Shopping Letdown.

[Flack]

The last weekend in April every year is "garage sale day." On that weekend, dozens of houses in the neighborhood I grew up in all have garage sales. I've really been looking forward to garage sale day this year. With my new found love of retro gaming, I was really looking forward to searching the garage sales for some old games and gaming systems to add to my collection (or trade pile, which is growing!).

So, after visiting 50 garage sales in four hours, I found ... nothing. Not a single game, not a single cart, not a single system, nothing. Well, I take it back, the next to last one I went to had some GBA fishing game for $20. I passed.

The whole weekend was a big bummer. I would have done better going to the local thrift stores. :( Oh well, maybe next year.

[Querjek]

I know that feeling. Today was the Athens Ham Radio fest. Neither my dad nor I am a radio fan, but we both usually find neat stuff there anyways. Last year, I found a boxed/complete NES with like 15 complete games for $50. I passed because I didn't think it was worth it... BIG MISTAKE. I wasn't into the hobby then (Although, unknowing of its value at the time I picked up a complete copy of Pirates! for the NES for $1 that day). Today I went, and the only thing I saw was an official NIntendo set of AV cables for $1. Loose. :o . I bought them still, but...

Maybe next year?

[chrisbid]

with all the money you saved, buy something nice on ebay, thatll help you feel a little better :)

[omnedon]

Garage sale season here strats slowly (Canada is cold in the winter LOL )

I hit about 8 sales in my normal circuit. All of 'em before 2pm on Friday, so nice and early.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Not even an orphaned cable.

*sigh*

The trick is to never give up. The finds are there. The price to pay for them are the wasted searches.

:o

[josekortez]

I went to a yard sale that was neighborhood-wide last weekend, and all I got was an N64 storage case for a buck. I was so pissed! :angry:

[Darth Sensei]

I very rarely have any luck at garage sales. The only things I find are obviously left over from someone else.

I stop at a garage sale and find 1. Combat 2. Pacman 3. ET and 4 SMB/Duckhunt and I just think... "I wonder if NorkUSA hit that one". :roll:

D

[jonjandran]

I went last weekend and I made sure to ask if they had any "old video game junk"

Every place I went said that there were people waiting at their doorstep at 6:30 to buy the video game stuff. O_O

I guess the collectors in my area are getting serious. :o

[EnemyZero]

I was just at a thrift store yestarday and i was looking around for anything game related, i see an apex dvd player box and noticed a cord sticking out that didnt look like anything a dvd player would use, when i opened it there was a atari with 2 controllers and all the hook ups and about 40 games ALL still in the boxes complete, some still all factory sealed. After i almost wet myself i find a sales clerk and ask him how much and she says "im sorry but those just came in, we didnt price em yet or anything you will have to come back later or tomorrow" im like bah ok, walk out the door and sit down on a bench for about 5 min to relax and this guy walks out with all the atar stuff and im stunned, i ask him how much he paid, he sais 10 bucks , i offered him him 40 bucks and he just kept walking, i wanted to drop dead -.- hands down the worst day of my life ( gaming wise)

[YoshiM]

Saturday was the big "Indoor Garage Sale" at the local ice arena. Supposedly all vendor slots were filled. Went in, walked out. I think I saw one video game related item-a Sega Game Gear with case, magnifier, battery pack, car adapter and five games for $50. Lots of clothes, brick-a-braks, and beat up items being sold as "antiques" for high money. I guess I was let down as last year there were video games everywhere but not enough cash to go around (I remember a Japanese Sega Saturn bundled with four games...one was Castlevania and the whole enchilada went for $100 and I swear I saw Guardian Heroes in the sellers "2 for $10" sale but I could be...I hope I was...wrong).

To try and squelch my disappointment we went to a church garage sale. Hardly anything of interest that wasn't obviously worn out. All the technology they had were beat up printers or a couple PC monitors with burn in.

It's been real slim pickings lately. If it's thrift stores not having video games it's thrift stores jacking up the prices of video games. About a month ago the local Salvation Army had an Atari 4 switch VCS with about 10 games (all looking to be common or uncommon, nothing stood out as a hot item in my memory), four controllers, paddles and the plastic woodgrain-with-smoke clear top for $100. That's right, $100. This place that used to sell 2600 and 5200 carts (and I got a LOT of good 5200 carts like Pitfall 2) for a quarter each is selling this setup for a Benjamin. It made me want to say something but the lady looked rather scary and stared at me like she was trying to set me ablaze with her mind bullets.

I'm hoping I catch the big garage sale in Elkhart this year, if they still have it.

[Flack]

... an apex dvd player box and noticed a cord sticking out that didnt look like anything a dvd player would use, when i opened it there was a atari with 2 controllers and all the hook ups and about 40 games ALL still in the boxes complete, some still all factory sealed

Well even though you didn't get the games, at least you got to see the world's largest Apex DVD box!

[norkusa]

I very rarely have any luck at garage sales. The only things I find are obviously left over from someone else.

I stop at a garage sale and find 1. Combat 2. Pacman 3. ET and 4 SMB/Duckhunt and I just think... "I wonder if NorkUSA hit that one". :roll:

D

Ha! LOL Nope, Cue. I quit going to garage sales 3 years ago, so you don't have to worry about about me beating you to anything. You can have 'em!