The Official "Thrift finds" Thread

[MCHufnagel]

I went to a garage sale with my kids Saturday morning and I couldn't believe what we found. The household advertised PS1 and PS2 games, movies, computer games, unopened action figures as well as the standard household goods and childrens books. So we arrived there right when they opened up, 8:00 am. They were selling all of the games for $5 each! We picked up for the PS2: Soul Caliber III with a NAMCO demo disc, Dragon Quest VIII with the FF XII demo disc, .hack: infection with a .hack anime DVD, Mercenaries; Age of Empires II for the PC, the US version of Godzilla on VHS and two older X-Men comic books. All for $24!

 

There is nothing wrong with the games or movie and the games all have their manuels.

 

There was plenty more items, but I'm not really into the action figures. But anyone who went there made out pretty good.

[SteveW]

Best. Flea. Market. Find. Of. My. Life.

 

I went out to Trader's Village in Arlington, TX today. I didn't find a whole lot of classic games. Bought Cyborg Hunter, Bomber Raid, Shinobi, and California Games for the SMS, Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits for the Genesis, a Capcom Pad Soldier GS game controller (I think it's for the 3DO, but i'm not positive), and Ren & Stimpy, Ninja Gaiden, G-Loc, Battleship, and Monster Truck Wars for the Game Gear. There seemed to be an abundance of SMS and Game Gear stuff out there today. When i've finished my rounds out there, I like to pass by the collector at the back who's got just about every console ever put out, and see if anything catches my eye. I'm a regular at his booth! I was just about to leave without buying anything, and then I caught sight of something that made my eyes damn near shoot out of my head. He had a boxed and complete Milton Bradley MBX System. One web site says that there might only have been 300 of these ever made, so they're insanely rare. They're a peripheral for the Texas Instruments 99/4A Home Computer that adds speech recognition and enhanced speech synthesis to the TI, along with a big ol' membrane keypad and a sweet analog joystick (that also acts as a paddle). I have a few games for the MBX, but i've never been lucky enough to own one until now. When I pulled it off one of his racks, the owner of the booth got a big smile on his face and said, "I was wondering when someone was going to find that one!" He's never seen one before in all his years collecting these types of things. He decided to sell it to me for $30.

Edited May 29, 2006 by SteveW

[n8littlefield]

Went back to the Army today and picked up SubScan, TacScan, Tunner Runner, Omega Race (but no controller thingy), Armor Ambush, Space Attack and Astroblast for $1 each. She accidentally rang up 6 instead of 7, I corrected her, but she said it didn't matter - so all 7 for $6 and tax.

 

I may go back tomorrow on payday and get the few that are left that I need (I still don't have ET or Superman, which they have)

Well, went back and bought Superman and ET just for the heck of it for $1 each. I think I'm up to 60 games for my 2600 - not back considering I just really started buying for it a few months ago.

[Dusk2600]

did not find much this weekend

 

sentury safebox 3.00 went and had a key made 4 it so for 15.00 i got a safe fireproof thingy

 

brick gameboy with tetris 3.00

n64 basket ball memorycards/rumblepacks .50 each new

 

better luck next week

[Bruce Tomlin]

Best. Flea. Market. Find. Of. My. Life.

 

I was just about to leave without buying anything, and then I caught sight of something that made my eyes damn near shoot out of my head. He had a boxed and complete Milton Bradley MBX System. One web site says that there might only have been 300 of these ever made, so they're insanely rare. They're a peripheral for the Texas Instruments 99/4A Home Computer that adds speech recognition and enhanced speech synthesis to the TI, along with a big ol' membrane keypad and a sweet analog joystick (that also acts as a paddle). I have a few games for the MBX, but i've never been lucky enough to own one until now. When I pulled it off one of his racks, the owner of the booth got a big smile on his face and said, "I was wondering when someone was going to find that one!" He's never seen one before in all his years collecting these types of things. He decided to sell it to me for $30.

I got my boxed MBX in Dallas years ago (probably $30 with five of the games boxed). They might have originally come from Telegames. After all, the tornado didn't trash everything. Still, $30 now is pretty good for it to still be around after all this time.

Edited May 30, 2006 by Bruce Tomlin

[SteveW]

Which games do you have, and would you be interested in parting with any of them? I've only got Bigfoot, Sewermania, and Superfly. I'd like to get Space Bandits and maybe Meteor Belt.

 

The Triton Catalog, where I bought all my TI stuff back in the '80s, sold off their TI stock to someone in Dallas if I recall. The guy was running it out of his home for a while, but i'm not sure if he still does that. Or if he happens to have any MBX software left. I've got a very old digitized catalog from him somewhere tucked away on a backup CD-R. Maybe I need to track it down and see if it's got a phone number.

[gulag picture radio]

I've had an MBX for a long time (it still has the $4 sticker on it - I didn't realize how rare it is!), but I've never had any games. Are these cartridge games, or cassette? I'd appreciate it if you guys let me know what you find as I'd love to see this thing in action. Any favorite website with screenshots or anything?

[SteveW]

http://www.videogamehouse.net/mbx.html

 

Toucan's site, one of the only sources of information about the MBX on the web.

 

The games came on cartridges. I don't know of anyone other than Milton Bradley designing any software for it. It's a shame that MB didn't release some kind of programming information so bedroom programmers could utilise it. Would have been nice to see a special version of Extended Basic with MBX commands in it.

[SteveW]

I think I might start a new thread about the MBX, see how many people have one!

 

I went thrifting today, and found some Atari 2600 games. The first store, Thrift Town, had around 20 in their locked shelf in the back. When the sales guy was opening it for me, he told me that they had ten times the amount of Atari games last weekend, but sold nearly all of them off because of their big Memorial Day half-off sale. Bummer. I had all the titles leftover already, so I passed. Next store didn't have anything. I went to a thrift that normally never has anything I want, and they had a bunch of Atari games too. The weird thing is, nearly every end label on the carts was missing. That's fine for a lot of games with front labels, but not for M-Network games. Anyway, I bought Infiltrate, Pole Position, Blackjack, and two unlabeled M-Network carts. The only reason I bought them was because the M-Network insignia is shaped into the plastic of the bottom piece, which i've never seen before on any of them that I own. They were all $2.98 each.

 

It was nice to see a decent amount of Atari stuff on my rounds, but it would have been nicer to see the "10 times the amount" shelves last Sunday and Monday. Who knows, I might have missed out on some nice rares.

[Bruce Tomlin]

Which games do you have, and would you be interested in parting with any of them? I've only got Bigfoot, Sewermania, and Superfly. I'd like to get Space Bandits and maybe Meteor Belt.

I need to check which ones I have. I don't want to trade any of my complete ones, but I could consider it if I found that I had a dupe in my loose carts. And I'm sure I had at least one gray label in there. The complete ones are easy to check, but I'm not sure if the loose carts are in a convienent location.

The Triton Catalog, where I bought all my TI stuff back in the '80s, sold off their TI stock to someone in Dallas if I recall. The guy was running it out of his home for a while, but i'm not sure if he still does that. Or if he happens to have any MBX software left. I've got a very old digitized catalog from him somewhere tucked away on a backup CD-R. Maybe I need to track it down and see if it's got a phone number.

That would certainly explain why we both found our NIB units in the DFW area.

[Bruce Tomlin]

I can't find the box with my loose MBX games right now. But for the record, here are the ones I have complete:

 

Soundtrack Trolley, Terry Turtles Adventure, I'm Hiding, Championship Baseball, Honey Hunt

 

At the same time way back when I also got these Funware titles boxed: Ambulance*, St. Nick, Henhouse*, Video Vegas, Driving Demon, and two copies of Rabbit Trail*. (the ones marked with a * I also have a loose copy of)

 

 

So anyhow, my finds today. I went by the Goodwill Blue Hanger Salvage after work (it's sort of becoming like an exercise program for me) and got out for less than two bucks. I didn't get much in small parts, but while I was scanning through the bins I saw a telltale bit of blue color. Sure enough, at the other end was an Atari 7800 power supply! Then while doing a final pass, I found a Pac Man Fever album, my third so far. The cool part was that while it was a bit scratched, and the outer sleeve had been bent, whoever owned it was cool enough to put the album in a separate sleeve to keep the original inner sleeve (with the patterns) intact!

[SteveW]

Funware was based in Richardson, TX, which might be why you found those around Dallas too. Richardson's a stone's throw away from TI headquarters, where the creator of Funware used to work. As far as Funware games go, I only have St. Nick. Interesting game, although it won't win any awards for flashy graphics. Looks very 'Extended-BASIC-type-in-magazine-program" like.

[Jubal]

so i hit my local second hand shop, and they have a fairly decent looking 4 switch 2600 sitting on the shelf, no power supply. I turn it over and it says made in sunnyvale, i had thought all the 4 switchers were made in hong kong.

 

turns out i found a Atari VCS - CX2600A Promotional Console for $5. =)

 

still need to test it tho.

 

-Jubal-

[kevincal]

Nice find.

[+FujiSkunk]

Well, this didn't take long...

 

There was a Flashback 2 at the Goodwill today. No box, and one of the two joysticks broken. $20.

 

I passed.

[NightSprinter]

Not sure if this would matter, but a loose M-Network Bump 'n Jump for $3 at the flea market.

[SteveW]

I hit a new flea market today, but didn't find anything much. Passed on an Action Max with three tapes for $15, and what looked like an abandoned View-Master Interactivevision console in a box that looked like it was left out in the rain for a year. And some overpriced NES games. The temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so I couldn't spend much time outside without wanting to pass out. I'm going to go back in the autumn when it's a lot cooler. And hopefully the live Mexican band won't be there, trying to make my ears bleed. Just like Spinal Tap, it sounded like their amps went up to 11.

[Dusk2600]

super mario land GB

tetris DX GB

scooby doo 2 gba

108 in 1 game gba

 

10.00 traded scooby and tetris got 10.00 and bought a complete metal slug advance 20.00-10.00=10.00 didnt go to many sales shitty weather and no money

 

Non related good purchase while out n about...

also found a truck lol 01 ford ranger edge, stepside, 15,000 miles $9,000.00

[BeerGnome]

an 01 ranger @ 15K for 9k.. not a bad deal at all..

 

unfortunatly I know the odometers.. so it could very well have been at 115K miles and only worth $500

the truck can be pretty as fuck, but still be a ragged out piece of shit.

 

I'm sorry folks.. no american vehicle over ten old is worth more than 1k...

 

sure.. plenty of collectereseque types out there .. and the yadda yadda. but a 1991 ford ranger aint worth shit.. and in my opinion.. the stepside is worth less on acount the usuable truck bed is diminished

but no way in hell I would be paying close to 10 grand for a 5 year old ford

[youngskywalker]

A few days ago, went to a local thrift and immediatly saw a 2600 vader console sitting there, no dust no grime , no sign of use.

The price tag was $29.99, with parts, wich is high for me, but the thing was so clean I had to have it.

When I went to pay, the guy went to get the parts from the back of the store.

When he came out he said he could'nt find the parts. So he had another guy look, I waited patiently, then he came back and said he couldn't find it either. The guys were very helpful, they looked all over the back where they keep stuff, but still came up with no parts. Then the manager came over to help, he said that they had 2 2600s for sale and that somone had just bought one and that they must have given the parts to him.

The manager also told me that the 2600s were new in the box. He said he smashed the box and threw it away already. Crushed, I told him to always save boxes for videogames and toys, even if they have to charge a little more.

So finally one worker said he could let me have it for $9.98 since there were no parts for it.

So now I have a mint 2600 vader console, with well cleaned joysticks and power cord.

I'm very happy!

[Dusk2600]

an 01 ranger @ 15K for 9k.. not a bad deal at all..

 

unfortunatly I know the odometers.. so it could very well have been at 115K miles and only worth $500

the truck can be pretty as fuck, but still be a ragged out piece of shit.

 

I'm sorry folks.. no american vehicle over ten old is worth more than 1k...

 

sure.. plenty of collectereseque types out there .. and the yadda yadda. but a 1991 ford ranger aint worth shit.. and in my opinion.. the stepside is worth less on acount the usuable truck bed is diminished

but no way in hell I would be paying close to 10 grand for a 5 year old ford

 

 

had my mechanic check it today.its a 2001 and it only has 15k on it. havent found anything better 4 the $$$

 

P.S. it was an older man who died, its a nice little truck and for the money it is a steal. Great on gas, clean and a nice little truck with redicolously low miles for 9,000.00 ive seen pieces of shit get around that. used trucks are expensive, even for total shit.

 

bedliner,leather top,tool box,cd,ac,auto,new tires ect.....

 

ive seen new basic work trucks get 13-16,000 with a crappy warrenty, no cd, no air,basic stock work truck 5 speed ect. ive been looking 4 a while. but thanks for your imput beer gnome, especially about the odometer, luckly my cousin is a mechanic and i wouldnt touch it without him throwin it on the lift. yeah 9k is kinda high but its worth it for the milage and what not.

Edited June 6, 2006 by Dusk2600

[Dusk2600]

found 10 adult dvd's today in the trash. appearently i missed a new ps2 with 25 sealed games. guy took his life and parents are throwin everything away. gonna sell the dvd's to a pawner and buy another DS game, mabye yoshi touch and go

Edited June 6, 2006 by Dusk2600

[jferio]

Don't have a picture, but when I went out on Memorial Day to hit the thrift sales, I got the following:

 

Atari 4-switch "Woody", working.

Atari Power Supply for same, working.

Twelve carts, Amadar, Asteroids, Combat, Demon Attack, Football, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Star Raiders, Stellar Track, Super Breakout, Video Chess, Video Pinball, and Yar's Revenge, all with manuals, and in the case of Star Raiders, the Video Touchpad with overlay, all working.

Two TV-Game switches (in poor shape on one).

System storage case, like the one pictured on ClassicGaming in the Atari Accessories, only with the smoked plex lid, in excellent condition.

Two CX-40 vinyl stick sleeves (useless, since I own no CX-40s).

 

And it only set me back $5. I already had most of the carts, but the Star Raiders find means that I can leave my boxed copy boxed. And most of the games had better labels than the ones in my collection. Plus, my friend now has four additional carts out of the expanded dupe pile. And I have a working four switch again, so I feel no pain in stripping the Vader I have for parts for a Flashback 2 conversion.

[A.J. Franzman]

Two CX-40 vinyl stick sleeves (useless, since I own no CX-40s).

Don't chuck those if they're good! The rubber boots are a very common item to need when rebuilding sticks - heck, I could use a few right now.

Edited June 6, 2006 by A.J. Franzman

[jferio]

Two CX-40 vinyl stick sleeves (useless, since I own no CX-40s).

Don't chuck those if they're good! The rubber boots are a very common item to need when rebuilding sticks - heck, I could use a few right now.

 

I wasn't going to throw them out, to be honest. Throw out a piece of gaming history, are you mad?

 

Although anyone who wants them, and is willing to pay the shipping, can have them with my blessing.