model. I got a remote for $20, and I also got on their laserdisc mailing list for years.

 

That's where I looked, and I figure I'm happy with that price, so, probably.

 

You can tell Pioneer still has some nostalgia for laserdiscs. The inputs on the back of the receiver say DVD/LD, even though it was put out in 2004.

[SteveW]

At least you found some working Pioneer stuff in the wild. I've found a few receivers and such, but they're always faulty. When I was planning on replacing my old receiver and picking up a new one, I found a couple in thrifts that weren't in very good shape. One would randomly turn itself off and on, and the other wouldn't turn on. I eventually bought a cheap Pioneer 5.1 unit to replace my old '90s model 4 channel receiver, that the headphone jack was shorting out on.

[TuzenTCA]

The Pioneer receiver works beautifully, and I found out I can get a new remote for about $20. Woohoo!

Are you going to buy one directly from Pioneer? That's what I did when I bought my Pioneer LaserActive floor-model. I got a remote for $20, and I also got on their laserdisc mailing list for years.

 

That's where I looked, and I figure I'm happy with that price, so, probably.

 

You can tell Pioneer still has some nostalgia for laserdiscs. The inputs on the back of the receiver say DVD/LD, even though it was put out in 2004.

 

 

My dad's brand new sony reciever says LD/DVD and it was bought this year. I think they know people still like them because it also has Tape/MD CD/? and Phono Inputs.

[SteveW]

Since Bruce Tomlin cleaned out all the thrifts I was planning on hitting today (at least I didn't hit them, and find nothing! ), I decided to track down a bunch of thrifts in northeast Fort Worth, around the town of Hurst. Most of the stores were closed on Mondays, though. Four different stores I went to were closed. Bought a copy of Sonic Adventure 2 for the DC for $5 at a resale shop I came across that was wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-ceiling junk. I was afraid if I knocked something over, the whole wall of junk would collapse on me and trap me for days. I stopped at a Thrift Town location, and bought a copy of Swordquest: Fireworld for $1.99. The Thrift Town was the only thrift on the Google Maps list I made that was open. The other stores I came across were by accident.

 

On the way back, I came across a little nearly hidden thrift store. I ended up buying a $25 box of VIC-20 cartridges, data cassettes, and also C64 Software Starter cassettes. Many duplicate titles, but there's some nice games in there, like Atarisoft's Donkey Kong and Write Now!, "An easy to use Professional Word Processor for the VIC-20.®" All together, 26 carts and a caseless cartridge, and 19 assorted cassettes.

 

The sad thing is, i've had a VIC-20 for 15 to 20 years, sitting on a shelf without any cables or power supplies. I have no idea if it even works, and I don't know where to pick up a PSU. I guess I need to grab the next VIC I see when I come across one in a thrift. I want to try out all these games! I have some old Cosmi games on cassette that have VIC-20 versions on them, i'd like to try those out too, after all these years.

Edited May 9, 2006 by SteveW

[Prodos8]

I stepped into an American Pawn Superstore today to see what they might have. They had some SNES games, mostly sports titles, for $7.99 each passed and some Genny games for $4.99, all sports or sonics, passsed. They were trying to sell N64 systems for $60 and GBA systems, original, for $60 passed on all that. I was like WTF at that point. The only good thing was PS2 or XboX games were all $9.99 each or 3 for $25 but they had nothing good all sports and crap titles. The only thing I bought was a VHS copy of Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead (colorized) for $1. Won't being going back there anytime soon.

[SteveW]

It's hard to find anything gaming-wise in pawn shops around here. I've looked in loads of them, haven't bought anything decent from any of them. It seems that pawn shops around DFW won't handle anything older than PS1/N64 as a general rule, but there have been exceptions. The one store I went to in Irving had just sold off an Atari Lynx collection before i'd gotten there. The owner put it on eBay after a while of not selling it in his store. The guy said there was a carrying case, a PSU, and around 100 games. Dang. Wish I could have found that haul.

Edited May 9, 2006 by SteveW

[rorysl]

Yesterday, after years of searching, I managed to find a working Tandy 1000HX for $5 at the Helping Hands Goodwill. I passed on the printer (when will I ever use that) and the monitor (it was monochrome). Came with all manuals and warranty stuff. Has a built in ROM containing DOS 2.11 but not Deskmate and, as the disks were missing, I don't have a copy to use. Came with the Deskmate manuals though! Did a little research -- says the disk drive is only Double Density not High Density. Can I format High Density disks as Double Density -- any thoughts??

[SteveW]

On my way back from my credit union, I decided to check out a couple of the more reliable thrifts on the way. First store had nothing, so, before getting to the second one (my favorite, the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Store), I thought that i'd find nothing also. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

 

Atari 7800 console (couldn't find the power supply anywhere) $9.99

3 Atari Pro-Line 7800 joysticks $2.92 each

Colecovision power supply (damn!), not the wallwart kind, the one with the brick in the middle between the wall and console, $1.91

Colecovision games: Pitfall!, Time Pilot, Carnival, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fraction Fever, Victory, and a blank label cart that looks like the same style as Fraction Fever - $4.94 each

 

 

I guess someone bought the Colecovision console already. And I was disappointed to only find one single 7800 cartridge, Pole Position, on the shelves. The other games that came in with it looked to be all common 2600 games. I left those there, along with a few 2600 CX-40 joysticks.