Agree completely. Its your thread  Keep kickin rocks, you'll find deals. The only way to be @ the right place @ the right time, is to get out there and hunt

I am not complaining. Trust me, I don't like the PACNW, I am not from here and do not call it my home. About the only thing I do like is the fact that this area supports the retro game hobby in a better way than most other parts of the country. I have lived in many many MANY regions, and none have what the PACNW has.
I just don't think it is fair how you call this area a "Black Hole" for collecting when really it is better than most other places.

Finally got a deal on Craigslist to go through.

N64 Diddy Kong Racing, Pokemon Stadium and Quest 64 - $20

And two N64 controllers, Extreme Green and Clear - $20

The DK game has some wear on the label and idk what on the cart but other then that the games look great. The controllers need some cleaning and they need to be tested but I think I did well.

This is like if I were to say that Metro Detroit was a complete shithole based on my own ignorant assumptions, actually took the time to look around and realize that maybe I am wrong, then still bitch about it, sticking to my original pre-conceived notion.

I still think the California bay area is the black hole of retro game hunting. I base this on the fact I spent 40 hours a week hunting, driving hundreds of miles, for an entire year, and got a infinitesimal fraction of what others would get for the same time, money, and effort. No rare games, no valuable games, nothing amazing. I still spend at least 20 hours a month hunting an haven't made a finds thread in a long time because that 10 hours is a difference between a good find once every several months and almost never.

Go a few hundred miles north, south, or east, and you can find awesome games at amazing prices. 300 miles north of the bay area was where I got a near mint Scuptor's Cut manual for 50 cents. 200 miles south I found Sunset Riders, Actraiser, Mario RPG, and a few other solid games for $1 each. The issue with the bay area is we have an insane amount of resellers who suck everything up, the black hole, if you will.

But we should be a gold mine. We use to be the game mecca Seattle is now. Atari, Nintendo, and so many companies were here. Now we have, what, EA and Namco?

Haven't been out much lately or when I am I don't find much. I did go back into Seattle a few days ago with my parents...

Found in Seattle Salvation Army:

Super Mario Bros sweatshirt - $6 (mom found this one for me, it does have a stain or two but I think it's old so I got it)

Not sure on the prices of the games, I'll have to find that receipt

Wii Red Steel - ? (CIB)
PS2 Guitar Hero 2 - ? (CIB)
PS2 Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s - ? (CIB)
PS2 Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup - ? (CIB)
PS2 Crazy Taxi - ? (CIB)

Also found a plastic cd tower that's a match to my other one I use to hold PSP games in the case. It was 3 bucks.

Found in Seattle Goodwill:

IKEA like shelf that's the perfect size for DS/3DS games - $15
Roll of twist ties (for tying up controller cords) - $3

I also found a bunch of books...nothing game related though. I found a stack of original xboxes and a poor selection of games. A vast difference from what I remember it being. Or maybe people go there more and it's been picked clean by the scavangers >.>

Another trip to Seattle, this time for Church Rummage sales. This was on Friday.

Church:

Box of Wii stuff - $13 (Box had video/power wires, two Wii motes, Mario Kart Wii (CIB) and Wii Sports (Disk only) )
360 Marvel vs Capcom 3 - $2 (CIB)
360 Soul Calibur IV - $2 (CIB, but case is damaged)

Today however I did luck out more closer to home.

Yard Sale in Des Moines:

PS1 Crash Bash - $1 (CIB)
PS2 Tarzan Untamed - $1 (CIB)

Yard Sale in Puyallup #1:

Little Goomba and Mario toys - Free
Big bag of PS1 manuals and back art - $3

Yard Sale in Puyallup #2:

PS1 Syphon Filter - $1 (CIB)
PS1 Metal Gear Solid - $1 (No manual and it seems to use the back art for the front and back?)
Xbox Pirate disk of Shadow the Hedgehog? - $1 (I just grabbed it wondering what the hell it is)
Red Wii - $38 (All plugs, two red nunchucks, one red Wii mote, Super Mario Galaxy (Disk only); Wii has some slight damage, but hopefully it works?)
Nintendo Power Zelda poster - $1

Pics or it didn't happen. Seattle has nothing to offer at all, period.

Those red Wii's are the shit. Best model by far!

Really? Why? Other then the Mario red color (which is nice on it's own).

Slept in today since I was sick and missed out on a $5 Sega Saturn (still kicking myself), but I did drag myself out of bed and stop at two thrift stores.

Kent St Vincent de Paul:

N64 Lode Runner 3-D - $5

Auburn St Vincent de Paul:

Nintendo Power Glove with manual - $49 (Might have overpayed but damn it I've never had one, I hope it works!)
Nintendo Gamecube Purple - $35 (CIB)

Power Gloves never worked...ever.

Well...you know what I mean.

So far not a great start to the weekend, church sale was pretty much selling garbage no one would ever want, "estate" sale was the same and one sale gave the wrong address so we couldn't find it. Ended up going to Goodwill Outlet and even then I didn't get much..only two things.

Goodwill Outlet:

Shadow the Hedgehog character plush backpack - $3 (Bought it off of a guy who picked it up before me, it needs some TLC but it's still in ok shape)

Sylvania Flat 27" TV - $8 (idk anything about it other then the brand and I'm guessing on the size. It looked like it had a nice picture and it was lightweight so I got it. Oh and the RCA ports are in the front >:3 )

I'll hopefully do better tomorrow.

Well I didn't do much better. That TV turns out to not work the way I need it to. So back to looking for one. I didn't get anything video game related at all today, but I did get someones number; they have some PS2 games in storage, so theres that at least. I also found a Craigslist ad for a small N64 lot. I'll be picking that up tomorrow.

If you find a lightweight 27" TV, it's not gonna be a pure flatscreen CRT, my 27" is around 100 pounds.

I lucked out today.

Craigslist:

Boxed N64 with the bonus Atomic Purple extra controller - $ 70

And all these for $70 as well.

N64 Goldeneye
N64 JetForce Gemini
SNES Starfox
SNES Pilotwings
SNES Uniracers
SNES Yoshi's Safari

I paid a bit more then I wanted to on the games but meh.

Found another TV to replace that one I got at Goodwill.

Goodwill Kent:

Panasonic 18" - $25 (Has oddly enough a built in radio)
New Super Mario Bros Wii framed poster - $6 (this one was a score because it was obvious someone was trying to hide it, hahaha!)

Goodwill Des Moines:

State of Emergency for PS2 - $3

I also found a ton of anime DVDs of shows I've never heard of but they sounded good...so I picked them up to.

Been lazy...missed out on yard sales Friday. I'll call that one person about their PS2 games and maybe luck out. Oh and wouldn't you know it that TV I got? I have to return it too, something is wrong with the picture..will I ever find a good TV?

Probably for the best. $25 is too much to pay for an old  TV that doesn't have any special features. Well, worthwhile special features.

Can't believe you're having so much trouble finding a good working TV if you're not looking for some specific Sony Wega HD whatever TV like some people.

Have you thought about making a Wanted Ye Ole TV post on craigslist? I bet with a $5 bounty you would have a dozen TVs offered to you.

Ah but CL are a bunch of dicks who keep making me put in my phone number so they can text me a "special code" to use my account..idk why. It's bother some since I don't own a cell phone.

But yeah maybe that is the best way. I'm not looking for anything specific like that, just something that has a nice picture, not really heavy, under $25, has the RCA ports in the front (and extras in back), has a easy to use menu that easily switches to the video out put and is 17" or less deep. Since I have to fit it into a small space it can't be huge lol.


Anyways not much luck today.

Yard sale:

Xbox Namco Museum - $1 (CIB)
PS1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - $1 (CIB)
PS1 Bust a Move 99 - $2 (CIB, damage to case)
PS1 Frogger - $2 (CIB, damage to case, GH version)
PS1 Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness - $2 (CIB, damage to case)

And not related to gaming but I got the first two seasons of Game of Thrones on DVD in some nice set..$30 for both. Tried to talk him down but he wasn't moving much. Never seen it and everyone made such a fuss about it so why the hell not, something to watch with the folks.

Did call that person, they haven't gotten around to getting the games out of storage but next weekend they might be. I have to hope that there are some nice games...and not the usual sports and driving games crap. I can hope for some JRPGs haha...

It pains me to read stuff like that. I just found the tv of my dreams that fits your requirements. It was $30, flat screen about 27", just under 17" deep, had a DVD VHS combo, front RCA and 2 in the back. The VHS door was missing and didnt come w a remote so I had to stick to my guns and pass on it but man, was I close to lugging that thing to the counter...

Ugh...well I can find all the flat screens I want but what I can't find is any older TV that's 17" deep or less...they're all 19" or more. Pretty fing annoying.

I did find something at a yard sale that might work for me..need to test it out. It's a flat screen, sony I think. Has RCA on the front and came with a VHS player in it...not that I watch VHS's anymore but I see some good deals on VHS's...like 1 buck each or less sometimes. I just hope the picture is ok...I couldn't test it there...but it was $5 bucks so no great loss other then it's taking up space...along with the other 3 tvs I have -_-..

Anyways today was a...eh day for stuff. We found a yard sale that listed Nintendo and Dreamcast stuff but of course they put it up on Thursday of all days...really? Starting a sale then!? *sigh* I never luck out. I sware the same group of game hoardersresellers is constantly beating me to finds..it's enough to make me tear my hair out in frustration.

So for my limited finds.

Church sale #1:

Small Spyro stuffed animal - $1
Mushu (from Mulan) stuffed animal - $1 (I like Mulan >.> )
PS1 Crash Bandicoot - $1 (CIB, greatest hits version)
DC 4x4 Evo - $1 (CIB, it was cheap so screw it haha)
The Hobbit poster - $0.50 (The 2003 video game one)

Church sale #2:

Yoshi Super Mario DS case - $2 (No stylus but it was cheap)
Stack of mixed Pokemon cards - $1 (Got it for memories sake lol)

Pawn shop:

2600 Riddle of the Sphinx - $1
PS1 Descent - $3 (CIB, longbox version)
PS1 Duke Nukem Time to Kill - $10 (CIB, over paid for it but meh)
PS2 Silent Hill 2 - $20 (CIB, over paid but I wanted to finally play it)
PS2 Persona 3 - $25 (CIB, way over paid but I treated myself, also cover art is slightly damaged)
PS2 Contra Shattered Soldier - Free (Missing manual, it was buy two get one free on PS2 games)
GC Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $4 (Missing manual)
GC Viewtiful Joe - $6 (Missing manual, Player's Choice version)
Wii Lost in Blue Shipwrecked - $9 (CIB, manual has some damage to it, loved the DS version so why not try this one?)

I did originally go there to look at their TV's but when I saw they wanted 200 for a 32" 720p used TV...I can get one for about the same at 1080p, new with a warranty at a store ffs lol. Big old nope.avi.

Hopefully I'll find some better deals tomorrow! I updated my last post with the PS1 titles I forgot, I'll have to call that person again tomorrow, if they don't have them out by now I might just give up. idk..

It has definitely gotten tougher to get good deals in Seattle than it was a few years ago. Part of the problem is Goodwill increasingly relies on online sales, so all the good stuff goes to shopgoodwill.com or Ebay or Amazon and not to the floor. There's also way more people out hunting now, and Ebay rejects have taken over Craigslist.

If you ever get a chance to go down to Tacoma, check out my store. It's called Super Smash Games and it's about three blocks from the swap meet. (on 56th & South Tacoma Way.)

I might be heading down to the Seattle area this summer, i'll check your store out too.

Awesome! You can get a taste for what the store is like by checking out our facebook page. We are also opening a second store in Ballard (Seattle). It won't be as big tho so some of the cool rare stuff we get will only be at the Tacoma store.