8/3/15:  Went to two thrift shops throughout the day.

First thrift shop I found this boxed Gamecube marked for $25.  There was no controller included so the manager reduced it to $20 for me.  




I got home and found a surprise in the Gamecube:




Also at this shop, I got these games for $2 each and the GBA SP was $5.  First Lime Green model that I've come across.






Went to a second thrift shop and found these for $2 each.  While I was waiting in line an older lady gave me a 1/2 off coupon so these were all $1 each!!  All of the games are CIB.  Otogi 2 and Timesplitters are great additions to the collection!





Lastly, I went to a game store and found these games CIB with all inserts for oddly low prices.  Not bad.





All in all, I spent $51 on everything above but I felt like it was a good haul!

8/6/15:  Responded to an ad on the local Facebook garage sale page 15 minutes after it was posted.  Got everything shown for $35.  Everything is tested and works great.  Super Smash Brothers Melee and Starfox Assault are the gems in this lot.  Not bad!!

8/11/15: Had a half-off coupon so I stopped in Value World. I got this lot for $23 after the coupon. Game Gear works great. Manuals are in good shape. Games are: Defenders of Oasis, Crystal Warriors, Dragon Crystal, Revenge of Drancon (Wonder Boy game), Ax Battler, Super Monaco, Columns, and Sonic 2. Ultima Runes of Lore for Gameboy, and Game and Watch Gallery 4 got GBA. Terrific value abd quality games I'm excited to try out! Also, found a Funcoland receipt which is always cool!

8/19/15: Scored this beauty from work for free. They are clearing out rooms in the basement to start remodeling/expanding and this was in storage. I had been eyeing it for a while and gladly took it when they went to throw it out (with the boss's blessing, of course). Video and audio quality are much better than what I was using. This is a 24" model and the remote was included. Great find!

8/28/15: Went to a pawn shop and get these for $4 each! This is my best find in a long time. Dragon View is a welcome addition to the collection

Nice That Zelda will look better after some cleaning!

Dragon View is an excellent game.  Not worth too much, wish I had a copy!

9/7/15: Went to Value World with a half-off Labor Day coupon. Got the following for only $21! Nice to find some quality Xbox games and the controllers are an added bonus. All games are complete except Crash Bash.

Nice! Interesting how there were so many Star Wars games right now..

I know! I feel like a star Wars super fan unloaded games at the thrift shop. There was an Obi Wan game and Battlefront 2 for Xbox that I passed on. Battlefront 2 had an effing Spongebob disc in the case so that was more of a Losers Weepers.

Can't win them all! At least you got a lot of nice items. The GC controllers go for $15 on eBay last I checked so that alone right there would be enough for me!

Cool find on the tip cards, I have 2 cards, they came packed in gum a long time ago

I'll preface this post by saying that I'm making a conscious effort to dig in to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube libraries recently as they seem to be the best hunting options for finding great values in the wild. I realize that this isn't collector porn for most NAers but given the recent price hikes of my more favorite older systems I feel this is the way to go for now. The prices are very cheap and have no where to go but up in most cases. Shout outs to Racketboy and Metal Jesus Rocks for their guides on starting Xbox and PS2 collections.

10/04/15: Went home to Ohio to visit the family for my birthday. Stopped in the local Exchange store and got Sylpheed and Gunvalkyrie CIB and in great shape for $5 each. Went into the mall to a local game store with horrible prices. I caught them slipping on Great Greed and picked it up for only $10! Nice! (Not pictured is my gift from my fiance of Mario Kart 8)



10/8/15: Stopped in a thrift shop and get these for $2 each. Neither have the manuals but I couldn't pass them up.



After the thrift shop I hit up a pawn store and got these all for $4 each. All are complete and Fire Emblem was nice to find.






10/9/15: Went back to the pawn store today and got this nice haul. I'm excited to try these out! All are complete and they were only $4 each.



When I opened the case for Croc, I knew that i had to get it. A very nice surprise!

I always check every new game case I see at my local thrift store and pawn shops. Definitely can find some great games in the wrong cases for cheap. Nice finds.

10/13/2015:  Stopped in a pawn shop and got Golden Axe for $4.  

Later, went to a local game store that sells loose boxes and got Alex Kidd IB for $2.99.  

At that same store, I found Sumo Fighter for $15.99.  It has some very slight yellowing but this is the first time that I've ever seen it in the wild so I coudn't pass on it.  I looked it up when I got home and apparently it's fairly uncommon/pricey.

I'm continuing to look for PS2 and OG Xbox deals locally, I feel like now is the time to start collecting these consoles as (generally) the game prices have nowhere to go but up.  This isn't collector-porn for most NAers as this isn't necessarily retro but with the competitiveness and cutthroat nature of retro collecting in my area this is the best choice for the time being.  And it's much easier on my wallet!



10/17/15:  I went to a swap meet and scored these loose disc games for $2 each.  They are Super Monkey Ball 2 (sharpie on disc), Final fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and Mario Kart Wii.




Later in the day, I went to a local game store.  I found some under-priced Xbox games.  Pariah and Yager are both CIB and were $3 each.  Xyanide was only $9 but it's missing the manual.  Great price for such an uncommon game.  Schwing!!!





10/22/15:   I recently started looking for an OG Xbox because I can't play every original Xbox game on my 360.  I found one on Craigslist with games listed for $50 that had been posted and re-posted for a few weeks.  I offered the guy $25 and he accepted my offer.  All games are CIB except Halo 2 collectors edition is missing the out sleeve.




10/29/15:  I went to a Value World and got these games for $3.23 each.  I was dissappointed with the disc in the Battlefront 2 case but figured the IB was worth getting for ~$3.  Conversely, Star Wars Episode 3 had a nice surprise inside and I couldn't pass it up.  







10/30/15:  Went to a different Value World and scored everything pictured for $2 each.  I've never seen a PS1 mouse before and the ASCII Grip looks....interesting...?  N64 games are Aerofighters Assault and Shadow of the Empire.  Great haul!





Lastly, I went to a pawn shop and got all of these for $10!  Both PS2 Castlevanias are CIB as well as Tenchu, Gamecube memory card is OEM and 251 blocks, and the Genesis games are Seaquest DSV & Tecmo Super Bowl 3.  Terrific deal!

Too bad on the Star Wars Battlefront II missing but hey at least you got another star wars game. I got Battlefront today as well.

11/23/15: A local game store had a buy 2 get one free deal on used games for the week of Black Friday.  I got Vay for $35, Sonic CD for $16 and Strider CIB for free.  They sell loose boxes and IBs for $3 each so I got After Burner, Zaxxon, Mortal Kombat 2, and Sonic & Knuckles IB for $3 each!




11/25/15: Went to a Value World on my lunch and picked up Animal Crossing GH CIB for $3.  No memory card included but this copy is in great shape!  Great haul and I keep going back to try and find any other GCN games....




12/1/15: Shout out to NA user Majesty ZX!  He posted about Square-Enix's Black Friday sale and I got all of the following for ~$70 shipped!  All are factory sealed and this is a great haul.  It arrived on Tuesday and I couldn't be happier!  I can't remember the last time that I bought a PS1 game brand new!  haha








12/2/15: Went to Value World and got all of these for $2 each.  All are CIB and in terrific condition.  FF8 has all of the inserts and is an upgrade of my copy.  RE3 and one of the Dooms included and extra disc in each so those were nice surprises.  The Bugs Bunny game is surprisingly somewhat sought after.  Not bad!




12/3/15: Went to a pawn shop and picked these up for $15 total!  Advance Wars is CIB and the Firered is an upgrade of my copy.

Double post

12/12/15:  Went to the Value World where I found the above lot of PS1 games.  They finally put out what I can only assume is the correcponding console.  Console with cords, memory card, and controllers was $12.  The console has a neat Playstation Magazine sticker on the top.  Also, this is a SCPH-1001 model!  This allegedly has great sound quality for its CD player though I'm by no means an audiophile and I can't fully appreciate it.







After Value World, I went to a local pawn shop.  I am a regular there and the store was understaffed so the owner said that I could go behind the counter if  Iwanted to look at anything.  I found a box of controllers and pulled out what you see below.  The only thing priced was the OG Xbox controller at $5.  I asked for a price on the Wii Motion Plusses and the nunchuks.  He said I could have everything for $15 total!  Terrific find!





12/13/15:  A local Goodwill had a sale yesterday for 50% off of everything,  The games are all CIB and were $1 each.  The battleToads VHS was $0.49.  I never knew that this tape existed and I'm looking forward to watching it sometime.  Not bad.

First update in a long while.  Life happened and I haven't been on NA for about 3 months.  My finds are nothing too crazy but some solid deals nonetheless.  

Not shown are my mail arrivals of Fire Emblem Fates SE w/ keychains, Zelda Twilight Princess HD w/ amiibo & CD, and Gunbird 2 CIB (I finally won an auction and didn't get screwed on the price).  Enjoy 


1/20/16: Went into a pawn shop that I frequent.  The games are Sonic & Knuckles, H.E.R.O. (coleco), and Jumpman Junior (Coleco) and they were $4 each.  The controllers were $2 each.  They are like-new and have tight joysticks.






1/22/16: Stopped in a different pawn shop with my fiance.  The drill was $10 and the games are CIB and were $5 each for $20 total.  Everything works great.  Not bad.






2/2/16:  Went back to the first pawn shop.  These games were $4 each.  White 2 is CIB.  I ended up getting a case/manual for White from a friend for free.  






2/27/16:  Went to Jackson to see some friends.  One friend had 20% off at Disc Trader so I got the following (price is after discount) - Base Wars for $4, Bubble Ghost $6.40, Sword of Hope $4, Darkwing Duck was $6.40.  Nice!




Hit up a Value World on the way home and got this nice Composite/Component/S-Video switcher for $3.  Free component cable included.




Lastly, went to a different Value World and found my new gaming TV!  A 27" Trinitorn Wega KV-27FS320 for $10.  I will try and trade my old Trinitron to someone who needs it.






3/10/16:  Went to a Salvation Army and it was 25% off with student ID.  I got a minty DS Lite w/ charger and case and a loose Hannah Montana game, loose Genesis model 2, Sega Game Gear w/ Sonic 1, PSX composite cables OEM, and Wii component cables for $36.

3/21/16:  Local game store had a spring sale.  I finally found some non-Keith, non-sports Turbografx games in the wild for a decent price.  I got everything pictured for $45.  Both Turbo games are CIC and were absolutes Wants of mine for a while now.  I left the other TG-16 games that they had for the next collector to snag.  Soul Calibur, Kirby, and SIlver are all IB only.  Toe Jam and Earl is box only.  Great deal.








3/23/16:  Stopped in a Value World with a 1/2 off coupon.  Controller was $1, Transfer Pak was $0.80, and Professor Layton was CIB for $2.50.  Decent deals but I hate finds like this.  Someone must have cleaned up with a PS1 system plus games, an N64 system with at least Pokemon Stadium, and a DS lot.  I got left with the remnants but still a worthwhile trip.  







3/31/16:  Went to a pawn shop.  Both games were marked at $8.  I asked if they'd do 2 for $15 and the agreed.  I wish the Blue label was better but still a solid deal.

I recently rediscoverd that I had this and thought that this was cool and unique enough to share.  My mom had found it while cleaning out a closet and sent it to me.  

I got this in 6th grade (1998) when I was doing a report on designing video games.  I had written in to Nintendo of America asking for tips and suggestions on how to become a video game designer.  A few weeks after I mailed my letter in, I had gotten a return letter and enclosed in the envelope was this signed pic.  I'm almost positive that the letter is lost forever but I still have the signed picture that they had sent.  If I remember right, the people that signed it all helped with localizing Nintendo games at the time.  I always thought that this was really cool and I'm stoked that it survived all of these years

Wow that is extremely cool of them to do. Very neat piece.

Man that's cool.

Any chance it's signed by Crispin Freeman? I know he was a part of the localization process