"That's not for sale..."

[pacmanhat]

I was at a GameCrazy over the weekend and they had a shelf with several complete 32X games, including Knuckles Chaotix. After nearly crapping myself (I've NEVER been able to find Chaotix), I called over an employee to take it out so I could look at/buy it. And this is what he told me...

"Those 32X games aren't for sale."

I couldn't believe it. Appearantly they belonged to the manager, who had brought them in to show that GameCrazy still bought in that sort of thing, but without any intention of actually selling them (or...he just wanted to show off). I understand the idea behind this, but it just seems like a complete tease.

So yeah...has this ever happened to anyone else?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I've been on the flipside of it, every year that I've run a table at OKGE/OVGE. People always tryin' to buy my stuff. I just brought it and set it up 'cause I thought it'd be cool if people got to play or see something a little out of the ordinary. :P

[Milk]

Why waste shelf space on obscure games you're refusing to sell anyway? Don't they need those shelves for um, stuff people can actually buy, being a business and all? Do they think that people are going to pop into the store just to look at their pretty 32X games or what?

[mcarocks2003]

Shame you can't use the philosohpy, 'whatever i find i keeps'

[§ Gideon §]

Have you ever played the LttP remake for GBA? There's a shopkeeper there who reminds me of this.

[anagrama]

There's a second hand games store near me that had a bunch of MegaCD, 32X & Japanese DC games for at least 2 or 3 years. I asked about them at least half-a-dozen times, but was always told "they're not for sale"/"we're waiting for them to be priced"/"You'd have to speak to the manager". Last time I walked by, the place had closed. Ho hum.
Then again, their stuff was always greatly overpriced (£8-£10 for common MD games) so I probably wouldn't have wanted 'em anyway...

[VG_Maniac]

There used to be a video game store near my house that had the boxes for almost every Super Nintendo game they sold. You'd walk in and see boxes for games like Final Fantasy II & III, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Dracula X, etc. The problem was...these boxes were only up on display to show they had the games in. I tried to buy a game once...and I had the box in hand when the guy said, "Sorry, those are for display only. I'll put it back on the shelf for you." I even went in there once and saw a huge stack of NES boxes behind the counter. Since I had already looked through their NES games, and they didn't have any of the games that the boxes were for...I asked the guy working there if I could have the boxes, or at least buy them. He said the same thing, "They are for display only." :angry:

One of the very last times I went into that store before they went out of business, they finally let me keep the box to the game I bought...Mega Man X3. :)

[jajaja]

Why waste shelf space on obscure games you're refusing to sell anyway? Don't they need those shelves for um, stuff people can actually buy, being a business and all? Do they think that people are going to pop into the store just to look at their pretty 32X games or what?

Yep, its most likely to attract customers. And when they come in, they might see something else that they like. Sales gimmick. Like on the gasstations here you get as much free coffee you like. But when your getting some coffee you might be tempted to buy some cake or something and they make money :)

[mcarocks2003]

Yup, its like a Fly following a shiny light.

We (the customers) follow the glow of rare items.

Knuckles Chaotix is a very good game btw, not many people have played it and many thought it should have been included in Sonic Gems but much chance of that happening as Sonic Arcade geting a console port.

[Yamazaki]

Here in Japan a lot pf shops tend to do that! Or they put stupid prices on games which are for showing off!

[Chronodriftersx]

Yup, its like a Fly following a shiny light.

We (the customers) follow the glow of rare items.

Knuckles Chaotix is a very good game btw, not many people have played it and many thought it should have been included in Sonic Gems but much chance of that happening as Sonic Arcade geting a console port.

Do you call moths flies? If so there is this giant fly in my house the last few days. Moths follow light in my world while flies follow stink.

[Chronodriftersx]

There used to be a video game store near my house that had the boxes for almost every Super Nintendo game they sold. You'd walk in and see boxes for games like Final Fantasy II & III, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Dracula X, etc. The problem was...these boxes were only up on display to show they had the games in. I tried to buy a game once...and I had the box in hand when the guy said, "Sorry, those are for display only. I'll put it back on the shelf for you." I even went in there once and saw a huge stack of NES boxes behind the counter. Since I had already looked through their NES games, and they didn't have any of the games that the boxes were for...I asked the guy working there if I could have the boxes, or at least buy them. He said the same thing, "They are for display only." :angry:

One of the very last times I went into that store before they went out of business, they finally let me keep the box to the game I bought...Mega Man X3. :)



You should have tripped yourself into the display yelling whoaah! Ooops@! !#%&* crushing all the boxes that weren't for sale LOL

[TEXASGAMEPLAYER]

You should have tripped yourself into the display yelling whoaah! Ooops@! !#%&* crushing all the boxes that weren't for sale

I would have done it, I hate being fucked with.

Maybe someone had just sold them and the manager or someone wanted them for themself. I had an experience with "star wars rebel strike III gamecube" where a store in the mall had the game AND the bonus disc and refused to give me the bonus disc because they said the promotion was over and had to send the bonus discs back to HQ!?!? This is one of the very few times I did not get what I wanted! If you ever see me on ebay going after something I want, stand back I usually get it even if the price goes CRAZY! I fought with the store for a week and never got the damned thing. BONUS disc or no bonus disc the incident broke my will and I now consider myself to be the proud owner of a COMPLETE star wars video game colection even without it. I gave up hope of getting that damned bonus disc!

I actually have many more stories about how close I came to geting it and never did!

P.S. talking about star wars bonus discs, if you purchase star wars episode III from walmart they will include a special documentary and bonus foorage disc called the "story of star wars". It comes in its own case with artwork that matches the rest of the star wars releases. A picture is on their website!

[Flack]

I don't think it's that big of a deal, really. I might have mentioned to the staff that they might want to put a sign up that reads "DISPLAY ONLY - NOT FOR SALE" near the items or something to clear up any confusion.

[Captain Wrong]

I don't think it's that big of a deal, really. I might have mentioned to the staff that they might want to put a sign up that reads "DISPLAY ONLY - NOT FOR SALE" near the items or something to clear up any confusion.

Exactly. I hardly see this as something to get one's nose bent out of joint over.

[Chronodriftersx]

mind you I don't condone doing that to a collectors personal stuff, only the chain store corps that use the stuff and always throw the boxes away and won't let you have them anyway, except in that rare case.

[TEXASGAMEPLAYER]

Hey this should be a game store not a museum. And since when did these guys care about collecting and saving boxes. These are probably those boxes from the loose cart games you tried to sell me. (I will refrain from offering advise that is destructive, criminal, and vengeful.)

[punkoffgirl]

HEY this is a fucking game store not a museum! And since when did these assholes give a shit about collecting and saving boxes! HEY ASSHOLE those boxes are probably from the loose cart games you tried to sell ME! FUCK EM wreck his boxes next time!

You're just a lovely breath of fresh air, aren't you?

[EricRyan34]

I had something like that happen to me. There was a Playstation light up at our local store, I asked them how much they wanted for it, then they said not for sale :angry:

[MegaDrive20XX]

HEY this is a fucking game store not a museum! And since when did these assholes give a shit about collecting and saving boxes! HEY ASSHOLE those boxes are probably from the loose cart games you tried to sell ME! FUCK EM wreck his boxes next time!

You're just a lovely breath of fresh air, aren't you?

Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows!
Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together! :P

[BIGMIKE]

i've loaned my Bubble Bath Babes to a local store near me to display.........got a lot of offers too, but alas none good enough to part with -_-

[PentiumMMX]

There used to be a video game store near my house that had the boxes for almost every Super Nintendo game they sold. You'd walk in and see boxes for games like Final Fantasy II & III, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Dracula X, etc. The problem was...these boxes were only up on display to show they had the games in. I tried to buy a game once...and I had the box in hand when the guy said, "Sorry, those are for display only. I'll put it back on the shelf for you." I even went in there once and saw a huge stack of NES boxes behind the counter. Since I had already looked through their NES games, and they didn't have any of the games that the boxes were for...I asked the guy working there if I could have the boxes, or at least buy them. He said the same thing, "They are for display only." :angry:

One of the very last times I went into that store before they went out of business, they finally let me keep the box to the game I bought...Mega Man X3. :)

...Isn't that Game-X-Change? Because when I bought Ninja Gaiden, they didn't give me the box. Game-X-Change is not as good as it used to be, expectily after the Dreamcast incedent a few months ago.

[Garry Silljo]

There's a place like that in Pittsburgh my brother and I went to. I can't remember the name because we always just called it "Homo-Joes" because we hated the owner. He had a big Museum Section there with great stuff liked Boxed stack up, and lots of great condition rares. What bothered us is that we only called that a Museum section because the guy never would give us a price, but he would always say they were for sale. I would ask, "How much for this boxed Stack Up?" and he would say with a smile, "make me an offer." I'd start low and he'd keep gesturing up. I'd always quit after he gestured up on 1,000 even though I wouldn't have payed even half that. The stuff he actually did sell was WAY overpriced too. $10 for 2600 E.T. high, and he's still in business? I only bougth from him once. I needed Pitfall to finish my 32x collection and he had it. I went when he was there and he did that same make me offer past 1,000 bullshit. I came back later when he wasnt there and the clerk sold it for $9.00. Fuck you Homo-Joe.

[fishsandwich]

There's a store in GSO, NC, that keeps the N64 boxes and instructions on display but charges an extra $4 if you actually want the boxes and instructions. I may have accidentally damaged a box or two when I left without buying anything (keep in mind that I USED to frequent this store fairly regularly.)

:oops:

There's an EB here in Atlanta that won't sell the N64 display boxes at all. At least the manager wouldn't. I do not believe he's the manager anymore. He was an asshole and didn't have the temperment to work in a game store (kudoos to those of you that do.) I put the crap back on the shelf and left, then went to the EBgames 2 miles up the road where the cool employees work. They are always wanting me to sell stuff, though.

[Flack]

HEY this is a fucking game store not a museum! And since when did these assholes give a shit about collecting and saving boxes! HEY ASSHOLE those boxes are probably from the loose cart games you tried to sell ME! FUCK EM wreck his boxes next time!

Is this directed at Joe (DIGITAL PRESS) as well, who mentioned in his new store thread that he was already planning his display area? x_x

[pacmanhat]

HEY this is a fucking game store not a museum! And since when did these assholes give a shit about collecting and saving boxes! HEY ASSHOLE those boxes are probably from the loose cart games you tried to sell ME! FUCK EM wreck his boxes next time!

Is this directed at Joe (DIGITAL PRESS) as well, who mentioned in his new store thread that he was already planning his display area? x_x

I can see someone like Joe being able to make it work. You know, with a "not for sale" sign or something. That would've made sense at GameCrazy, too, but...yeah.

[jezt]

My local Microplay has a glass shelf of stuff they keep on display thats not for sale. I have offered to buy some of it, but I kind of like the fact that they at least acknowledge that there were consoles before the ps1, and N64

[smork]

I saw an "owner's collection" at a gamestore in Anchorage. It wasn't marked, but it has some A2600, Coleco, etc. Nothing special -- as a matter of fact decidedly non special. His Coleco was in horrible shape, and the games were all of the "Combat" ilk.

I asked, "Oh, you sell older games as well?" and was told, with some pride, "That's the owner's collection." Well, OK then. I guess if I were making a display of my collection at my store I might want to have something interesting in it.

But yeah, no problem with stores having that, you see it all the time in camera stores. They should just label the display as not for sale, tho...

[Slate]

I've got that at a rental store.

I saw some NES Game boxes, and asked if i could have them or buy them. The employee said "I don't have the authority to sell them" Wich i believed. (The owner wasn't there - it is a local rental store) So, next time i'm in, The boxes were not there at all. I figured they were thrown away. :/

[Jibbajaba]

I think that part of the reason that people are thinking that this is so stupid (and I agree) is that it was in a GameCrazy. It's one thing if the owner of a store wants to put some stuff on display, especially if it's a nice store. In the case of DP Videogames, I would just assume that Joe would have some stuff on display. But a GameCrazy??? Would you ever expect to walk into an EBGames and see a "For Display Only" Turbo Express? It seems pretty obvious to me that the manager of the store in the OP has a small man complex and wants to show of his ub3r-l33t 32X games, because to 99% of the people that come in there, that makes him a hot-shot collector.

The only possible reason I could see for the manager putting that stuff in the store is this: The OP said that the reason given for the manager putting the shit on display was so that people would see that they still take that kind of stuff in trade. Sounds pretty lame, BUT if the manager is collecting 32X games, then he may be trying to get people to bring stuff in so that he can either buy it directly from them, or buy it out of the stores inventory after it is traded in. That would make sense to me.

But the sentiment that it's lame for a manager or owner to "show off" their collection is often true. It just depends on the circumstances. Like I said, I would expect it in Joe's store, or any other really nice indie game store for that matter. I am reminded of a game store in my hometown that has something like that. It is the shittiest, dirtiest, most run down place I have ever been in. In it, he has a TurboDuo "On Display". He won't sell it, it's just there to show off. What's funny though is that he doesn't have ANY hookups for it. Thats the real reason that he still has it. He doesn't know shit about games, and doesn't have the wherewithall to find the hookups foor it anywhere, so it sits there. For a store that crappy to have anything on display is ludicrous, especially when the store owner doesn't know jack shit about games. He has sold me stuff way too cheap because he has no clue what it's worth, because he doesn't do his homework. But I digress.

My point is, I understand the sentiment expressed in the OP. For a store like GameCrazy, EB, or GS to have "display only" games is a fucking joke. Same thing with some of the examples others in this thread have given. In a lot of cases, people put shit on display in their store for the purpose of validation. They need to feel like a big shot. Not always, but in many cases.

As for people wanting to damage itmes in a store beecause people won't sell them, I can only say x_x . If I ever have a store, stay the fuck out.

Chris

[jezt]

I saw an "owner's collection" at a gamestore in Anchorage. It wasn't marked, but it has some A2600, Coleco, etc. Nothing special -- as a matter of fact decidedly non special. His Coleco was in horrible shape, and the games were all of the "Combat" ilk.

I asked, "Oh, you sell older games as well?" and was told, with some pride, "That's the owner's collection." Well, OK then. I guess if I were making a display of my collection at my store I might want to have something interesting in it.

But yeah, no problem with stores having that, you see it all the time in camera stores. They should just label the display as not for sale, tho...

Well its nice to know theres someone else in Anchorage who shares my passion for games. If you can remember, they had some sealed NES, and Game gear stuff too. Great guys at microplay. Bryan, the manager, is cool just to talk games with.

[Zing]

HEY this is a fucking game store not a museum! And since when did these assholes give a shit about collecting and saving boxes! HEY ASSHOLE those boxes are probably from the loose cart games you tried to sell ME! FUCK EM wreck his boxes next time!

You're just a lovely breath of fresh air, aren't you?

Only women have the power to write a one line reply and have the guy go back and edit his post. ;)

[mills]

When I went into a gamecrazy there were 2 SUPER METROIDS, TWO! I asked if I could buy one and he said that neither were for sale. I went into the same store and saw an SNES system with super metroid in it, I asked if I could buy it and he said "its broken" ........

My take is that they keep the good games for themselves when they come in......... :angry: :angry:

[smork]

I saw an "owner's collection" at a gamestore in Anchorage. It wasn't marked, but it has some A2600, Coleco, etc. Nothing special -- as a matter of fact decidedly non special. His Coleco was in horrible shape, and the games were all of the "Combat" ilk.

I asked, "Oh, you sell older games as well?" and was told, with some pride, "That's the owner's collection." Well, OK then. I guess if I were making a display of my collection at my store I might want to have something interesting in it.

But yeah, no problem with stores having that, you see it all the time in camera stores. They should just label the display as not for sale, tho...

Well its nice to know theres someone else in Anchorage who shares my passion for games. If you can remember, they had some sealed NES, and Game gear stuff too. Great guys at microplay. Bryan, the manager, is cool just to talk games with.

Oh, I actually do quite like going to Microplay -- I just found the owner's display case a litlle funny. They are actually really nice guys there, pretty much eveytime i've gone in there i've stayed quite some time chatting on games. Plus, i've found their prices on current-gen stuff to be really good, for the most part.

[jezt]

Yup. Ebgames, and Gamstop cannot beat their prices on some games. Also, your games hold A LOT more value than the two big chains out here. Word to the wise though, ya gotta deal with bryan if ya want to get the best trade in value for games. He never dissapoints.

[Pantechnicon]

You know what this reminds me of is these chain restaurants like Cracker Barrel that go out and accumulate all of these antiques for the sole purpose of decorating the restaurant with them. I am certain there are Cracker Barrel customers who would give limbs away to get a hold of some of that stuff. Instead the Barrel manager says, "Hey, you! Put that metal Genuine Ford Service sign back on the wall. No you can't buy it! I'd have to ask a regional manager if you could. You can buy a replica in the gift shop."

Sigh - It's probably just a matter of time before Gamestop has a 4-port Atari 5200 bolted to the wall right above where some 17-year-old "game expert" looks at you like you're an idiot for asking if that means they’ve got a copy of Countermeasure you could buy :shameful:.

[Trevor Belmont]

There's a really great store around where I live that doesn't have the best set up, putting it lightly. It's basically a huge store, shaped like a square, with shelves along the outer walls, and an island in the middle. They have everything that doesn't fit on the shelves on the walls of the store in this little island section in the middle. The problem? The island is the best part of the store, but it's also where the cash registers are, etc. There are literally hundreds of SNES games and PSX games, just sitting there, collecting dust. They have a wall filled with SNES games and PSX games, but those walls are miniscule, because they aren't current systems, like the PS2 and the like.

So one day I go in and I'm looking over their PSX wall. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for Clock Tower, so I grab that. I walk around to the other side of the store to look at the racks upon racks of PSX games inside of the little island part. What do I see? The following games:

Torneko
Einhander
Suikoden
Rhapsody

Mind you, this was at the time when Rhapsody was considered to be very rare, especially in public. I about died. Rushed over to the clerk, asked him if I could kindly step into the little island part and buy the hell out of all the video games he had, thinking there'd be no problem.

I thought wrong.

Clerk: "Sorry dude, no one's allowed back here but us. The games back here are the same ones that are along the wall."
Me: "Well, can you just get the (games listed above) for me and I'll pay for them?"
Clerk: "Uh, they're out along the wall."
Me: "I was just at the wall looking. I wish they were there, but they aren't!"
Clerk: "Oh, well I guess they're back here for a reason. They're not for sale yet; we haven't priced them."
Me: [ Head explodes ]

[Cryomancer]

Back when i worked at a hollywood, i would hang out with the gamecrazy guys. They had box of sega cd games behind the counter, i asked prices, and apparently they weren't something they could sell or buy. But the people gave them to them anyway, and apparently the manager was a collector and took em home. So yeah, free sega cd games, crazy. Luckily the guy seemed to actually be a collector, and did share with the other guys. Seems kinda like an asshole thing to do, but if their customers were half of much the assholes we had next door, I don't blame them.

[sharp]

I once had it in a store, the price suddenly went up 100% when I wanted to buy a new PDS for 150 euro. Really stupid. Never bought there for some time untill last week as I could get a brand new copy of Geist (USA import) for only 15 euro.

[evil_genius]

I gotta "It's not for sale" story to share. And here it is...

I was in an independent hobby store (HO/RC hobbies) and browsing through the games he had for sale. So I ask how much are the Sega games? 3 for 10 bucks the fat man responds. So he must have thought I was talking about Genesis, well I was looking at Saturn games and he's dumb right. I pick up 3 Saturn games (Mega Man x4, Sonic R, and Shinobi?) bring them to the register and he says no these are 10 bucks each. Oh, well I don't think I want them then. Well the guy is shocked and says alright but that is a good deal. I respond, I think I can get them cheaper somewhere on the internet. So he waddles over to his computer and goes to half.com. Here look Sonic R for 80 bucks you passed up a good deal. So I asked to see it. Sure enough Sonic R on half.com Buy It Now for 80 bucks. I tell him, that doesn't mean anyone is dumb enough to buy it for that price, its not a rare game (he was the guy selling it for that price!, fuckin jerk). So I look around for a couple minutes and tell him I will buy Mega Man x4 but not the others, and he says it's not for sale, hands it to his helper monkey and instructs him to put them in back so he can sell them on the internet. I immediately told him politely to have a nice day and walked right out and haven't been back since.

His ebay name is ho-rcdvd and he gets like 100 negative feedbacks a month, not to mention a jerk.

[Jibbajaba]

I gotta "It's not for sale" story to share. And here it is...

I was in an independent hobby store (HO/RC hobbies) and browsing through the games he had for sale. So I ask how much are the Sega games? 3 for 10 bucks the fat man responds. So he must have thought I was talking about Genesis, well I was looking at Saturn games and he's dumb right. I pick up 3 Saturn games (Mega Man x4, Sonic R, and Shinobi?) bring them to the register and he says no these are 10 bucks each. Oh, well I don't think I want them then. Well the guy is shocked and says alright but that is a good deal. I respond, I think I can get them cheaper somewhere on the internet. So he waddles over to his computer and goes to half.com. Here look Sonic R for 80 bucks you passed up a good deal. So I asked to see it. Sure enough Sonic R on half.com Buy It Now for 80 bucks. I tell him, that doesn't mean anyone is dumb enough to buy it for that price, its not a rare game (he was the guy selling it for that price!, fuckin jerk). So I look around for a couple minutes and tell him I will buy Mega Man x4 but not the others, and he says it's not for sale, hands it to his helper monkey and instructs him to put them in back so he can sell them on the internet. I immediately told him politely to have a nice day and walked right out and haven't been back since.

His ebay name is ho-rcdvd and he gets like 100 negative feedbacks a month, not to mention a jerk.

I see that his feedback is private. 95% isn't very good though...

Chris

[Mr_Elimin8]

lol, a store near me called Video Games Etc. does that thing with the boxes. They have boxes for every NES, SNES, and N64 game they sell. But REFUSE to sell the boxes to them. They're overpriced for just the game. Now if it did have it's box and instructions, now thats a different story.

[portnoyd]

Back a few years ago, I found a rental store that must have had an assload of NES and Genesis stuff in the back, but the owner would not sell it. His reason was 'They're not in good enough condition to sell'. Except he sold some SNES stuff (all of his SNES stuff), some of which I bought.

I tried everything. Even saying I'd sign a contract to never contact him again even if everything was broken. No dice.

I kept checking every few months, hoping I'd get a dumb employee who'd let the stuff go. Not even for a song, just period. The guy wouldn't even let me SEE the stuff he had.

So time goes by, and last year, I do my check. I go in there, and he sold the fucking store. And the new owners sold 'all that old stuff'. I wanted to slam my head through the glass display case.

And the kicker? Guess where I found my sealed Golgo 13? Yes - that's right - in the guy's display case before he sold it. He wouldn't sell anything NES... but he lets a sealed G13 go for $5.

I don't get it.

[Pantechnicon]

Two examples of "can't touch this" syndrome I've seen.

The last time I was at Game Dude in Los Angeles there was a collection of sorts on the lower level of a locked glass cabinet and ostensibly marked as such. It was mostly hardware. The only thing I distinctly recall was a boxed 5200-VCS adapter, but they were all things you could obtain easily and modestly at CGE if you wanted them. What was funny was that right above this pile of retro goodies was a large selection of loose 2600 carts with a sign..."Please buy these! $2 each!" I got quite a few R4-R6's that day. So while the owner's collection was not for sale, at least the opportunity was there for some scores.

Here in Albuquerque there's this one shop where the owner's game inventory seems to move at geological rates. He's got lots of interesting stuff back there but he's in no hurry to price any of it unless it's a known goody e.g. - Earthbound. He sells comics and toys too and I imagine he gets most of his money off of these things. Thus his game trade seems largely incidental. It's pretty frustrating. He changed locations 18 months ago and he’s still got boxes to unpack. I’m talking about open boxes sitting behind the display cases. You can look inside the boxes and see glimpses of goodness. Is that an RCA Studio II I see with boxed games? Are those TG16 jewel cases peeking out from that pile SNES sports titles? Do I see a Bally Astrocade controller dangling from that Gordian knot of cables? “Oh, uh…I haven’t had a chance to price those yet.” I don’t know…the owner must be waiting for me to offer him, like, a million dollars for all of it. Not worth it, Bubba, but still these would be some neat finds it he ever deigns to let me offer him some fair prices. :frustrated:

[diskoboy]

HAHA!! Funny topic.

I have a weird story from an ex-employee perspective.

I was working at a Babbages when the PS2 came out. We got in a full copy of Onimusha 1 for our store, 3 or 4 months before it's release, and about 30 t-shirts for people who pre-order the game. We put the game case in our glass display with a big sign that said "coming soon!" and put the actual game in the PS2 kiosk so people could play it.

We had people offering $150-$200 for our 1 measly copy. We couldn't sell it. I even asked if I could buy it a week before the games release... My manager said, 'no'. It was for the store. Everyone has to wait for the retail version.... Legal reasons, of course. People were offering more than our 2 copies of Chrono Cross we had were worth to own that game before the general public.

A week later, the manager is fired because the DM found out he was stealing from the store. His last Casualty - that one copy of Onimusha that everyone and their mother still wanted 2 months before it's release. Including every employee that worked there.

Oh well... It's kinda glad it's not worth a damn thing now. Good thing Capcom didn't put anything on the case that differentiated it from the actual retail copy. Not even the typical "This game is for promotional use only and is not for resale." I still have my T-shirt though!

done babbling.

[Slate]

I got one. It is both a "Not for sale" and a "You can't have that"

You can read the detailed version or the quick version.

Detailed Version:

I was in EBGames one day and saw a HALO 2 Display. i decide to reserve it, But chose the poster instead. The manager is A-OK with it all.

Several weeks later the manager went on vacation and i went to the store on the Same Day That the manager went on vacation, And ask for the poster. This guy says "We can't give it to you" (The manager left just before i arrived) I asked why. He said "Because the game isn't out yet" Now, i can't remmeber if i asked him to please look in the back room and see if the manager left a note saying it would be Ok that i could Have the poster, But he didn't look.

So, after the manager returns from the vacation, I got the poster and the Neutral Preonality Employee got fired. (He was bad for sales, too, so he didn't get fired only because he didn't let me have the poster)

Quick version:

I reserved a poster and the manager A-OKed it for me to pick it up on a certain date. Manager goes on vacation, One employee doesn't allow me to pick it up, I get it weeks later, Employee gets fired.

[donkeykong1]

Two examples of "can't touch this" syndrome I've seen.

The last time I was at Game Dude in Los Angeles there was a collection of sorts on the lower level of a locked glass cabinet and ostensibly marked as such. It was mostly hardware. The only thing I distinctly recall was a boxed 5200-VCS adapter, but they were all things you could obtain easily and modestly at CGE if you wanted them. What was funny was that right above this pile of retro goodies was a large selection of loose 2600 carts with a sign..."Please buy these! $2 each!" I got quite a few R4-R6's that day. So while the owner's collection was not for sale, at least the opportunity was there for some scores.

Here in Albuquerque there's this one shop where the owner's game inventory seems to move at geological rates. He's got lots of interesting stuff back there but he's in no hurry to price any of it unless it's a known goody e.g. - Earthbound. He sells comics and toys too and I imagine he gets most of his money off of these things. Thus his game trade seems largely incidental. It's pretty frustrating. He changed locations 18 months ago and he’s still got boxes to unpack. I’m talking about open boxes sitting behind the display cases. You can look inside the boxes and see glimpses of goodness. Is that an RCA Studio II I see with boxed games? Are those TG16 jewel cases peeking out from that pile SNES sports titles? Do I see a Bally Astrocade controller dangling from that Gordian knot of cables? “Oh, uh…I haven’t had a chance to price those yet.” I don’t know…the owner must be waiting for me to offer him, like, a million dollars for all of it. Not worth it, Bubba, but still these would be some neat finds it he ever deigns to let me offer him some fair prices. :frustrated:

When did you get theses $2.00 2600 games? I go there at least every two weeks and they have always been 3 bucks. As a matter of fact i was there today and I bought one for three bucks. About the owner's stuff, I believe everything there is for sale.

[swlovinist]

I agree with jibbajabba. If I was a manager at Gamecrazy, I would definately promote that my store took in old games, and it definately would be so that I could add to my own game collection. Game Crazy is the the lesser of two evils, as it still takes in semi-old stuff. What a better way to promote it by showing old stuff. I know I would do that and I know alot others on this site have and would too. I used to get mad at this, until I realize that I would do the same thing(and did the same thing) as an employee. It is the perk of working at a game store, because the employer alone wont make it worth working for them. The next time you are mad at someone doing this, remember this: wouldn't you do the same thing in their position?

[Pantechnicon]

When did you get theses $2.00 2600 games? I go there at least every two weeks and they have always been 3 bucks. As a matter of fact i was there today and I bought one for three bucks. About the owner's stuff, I believe everything there is for sale.

2000 was the last time I was in Game Dude. I used to make regular pilgrimages there when visiting my brother-in-law, who used to live over by the Anheuser-Busch brewery slightly north of the shop. The games could have been $3 at the time - 5 years = "IIRC"- but the point is that they were plentiful, moderately priced and sitting atop a nice collection of old, inaccessible hardware. Game Dude is truly one of the best video game stores I have ever seen. You're lucky if you live in its vicinity.

Slightly OT, but did you know that VGLQ (link) (http://www.vglq.com) is/was more or less across the street from Game Dude? I paid them a visit once and only once. But that's a tale for another day...

[WanganRunner]

There's a tiny independent game shop in Oakland (In Pittsburgh) that's right next to the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The owner is an extremely avid collector.... I wish I could get him to start posting here but he generally doesn't like forums. He has one glass case, a LARGE glass case, in his store full of piles and piles of unbelievably rare stuff.

Among the loot (back when I was there, might have changed a bit now, he rotated what was in there):
-Stadium Events cart
-US Magical Chase
-Sealed Virtual Boy w/stack of sealed games
-Huge stack of mint rare US saturn RPGs
-Net Yaroze

etc etc etc blah blah blah. NONE of it for sale, but fun to look at, lol.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Reminds me of a vendor at the flea market.. x_x
He has several video game items on his table that are "not for sale"
He would get constantly asked if they are for sale and has yet to write a note near them or anything..
Everytime he gets asked he explains to the asker that they are for display only to show that he sells Video Games..(a lure)
The items he has on display are not common video game items..So I've pestered him many times to sell them to me offering well over the sane amount of money for them....but he would not budge to sell them..
I've spend hundreds of dollars already buying stuff off of this vendor and now he has hardly anything for sale in games.
I've obtained most of the display items he had up for way less then I offered him....(from various flea markets and garage sales etc)
Now: since he doesn't have much in games for sale he wants to get rid of the display items..The first thing he said to me when I saw him last week was.."Hey,do you still want those display items you wanted before?""I'll sell them to you for the price you offered"(now they are all placed on the ground for sale).....Nope,I say..I got them all already... :P
........................

In a situation like with the 32X games..I'd offer the dude an insane amount and see if he breaks..When he says yes walk out..
Of he doesn't say yes........... that $$ will swirl his head for awhile.