God Gamestop is Clueless.....Thank God! (A Big Find for Me)

[Griking]

As some of you guys may remember, a while back I was bitching about how Gamestop and Funcoland routinely throw away tons of perfectly good product because.... Well, I still haven't figured out why yet. But anyways because of this I make it a habit to check out the dumpster in back from time to time. Yeah you can call me a garbage picker if you'd like. i've been called worse before.

Well today I walked away from the TRASH BIN with the following

Complete boxes and manuals for the following SNES games

Chrono-Trigger
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Illusion of Gaia
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Lost Vikings 2
Wizardry V
Wanderers of Y's
Lagoon
Paladins Quest
Act Raiser
Act Raiser 2
Warlock
Prince of Persia
Soul Blazer
Super Ghouls and Ghosts
Skuljagger
Star Trek TNG

All RPGS had manuals as well as maps.

Needless to say I was blown away.

After finding these treasures a few thoughts came to mind.

1) What damn fool would trade in complete copies of these games to a Gamestop?!?

2) What damn fool Gamestop employee would THROW THE EMPTY BOXES AND MANUALS AWAY?!?

Anyways, I went inside hoping to find the games that went with the boxes and all I was able to find were Secret of Mana, Paladin's Quest and Secret of Evermore which I bought under the "Buy 2 get 1 Free" sale.

Needless to say I'm happy.

I'll post pictures if anyone wishes once I find out what's up with my ISPs ftp access.

[Dire 51]

Apparently they throw the boxes away to have more space, or something. I asked the local Gamestop employees about this a while back, and that was the answer they gave me, I'm pretty sure.

[Raccoon Lad]

WHOOOO!!!! "DUMPSTER"

*Chugs beer*







+1 ;)

[Drexel923]

Well at least you didn't have to pay for the boxes and manuals...I went into gamestop a couple of weeks ago and also found some complete boxes/manuals in perfect condition, of which i asked for and recieved. I felt bad that I was getting all this free stuff so I bought a genesis arcade controller for a buck...had to give them at least some money. Every time I go into the store now, I hope to see more boxes on the counter prime for the taking.

[Half Japanese]

What an awesome find, congrats! I was also shocked when I went into Gamestop to trade in the most turderiffic GBA game I've ever played (Fire Pro Wrestling 2), the guy asked me when I was trading it in:

"Do you want the box for anything?"

"Uh...why would I want the box, I'm trading it in?"

"Just asking, we always throw them away."

seriously, how much space can boxes take up, considering about 10% or less of SNES/NES/N64/GBA trade-in games come with boxes?

[Captain Wrong]

Nice find.

And how many times does this need to be covered? Take a stack of say 20 games in their boxes and check the amount of space that takes up versus taking said games out of the boxes. Now multipily that difference many, many times. Plain and simply that's why they toss the stuff.

Not saying it's "right" or whatever but, once again I must remind those that forget, Gamespot is not in the business of serving collectors. They are only interested in moving as many games as they can.

PS-I hope no one takes this as being too cranky or anything. It just seems like every 2 weeks or so another topic pops up about the evil of Gamestop and it gets a little old.

[nildem]

I've dug through the garbage at GameStop multiple times and all I have to show for it are a few N64 boxes covered in some mysterious liquid. x_x

[kevincure]

Don't Gamestop realize, though, that people will pay more for complete games? Hell, I'd definitely pay 30 for a complete Chrono but would pass up a loose copy for 20

[kainemaxwell]

Great finds, I gotta try that one these days, asking about boxes, not going through the dumpsters that is.

[chadtower]

Dude, did you actually go through the dumpster or was there something near it that you found?

[Griking]

Nice find.

And how many times does this need to be covered? Take a stack of say 20 games in their boxes and check the amount of space that takes up versus taking said games out of the boxes. Now multipily that difference many, many times. Plain and simply that's why they toss the stuff.


I understand that they can't save all of the boxes but anyone working at a Gamestop should know that you just don't throw away Chronotrigger and Sercret of Mana boxes and maps.

I'm sure that they get so little boxed NES and SNES boxes by now that they would be able to keep what they do get.

[Oobgarm]

Nice find.

And how many times does this need to be covered? Take a stack of say 20 games in their boxes and check the amount of space that takes up versus taking said games out of the boxes. Now multipily that difference many, many times. Plain and simply that's why they toss the stuff.


I understand that they can't save all of the boxes but anyone working at a Gamestop should know that you just don't throw away Chronotrigger and Sercret of Mana boxes and maps.

I'm sure that they get so little boxed NES and SNES boxes by now that they would be able to keep what they do get.

Chalk that up to an employee who works there for the WAGE, not the love of games. Seems like more and more employees are going that route. Sad, but true.

If someone had brought those in to my store, they would have SO gone home with me... :D

[chadtower]

Yes, but an employee, working only for wage and who knows his merchandise, would have taken those items home and hit ebay with them.

[Saturn Sensei]

Gamespot is not in the business of serving collectors.

But they are serving collectors. At least those already in possession of specific rare titles. Imagine how many game boxes get trashed every year. Rare titles will be even rarer, complete at least.

I e-mail Gamestop and EB at least a couple of times a year and complain. If they didn't accept loose games for trade-in, they wouldn't have any loose games for sale. Or, atleast, they could have a collector's service via their online store where you can check a box which adds a few dollars to the price, but guarantees you a complete copy.

Especially games for newer systems, like the PSX, DC, etc. should only be accepted if complete.

[Oobgarm]

Yes, but an employee, working only for wage and who knows his merchandise, would have taken those items home and hit ebay with them.

Most employees are not knowledgeable when it comes to older systems. THey know what's new and hot because the company tells them to. Of course, there are knowledgeable employees, but a good majority of them are not.

Lastly,

GAMESTOP IS NOT A PLACE FOR COLLECTORS TO SHOP AT AND NEVER WILL BE.

[christianscott27]

so really now. did you dive in, open it up and look or see it peeking over the rim? i have no idea how to find the trash area of the mall stores but at my strip mall stores i've looked into it briefly. both stores used those big flat topped dumpsters, hehe i'm not sure i have the guts to go peering over that. i'm older are more paranoid now i imagine some cop or security would see me and have me rustled out of there like a can picking hobo.

[ClubNinja]

About a year and a half ago, I turned up 600+ Genesis, SNES, and NES boxes in the dumpster of a video store that just went out of business. Lift up that lid and dive in kids!

Regarding the paranoia about being caught, I have some advice that works for me (since I'm paranoid too.) Act like you belong there. A security guard on "patrol" once challenged me while I was elbow-deep in a Funco dumpster. I said "Oh, my manager accidently tossed out some new stock with the trash, and of course the new guy has to go dig it out." He shook his head, smiled, and continued on. No worries.

[chadtower]

I'm not sure I want those items badly enough to go waist deep in a dumpster for it. I mean, COME ON, my local gamestop is next to a taco bell.

[dave2236]

I went dumpster diving a few weeks ago at Bb and picked out 200 DVD cases and some promo boxes.......I also encountered mystical goo.


I wouldn't worry too much about getting caught. Whats the worst that could happen, they tell you to get out. It would be pretty funny if you are in the dumpster when a gamestop employee comes out with a bag of garbage though....just pretend like you sleep in there waiting for them to throw out the garbage, then grad the bag from him and start going through it.


ANYWAY, nice find.....cheers to the Dumpster Divers :cheers:

[chadtower]

Forget that, man. Wait outside until the employee comes out, then offer him $5 for the bag so you don't have to get in the freakin' dumpster.

[ClubNinja]

Most dumpsters are surprisingly clean. My choice Funco dumpster is store-dedicated (ie: they're the only place dumping into it.) Its contents are plastic bags filled with more plastic and loads of cardboard. Not too much to worry about there.

And even there was something icky in there, the $5 that you saved by not paying off the employee will get you a bottle of antibacterial soap and lunch at the Taco Bell next door. It's the economical thing to do.

[chadtower]

Eh, maybe I'm getting old, but FUCK THAT. I didn't go to college and kill myself deveolping a viable career to go dumpster diving to save $30. I'll take ebay and buying off the good folks here, thank you very much.

:roll:

EDIT: oops, that doesn't read with as much humour as intended... >.<

[ClubNinja]

Was just about to respond poorly to that until I caught your edit.

Either way, it's fair enough for me if you're not into exploring a bit. College and viable career don't stop me, though. Considering the $200-$250 worth of stuff I traded the 600+ boxes for, I'd say those 5 minutes in a dumpster were a great investment!

[chadtower]

Fair enough, man. I hunt in thrifts, get up at 6am to hit yard sales, hit the occasional flea... I will draw a line at dumpster diving, though.

[klimatron8]

If dumpster diving is good enough for jesus, it should be good enough for the rest of us..................seriously scott -my Quattro arcade didn't come from the dumpster...did it????

[Griking]

GAMESTOP IS NOT A PLACE FOR COLLECTORS TO SHOP AT AND NEVER WILL BE.

Maybe not but in my experience I've found that a lot of collectors tend to work there.

Obviously not this store though.

[Griking]

so really now. did you dive in, open it up and look or see it peeking over the rim? i have no idea how to find the trash area of the mall stores but at my strip mall stores i've looked into it briefly. both stores used those big flat topped dumpsters, hehe i'm not sure i have the guts to go peering over that. i'm older are more paranoid now i imagine some cop or security would see me and have me rustled out of there like a can picking hobo.


Ok, basically I drive around back preferably during evening hours when it's not so busy (on the way home from work). I usually just look inside and see if anything is obvious. Maybe move a box or bag or two. If I find any game boxes or other goodies though I'll usually pay better attention and move things around. Things tend to get traded in in bundles and if there's one box there's most likely more.

Keep in mind though that a Funcoland/Gamestop garbage bin is usually like 99% cardboard. There's never usually any real garbage or messy stuff in there unless locals illegally dump into the canisters.

In my hunting I've found tons of game boxes for the NES, SNES, N64 and Genesis. I'd have to say that 1/2 of my NES, SNES and Genesis games are now complete by doing this. I've also got a ton of game manuals and replacement jewelcases for the PS and Dreamcast. Lot a replacement DVD cases too. At times I'll even find perfectly good though common NES and genesis games. good controllers. I've found TONS of NES consolesthat suffer from the blinkies. All I do is replace the 72 pin connectors, clean them off and they work just fine. I just came home with an Xbox demo disk today that was labeled as not for resale. You never know what you'll find.

[kainemaxwell]

This point an "Anti-Gamestop/EB topic" would be easier then everyone making a topic like this every few weeks. Share your rants and raves against the corporations!

[Captain Wrong]

GAMESTOP IS NOT A PLACE FOR COLLECTORS TO SHOP AT AND NEVER WILL BE.

Maybe not but in my experience I've found that a lot of collectors tend to work there.

Obviously not this store though.

Work there maybe, but these aren't the people who have controll over the company policies. Nor are these the people the chain is catering to.


This point an "Anti-Gamestop/EB topic" would be easier then everyone making a topic like this every few weeks. Share your rants and raves against the corporations!

Why? No one ever has anything to say that we don't know already. It would be better for us all to agree GS/EB are chains that have policies collectors do not agree with and either don't shop there or stop whining about it.

[Sothy]

i dumpster dive behind taco bell.

sometimes people dont eat the whole burrito or at the very least you can lick the refried beans off the wrapper. Its free protein and saves you money.

[Charlie]

Sometimes my 'friends' at the Gamestop will lead me into the back for all the promotional boxes they've been holding for me, and then chuck them in the dumpster so that I have to dumpster dive for them. Why? Because they can I guess. But it's ok... we're all cool.