What Are Your THREE Greatest Finds in the Wild?

[Rugal]

Sealed Shadowrun SNES-----wonder what it is worth
Sealed .Hack//GU Limited Edition w Figure
Guilty Gear PSone mint/complete

[heybtbm]

All boxed, complete, and mint...

Earthbound...$25.00
Zelda: Link to the Past...$5.00
Shining Force III...$7.99

[Pantechnicon]

Atari 2600 Malagai (R10) - $3
Playstation 2 Console - $10 (no hookups and constant DRE's, but it was under warranty and Sony actually honored it)
Commodore SX-64 computer - $5

[RugalSizzler]

1. Nintendo Testing Kit- My father auctual found this. He threw it away without thinking about me. He had it in my half-brothers room and then the attic which barely has nothing in. He said it was taking up room. I played with it a lot during my earlier years in Jr. High when I visited where he was being a jigalo at the time. I just can't believe it's now in some dumpster being compacted the living daylights out of.:bawling:

2. CAESAR plus cart only- I found this at my local store while it was there. They would sell imports like crazy. Now it turned into another boring DVD rental place. I never even onced found a use for this until recently. Really Really cheap.

3. ShadowRun cart only SNES- MY freind who I started to trade games with in the begining who brought me closer to the world of RPG games told me to get this game. It was really cheap at the time. Cheap Cheap also......

I have so much stuff I have to get rid of.

[Sparkster]

1 - Have to combine two games, since I got them at the same place... M.U.S.H.A. and Air Buster (reasonably rare) for $8
2 - Have to combine four games for the same reason - Final Fantasy VII, Bionic Commando Elite Forces (Gameboy), Ultimate Soccer League (NES), and American Gladiators (SNES) for $20.
3 - 12 Genesis games, system, TV and TV stand all for $50.

[XianXi]

1. HUGE lot of Saturn and Sega CD games with systems in like new condition at a garage sale, had basically all the high dollar RGP games except Dragoon saga and Popful Mail. Got the box for only $40.
2. Neo AES with 7 games for $60
3. Prototype of Havoc for SNES for $2

[Yoshimitsu]

#1: Virtual Lab for the Virtual Boy. Boxed and in quite good condition with manual etc for 500yen in recycle shop in Higashi Hiroshima!!!! That completed my collection of Virtual Boy games!!!

#2: A Skeleton Sega Saturn complete for 2000yen in Okayama.

#3: Mega-Duck console with 3 games for $5 Australian in Perth, Western Australia.

They are the 3 that I'm totally stoked to get for my collection, and were dirt cheap!

[rustblackend]

I really only have 1 signicant find:

CIB Almost Mint Sega CD Lunar I and II 4.99 each at goodwill

[Penguin]

Flintstones Surprise At Dinosaur Peak NES (cart only, minty) $15
Battletoads & Double Dragon:The Ultimate Team NES (factory sealed) $35
Mario's Time Machine NES (CIB) $25

[77punk]

i traded a complete version of Shaq-fu for a NES comp cart.. i wonder if that was a good deal? oh well..

haha

jkin

[WSUCougars]

Do craigslist finds count? If so...

Pioneer Laseractive w/ Mega-LD module + manuals for both + Laseractive branded controller + remote + a box of appx. a dozen games = $100 (steep, yes, but well worth it as the system was in beautiful shape and has worked great since I purchased it about a year ago).

Vectrex + 3D Imager = $100 (another steep one, but worth it for the Imager - came w/ the 3D Minestorm color wheel, and I had to spend another few months tracking down a reasonably priced copy of the cart).

Non-craigslist...

TurboGrafx 16 + CD-Rom + carrying case + loose copy of Air Zonk = $5.00 (yard sale find)

And one more for good measure :) ...

Chrono Trigger + Breath of Fire + Contra 3 + Romance of the 3 Kingdoms II = $3.00 each (SNES - thrift store find)

[darkhades]

Well, I am somewhat new to collecting games so my best finds are lame in comparision to most of yours. In no order my 3 best finds are:

1. Found a mint complete copy of Suikoden 2 at a garage sale for $2. Then about a month later found another copy at a different garage sale for $1.50.

2. Went to an indoor flea market and found 11 factory sealed NES games. Zelda 2, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2, Faxanadu, Robo Warrior, Duck Hunt, Blaster Master, Megaman 2, Cobra Trinangle, Guerrilla War. All for a grand total of $25.

3. Complete in its box, Game & Watch Mickey Mouse DC-95. Garage sale for $5.

[Super Sonic 5]

My 3 greatest finds? I got a C64 at a grage sale for $5, Sonic Adventure: Limited Edition (Disc only) for 10$ at a game shop, and while not that great a find, Metal Gear Solid 2 for the PS2: $2.50, garage sale.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Spider-Man: Web of Fire (32x)
Blockbuster Video Game Championship II (Genesis)
Miracle Piano (Genesis)

[Xian042]

Panzer Dragoon Saga - Funcoland $39.99

Bought together:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Offical Stradegy Guide
Street Fighter III: Third Strike for Dreamcast Total Price: $5.00

Tengen version of Tetris for NES - Second hand shop- $2.99

[vgc]

Here's my top 3 finds in the Wild:

Adventurevision System 2.00
VideoBrain System 5.00
MIB Atari 5200 System with MIB Huge 5200 Game Collection 40.00 I think. Seems high compared to the 2.00 Adventurevision System : )

Mike : )

[GodfreyHo]

Hmm let's see the all time three greatest finds for me would be. #1 bought a brand new sealed Hot Slots for the NES for $10 and sold it for $1,500 to a private collector:dance:. #2 Brand New sealed US Aero Fighters for $10 at the same store I got Hot Slots:wink 2:. #3 and got a complete with box Pioneer LaserActive with the Sega PAC with 5 games for $50:ass:.

[Natty Bumppo]

Probably these:

1) A Battlestation II controller. It has two controller positons with six buttons and one joystick each with turbo cabability It can control a SNES, a Genesis, a SMS, a commodore or an amiga. It is about 18 inches wide and about 8 inches deep. Unless you have a left handed and a right handed person playing though someone is going to be at a disadvantage. I have no documentation for it and I don't know who made it. It looks pretty impressive though since the joysticks are different colors and the buttons are all oversize and are different colors also. I think it cost me about $10, but I don't remember the exact price.

2) A copy of the Ultima II game - complete with the cloth map - cost all of $.89.

3) A store display copy of Snatcher for the Sega CD - it has
the art work for the back/spine and the covers for the manual are in color. The manual is blank inside (although it has pages) and the disc is blank also. Cost me $.80 (reduced from $9.95 when I pointed out to the manager that it wasn't a real game).

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

#1 was back when I was working at Funcoland in New Brunswick NJ, an older woman brought in an Atari 2600 and a box of carts, asking if we repaired 2600's.

All it needed was a contact cleaning, which we did. She was so happy that it worked that she offered up any one cartridge from the box.

My friend dipped in and said "that one" , to which she gladly obliged, and left.

When he turned around and held up a copy of "Chase the Chuck Wagon" my eyes nearly fell out of my head.

That tops the list, and the others don't really have much of a story...

#2 was probably getting the Vectrex light pen boxed, and the art and animation carts all in one "lot" purchase

#3 was a copy of Crazy Climber for 2600, which was gifted to me from a friends collection - again, for getting his Atari hardware working.

[IronBuddha]

Not much my way,
NES River City Ransom $2.00
NES Bubble Bobble $2.00
SNES Rock and Roll Racing $3.00

All at the same garage sale.

[PsychoCandy]

I snagged Suikoden II Complete in great condition for $5.00 at a local cash converters a few years ago. One day at Goodwill I found a bunch of complete brand new looking nes games for $2.97 a peice including: Both Zelda I & II, Megaman II, and Burger Time. And just the other day, I found a loose EVO: The Search for Eden and Tetris Attack I picked up both of em for $7.50 each.

[LOL]

symphony of the night, x-com 1 & 2 and silent bomber for playstation.

[jahvybe]

Saterday I got an Xbox 360 for $39.99 at goodwill. It had a sign on it that said it didn't work. I bought it and it works perfectly.

A couple of weeks ago I got a virtual boy in the box for $15 on craigslist. Oh yeah before that I got one with out the box and no foam eye sheild thingy for I think $3 at goodwill.

A month or so ago I got Harvest Moon 64 for $2.99 at goodwill.

Pretty much every gaming item I own I got for a deal somewhere because I am cheap.

[neist]

Hm.. Not sure if I've ever gotten anything overly amazing, but I have gotten:

1. 30+ TG-16 games for around $30 back in the late 90's.
2. Recently acquired a sealed De La Jet Set Radio. It wasnt incredibly cheap, but, I found one.
3. Sega Game Gear back in the late 90's in a Toys'R'Us bargain bin for around.. $15? Games for around $2.

[jb143]

At goodwill once I found a boxed Odyssey2 with a bunch of boxed games for $6. One of the games(Killer Bees!) was a rarer one.

Just a few months ago I bought a box of video game stuff for $30 that included the following: A Sega Nomad, Game Gear with a few games, original gameboy, playstation, N64, SNES, Super Scope + cart, a bunch of genesis games, a few NES games, and a bunch of random controllers.

I can only think of 1 other thing but it's not too spectacular and that was a boxed and complete Legend of Zelda for $4

[DJ Daishi]

bought 3 mint dreamcasts w/ 4 controllers at a local goodwill for $5...I was pretty happy that day.

[MeTmKnice]

Well, most of the "classic" stuff I have was given to me by an old co-worker. But as far as stuff I have paid for..
Mint CIB NES for 35$ from some local guy.

Contra and a bunch of other NES games for free from a friend of mine.

N64 w/ Exp pack; SM64, MK64, DK64, Tony Hawk PS2, SF RUSH, Mario Party . . All for 40$ Shipped. All I really wanted was SM64 and MK64 but got it all.

[Nightwing]

I might have to revise this when I gain access to the Trading area - but I'll leave that up to you readers.Otherwise,I'd have to say that my 3 biggest finds are:

Spending $11 at a local flea market & getting a skrinkwrapped 2600 Dragonstomper,and loose 2600 carts of Pitfall II,Frogger II:Threedeep, & Crazy Climber :)
(Note: I still remember the guy trying to sell me E.T. & Pac-Man carts as I was leaving...)

I used to drive truck cross-country,& one day I was just coming back from Canada when I stopped into a mall up in Plattsburgh,NY. There was an Electronics Boutique in there,and while I was looking at the fancy new Playstation & Saturn games - I ran across the 32x section - or what was left of it.Saw a game that I didn't have & was looking out for & I remember the clerk telling me that only one copy had come in,about two days ago. The32x games were being closed out and so for the expensive price of $2.99 I got my copy of Spiderman:Web Of Fire.

I really debated the last one I was going to post,but I would have to say Radio Shack.Looking through their catalog one day I discovered that they were still selling games for old systems,including my beloved Intellivision.

I don't remember exactly what I paid in total,but I know it was either $9.99,$14.99 or $19.99 tops,each.(and knowing what I know now I still have V-8 moments,but I digress...)

Spending that money got me brand new copies of:
INTV Commando,Super Pro Football,Super Pro Decathlon,&
Body Slam:Super Pro Wrestling.

That's my finds...

[The 1 2 P]

3DO FZ1(with game in cd tray) at a flea market for $1.00

5 copies of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night(factory sealed) at Sears for 99 cents each

Silent Hill Official strategy guide at Best Buy for a penny

[Sabz5150]

Sega Master System, CIB with 18 games - $20

[Rev. Link]

1. Mermaids of Atlantis (NES) - $1 at a yard sale. Slight label damage, still in good shape.

2. Snow Bros. (NES) - $15 at a local game store. Boy did they price that one wrong, it's mint!

3. Duck Tales 2 (NES) - free from a friend. It's complete. The box still has the plastic wrap on it.

I also found a complete Suikoden II at a pawn for $12, but passed it up. I was only collecting for Nintendo and Sega systems at the time. Stupid!

[hellfire]

1 finstones suprise at dinosaur peak 20$
2 earthbound free, I traded my freind a crap game for it
3 gran turismo 2 cool boarders 4 and legend of dragoon 5$ each sealed at wallmart (green label though :bad-words: )

4 tony hawk 3 n64 sealed at wallmart 15$, really good condition!

[Phyeir]

1) Ikaruga (GCN) for $20 at a Wal-Mart. It was just sitting in a bargain bin back in 2005/2006 in mint condition. For such a game to be in that box and in that shape was amazing.

2) Crazy Taxi 2 (DC) new at the same Wal-Mart a year and a half ago for about $5 dollars. Guess they cleaned out the back room.

3) NES with 30 games that I traded with a friend just a couple of GCN games that weren't anything special.

[hellfire]

i never seem to have any luck in the wild. i've only got one noteworthy find that comes to mind, but its for a bunch of games. i found out that a friend of mine was the son of a famous video game journalist, of course i asked about prototypes because i was really into collecting them at the time. after a couple of months he dug out some boxes of games and told me that he had 2 nes protos. i finally talked him into selling them to me after many months. i go over to his house to pick up the protos and he tells me "they're somewhere in that box" and it's a huge box of production nes games but i wasn't at all interested in them because i was so excited about the protos. i start digging through it and about 10 minutes later i've got 16 nes prototypes in a pile next to me. i can't remember the last time i was this excited as i kept pulling them out of the box. then he goes and gets some more boxes of snes, genesis, and gameboy games. i dug through those boxes and found a few protos for each of those systems. i left with every proto that i found there. it costed me a lot, but i got to meet this video game journalist and i thought that was almost as cool as the find itself. :)

what protos did you find?

[Draven]

Super Star Fox Weekend: $4
Top Load NES with 2 controllers: $10
Princess Tomato in the Fruit Salad Kingdom: $4
Platoon (NES) CIB with ALL papers, MINT: $1
Oh, and a Virtual Boy Console (kinda rough): $1

All at Flea Markets/Thrift Stores.

[Ryaan1234]

Let's see:

1. A ton of PS1 RPGs including FFIX, Grandia, Lunar 2 complete, Castlevania: SoTN, Disgaea (PS2), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (DC), Breath of Fire III and few other games for $30. Got it at an estate sale 2 summers ago. Something like $200 worth of games.

2. Earthbound and the guide for $10. My first big find-- 3 years ago.

3. Glib for 2600 (R7 in DP guide, R8 in Atariage guide) for $1. Got it at a flea market. Found 2 summers ago also, probably the best garage sale/flea market summer I've had.


honorable mentions:

A mint and boxed Bombsweeper Game & Watch for $1, found last summer at a garage sale. It's beautiful!

FFVII (mint) for $0.50. Found at a garage sale a few years back.

FFIII (SNES) for $10 at a flea market.

Mint and boxed Final Fantasy for NES. $5 at an estate sale.

Megaman 4, 5, 3, and Bubble Bobble for $12 total at Trader's village. ($10 for 4, 5, and Bubble Bobble and I went to the booth next door and proceeded to get Megaman 3 for $2).

[Game Freak]

well, you didnt say video games :D so yeah

50 games (ps1 and genesis) and a genesis - $2

a MINT copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller on vinyl - $1

yeah...thats unfortunately it. I only just started last year, and havent come up on a lot of stuff.

[SEGA_Queen]

My first two "greatest finds" happened at the same game shop (but at different times, of course!):

1) I went into the shop, hoping to find Lunar: SSS and Lunar 2: EB for the PS1. I browsed through the entire store, and didn't find anything good. Then I decided to take one more look 'round the shop, to make sure I didn't miss anything. It's a good thing I did, because tucked in the back of one of the display cases were: Lunar: The Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue for the Sega CD!

2) A couple of months later, I went back to the shop with a wish list of rare/uncommon games in hand: Tales of Destiny I and/or II, the GBA Klonoa games, and any one of the Dance Dance Revolution games for the PS1. I went in there not expecting to find any of them. However, fate must have been smiling on me because I came out with:

Tales of Destiny II (Ex-rental and pretty beat up)

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament (Cart only)

and a sealed GH copy of Dance Dance Revolution: Konamix

Now the prices for them weren't super cheap, but they were still better than Ebay. Besides, I didn't really care about the prices, I was just shocked that I actually found the stuff I had been wanting all at the same time!

But wait, it gets better! As I was waiting at the register to pay, this guy standing at the counter notices my stack of games w/ the two PS1 games on top. So, he asked me if I owned a PS2. I told him, no, I just had a PS1. Then the guy told me he's got a PS2 he no longer uses, and asked if I wanted for FREE! Of course, I told him "yes" immediately! I got it from him a couple of days later. It was pretty dusty on the outside, but I worked great when I fired it up. This PS2 actually came in handy right of the bat, because Disc 1 of Tales of Destiny II wouldn't load in my PS1. But it worked like a charm in my free PS2!

3) About a week after the find mentioned above, I decided to check out Pawn Shop that I had never been into. It was bit dodgy looking, so I was kind of hesitant to go into it until that day. Anyway, I walked into the shop and start browsing through their limited selection of PS1 games. I found the following gems tucked in-between some crappy sports games:

Tales of Destiny $7.50 :D

Wild Arms 2 $15.00

What's funny is that because ToD has a multi-disc jewel case, the employees was thought it was missing a disc.

[MarioMania]

My 3

NES top loader in 2001 - $10
Marvel vs Capcam 2 Xbox in 2008 - $10
Final Fight 3 Goodwill 2008 - $2.99

[makaar]

1. Final Fantasy VII (Misprint Black Label) - Free from brother who decided not to charge me.
2. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (ps2) - $20.00
3. Nintendogs Teal DS - $80 on clearance at K-Mart...last one!

[Tupin]

1. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel on the SNES loose, with a cover for the cart for $6.

2. An Atari 7800 and Jaguar for $100 with around 120 games between the two systems.

3. Donkey Kong Country CIB for $3.

[sebastiankirchoff]

1. Top Loader NES with hookups and 1 controller for 5 bucks. It works perfectly, but it has a crack on the top part. .

2. Super Mario RPG for 50 cents. Got it at a garage sale, and I nearly shit myself when I found out it was only 50 cents.

3. Sega Saturn and about 10 games and tons of promos for free. My neighbor gave me her game stuff, and it came with the Saturn and a shitload of extra stuff for it.

Runner Ups:

Dreamcast with 1 controller and generic memory card: 2 bucks at yard sale
Intellivision II, Intellivoice and 20 games with instruction manuals and cover sheet things you put on controllers: 20 bucks at Goodwill.
Game Gear: 1 dollar at thrift store.
Bag of random imported Saturn and Dreamcast stuff: 1 dollar. Included Saturn multitap, Sega Screams, PlayStation Virtual Memory thing, Famicom to NES converter, converter so you can use PS controllers on Dreamcast.

[ToddofDoom]

1. I found Crazy Climber for the Atari 2600 at a local used gaming store for $1.99 (I still have the reciept). This was about three years ago.

2. I bought Team Buddies for the PSX new when it came out for $11.99 at a Bi-Lo Supermarket.

3. I went to a garage sell with my Grandmother and found a SNES and lot of about 30 games for ten bucks. A complete Aero Fighters (box, instructions, game, poster) was the highlight of the lot.

[Astrosmash]

A few system finds offhand...

1. Atari 2600 4-switch with original box in excellent condition, with original hookups and manuals (though no controllers, oddly enough) and four complete-in-box games (Space Invaders, Combat, Pac-Man and Raiders of the Lost Ark) - $10.

2. Atari 5200 in very good condition, with original hookups and manuals, two controllers (broken, of course, but fixable), four loose games Super Breakout, Pac-Man, Pengo and Blueprint), along with a complete-in-box Atari Flashback 2 - $20

3. Nintendo 64 with original hookups and one controller - $10

Not a purchase per say, but in fourth grade my friend left his copy of Ninja Gaiden at my house and I still have it. (I've been out of college now for three and a half years.) I asked several times over the years if he wanted it back, but he never did, so we can call it a free addition to my collection.

[Johnny Pow!]

First off, my TurboGrafx-16. Complete in box right down to the styro. Priced at $10, but the thrift was having a "half off anything with an electrical cord" sale, so that part of the deal cost me $5. Then I find a box with 7 Turbo games AND 11 NES games, all CIB, PLUS a gray Zapper and a Power Pad. $50 for the entire box.

A few weeks later, same thrift. A Philips CD-i 220 with full-motion cartridge, Roller Controller, joypad, and about 20 discs including Voyeur and Link: Faces Of Evil. Half-off day again! Just under $20.

And at a flea market last year, one of those Sharp TVs with the NES built in, which I carried home for $25, sans controllers.

[Sonicwolf]

1 - Famicom with Disk System and cords for 30 bucks. Did have a box of the floppy disks but they threw them out before releasing them onto the value village display for some copying excuse crap I didnt have any money for this purchase sadly...

2 - Philips CDi with controller and Zelda games, 20 bucks. Unfortunately I had no money at the time...

3 - Commodore SX 64, complete. I really kick myself for not having money this time either.

Those three finds are the best I have ever had and have been a great lesson to carry money at all times. Let everyone here that reads that remember to never be caught without money at any place which sells old crap. It always stays with me that I lost the chance own these things...

[SamuraiSmurfette]

I *think* these are my best ones...I may edit later when I remember others.

1) Xbox debug kit - $40. Guy was going to trade it in as a 'broken console' at EBGames because it wouldn't play his store-bought Big mother Truckers game. I offered him the cash equivalent. He was thrilled.

2) Boxed Japanese Sega Saturn Virtua Fighter system Bundle, Boxed Virtua Cop with gun bundle, boxed Racing wheel, and a stack of import games (nothing fancy) - $50 at a local thrift

3) Sega NOMAD with a bunch of genny games for $7 at a yard sale. Excellent condition. I've wanted one of these since they came out. Now that I have one...they're not as great as I expected ;)

Honorable mentions:
Snatcher SCD - $3
Boxed Official Samba Maraccas - $10
N64 pokemon stadium console kit. With all extras and unopened trading card - $10
Hardball Genny proto - $3 at....EB Games? WTF? Who trades that in? Who accepts that in as trade?
Box of 60 or so pristine boxed NES games. Nothing too "rare", just the best condition I've EVER seen. $40 from a yard sale. I sold them on ebay for $100's. Kinda regret that now :(

[Draven]

Update: I already posted, but I just found Bubble Bath Babes last weekend at the flea market for 5 bucks.

[Smashed Brother]

NES Top Loader (minus controllers) - Free. An old coworker liked the NES front-loader so much that he traded his Top Loader to me for it!

Fox Hunt (PS1) - $5.99 at Gamestop, complete and in mint condition

Sega Master System, with 3 controllers and 2 light guns and about 40 CIB games (including Phantasy Star) for $30 at a local game store

[BetaWolf47]

-Game Action Replay (NES accessory) for $3

-Sega CD model 2 for $7.99

-Albert Odyssey, Saturn Bomberman, and Dragon Force for Saturn for about $4 each. All were complete mint.

[Sonicwolf]

My three greatest finds that I actually bought are as follows:

1 - A Philips CDi-220 for 10 bucks.
2 - 4 NIP 3DO games for 3.99 each recently
3 - A Betamax VCR! (I know its not videogames but still not easy to find)

[BetaWolf47]

Oh yeah, I also found a good copy of Pocky and Rocky 2 for $5 at a pawn shop. The label and cart were in great condition, but the pins were filthy. After I cleaned them thoroughly, however, it worked like new! Pocky and Rocky 2 is one of the rarer SNES games, right?

[eskobar]

The top 3 finds :

- Stash of sealed Atari MEGA RARE games in 2006:

2 Quadruns
1 Crazy Climber
1 Gravitar
Plus 30 more at 1 usd the piece :D :D :D :D :D :D

- NTSC Asterix complete for 5 usd :D :D :D

- Stash of SEALED SNES / NES games at 5 usd the piece :

Little Samson
2 Lemmings
4 Super Turrican 2
1 Mega Man 6
1 Super Copa
1 Super Metroid 1st Ed


Pretty good, huh ?

[Baloo]

Chrono Trigger CIB with maps and all, even plastic covering still around it (opened) - $10

Gunstar Heroes in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine box with insert inside-out - $5

SNES with 15 games (Including Tiny Toons Wacky Sports, Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World cart, all 3 Super Star Wars Games, and All 3 Donkey Kong countries) and two controllers = $15

I don't know if that last one counts as a deal in the wild, it was gotte from a friend of mine. He was heading off to college and he asked me if I wanted it for $15 so I was like OK.

Honorable Mention: Donkey Kong Game and Watch $1 (Outside front is scratched up, but the back and inside look mint)

[retrocollectorguy]

Earthbound twice for under $4 each time
Probably 10 copies of any Mario Party games for under $7 each time
Slightly used Nintendo Wii system for $175 in Goodwill 1 month after November 2006 release. They were selling for $500+ on ebay then.

[hellfire]

1 final fantasy 7 black label, final fantasy ix black label, valkyrie profile black label,star ocean second story black label, bust a groove black label 25$! the discs were mint, cases had some scratches but everything was complete!
2 finstones suprise at dinosaur peak 20$
3 earthbound free, I traded my freind a crap game for it
4 final fantasy 7 from a freind
5 gran turismo 2 cool boarders 4 and legend of dragoon 5$ each sealed at wallmart (green label though )
6 tony hawk 3 n64 sealed at wallmart 15$, really good condition!
7 die hard trilogy green label 7$ sealed (ps1) in a weird display case

[rgw825]

I only have 1

A Sega CDX system for $1 at a yard sale

[darkslime]

Lot of about 50 NES games including Bonk's - $15

[bigred5687]

stack-up $13

[Jisho23]

Back in 2005 when my local Gamecrazy was closing, they were doing a 3 for 5 dollar deal for NES, SNES, and Genesis stuff. Naturally, they went through all their backroom stock and just shoved it onto the shelves. I got a lot of games, but the best "5$" deal I got was Contra, Dragon Warrior III, and Dragon Warrior IV.

[garagesaleking!!]

ps2 system with 150 games, $150
earthbound loose, $5
odyssee 2 system with about 50 or so complete games including power lords, $75, not the best price just a rare find.

Probably not my best 3 but the first things that came to mind.

[Lostdwarf]

here goes

3. Sega Master system in mint condition with 30 games all boxed, 2 controllers, the light gun, and the 3d glasses all for $20

2. Golden Zelda DS, Legend Of Zelda, Mario Kart, Mario Party, The World Ends With You, Brain Age all for $200

1. ALL SNES GAMES: Dracula X, Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, Mega Man Soccer, Mega Man 7, Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana, Super Metroid, Super Ghouls N Ghosts all for $250 ( i couldnt resist even though i know the price is a lil high, to get all those rare games at once was great, now i only need 2 of the "rare" games from the "rare" list to complete my set.

Honorable mention: Earthbound -$5 (drove over an hour to pick this one up)

[Lostdwarf]

accidental double post

[Breetai]

Got a few systems for free:

In about 1997 or so, one of my friends was finished with his SNES and just gave it to me with some incredible games and system:

-SNES (no yellowing, yay!), 1 controller, DKC, Earthbound, F-Zero, FF3, Pilotwings, Street Fighter II, Super Castlevania IV, SMW, Yoshi's Island, Zelda3.


Then, last year, a receptionist at my job was cleaning out her kids games and knew I would happily take them:

-Super Famicom games: Chrono Trigger, Doraemon 4, Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden 3, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest VI, Final Fantasy IV, FFV, FFVI, Momotaro Dentetsu Happy, Mother 2 (Earthbound), Ogre Battle, Rockman 7, Saturday Night Slam Masters, Street Fighter 2, Yuyuhakusho 2.

-Famicom games and system: Adventure Island, Super Robot Taisen, Dragon Quest III and IV, Duck Tails 2, Final Fantasy II and III, Great Battle Cyber, Magical Taruruto-kun, Tsupari Sumo Wrestling, Wagyan Land 3.

-PC Engine (Turbographx-16) HuCards: Doraemon, Doraemon: Dorabian Night, Dragon Spirit, Fire Pro Wrestling 3, PC Genjin 3 (Bonk's Adventure 3), Street Fighter II': Champion Edition

About half of these games were complete in box (all the PCE games were, about 1/2 of the others). I also got a bunch of other various pachinko, horse racing, etc. games from her which I sold.

[PentiumMMX]

Here's probably my best finds, in no real order:

- .hack//Outbreak (PS2. New): $10 (May 2008)
Mere months after I obtained all 4 of the original .hack games, my local Wal-Mart somehow wound up with a brand new copy of .hack//Outbreak. It sat on their shelves from January until June at a full $50 price tag, before it found it's way to the annual clearance bin, where I scooped it up to replace the rather beat-up copy I had. The fact I found a game new that had been out of print for nearly 5 years at that point, at Wal-Mart of all places, really made my day.

- Mario Teaches Typing 2 (PC. Scholastic Clubs & Fairs edition, complete & near mint) $.50 (March 2009)
When out looking for garage sales one morning with my older sister, we dropped by one sale, which seemed to have nothing of interest...until I saw a box full of kid's PC games as I was leaving, and out of randomness, took a look through. What's the first thing I see on top? Mario Teaches Typing 2, which I quickly scooped up for $.50 to add to my collection of Mario games. It may not be the most noteworthy Mario game ever, but the sheer oddity of it made me want a copy for my collection.

- NES system (Loose w\ 2 controllers & a copy of Tetris): $1 (June 2003)
A random garage sale led me to what I still consider one of my best finds, even if it may not seem like much to you guys. Wanting an NES for years so I could play the original Zelda among other games, I finally found one at a reasonable price; only $1. The lady running the sale didn't know if it still worked or not, which is why she had it marked so cheap, but I cleaned it up and it worked great. I still have that very same NES to this day; not only for the great games on the system, but because my collection of older games officially started there.

- EarthBound (Super NES. Loose in near mint condition): $35 (June 2010)
After hunting for a copy for years (Ever since unlocking Ness in the original Super Smash Bros.), my quest came to a close on June 15, 2010; when a copy turned up at the local Game-X-Change. Thanks to stuff I traded in, I only had to pay $5 out-of-pocket for it, and it was well worth it. In fact, you know it's a find I consider epic if I opened up my post in the Finds thread for that month with a long story describing everything from the moment I was told somebody traded it in on up to the moment I purchased it (Something I don't do unless I deem it worthy enough to go into that great of detail).

[b1aCkDeA7h]

I'll lump today's adventure as one epic find.

I woke up today and was perusing one of the Free Criagslists around my region when I came across a fifteen minute old post that said something along the lines of "NES and SNES" in the title. Not too old, cool. Usually by the time I click them and email and stuff, they're gone or I email back and forth and don't end up with free video game stuff.

It didn't have a location listed but I knew the general area would be at least an hour's drive for me. The listing said that the person was cleaning out their house when they came across their NES, SNES, 2 SNES controllers, 7 SNES games, but no adapters or AV cables so they weren't tested. The post said that the stuff would be thrown out by the 1st and the classic game preservationist inside me, coupled with the fact that the post was quite fresh, pushed me to email the poster and in a gamble, I left my phone number.

I got a call about five or ten minutes later and when I found out where the stuff was, I was right, give or take about an hour plus change away. I told the person on the phone that I could be there at noon, but that was a problem so we scheduled a pickup for later in the evening. Since I had basically just woken up, it slipped my mind to ask what games were in the lot and forgot to ask if the person could hold it for me.

Right before I left to pick the stuff up, I noticed the post was gone. I had a nagging feeling that the person may have given the stuff away but I was feeling zealous and decided to not call and leave to pick up the stuff anyway. About twenty minutes from the location, I called to remind the person I was coming. Voice mail...



...crap...



I kept driving though but right as I contemplated turning around, I got a call confirming that the stuff was still there. After getting off the phone, I breathed a collective sigh of relief from all the gambles I took so far.

As I knocked on the door, I wasn't expecting much. Bring on the busted systems and sports games!

The person invited me in and directed me to a near empty milk crate with the stuff sprawled around it. It was clear that the person was prepping to move or something. As I looked at the NES and SNES, they were pretty dirty. Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have been so impulsive.

The person then handed me the stack of games, the ones I notice immediately were a black cartridge and one with a rather plain looking green forest label with yellow title text.

I kept a straight poker face and started to hurriedly put the stuff in a bag because I knew I had already done well. Somewhere along the line, a Game Gear was produced and offered to me so I took that as well. I helped the person root through the various AC Adapters and found mostly phone chargers so nothing that I could actually use. They had indeed misplaced the AV Cables and AC Adapters. I thanked the person and took the stuff to my car.

After I popped open my trunk, I decided to take a closer look at the cartridges. Here's the contents of my epic find:

- A dirty SNES
- A dirty SNES controller
- An InterAct SNES Pad
- A used and dusty NES
- A black Game Gear with a missing battery cover
- Itchy and Scratchy for the Game Gear
- Super Columns for the Game Gear
- Sim City for the SNES (as are the rest of the games I'm listing)
- Killer Instinct
- Super Punch Out
- Super Mario Kart
- Secret of Evermore
- TWO Secret of Mana (the gem I spotted immediately)
- Chrono Trigger

I drove like mad back home and cleaned and tested the SNES games with a buddy of mine. They all work and they have saves at various points in each of the respective games.

Un-freaking believable. Apparently, there's merit to impulsive decision making. Not only did I just get a pile of awesome stuff for free for my collection, I just saved a whole lot from the fate of the dumpster. The systems still need to be cleaned and tested but for obvious reasons, I'm not going to be bummed if they don't work.

What a find and what an adventure.

[smork]

Hmm, my three greatest finds:

1) 64DD in the junk section of a Hard-Off. It was attached to an N64 unit and worked like a champ. 1500 yen (~$15), IIRC.

2) My FM Towns Marty, minty and complete - 4000 yen (~$40). sitting way-y-y-y high up on some shelves at a local store.

3) Probably my Chotetsu Brikinger 4 or so years ago. Not that it was super cheap but it is hella difficult to find. I haven't seen another one since. You see other rares like Taromaru frequently (relatively), and the R10 Heim Waltz and Eyeful Home seem to be in every major shop in Akihabara. But Brikinger?

[Ed Oscuro]

Apparently, there's merit to impulsive decision making.
Nah. Work on your poker face ;)

[Rob64]

These finds happened at different places:

1. The box and inserts for the NES Action set from Play N Trade for 15 bucks

2. 4 switch Atari 2600 from Digital Press for.... I forget but less than 50 I think

3. Super Mario 3 CIB from Play N Trade for 5 bucks

[sleazeroxx86]

I'll lump today's adventure as one epic find.

I woke up today and was perusing one of the Free Criagslists around my region when I came across a fifteen minute old post that said something along the lines of "NES and SNES" in the title. Not too old, cool. Usually by the time I click them and email and stuff, they're gone or I email back and forth and don't end up with free video game stuff.

It didn't have a location listed but I knew the general area would be at least an hour's drive for me. The listing said that the person was cleaning out their house when they came across their NES, SNES, 2 SNES controllers, 7 SNES games, but no adapters or AV cables so they weren't tested. The post said that the stuff would be thrown out by the 1st and the classic game preservationist inside me, coupled with the fact that the post was quite fresh, pushed me to email the poster and in a gamble, I left my phone number.

I got a call about five or ten minutes later and when I found out where the stuff was, I was right, give or take about an hour plus change away. I told the person on the phone that I could be there at noon, but that was a problem so we scheduled a pickup for later in the evening. Since I had basically just woken up, it slipped my mind to ask what games were in the lot and forgot to ask if the person could hold it for me.

Right before I left to pick the stuff up, I noticed the post was gone. I had a nagging feeling that the person may have given the stuff away but I was feeling zealous and decided to not call and leave to pick up the stuff anyway. About twenty minutes from the location, I called to remind the person I was coming. Voice mail...



...crap...



I kept driving though but right as I contemplated turning around, I got a call confirming that the stuff was still there. After getting off the phone, I breathed a collective sigh of relief from all the gambles I took so far.

As I knocked on the door, I wasn't expecting much. Bring on the busted systems and sports games!

The person invited me in and directed me to a near empty milk crate with the stuff sprawled around it. It was clear that the person was prepping to move or something. As I looked at the NES and SNES, they were pretty dirty. Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have been so impulsive.

The person then handed me the stack of games, the ones I notice immediately were a black cartridge and one with a rather plain looking green forest label with yellow title text.

I kept a straight poker face and started to hurriedly put the stuff in a bag because I knew I had already done well. Somewhere along the line, a Game Gear was produced and offered to me so I took that as well. I helped the person root through the various AC Adapters and found mostly phone chargers so nothing that I could actually use. They had indeed misplaced the AV Cables and AC Adapters. I thanked the person and took the stuff to my car.

After I popped open my trunk, I decided to take a closer look at the cartridges. Here's the contents of my epic find:

- A dirty SNES
- A dirty SNES controller
- An InterAct SNES Pad
- A used and dusty NES
- A black Game Gear with a missing battery cover
- Itchy and Scratchy for the Game Gear
- Super Columns for the Game Gear
- Sim City for the SNES (as are the rest of the games I'm listing)
- Killer Instinct
- Super Punch Out
- Super Mario Kart
- Secret of Evermore
- TWO Secret of Mana (the gem I spotted immediately)
- Chrono Trigger

I drove like mad back home and cleaned and tested the SNES games with a buddy of mine. They all work and they have saves at various points in each of the respective games.

Un-freaking believable. Apparently, there's merit to impulsive decision making. Not only did I just get a pile of awesome stuff for free for my collection, I just saved a whole lot from the fate of the dumpster. The systems still need to be cleaned and tested but for obvious reasons, I'm not going to be bummed if they don't work.

What a find and what an adventure.

Ah man, I would have killed to come accross something like this lmao!

[FamicomFreak]

Alright my best three finds.....

One time I bought a saturn lot from craiglist for 20 bucks and came with house of the dead that's supposed to be rare or something....

Another time I bought a CDX for 10 bucks from a thrift store....

Last time I bought a top loader nes for 10 bucks with 2 rare saturn RPGs as well......

umm I know I had other great finds but these are the ones I remember the most.

[chuckwalla]

Qbert Qubes, ColecoVision - mint and complete in box for $10!!!
Contra Hard Corps, Sega Genesis - mint and complete in box for $7
Sonic 3, Sega Genesis - mint and complete in box for $5

[HurricaneAndrew]

- 4-switch Atari 2600 with about 15 common titles for $15 at a pawn shop.

- 20 5200 and Genesis games for $12 at an Old Threshers flea market.

- Boxed Odyssey2 with 4 complete games for $15 at a flea market.

Honorable mention: Loose Halo Edition Xbox for $50 at a flea market.

Not really that great of finds, but still good bargains.

[gamedude45]

My best finds are as follows.

(in no particular order)

#1 a Virtual Boy with four games including mario's tennis, red alarm, panic bomber and galactic pinball for $15.

#2 Atari Lynx model 1 with four games including california games, qix, blue lightning and rampage for $10.

#3 Panisonic 3DO FZ-1 with a extra controller in the box and nine games that i don't think are worth listing for $45 (it's not a great deal but i was very pleased with the purchase great system).

honorable mentions: mint cart only EarthBound $3.30 and complete Marvel vs. Capcom 2 DC $2.

Not much compared to most of you but i'm happy with my finds.

[Yukima]

I don't have very many awesome finds... actually, I only have ONE:

Going to the pawnshop and finding a GBC set complete with the system, a worm light, car charger, headphones, and link cable, all in the same shade of atomic purple... along with an official travel case AND a pretty good game (Pokemon Pinball) - all for $12.

And I ended up getting it all for free because the crappy DVDs I traded in just happened to add up to more than $12! :D