The Greatest Deals Ever Made

[digitalpress]

Come on, you've probably got a story to share.

If you've been collecting for any amount of time, you've probably made a deal that you walked away from not even believing yourself that you pulled it off. I'm not talking about the great "finds", I'm talking about the great trades or offers with other gamers and collectors that found you sitting pretty, maybe not right away, but today for sure.

Share your story! Please don't use real names though, because I don't need to see my name listed a hundred times as "the guy on the short end of the stick"!

[maxlords]

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that her dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all :) I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well :) I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around :) That's my best deal ever.

[autobotracing]

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that here dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all :) I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well :) I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around :) That's my best deal ever.
.


holy shit! I would have crapped my pants on that deal!

[Videogamerdaryll]

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that here dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all :) I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well :) I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around :) That's my best deal ever.
.


holy shit! I would have crapped my pants on that deal!


Me TOO.........................Wow!

[Kid Ice]

At a garage sale, all the following:

complete NES ROB
complete NES Power Glove
5 assorted 2600 controllers
5 assorted Colecovision controllers

cost = 25 cents!

ICE

[Britboy]

Mine's not so great, but it seemed great at the time....

I was given a bunch of games for about 20 bucks, including five Pitfall II Atari carts. He threw them in free because they were "broken". He said he was going to throw them out, so I took 'em. I took them home and sure enough they didn't work. A few Q-tips, some alcohol, and a pencil eraser later, each of them worked just great. Sold off 4 for 20 bucks each, kept the 5th.

Like I said, not huge, but still enough to give me the "rush" that ALL of you know so well LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

I got a Mac Classic 2 for free...eh. Well, it did come with a printer and stylish dust covers. It also has more memory (16 MB RAM in 1991) than some online Mac info sites tell me is possible for this machine. As if you care.

Well, then I just got a whole bunch of stuff from some guy in college for around $170, thinking it will arrive in a few days:

(note all this stuff is complete and in awesome shape)

Phantasy Star 2 - $20
Phantasy Star 4 - $20
Super Metroid + Guide (in perfect condition, not bad) - $40
Sega Nomad (!) $45
Suikoden 1 $25
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - $35

This was just a few weeks ago. CURRENT. I'm not sure if it was going to eBay or what was going to happen, but in any case I didn't do too bad.

[Atari7800]

I've only had one trade where I came out the obvious winner (in retrospect... I had no idea that one of the games was so hard to find and would become so damned expensive)... I usually end on on the crappy end.

I got...

Sega 32x DarXide
Sega 32x FIFA Soccer
(both of these games were UK-only, both complete)

He got...

A new mini SNES I got on sale at Toys R' Us for $25

:D

[autobotracing]

I guess the best deal I ever got was arc the lad collection sealed right when the game was released for $10.I also got a half working pinball machine for free but it was falling apart.

[Mr-E_MaN]

My best find just happened to me! http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14181

The funny thing I didn't even want to go to the garage sale, but my dad wanted to go. I saw 720 for the NES in the distance so I went over to take a look. When I got there I noticed they had about 60 boxed games sitting under the loost games. I started to freak out. I waited for this guy to but down one of the games he was looking at, then I picked up the box, told him I was getting it all and went to go pay for it. I said I'll give you $60 for the lot and they accepted & I walked away with my million dollar smile.

[norkusa]

My greatest deal was trading around 50 boxed common/uncommon NES carts (about 1/2 had instructions) for a mint & complete Bubble Bath Babes. The kid I traded them to was hard-up for boxed NES games and I really wanted to complete my Panesian collection, so we were both happy with the deal.

[AB Positive]

So far, value wise I probably got lucky paying $30 for a working CDX with 3 controllers, joystick, and 16 Sega CD games with instructions. Although getting a free Dreamcast BBA (which I've long since traded) was nice.

However personally, getting a free TG-16 made my month. I love it, just played a couple hours of Bonk's adventure. gold.

-AG

[orrimarrko]

My greatest deal was trading around 50 boxed common/uncommon NES carts (about 1/2 had instructions) for a mint & complete Bubble Bath Babes. The kid I traded them to was hard-up for boxed NES games and I really wanted to complete my Panesian collection, so we were both happy with the deal.

Very nice!


Come on vets - write in here! THis should be a great topic, even though most aren't following the thread started by DP. :D

In the history of your shady dealings, there has to be a few that make you laugh/cry/smile.

Do tell...

(By the way, I've only made one trade ever, and it was recently with DP - a sealed Deion Prime Time (GEN) for an NES Rainbow Islands (cart only.) So, I myself, don't have much to tell.)

[Boboduo]

About a year ago, I recieved a free vectrex (minus controller :/ )
from a lady my mother was helping move.

[Captain Wrong]

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

[maxlords]

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

Here's some pics for those who are interested:

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade1.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade2.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade3.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade4.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade5.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade6.jpg

The back of my friend's bookstore had a GIANT warehouse in it with a 30 foot ceiling and a whole suite of offices...so they all got stored there until they were sold :) It was a fun deal....wish I'd been able to keep it all!

[chadtower]

Dude, that's a wet dream. I mean seriously... I'd add onto my fucking house if I had to to get all those games for $550. There's no way I'd sell any of them... tell me this is just a hoax! Things like this don't really happen, do they?

>.<

[Mr-E_MaN]

WOW! O_O

I wish I had something like that!!

[Reverend JagDiesel]

Swordquest Waterworld for 49 cents and Tank Command for 59 cents the same day at different Salvation Army's...
I'd also say the Sony component rig I got a week ago for $10...

nothing will touch Maxlords though.. holy shit!!!

[Cheese]

I have two Vectrex's that were both given to me along with about 13 games for them.

Recently I ordered Masters of Orion 3 from amazon at a sale price of 17.99 with a twenty dollar rebate, they paid me $2.00 to take it off their hands. My pleasure.

[autobotracing]

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

Here's some pics for those who are interested:

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade1.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade2.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade3.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade4.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade5.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlords/images/Arcade6.jpg

The back of my friend's bookstore had a GIANT warehouse in it with a 30 foot ceiling and a whole suite of offices...so they all got stored there until they were sold :) It was a fun deal....wish I'd been able to keep it all!


drool!drool!drool!drool!drool!drool!
@_@ @_@ @_@ @_@ @_@

[videopac]

My two best deals were both Videopac related (Videopac = European Odyssey2).

The first was when I saw an ad in small ads magazine, the ad read something like "40+ games for the Videopac plus extras, 400 kr". 400kr equals $45 (roughly). Turns out that the guy was a Philips employee and that in the end of the 80's Philips realised that they were not going to move the old games stock so they gave some away to their employees and took the rest to the dump. So, he had most of the Videopac game titles *unused*, his children had not liked the system very much... :) I was, luckily, the first to call and got the stuff for the $45 asked! That was how I got started on my Videopac collection.

The second deal was another ad in the same magazine (but a few years later). Sometimes people put in ads and want to get almost what they gave for the stuff ten years ago... I get kind of annoyed when seeing such ads. Still, I found one reading something like "A lot of Videopac games and more, 3000kr", I thought that this is such a crazy person who wants to get back what he forked out ten years ago. But, I called him and we started talking and then I asked how many games are there. The reply was "oh, one or two pallets" WHAT??? I'll take them I said, and got his account number and transfered the money the same day. I borrowed a trailer for my car and drove the 200km to where he lived and he was right! Most of the stuff was new in the box Chess modules for the Videopac (then, at least, rated UR in the lists... :D ) Turned out that he had been assigned to clear out a storage that Philips rented. The stuff was meant for the dump but this guy had driven it home to his place instead!

Guess if I was happy, driving home that night!

Those were the days...

[Buyatari]

My best deal may have been a deal I didn't even particapate in.

I got a HUGE collection traded into the store soon after we opened.

I had just changed our policy on "old" games after an employee paid $2.00 for Combat :(

Our new policy was 25 cents trade 10 cents cash on anything "old"

I was out and about doing I dunno what when I came by to check on the store. Some lady had traded in a HUGE collection of games after her son went away to school.

It was quite a collection. I don't remember everything but.....

NES system
SNES system
3Do System
Many loose SNES ,NES games
approx 20 - 3do complete games
and
300+ complete Nes games including Flinstones 2 !!!!

price ?

under $60.00

Well the workers didn't get yelled at this time ;)
I should frame that $2 combat now.

Adam

[Half Japanese]

I guess the best deal I got was this:

I bought a Sega Saturn with 17 games off of a friend for $50, included with this bundle was Shining Force III, Albert Odyssey and several other uncommon RPGs. I also got a cart for playing imports and a few import games.

[BigBoogie]

Colleco,
Two colleco super controllers
Steering wheel
And the very rare Super Sketch
all for $5
I love goodwill.

[DDCecil]

I still think the best deal I ever got was an import Saturn and 30 games for $200. Some of the games I can remember:

Battle Monsters
(Saturn) Bomberman: Fight!!
Can Can Bunny Extra
Capcom Generations 1
Dead or Alive
Dragon Ball Z: Shinbouten
D-Xhird
Eve Burst Error
Galaxy Fight
Guardian Heroes
Keio Yugekitai
Last Bronx
Macross: Do You Remember love?
Psychic Assassin Taromaru
Strikers 1945
Thor
Vampire Hunter
Vampire Savior
Virtua Casino
Virtua Cop 2
Virtua Fighter CGI Portraits (3 of them)
Virtua Fighter 2
Virtua Photo Studio
Wangan Dead Heat
Wing Arms
X-Men vs Street Fighter w/ 4 Ram Cart
Yakyuken Special

Another time, while working at my dad's store, a one-armed man came in (he was a butcher) and traded about 250 NES games (With all the DW's, Tengen Tetris, and a few others) for 5 PSX games.

[taisansoldier]

Best deal ever for me...I was working at Gamestop. This guy wanted to trade in some old stuff to buy a PS2. Said he had a boxed system he wanted to get rid of. I told him to bring it in and I'd see what I could do. Gamestop no longer took in SNES, Genesis, NES stuff, but I figured I could probably buy something off the guy if it was decent. To my disbelief, the guy brought in a SEALED boxed Sega CDX. @_@ I could barely contain my excitement. So I said, "Well, we don't take this stuff back anymore, but I'll buy it. How about $20?" The guy thought about it for a minute. "Well, it's unopened and all. How about $25?" Needless to say, we had a deal.

[taisansoldier]

Oh yeah, another Gamestop special....Customer came in to trade in a box load of old SNES stuff (That was before they stopped taking that stuff back). Included in his stash...boxed and complete (with maps) copies of Final Fantasy II, FFIII, Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger. So with my employee discount, I ended up getting them all for around $90.

[-hellvin-]

staduim events - 5
quadrun - 5

Final fantasy, dragon warrior 2, vegas dreams, pinball quest, legacy of the wizard and shadowgate complete for 1.99 each.

Intellivision - Diner (complete) - 5

2000 snes boxes - 150
300 genesis boxes - 120

(I'm a box/completist freak)

[Nez]

Nothing too amazing here.

On Ebay A low feedback seller was selling 6 Saturn games with System and accessories.

The title didn't say what was there so hehe no one really looked.

This is what was in the lot.

Saturn Model 2
Sega Memory Card
Sega Controler
Lunacy C
D loose
Myst C
Brain Dead 13 C
Shining the Holy Arc C
Panzer Dragoon Saga C mint
Gaurdian heros loose

All for 150 shipped pretty good, but I think it barely qualifies, for this thred.

[pixelsnpolygons]

I have nothing even remotely close to anything listed here - especially not the first response. Wow!!

The best deal I ever got was a free crappy game in a Kellogg's compeition. :(

[Nez]

Damn I forgot it was a classic discussion. And my other find. 400 Atari Intellivision Coleco carts for 300 dollars.

Some had boxes others had manuals.

Then there were 4 atari 2600s' one vader 1 sixer.

Heck some were even seald. MANY MANY controllers god the list goes on and on.

All for 300 dollars a good deal if you ask me.

[Cmosfm]

CLICK HERE FOR MY THREAD (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34693&highlight=neo+geo+aes)

This thread depicts my greatest deal ever. EVER. and the conflict the thread caused. :(

[Dangerboy]

Follow along :)

1. 900 or so PSX Games
2. Traded for to me for $750 in Game Store Gift Cards
3. 255 dupilicates removed and sold off for $1500 paypal
4. Half the Playstation Library all complete / perfect FREE
5. And made rent to boot.

All on unemployment.

To help picture this, included in that lot were games like Arc the Lad (with watch), Super Puzzle Fighter II, Suikoden I + II, Valkyrie Profile, both Lunars, City of Lost Children, and more.

Go me. :)

[Classicgamesdepot]

Couple of all time Greats: Complete Stack up 2 bux, Sealed Mountain bike ralley/ Speed racer - 5 bux (soon to get the whole bike set up for 60 :-)

A factory sealed box of Warsongs (genesis) 6 games - 5 bux each

Trade - Complete Duo Box/Docs (at the time they were worth about 200 complete) for:

Sealed Nes: Bonk's Adventure (my god I wish I still had this), River City Ransom, Final Fantasy, Panic Resturaunt (mint complete, wrap torn off) , about 10 other sealed games worth about 50-100 each, can't remember titles

- A damn good deal

- My favorite deal though : (since Genesis is my favorite system of all time)

About 130 Complete Genesis games all mint as hell with a few guides like phantasy star 4 guide, ps3 hint book, etc. NO SPORT GAMES and nearly every GOOD Genesis game (MUSHA, PS2, 3, 4) Aerboiz supersonic, etc.

For 100 bux :-)

Nothing will EVER top Maxlords find..my God

[max 330 mega]

mint house of the dead complete for free at gamecrazy :D

[Cauterize]

A Gameboy Colour for 20p
A PS2 for £6
A N64 With 2 Games For £3
3 Game And Watches for £1

[Buyatari]

A N64 With 2 Games For £3

Were you the seller or the buyer?

jk

LOL

[Cauterize]

nope, always the buyer, im not stupid enuff to sell at a price liek that :P

[qbertandernie]

read this entire thing before thinking this is a super fantastic deal....

on a strictly trade with-a-gamer, about two weeks ago i got a defender arcade machine for a boxed 'escape from ghost manor'(or whatever it is) for the 3do. the guy picked it out of the trash(!!!) and had it sitting next to the garage of the house he rents...

his nieghbor had come to my garage sale and bought some common atari games and was looking for a system, and after we got talking he told me about it, so i went over there about an hour later, and there it was, sitting outside. anyway, these guys thought the machine was fully functional, though they hadnt tested it. that wouldve been a great deal, but when i got there i found that the boards are mostly gone. by this i mean there is one board inside the machine. and its kinda beat up.
this isnt so bad though, because i plan to shift to buying more arcade machines in the future(after i get the house fixed up) and this ones got the original cabinet, monitor and the controls look great. so i buy some boards and hope the monitor works, and hopefully its cool. looks fantastic next to my non-working robotron machine!

anyway, i got an original defender arcade cab with original controls and glass for the cost of a cheap ass 3DO game which i already had three of. i thought it a good deal.

come to think of it, that may be the only time ive ever traded a game...

[PentiumMMX]

Not too long ago, I was going to buy a compleate copy of Sonic 2 for the Genesis (I don't have it yet). but passed it up for this:

Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Compleate W\ MML2 Demo disc

...For only $15.00 :D

[Nubiandaze]

Hey All,
I've had a couple of pretty good deals. About 6 months agon I got 38 Atari Lynx boxed games (most sealed) including Casino for US$40.00.I got the Lynx game Double Dragon (sealed) for US$3.00 at a salvage place.

I was given a Vectrex in exchange for a 6 pack of beer. I offered him the beer as I couldn't just take it for free.

If I ever get a really good deal there's no way I could sell the stuff. Especially if the guy who is giving it to you is a friend or anything. In this case it's just nice to keep it. It maybe doesn't make much $ sense but it's still good to do this I think. If you sell it it's like making money out of someones generosity. It is for me anyhow, others might think different though.

I also got a boxed & sealed Vectrex control panel for free when I bought a boxed Vec and 9 boxed games for US$75.00. That's not too spectacular though.

Regards,

Nubian.

[Nubiandaze]

Oh yeah, almost forgot.
I bought the Atari 2600 game SPIDER MONSTER for 50 cents, at a salvage place,and sold it for $120.00 on ebay. That's probably the best deal Iv'e done.

Nubian.

[NYLatenite]

Nothing amazing to report here - best deals I ever got were on Atari 8 bits.

About 25 8bit carts including some of the K-Razy games and some boxed music learning titles for $10 from a guy at work who was moving and cleaning out his basement.

An Atari 400 and about 10 carts also for $5 from a friends garage sale.

[link1110]

A PSX-type famiclone for $2 at a garage sale. Had a light gun and everything.

[skoldpadda]

:D :D :D

I bought a neo geo cd system with 5 games at goodwill for 35 bucks a couple of weeks ago or so and just auctioned it off on ebay for $172.50...

:D :D :D

...(heads back to ebay to blow the wad on colecovision auctions)...

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[Daniel Thomas]

How about the story of a deal that didn't go through?

About a decade ago, I visited the local coin-op distributer in Duluth, MN, to look at what arcade games they had. I was taken up to the attic, where among many spare parts and broken pieces, lay a perfectly pristine Computer Space. It was a Computer Space with joysticks instead of buttons, which I understand is even more rare.

I never went back, even though I asked the owner to think about a price for selling it. I don't know if he knew what he had; I certainly didn't know its worth back then. Otherwise, I would've taken out a loan and bought it right then and there.

I wonder if that machine is still in that old warehouse. It's Duluth, so you can never be sure....

[davidleeroth]

I wonder if that machine is still in that old warehouse. It's Duluth, so you can never be sure....

Ok now, let's see...



...GET OUT THE WAY !!! *crabs toothbrush and passport*

I'm going to Duluth, wherever thast might be. @_@

[davidleeroth]

I wonder if that machine is still in that old warehouse. It's Duluth, so you can never be sure....

Ok now, let's see...



...GET OUT THE WAY !!! *crabs toothbrush and passport*

I'm going to Duluth, wherever that might be. @_@

[davidleeroth]

I wonder if that machine is still in that old warehouse. It's Duluth, so you can never be sure....

Ok now, let's see...



...GET OUT THE WAY !!! *crabs toothbrush and passport*

I'm going to Duluth, wherever that might be. @_@

[SegaAges]

this has to be the best deal ever.

out of random, i bought a model 1 genesis from my friend for $50 (this was actually when you could still easily find model 2 in tru and places like that). i got 2 or 3 games for it, no big deal. well about 6 months ago or so, he found the original box that still had the foam and bags in it. not even 2 weeks ago he came across the instruction manual for the system.

so i basically bought a mint, complete genesis model 1 for $50, but i paid that much for it around 3 or 4 years ago, maybe longer.

[DigitalSpace]

-Super Mario RPG (loose) for free. A friend of mine got it at a garage sale for five bucks and gave it to me since he already had a copy and knew SMRPG was high on my want list. :D

-Earthbound (loose) for $4.

[max 330 mega]

flinstones 2 nes boxed for 20 bucks?

[Wavelflack]

Hmm..

Well, I have a few. I'm pretty tightfisted, so you can pretty much guarantee that anything in my collection was acquired for pennies (or less) on the dollar.

First, I'll reprint one of my favorite deals (which I posted in an unrelated thread about a week ago):
"
My favorite deal of all time came from just such a place (a pawn shop in Wichita in which you literally had to step through piles of items to make your way around the store). After picking around for an hour or two, I got the following pile assembled:

1. Complete Atari XEGS, in box.
2. Atari Lynx (the original model)
3. TG-16, complete in box
4. SMS 3D glasses, with a spare adaptor card
5. 3DO FZ-10, complete (but no box)
6. Konami Laserscope
7. Intellivision 2 (no PSU...dammit), controllers intact
8. Popful Mail, (Sega CD)- complete and nearly mint
9. Vay (Sega CD) complete and "pretty good" shape
10. 4 Lynx carts (Ninja Gaiden, Toki, Hard Drivin, Gauntlet)
11. 2 Keith Courage carts (yay)
12. 5-6 3DO games...I don't remember which.

The guy let me talk him into $65 for all of it. The guy was probably happy to make some headway in spacemaking, and didn't really care what it brought. At least that was my guess, because he shot me $80 and I said $65 and he just said "okay." I wonder how low I could have gone?"




Second, I guess I would have to include my Pac Man upright deal. I found it at a garage sale about 6 years ago, with a $50 price tag. That in itself is a great deal, but it gets better. I asked the guy if it worked, and he said "Sort of". he explained that the game actually ran and made sounds, but the monitor was screwed up. I had him plug it in, and what it showed was a single vertical line. I was pretty sure it was just a loose vsync (actually horizontal) connection, but I made a sad face anyway and told him that monitors were expensive. I got him to take $30 for it instead. Brought it home, wiggled the wires, and it worked fine. Even the coin mechs are in good shape!

Third would be my arcade PCB score. This was an unexpected deal. The story:

My cousin and I used to meet up at a convenience store in Strong City, KS. We met there because it was halfway between Hutchinson (where I live) and Overland Park (where he lived). Our parents would drive us there, at which point we would ride home together one direction or another. Our parents called it the "kid exchange".

Anyway, during the "layover" period in Strong City, we would play the games in the convenience store.

Durng one of these trips, when my cousin and I went in the game room to play the games (while our parents talked about boring shit), we discovered that all of the games were broken. Except one. Some game about a guy who jumped over coke cans. We were forced to play that shitty game.
For years afterwards, we would joke about that game (which had long since disappeared). We didn't know what it was called, and just referred to it as "the can jumping game".

At some point, I decided to solve the mystery of the name. I called the convenience store, and asked them who the vending company for their games was. They told me that they didn't have games in the store anymore, and didn't know. I got the manager's name and called her at home , and she remembered who it was that owned the games. A company out of El Dorado.

I called the company, and they told me that they no longer did coin op games (only vending machines), and said that the owner (who recently retired and sold off the business) kept the games for himself.

I got his name and called him.

(At this point, it sounds a little ridiculous to go through all of that just for the name of a game, but I was driven.)

I asked him if he remembered a game that fit my vague description. He told me that he didn't, but if i wanted, I could come by and look at his stuff. Maybe it would ring a bell?

El Dorado is a little over an hour drive from my house, by I was so close to getting the name! I decided to drive over and take a look.

When I got there, I was a little disappointed. It was just a house and a detached garage. Certainly it couldn't hold many machines.
I was right. It only had 10 or so arcade games, none of which looked like the "can jumping game". But the guy then pointed at a bunch of boxes and said "It's probably in one of those". The boxes were full of arcade PCBs, clean and nicely packed. He told me if I found it, or anything else I wanted, I could have the boards for $5 each.
I gave up very quickly on the hope of identifying a game whose name I could not remember ever even seeing based on PCBs. But it didn't matter at that point. I had a huge bargain on my hands. I picked through the boxes and got all sorts of nice boards, including 2 Galaga boards, an extra Pac Man PCB, Time Pilot, Moon Patrol, all good stuff. I ended up buying 15 boards from him. $5 each. I ended up trading one Galaga to Video Connection for Pyros and Gladiator. The other brought $200 and change on eBay. The others eventually sold on eBay as well, after I gave up hope of making my own little arcade downstairs. All told, that $75 investment translated into $1200 or so, plus trades.

And the name of the actual game I was searching for? Thanks to this very board (several years ago), it was identified to me as Metro Cross.

I have one other "ultimate" deal, but I'm tired of typing for the moment and it's supper time. It involves returns and exchanges. I'll tell you about it in a little bit.

[link1110]

I found a Suikoden 2 guide at a bookstore for $2, didn't want it until I had the game. I gt the game complete at a Funcoland for $30 a few weeks later, and the guide was still there, so I paid $32 for a package people pay $150 for on EBay. A few pages have since fallen out of the guide though .

[Steven]

Heh, I know I am bumping nearly a 2 year topic but it's 4:22 AM on a summer Saturday morning... and I'm digging into the DP bowels! (hmmm, I could have worded that better, LOL)

Well, I'm lucky to say I have had a TON of awesome deals. I just replied to the "Worst Gaming Buys/Blunders" topic or something similar to that in quotes. I really don't have much. Looking back I have been graciously blessed with mind-blowingly awesome deals. Steals. Not that I stole games, mind you. :P

Lemme start by saying Psychic Assassin Taromaru, a very rare Saturn import that hits $200 plus. In early 2003 I paid $80 for it. I almost backed out, but am soooo glad I did not.

Radiant Silvergun (albeit disc only) for $65. Hey, that's an awesome deal in my book. Complete copy = 150. I'll save 85 bucks any day if it meant I had to forego the back insert and manual!

Since I was a major Saturn buff from 2001-2005, the majority of my steals came with this system. In 2002 a guy in Japan was starting an upstart Saturn website. He and I became good email buddies, and he liked my style of reviewing games. He booked me and in return sent me a load of free Saturn imports. I'm not talking no stinkin' cheapo Virtua Fighter. I'm talking:

X-Men vs. SF
Out Run
Space Harrier
Magical Drop 3
BATTLE GAREGGA!!!!! ($80 value)

and many more, all complete and mint. Unbelievable. No catch. He sent me these games all for free, shipping out 3-5 out at a time.

Another guy I met a long time ago, apparently he loved me in a similar vain. As he sent me free games often. US Christmas NiGHTS (worth $25 at the time), and in his final shipment (2004) he sent me the likes of Shining the Holy Ark, Shining Force III, Iron Storm and Dragon Force. Holy crap. They were doubles and I sold or traded them off for major killings.

Looking back, I probably received over $1,000 value of games, for NOTHING. For free. Incredible huh? Yup, from 2001-2005 I had like 7 or 8 different random "internet buddies" sending me FREE Saturn goodies. Now that whole experience is one I look back fondly on as a Saturn gamer. I'm not in the Saturn scene any more, as I simply burned out and the "mileage has run out," so to speak. Nonetheless, today I still keep the system and have 195 games for it.

I started my SNES journey in January 2006, and already have had some excellent deals. Hell, here on DP I bought Super Metroid. I offered $8 shipped but he insisted on $7 shipped. Why, who cares, lol. Anyway, he didn't send it til about 3 weeks later, and never replied to my PM's so he stressed me out. However, when the package finally came, he threw in Mario AllStars for his troubles.

It was a double. I auctioned it off and got $15 from it.

So essentially, I got Super Metroid for free AND a couple bucks!

Recently, a member here, because we dealt before and I guess he liked me, offered a free copy of Metal Warriors. I was so excited. Free! A week later, I was at the flea market and found a copy! So I sold the double off for $36. I got the flea market copy by trading in $2 and a copy of Fatal Fury SNES. Are you kidding me?!

At 1 point, I owned as many as 3 Aero Fighter copies! One which I traded in for 4 lousy fighting game-related movie VHSes (SF The Anime, Samurai Shodown, Toshinden and Mortal Kombat) I *couldn't* move this junk on the internet for $15 shipped! The vendor gladly took it for Aero Fighters.

Well I've rambled on long enough. DP -- thanks for being grounds to making an early Saturday morning a nice fond trip down memory lane, where the road has been paved with great deals and steals. :) ;)

[Psycho Penguin]

Back in 1997, I traded a Game Boy w/4 games and Donkey Kong Country for SNES for FF2, FF3, and FFMQ for SNES. I always felt that deal was ****ing awesome since I really wanted those 3 games.

[SeiruKoji]

Three years ago I was spending time with my cousins. I was looking in the classifieds section of the newspaper, I came across an auction that just simply listed in the junk it had for sale "Large Boxes of Videogames." I went to the auction. When they got to the boxes and said choice on all the boxes in the row $5! I took all 4 boxes full of the games and consoles. I ended up with 14 Consoles - 3 Genesis Model 1's, 3 Genesis Model 2's, 2 Genesis Model 3's, 2 Original NES, 1 Toploading NES with the Dogbone controler, 2 Original SNES that weren't yellowed, a smaller model SNES -, about 20 or so various controllers, and 30 or so common games for the consoles. All of the consoles worked perfectly and still work.

[SeiruKoji]

Three years ago I was spending time with my cousins. I was looking in the classifieds section of the newspaper, I came across an auction that just simply listed in the junk it had for sale "Large Boxes of Videogames." I went to the auction. When they got to the boxes and said choice on all the boxes in the row $5! I took all 4 boxes full of the games and consoles. I ended up with 14 Consoles - 3 Genesis Model 1's, 3 Genesis Model 2's, 2 Genesis Model 3's, 2 Original NES, 1 Toploading NES with the Dogbone controler, 2 Original SNES that weren't yellowed, a smaller model SNES -, about 20 or so various controllers, and 30 or so common games for the consoles. All of the consoles worked perfectly and still work.

[SeiruKoji]

Sorry for the double post thing. My computer is starting to go out on me.

[Stadsport]

$16 for a boxed Family Fun Fitness~

[Hammy]

cosmic alien cabinet for a couple of beers :)

[Kroogah]

Some of these were traded to other forum members for gobs of games, so if you made a big trade with me, you may want to avert your eyes.

2 AdventureVision systems at a flea market for $7.50 total

Atari 2600 Glib at an indie game store for $5

TurboGrafx-16 with CD add-on at a flea market for $10

3 different Atari 2600 systems, about a dozen different controllers, and 74 games at a garage sale for $10 total

[Savedman]

Just picked up an X-box with GTA III / Vice City plus 8 other games and 2 controllers. Dude wanted $75 for all of it. I wrote him a check from $100.00. I felt bad enough about raping him. I just couldn't bring myself to only give him $75. He is in my brothers youth group at church. He's 17 so he knows what it's worth but I'm still waiting on his parents to tell him to come get it back from me. LOL!!

[Savedman]

Sorry for the double post thing. My computer is starting to go out on me.

Going out on your huh? My last girlfriend did that to me. I found the guy and thanked him for taking her off my hands!! LOL!! (sorry, couldn't help it)

[Hounder]

Trolls in Crazyland - $11
Trolls in Crazyland CIB - $20
Menace Beach Sealed - $100
Moon Ranger CIB - $3
Moon Ranger Sealed - $70
Challenge of the Dragon CIB - $50
Challenge of the Dragon Sealed - $60
Tagin Dragon CIB - $20

[Slate]

I have a lot of good deals. :)

Goodwill, August 7th (Or 8th) 2004:

71 games (68 NES, 3 SNES) for $20. Some of the more expensive ones are Adventure Island 3, Lolo 1, 2 and 3, and megaman 2, 3, and 4.

Yard Sale, June 2006:

Also there was the time that i got about 60 games and a sega genesis model 3 for $12. Can't remember wich ones came with it, But there was mario's tennis for N64.

Goodwill, (Same one i got the 71 games at) Late august 2004:

Tank Brigade for Atari 2600 sealed for $2.

May 2005:

I was kind of dissapointed that i didn't find much on that day, And i'm walking into this indoor flea market and find a boxed NES power set. :eek 2:

It was very cheap, too! $15 i got it down to $10. It came with 5 games.. The two of interest are Donkey kong classics (With box) and burgertime (Complete)

Also a month later or so.. June 2005, i think.. I got a nice Boxed NES for $4. It's not one of the sets, it's just the system.

And then, both this year, I got two virtual boys!

One was at a yard sale, I think this was in may, And it was missing the stand but what the heck, it has red alarm, And for $5 i'll take it.

And the next one was just a couple of weeks ago, At the same goodwill i got tank brigade at! It's managed by a new manager now though so prices are through the roof.

Anyway, it was missing the eyeshade, But it came with an import game, and for $3 i'll buy it!

There is an interesting story behind this virtual boy...

It came with Virtual Baseball, wich is an import, Meaning it was bought off ebay! Why would someone donate it to goodwill? Because they thought the controller was hopeless - Someone spilled soda all over it and once that dried you couldn't press the buttons! No biggie, i just cleaned it out with q-tips and rubbing alcohol and it works great now!

[MachineGex]

Gotta bump this topic since I never posted here. Here is my little story of a pretty good deal...

I bought a huge box of 100+ NES games at a flea market for $80. Not bad, 80 cents a game is a good deal any day. I put the box in my office and forgot about it until months later. I was looking for an extra Zelda and I remembered seeing a gold cart in the box. I plucked out the cart only to realize it was a NWC Gold cart. Well, you can imagine how excited I was. Not too bad of a deal....a Gold NWC cart for less than a buck. True story.

[Cryomancer]

Laseractive with Genesis Unit and Pyramid patrol (and some other boxes genny games, laserdiscs) 100 bucks.

Free vectrex and odyssey (with games, controllers, lightgun).

I've found some very nice complete older PC games around for about 2 bucks each as well. And I just bought a gamecube for 25 bucks, but I'm sure that's not a big deal anymore.

[grolt]

I've gotten a ton of great Sega Saturn finds on eBay for cheap.

I got the following, as well as a system, for $80:
Dragon Force, Shining Wisdom, Shining the Holy Ark, Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, Shining Force III and a bunch of cheap third party games.

I finally bit the bullet and bought Panzer Dragoon Saga for $100. Good deal you say? Well, look what else came with it:
Shining the Holy Ark, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Fighter's Megamix, Virtua Fighter 2 (Longbox), Virtua Cop 2, Virtua Fighter Remix and a few more extras

I picked up this lot for $10:
Sonic Jam, Virtual-On, Astal, Darius Gaiden and a few shitty Acclaim titles


The funniest turnaround I ever did was buying the Saturn game Dark Legend for $0.50, and then relisting it and selling it for $29.85.