The wonders of classic gaming at flea markets.

[Zthun]

I normally go to the flea market in San Jose (I live in Cali). It's one of the best flea markets you can go to, has the most vendors, and overall is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the state.

Around 2 years ago, I found a vendor with a really cheap copy of the original Breath of Fire (6 dollars - score!). Recently, I bought a lot on eBay for $25.00 - Lord of Darkness, F-Zero, Uniracers, and, dun dun dun, Breath of Fire.

So I get the package in the mail and they all work great and they're in even better condition that stated in the auction (that's how sellers should be). So I go through my usual ritual when I get duplicates and I compare my games to see which ones are in better condition. Strangely enough, when I look at the Breath of Fire cart that I bought almost 2 years ago with the one I got on eBay, I noticed something funny. The label was VERY faded, almost blurry, on my copy, and it was missing, the "Licensed By" text in the upper left corner. I also noticed that the new one felt heavier than the one I had. Already knowing what the problem was, I decided to open up my copy that I bought at the flea market and the new one, and BANG! Sure enough, my copy had a tiny, counterfeit board. I never knew. I tend not to trust flea markets much anymore; most of the games there are overpriced, fake, or stolen. But it was an interesting story for my friends who actually care.

WTS Counterfeit Breath of Fire - SNES - $3.00 shipped.

[Gameguy]

You might want to sell that as a reproduction copy of Breath of Fire. Unlike bootlegs, reproductions sound better for some reason.

[MarioMania]

Take a pic of the front & the Board

[InsaneDavid]

Honestly the Berryessa flea market blows. It has its few great sellers (one who I have years of history with) and I've always loved the atmosphere but aside from that the deals are few and far between.

[Zthun]

Take a pic of the front & the Board

Incoming:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/rockmanhero2003/Misc/100_0354.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/rockmanhero2003/Misc/100_0355.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/rockmanhero2003/Misc/100_0356.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/rockmanhero2003/Misc/100_0357.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/rockmanhero2003/Misc/100_0358.jpg



Honestly the Berryessa flea market blows. It has its few great sellers (one who I have years of history with) and I've always loved the atmosphere but aside from that the deals are few and far between.


Miguel and his brother are pretty cool. They're pretty much the only two guys I will buy game stuff from now (and it's pretty much just systems cause they let me test them before I walk away with them), unless I see some dude selling off his few vintage games. There was this old Chinese dude near the back that used to sell games, but his game quality was shit, even though he was cheaper than a lot of vendors. It looked like someone pooed on his stuff half the time.

[TxFxL]

i got two very similar fakes on amazon from one seller (earthbound, secret of mana) i put up a post about it a while ago with a similar photo of the boards. i think the title was "is earhtbound worth it" or something. anyway i had the seller's name so people could avoid buying from him

[Emperor Megas]

I normally go to the flea market in San Jose (I live in Cali). It's one of the best flea markets you can go to, has the most vendors, and overall is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the state.Really, one of the best? My wife is from San Jose and all of her family live there now. And the few times her mother has gone to the flea market and given me a run down of the vintage games for sale, the prices haven't been all that great.

[Urzu402]

So I don't get it, is the person at the flea market a dedicated counterfeit seller, or someone who just can't tell the difference?

[chrisbid]

for six bucks, i doubt he knew the difference

[Zthun]

Really, one of the best? My wife is from San Jose and all of her family live there now. And the few times her mother has gone to the flea market and given me a run down of the vintage games for sale, the prices haven't been all that great.

It's the best in terms of size and number of vendors. Most flea markets I've been to around where I live haven't been any different, just a hell of a lot smaller with less stuff. They also don't have the atmosphere that the SJ one has. Prices in all flea markets are never really that great unless you go ALL the time or get really lucky.


So I don't get it, is the person at the flea market a dedicated counterfeit seller, or someone who just can't tell the difference?

I don't remember who I got it from, but in this case, I'll bet it was from a temp vendor who was there for the week. I've gotten a lot of deals this way; most of the garage sale vendors don't really know what they have. I got a copy of Secret of Mana for $10 this way before.

[Robocop2]

I wish we had a decent flea market here sadly its more fleas than actual market. There is one old lady who has some games in her booth but most of its pretty junky looking stuff for crazy prices like the 60.00 grungy 2600 she has in the center display.

[skaar]

I actually would want that bootleg - if you do want to sell shoot me a PM. ;)

[csgx1]

I would think there's a greater chance of getting a fake game(especially DS games) on ebay then anywhere else. I bought a fake super famicom game off of ebay years ago. Like the OP, I only noticed it being fake after I compared it side by side to another copy.

Finding good priced video games at flea markets always tend to be "luck of the draw" regardless of location.

[Zthun]

I wish we had a decent flea market here sadly its more fleas than actual market. There is one old lady who has some games in her booth but most of its pretty junky looking stuff for crazy prices like the 60.00 grungy 2600 she has in the center display.

Yeah, that floors me. I can understand that people don't really know what they have, but you would think that someone would realize something like that wouldn't sell for that much.

[Robocop2]

Yeah, that floors me. I can understand that people don't really know what they have, but you would think that someone would realize something like that wouldn't sell for that much.

One would think so. I guess she figures some poor sap will get bit by the nostalgia bug and buy it on an impulse without checking around. Of course, theres not really many options in my area since the pawn shops refuse to carry anything older than PS2 and the thrift stores are usually bare. Granted we are probably more in touch with the actual value of an item around here and most people out there equate old with rare/valuable to some extent.

[Manifesto]

I actually found some nice treasures at my local flea market.

Turtles In Time -10
Secret of Evermore - 5
Breath of Fire II - 10
Super C - 5
Romancing of The Three Kingdoms - 5

[Emperor Megas]

I actually found some nice treasures at my local flea market.

Turtles In Time -10
Secret of Evermore - 5
Breath of Fire II - 10
Super C - 5
Romancing of The Three Kingdoms - 5That is a pretty nice haul.

[Manifesto]

Im gonna attempt to wake up early and go to another swap meet where they will be selling again. Hopefully get some more goodies.

Edit: I knew I forgot another game. Castlevania II: Simons Quest for 5.
I sell my carts and keep my completes.
I'm a friend with the owner of a shut down old rental store so I get boxed completes and sealed games for 5 bucks.

[john_soper]

I had some luck at the Berryessa flea market in the old days, about 6-10 years ago when I was actively collecting.
2600 Halloween
2600 I Want my Mommy
5200 Meteorites
All dirt cheap, mostly I just got exercise and good Mexican food from going :)

[Manifesto]

Holy crap!
I just picked this up today for five dollars!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs282.snc3/27737_113703698664505_100000746263010_121795_16799 _n.jpg

[Therealqtip]

I don't think this is the "april 2010 finds" forum

[Gatucaman]

One quick Question guys?

what's the difference beetween a Flea market and a Swap Meet?.

at leats when it comes to videogames

[buzz_n64]

One quick Question guys?

what's the difference beetween a Flea market and a Swap Meet?.

at leats when it comes to videogames

Same thing, different name.

Thrift store/Second hand store
Laptop/Notebook

[Steve W]

When I come across the occasional bootleg, and it's fairly inexpensive, I'll end up buying it. I don't know why, but I'm fascinated by them. Not more modern system games, for example GBA bootleg multicarts were plentiful for a while at my local flea market, but for older systems. I've got a Power Rangers: The Movie cart for the SNES that looks like it was constructed by trained chimpanzees, a Game Gear multicart that is labeled to have a crazy amount of games on it but only has seven (only four of which are really playable, the other three are Sega Mark III titles that look too terrible to play because of emulation problems or something), and a few Atari 2600 bootlegs. It just astounds me that someone would go through the effort of creating their own copies of games that are usually sucky games. Was there really a need for pirate copies of Power Rangers: The Movie? Really?




Same thing, different name.

Thrift store/Second hand store
Laptop/Notebook

It's like the way different regions have assorted names for 'submarine' sandwiches. Grinders, Hoagies, Subs, Po-Boys... Flea market and swap meet are regional parlance for the same type of event. In England they're called Car Boot Sales, because everbody's selling stuff out of the boots ("car trunks" here in the US) of their cars.

[Xtincthed]

i've found so many retro games in flea markets that it would be insane to start a list

i'd recon i've found atleast 50 NES consoles with atleast 500+ games.. 20+ atari 2600's, hundreds of playstation games

[airswish99]

I'll take the game for three bucks.. seeing that I've never played it, I'd really like to give it a try.

[hellraiser]

Im a Sj local but mostly go to the capital fleamarket. It seams theres more people selling stuff from there house then regulars, so your chances of finding a diamond in the ruff is a bit better. Ive had more luck with ebay though, its seems like both local flea markets have been picked over and over not leaving much behind.

Im always reminded of the guy who was selling a sun faded /taged on snes super mario kart and was asking 20 bucks for because "they dont make thoes anymore" !!!!

[KingYoshi]

It seems to me (around here anyway) that the annual flea markets (or the ones that only occur a few times a year) have great deals on vintage games. While the every weekend flea markets (or the weekly ones), always have the prices jacked up. Seriously, who is going to pay $40 for a loose copy of Mario 64? The best place prices in the world for games/game related merchandise is Goodwill. Too bad they rarely have anything in stock, but when they do :-D. I recently got a PS1 for 2.95, several complete boxed genesis games for .95 a piece including the original Double Dragon, and a fat PS2 for 9.95