Finding Old Games/Systems

[BuckNutty]

Hey Everyone,

Sorry Again if this is posted somewhere but I didn't see anything to specific. But I just want to see what everyone does to find the old games. From what I have gathered people go to garage sales, flea markets/swap meets, game stores, and Goodwill stores. I guess I am wondering if there is a good site out there that people check out where they can see flea markets and swap meets? I'd assume that people are just checking out local classified ads to see garage sales around them. Also if anyone is around the Cleveland area and knows of any game stores that sell the older games if you could post it here I would appreciate it. I have only been able to find one I think specializes in older games and thats Video Game Connection. Any tips/tricks that you guys use would be great, as I would love to get my hands on a NES. Mine quit working when I was probably 10 and I just wound up taking it and the games apart to see what was inside :( luckily non of them were valuable.

[Baloo]

You've basically got the right idea. Keep hitting up thrift stores, garage sales, pawn shops, flea markets, swap meets, Goodwill, Mom & Pop game stores, etc. That's the only way to find stuff in the wild anymore.

As for a list of flea markets, since most aren't even really advertised minus maybe a few signs around the neighborhood/word of mouth there's not really a way to find a whole catalog of flea markets and the like online.

Happy hunting!

[calistarwind]

Also see if there are any game shows you can attend locally. I seem to find decent deals because the majority of the people are there to talk with other gamers and sell off their extra stuff. Just be aware like anywhere you go, there is normal price and over the top ebay pricing.

[BetaWolf47]

You're in the Cleveland area? I visit relatives there from time to time. There's stores that sell a ton of retro games up there compared to where I live.

The Exchange (clicky) (http://www.myexchangefranchise.com/storelocator.htm) is pretty much a used media store franchise that has DVDs, CD's, and games. You can go in there and find some really good R1's to R3's there, with occasional higher ones at a higher price. There's quite a few around, though I stick to one.

James Games and More (click again) (http://businessfinder.cleveland.com/1015068/James-Games-and-More-Lakewood-OH) is one of my personal favorites. It's right down the road from the one Exchange I go to. They tend to sell things for reasonable prices, and have a lot of good games. I picked up a few Saturn titles last time I was there.

Those and Gaming Connection are the main ones I go to when I go up there. I'm never around long enough to check out any pawn shops or Goodwills and stuff like that. I think you'll find some good stuff at the ones I suggested.

[BuckNutty]

You're in the Cleveland area? I visit relatives there from time to time. There's stores that sell a ton of retro games up there compared to where I live.

The Exchange (clicky) (http://www.myexchangefranchise.com/storelocator.htm) is pretty much a used media store franchise that has DVDs, CD's, and games. You can go in there and find some really good R1's to R3's there, with occasional higher ones at a higher price. There's quite a few around, though I stick to one.

James Games and More (click again) (http://businessfinder.cleveland.com/1015068/James-Games-and-More-Lakewood-OH) is one of my personal favorites. It's right down the road from the one Exchange I go to. They tend to sell things for reasonable prices, and have a lot of good games. I picked up a few Saturn titles last time I was there.

Those and Gaming Connection are the main ones I go to when I go up there. I'm never around long enough to check out any pawn shops or Goodwills and stuff like that. I think you'll find some good stuff at the ones I suggested.

Just a little southwest of Cleveland. I'm about 20 miles outside the city in the suburbs. I can't believe I didnt know about the echange. That looks like a great place to search around. I am definitely going to check that out here soon. It looks like there are 2 or 3 i can get too! Thanks for that info Beta!

Cali and Baloo thanks for the replies! Good to see I have a general idea down. I am going to try and start hitting some garage sales up. Hopefully I can get some decent games so I can get rolling!

[mobiusclimber]

Look in the phone book (either physically or online) for thrift stores, used stores, and game stores. Also used music stores and used movie stores will sometimes sell used games (call first).

As for yardsales, I look on the local Craigslist for what area has several yardsales listed, then I drive around in that area to go to not just the ones that are on Craigslist but all the ones that aren't listed. Saves gas that way (instead of just going to ones listed on Craigslist and driving all over the place).

[Steve W]

Use mapping websites like Google Maps and Bing Maps to search for flea markets and thrift stores around Cleveland. I just looked, and there's a few although who knows if they're any good (or even open anymore) without checking them out for yourself. Flea markets are good places if you're good at haggling, which I am definitely not. I much prefer thrift stores, and I tend to stay away from big chains like Goodwill and Salvation Army. Goodwill very rarely has anything, and I can't recall finding anything good in all the years of checking out Salvation Army locations. For me it's the little locally run indie stores that interest me. And at least the money's going right back into the local community.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

There's also e-bay. I find that most games and systems on E-bay are cheaper than the ones at video game stores (about 80% of the time). That's even when shipping costs are included. However, video game stores are good for buying cheap, below $5 common games, such as Mario 3 and Mario 2.

If you need to find video game stores near Cleveland, do a Google search for "video game stores near (ZIP)." There should be a map next to the search results showing every video game store in your area. Some of them may have closed down, so be sure to call and verify that they are still around.

I've done the whole garage sale/thrift store thing, and have been very unsuccessful. I'd say I've made about 100 trips and have only bought about 10 games. For me, it really wasn't worth the time.

[titanzguard]

I live in Pittsburgh and am travelling to Cleveland in the next couple weeks to visit family. Is there something your looking for - maybe I have dups? I am not an over the top seller and would sell or trade at more than reasonable prices. PM me.

[binici]

Everyone is spot on. You just have to explore and get lucky (if you don't want to deal with online). This weekend, I had no luck finding games, but collectibles wise, I did. It is a hit or miss biz.

[Compute]

I'll chime in with a few extra bits:

Craigslist -- Although most of the assholes on there seem to think their collection of 2600 commons is worth a million dollars, there can be deals. In addition it's a great place to find out about garage sales and flea markets.

Gamerspots.com -- This is a new one, hosted by GameGavel. It's community-based, which means that your area probably isn't covered yet. I've added some stores local to me, and if everyone did the same we would have one hell of a map.

Aside from that, it's mostly dumb luck. The best score I have anymore is when I go to Midwest Gaming Classic. Locally there just isn't much to be had for me. Oh well, it's not like I need more crap.

[tubeway]

Lurk on collecting forums, contributing nothing, and then prey upon other collectors in desperate need of cash by lowballing them on their prized possessions that send your way at a pittance so they can pay for their rent/dental work/meth addiction, and have an erection as you send the Paypal payment.

[soulfeace]

keep looking. i recently found a sega cdx in all its fully functional glory for 5 bucks.most sellers either have an exact idea of what their stuff is worth,or none at all. good luck

[pixelsnpolygons]

I'm jealous of the folks here who seem to have a lot of luck in the wild. I guess I need to not give up so easily. Every time I've gone to a thrift shop I've either found no games/systems or the small amount of stuff is ridiculously expensive. The last place I went to, a few years back, had a SEGA Genesis for $50 and a few loose sport carts for like $7 each. No thanks. I guess as someone points out here that the big chains are worse. I guess I need to look for some good mom n pop thrift stores in the bay area. Gotta be dozens.

[JCubed]

I'm from an area about 20 minutes west of Cleveland and there's a few spots, (I'm from the Elyria area) The exchange can come up with some pretty good deals at times but some of their stuff is really overpriced. A lot of the local vintage gaming shops in this area closed up over the last two years. Jamies Flea market has a few good vendors for this stuff too. There's also a new chain popping up called buybacks that I've found is much lower priced than the exchange.

[BuckNutty]

I'm from an area about 20 minutes west of Cleveland and there's a few spots, (I'm from the Elyria area) The exchange can come up with some pretty good deals at times but some of their stuff is really overpriced. A lot of the local vintage gaming shops in this area closed up over the last two years. Jamies Flea market has a few good vendors for this stuff too. There's also a new chain popping up called buybacks that I've found is much lower priced than the exchange.

Nice. Thanks for the tips! I'll look into Jamies Flea Market. When I was down at OSU they had buybacks. When I was down on campus two weeks ago for commencement I went to check it out for some N64 games and it had closed. Ill look to see if I can find one around here!

[Steve W]

I'm jealous of the folks here who seem to have a lot of luck in the wild. I guess I need to not give up so easily. Every time I've gone to a thrift shop I've either found no games/systems or the small amount of stuff is ridiculously expensive. The last place I went to, a few years back, had a SEGA Genesis for $50 and a few loose sport carts for like $7 each. No thanks. I guess as someone points out here that the big chains are worse. I guess I need to look for some good mom n pop thrift stores in the bay area. Gotta be dozens.

When I first started thrifting, I didn't even find any Genesis consoles or games. I didn't care for going into all those weird smelling stores, digging around hoping to find something of interest but coming away empty-handed over and over. I was ready to give up, and driving home from yet another unsuccessful hunt, when I drove past a thrift in the scummy part of town. When I walked in, the first thing that caught my attention was the Rastan arcade cabinet in the corner marked $50 (dead as a doornail according to the store owners). I started to poke around the small dimly lit shop through all the unorganized piles and shelves of random junk, and I spotted something. I didn't recognize it since I had never seen one in person, but pulling it out and examining it confirmed it... a Vectrex. I asked how much it was, they told me $5. I drove home excited like you wouldn't believe, with the Veccy in the front seat and my hand resting on it for reassurance that I wasn't dreaming it. I had always wanted one but it was pretty much unobtainable when I was a kid. It had no controller and was covered with a thick layer of orange filth, but it worked fine. It was like winning the lottery for me. That adrenalin rush from finding something great pushed me to keep thrifting. My collection has doubled, possibly tripled since I started shopping in thrifts, and all it required me to do was spend a few hours around lunchtime on one of my days off driving around. A good trade-off, I think.

Yeah, it's a bit wordy, but what it boils down to is this: don't give up yet. You'll have to keep looking, but once you find something fantastic you'll get addicted to that rush.

[BetaWolf47]

Just a little southwest of Cleveland. I'm about 20 miles outside the city in the suburbs. I can't believe I didnt know about the echange. That looks like a great place to search around. I am definitely going to check that out here soon. It looks like there are 2 or 3 i can get too! Thanks for that info Beta!

You're welcome. Hmm, I have cousins in North Royalton. Good luck in your searches. The Exchange will always have something like a Castlevania game or Final Fantasy.

[BuckNutty]

You're welcome. Hmm, I have cousins in North Royalton. Good luck in your searches. The Exchange will always have something like a Castlevania game or Final Fantasy.

Sweet. I'm going out of town this weekend, but I'll probably be checking them out sometime next week. NR is a nice little town. It sucks to have to drive into downtown Cleveland everyday for work though.

Also, I have just had my first mini-letdown in hunting. I bought a Nintendo 64 from someone because they were only selling it for $45 and I wanted the 2 controllers, memory card, rumble pack, and games. So I have an extra N64 and I saw someone in Columbus was selling a nice looking empty N64 box complete with the styrofoam and "some paper inserts" for $10. Figure I can keep the extra in it. I tried to email her every day for the since last Thursday and every email bounced back as undeliverable. I was finally able to get an email to go through on Tuesday, but she said someone was picking it up Saturday and she would let me know if anything changes. Ugh

[Suikoman444]

Used book stores are beginning to carry used games as well. If there are any Half Price Books in the area, the ones here in Columbus have all kinds of video games as well as strategy guides and what not

[cynicalhat]

I've had good luck at. The salvation army. I found a sega cd model 2 with a 32x and model 2 genesis with every cable including the model 1 genesis cables. A few controllers and games were in the box as well for 30 bucks. Found a nice and completely grey SNES for like 15. And a smattering of excellent condition ps1 longboxes. Most of the time I don't score, but when I do its pretty sweet.

[bacteria]

If you're in the UK, like me, then there are various sites to locate local car boot sales but I find a good one is http://www.carbootjunction.co.uk/

[MrSmiley381]

The amount of Cleveland and Elyria in this thread is phenomenal. I'll put in another good word for Video Game Connection. I've had problems with James Games before, but that might be because I would sell at Jamie's Flea Market and people would be all over my stuff. Needless to say, he never liked me.

Honestly, your best bet is the Exchange. You could seriously plan a whole day of just driving all over Ohio and Pennsylvania to hit these places up. Their prices are almost always reasonable and their staff has never given me a single problem in the well over fifteen years I've been visiting the local Elyria one. Check Craigslist daily for good deals, because you never know what might pop up. This thread already has plenty of good advice. last thing I could say is pick your location wisely. What I mean by that is live somewhere, well... not shitty. I'm in Rochester, NY for now and shopping out here for games is awful. Craigslist is all overpriced modern junk and the classic game stores seem hostile towards me, though they occasionally have good stuff.

[Vectorman0]

Do not forget to pray to the almighty Bira Bira.

[BuckNutty]

The amount of Cleveland and Elyria in this thread is phenomenal. I'll put in another good word for Video Game Connection. I've had problems with James Games before, but that might be because I would sell at Jamie's Flea Market and people would be all over my stuff. Needless to say, he never liked me.

Honestly, your best bet is the Exchange. You could seriously plan a whole day of just driving all over Ohio and Pennsylvania to hit these places up. Their prices are almost always reasonable and their staff has never given me a single problem in the well over fifteen years I've been visiting the local Elyria one. Check Craigslist daily for good deals, because you never know what might pop up. This thread already has plenty of good advice. last thing I could say is pick your location wisely. What I mean by that is live somewhere, well... not shitty. I'm in Rochester, NY for now and shopping out here for games is awful. Craigslist is all overpriced modern junk and the classic game stores seem hostile towards me, though they occasionally have good stuff.

You're right that the amount of Cleveland area gaming is crazy. I didn't know that there were this many other people in the area that enjoyed NES/Genesis. I have been doing the Craigslist pretty regularly. I just me someone and grabbed Mario 64 and Conkers Bad Fur Day for $20.


Do not forget to pray to the almighty Bira Bira.

Obviously though I forgot to pray. After I grabbed the two N64 titles I was driving home I randomly passed three thrift stores. I first was by far the worst in terms of organization and selection for everything in the store. However, it was the only one that actually had any video games. It only had 2 PSone games, both sports. Second one only thing game related I found was a Sega Arcade Power Stick with 3 buttons. It was 3 dollars, and I thought about buying it. But it looked alittle beat up and I don't have a Genesis yet so I passed. I looked them up and didn't realize they were about 20 bucks online, if I would have known that I woulda grabbed it. Last one had absolutely nothing. I was really hoping to at least find a random NES game or two that I could play. Oh well. 0 for 3 and a strikeout on my first thrift store excursion.