End of Summer Thrifts:
Last Friday, we visited not one, not two but THREE Goodwill stores in one day. A Thriftathalon, if you will.
Store #1: The local Goodwill:
As usual, I search the “high roller” cabinet first. This is usually where the new, Target castoff video games are kept. Additionally, this is where the Goodwill employees put smaller video games, like Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS titles. I managed to find a few gems that day, including Kirby: Mass Attack (loose) for the Nintendo DS and Rabbids: Travel in Time (loose) for the 3DS. Each game was a steal at $3. Aaron and I are attending MOGameCon on Saturday where I’ll be on the lookout for the cases and manuals to complete these two games.
Store #2: The Goodwill 20 Minutes Away:
A trip to the Goodwill up the highway yielded….nothing. Well, almost nothing. While perusing the CDs, I found an empty jewel case that once held the soundtrack to Pokemon: The First Movie. I already have a complete copy of this soundtrack at home, but I happen to know that the jacket to this cd unfolds into a beautiful movie poster. Not wanting to frame my complete copy at home, I asked the Goodwill attendant how much an empty jewel case was. She told me that I could have the empty case and that’s how I ended up with an extra copy of this beauty:
Store #3: The Goodwill 40 Minutes Away:
Goodwill #3 had, by far, the most exciting finds! The high-roller case held something that I never thought I’d find at a Goodwill, let alone in the condition in which it was found. Sometimes, Goodwill gets greedy and sends anything exceptionally rare or collectible to their corporate office, where it is listed on Goodwill Auctions. The Goodwill closest to my house does this with almost all of their retro gaming donations. Thankfully, the Goodwill stores farther away from my house don’t do this. God bless those stores. Anyway, Goodwill #3 held this thing of beauty in its glass cabinet:
I couldn’t believe my eyes. A COMPLETE IN BOX, Sonic 2 Edition Genesis set (1994?). The package included a Genesis Model 2, all of the cords, a controller, a copy of Sonic 2, and best of all, the promotional inserts. The inserts included the Sonic 2 manual, a Sega Visions subscription card (awesome!), a Genesis poster (YES!) and the user manual/instructions. The inside of the box is pristine and the outer box is minty fresh as well. This Genesis set must have sat in a closet for close to twenty-five years. I don’t usually like to drop “big money” at Goodwill, but this gorgeous set was worth every penny of the $50 price tag.
Of course, I’m over the moon at the site of this Genesis set, but the thrift harvest didn’t end there. A look at a media shelf yielded a few new Wii games for my collection: Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Sweet! As an added bonus, the previous owner snuck Super Mario Galaxy into the Sonic and Mario case. The cherry on top came when the cashier mis-rang my purchase and only charged me $2 a game. Every hedgehog has its day, I suppose.
Hopefully my luck will rub off on you readers! Happy Hunting!
