July 12, 2017
Dark Souls- Prepare to Thrift Edition:
I re-visited the Goodwill where I found Ash’s talking Pokedex and almost missed this diamond in the rough. Hiding amidst the stacks of outdated college textbooks was a hardback Dark Souls strategy guide. This was very easy to overlook, as the spine is quite plain looking. Had I not been close reading the spines of the books it would have slipped right by me. What do you guys think? Pretty good deal for $1!
Dark Souls Strategy Guide (hardcover) - $1
Total Spent: $1
July 7, 2017
Vintage N64 Promotional VHS Tapes:
This isn’t technically a thrift, but it’s an amazing pickup nonetheless. Aaron and I went to see a concert a few weeks ago and I, being paranoid about tardiness, made us leave our house early. We ended up with about an hour to spare so we googled game stores in the area. Our search took us to a small retro game shop five minutes from the concert venue. As we walked in, we were greeted with a shelving unit full of Nintendo Power magazines. Aaron and I love NP. It’s a personal goal of mine to acquire every NP issue that features Pokemon on the cover—I’ve got five so far, including the issue with the Eon Ticket!) Aaron ended up picking out a few vintage issues featuring Super Mario All-Stars and Metroid on the Gameboy.
While Aaron sifted through magazines, I made my way up to the counter where the sole store attendant sat. I overheard the attendant talking to another customer about the upcoming MoGameCon that’s coming to Saint Louis (Aaron and I will be in attendance!) I talk with the attendant and customer until the customer leaves and then I turn my attention to the glass cases. In the cases, I spot something I’ve wanted for a long time-a Pokemon FireRed GBA box. (I’m on a Pokemon completionist kick right now!) The box, in excellent condition, included all of the original inserts too. I buy the box for what I believe to be a reasonable price and continue to talk to the attendant (who turns out to be the owner of the store!)
I have a tendency to peer behind the counter at retro game stores because this tends to be the place where cartridge-less boxes and manuals go to die. On the shelf off to the side, I saw some old Nintendo promotional VHS tapes, one for the Nintendo 64 (on Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64) and one for Diddy Kong Racing on the N64. These promotional VHS tapes were distributed by game stores and mailed to customers to advertise upcoming games. This was long before the days of online game trailers when physical media (my preferred medium) dominated the gaming industry. I inquired about the VHS tapes because Aaron had been pricing a few on the internet. To my disbelief, the owner of the store told me we could have them (for FREE) because they’d sat there for two years and nobody was interested in them. What a generous donation to our collection!
Aaron used his capture card to export the VHS tapes to a digital format, click the videos below to enjoy them in their nostalgic glory.
Pokemon FireRed GBA Box and Inserts - $18
Nintendo 64 Promotional VHS Tapes (x2) - FREE!
Total Spent: $18
July 16, 2017
Wheee! A Wee Wii Collection:
Another trip to the Goodwill yielded a few new games for my wee Wii collection. My uncle gave me a Nintendo Wii a few years ago and I’ve started acquiring good, cheap titles for it (not shovelware!) According to the price tags, these games came out to the “showroom floor” that day. A glance at the video game shelf provided me with complete in box copies of Kirby’s Epic Yarn (yay!) and Cooking Mama: Cook Off. It’s not often you find a first party title at Goodwill, as they always get snatched up right away. I’m a fan of Cooking Mama on the DS so I picked up the Wii version too. Games at Goodwill are typically $3 a piece but the cashier thought they were DVDs (I guess?) and charged me $2 each.
Meanwhile, my brother found the plush Axew shown below. Plush were half off that day, so this dragon - type Pokemon was caught for .25 cents.
Also pictured - Five Nights at Freddy’s young adult Scholastic novel. Might be a fun read.
Recap:
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii) *CIB* - $2
Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Wii) *CIB* - $2
Axew Pokemon Plush - .25
FNAF book - $1
Total Spent: $5.25
July 17, 2017
Game Chasing and a Local Trade with Saint Louis Retro Gamers:
Today, we did not go thrifting. We did, however, go game chasing! Aaron and I enjoy making the rounds to our local game shops. There’s five (or so) retro stores in the Saint Louis area that we frequent and today, we hit up three of them (plus our local V-Stock and Slackers). At our first stop, I inquired about the boxes behind the counter and came up with a complete (including inserts) Game Boy Advance (Indigo) box. For $5, I was very excited about this pickup!
Our mall has a V-Stock that carries some import goods from Japan. These items include plush and action figures. I don’t typically buy import plush from the mall (because they’re bloody expensive) but this was a special occasion. I’ve been after a plush Skitty ever since Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire came out in 2003. This particular Skitty plush is part of the San Ei All Stars series, a set of plush released to commemorate the most popular Pokemon in the franchise. Pokemon like Pikachu, Marill, Clefairy, Ralts and Skitty are amongst those that have been released. This Skitty is made of a minky material that is very soft to the touch. To check for legitimacy, I inspected the stitching and looked for the tell-tale “ShoPro” sticker. Many bootlegs do not have this important sticker. Always check your booties, guys! (Bootlegs)
Here’s a picture of the All Star Collection at one of the Pokemon Center stores in Japan:
A trip to a pawn shop yielded a Genesis Secrets book (below). This book documents tips, tricks and cheats to “Sega’s 100 Hottest Games”.
Finally…
I saw a post on Facebook made by a seller looking to offload a very unique piece of Sega (and Blockbuster) history. Within two minutes of him posting this particular item for sale, I had responded to his post and arrangements were made to meet the seller about 40 minutes from where I live.
This gentleman had a Sega Saturn rental case for sale. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, Blockbuster allowed their customers to rent an entire game console to see if they enjoyed the gaming experience. Some of the consoles that were rented out included the Sega Genesis/Sega CD, the Nintendo 64, and the Virtual Boy. Obviously, the heyday of Blockbuster is long over and these relics are a thing of the past. That is, until they show up in local Facebook collector groups. These rental cases usually run collectors a pretty penny.
The case itself came with the custom fitted foam (with cutouts for the Saturn console, cords, and two controllers), a Saturn controller, and a Saturn GameShark (cheat code device). As if these items weren’t cool enough, the price the seller was asking was incredibly low. He posted the lot for $10. The only problem with the rental case is the compromised Sega Saturn label on the side of the container. I’m not complaining, however, as I believe that I got a stellar deal.
Additionally, the gentleman was selling an NES storage drawer for $20. The drawer itself dons the Nintendo logo on the front and has two pullout trays. Each tray is inscribed and fitted for particular NES accessories. I, of course, ignored the perforated compartments and put my NES supplies in all willy-nilly.
Pickups:
GBA Console Box (inserts included) - $5
Sega Genesis Tips Book - $5
San Ei Skitty plush (import) - *whispers*….$27....
Sega Saturn Rental Case w/ bonus controller and GameShark - $10
Nintendo NES storage cabinet - $20
Total Spent: $67
