Rare older games in the wild

[JerseyDevil65]

At what rarity level does a game become impossible to find in the wild?

I find R5's and R6's from time to time, but I have never found a R7 in the wild. So to me the cutoff is between R6 and R7.

This refers to older games NES, 2600, SNES, 5200, Vectrex, etc, as PS1, Dreamcast, Saturn, N64, etc games are still new enough that R7's or R8's can be found easier, IMO.

[Pantechnicon]

I don't think, ideally speaking, that there is such a thing as a cutoff. A find in the wild is a find in the wild, made that much sweeter by the relative scarcity. As proof, I submit that I once found an R10 2600 game (Malagai) for $3, and that game sat on the shelf at a local shop for a minimum of 3 weeks before I bought it, and I live in a mid-sized city which has a fair share of collector types who I keep bumping into at thrits.

That was four years ago. So realistically speaking it's going to be harder to find big scores in the wild for a couple of reasons:

1) A general increase in the number of knowledgable collectors and Ebayers, relentlessly and regularly hitting the thrifts and shops for what they need.

2) What I call the "age-to-scarcity" ratio, meaning that the further in time a console is removed from its heyday, the harder it's going to be to find its titles in the wild. e.g. - The 2600 turns 30 this year, and is around 25 years removed from its sales peak. 2600 finds in the wild have been drying up for the last two years now. In another decade or so the same thing will happen to SNES and Genesis.

Despite this, all I can do is encourage you to not give up hope. Hunting in the wild is one of those things that requires a special patience. And when you do eventually find the R7's and up all those empty trips will suddenly seem worthwhile.

[FullCircle]

It's still possible to find good scores in the wild. I get discouraged often because I can't find anything locally for quite some time, then I have a moment like I did recently where you find a mint cart of Glib for next to nothing. Just remain diligent, and remember that there are still more people out there that don't know their stuff, especially when it comes to stores that don't specialize in games.

[mailman187666]

If you go to flea markets right when they open early in the morning, thats when you are going to increase your odds of finding a R7+ game. I've been searching for a couple years and have only found up to R6 myself. But then again I don't go to the flea markets early enough because I party too much on Saturday night and look like this in the morning O_O. I basically have to beat myself up to crawl out of bed by 9 and be able to make it there an hour later. But I still find some good stuff now and then even at that time of day.

[smork]

It's possible to find even an R10 in the wild -- if you know where to look and are willing to pay for it.

I'm in Japan for a few months -- go to one of the bigger collector stores in the country and it's quite easy to get an R8, R9, or R10. Right now Super Potato in Osaka has a Bandai Vectrex as does Retro Game Revival (R10), Darius Alpha (R9), Heim Waltz (R10). I bought my Chotetsu Brikinger for the NeoCD (pic in the July finds page) at Big Tiger, it's an R8.

You can find the rare games if you poke around enough. I know in the original post you mentioned no PS1 or more recent games, but I've found several R7 PS1 games in the wild for super cheap, like Braindead 13, and within about 2 weeks of each other, 2 complete X-Coms. You just gotta dig and be patient.

[Perkar]

i've found a few R7's in the wild, nothing higher than that though. Probably the best one being a complete copy of Return Fire longbox for psx. as far as quantity goes, my best find was a box filled with 2 toploader NES's and 55 games (mostly common stuff) for $60.

but as has been mentioned, it's all about patience and diligence. going out in the wild, you ARE going to come home completely empty-handed on occasion, but the one day that you do come home with a sweet deal it makes those empty trips a little more worthwhile. besides, if you don't go out hunting, how do you know if there's anything to buy?

[Kroogah]

I've found an R9 (Glib), Pantechnicon found an R10, hellvin found Stadium Events at EBGames, other people have found NES prototypes at garage sales and chain stores.

So keep looking.

[Damaniel]

My best find in the wild was an R8 (Caltron 6-in-1), and I've found quite a few R6 as well (no R7 though). I haven't done very well lately, but I haven't been out looking as often as I usually do.

[c0ldb33r]

I found an R7 at a Value Village - a boxed Action 52 for the Genesis. It was $4 Cdn. Other than that, I've found a few R5s - but I'm not a big collector unless I plan to play it.

[captain nintendo]

hellvin found Stadium Events at EBGames, .

So keep looking.


I think he got that at a local pawn shop.

I found a Starfox Super Weekend at a local EB Games ;) (paid 12.99)

Got a Caltron 6 in 1 from a local person / sale. (paid 5 dollars)


There is more, but the point is that yes you can find rarities. You just gotta keep looking and "turning over every stone" ;)

[50TBRD]

Spike McFang is a rarity of 6 and I have found that on two seperate occassions, Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel, Ardy Lightfoot, and No Escape all at rarity of 7 and Fun n Games at rarity of 8. These are SNES games that I hoave found in the wild at Video Games stores. First of all, you have to know your stuff. Second of all, your not assured that everytime or even some of the time going to find something rare. Its all luck. In the south, I think that it easier though. You may have seen something rare and not known it as you don't collecte it. I alway wonder if a gen game or NES game that is valuable is staring me in the face and I'm ignorant of it.

[7th lutz]

The rarity nowdays should be on for what system. I had an easy time 6 or 7 years to find sms games outside of the internet and now it is nolonger that way.

You can 6's still. I saw a crusader of Centy a couple months ago. So, you still can find 7's in the wild once in a while.

[bangtango]

While most pawn shops and thrift stores have games out in public view for people to put their hands on, that is not always the case.

You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't ask a pawn shop owner or floor employee (say at Goodwill) if they have more games "out back" or "behind the counter." Ask about stuff that has maybe "just come in." Badger them until they cave in and see what else is in the store since that is what they get paid for and they'd be foolish to ignore somebody who might be a paying customer.

50% of the places I go to have games on a back shelf that just haven't been priced yet or are kept out back until there is more room for them. The way the store is laid out, you can't see WHAT games they are until you ask to look at them.

You would also do well to scour your local classifieds to see if people are selling "Nintendo with 23 games" because you never really know what those games might be. You could at least pick up the phone and ask, since those 23 games could include Bubble Bobble 2, the second Flintstones game or any number of interesting titles. If a sale is hanging in the balance, you know damn well the person will at least tell you what some of the games are.

Ask them WHICH Nintendo they have, 9 out of 10 will be the toaster but what if it is something better? For $40-50 to buy a box like that is a hell of a deal, if one (or more) of those desired games can be found in there or if the NES happens to be a top loader. How many of the people placing the ad will know the difference? Keep the rest of the stuff or resell/trade it. Most areas have a local classified paper dedicated solely to people who place free ads selling stuff.

[evil_genius]

i never find anything, i find lots of common stuff for great prices though. actually a local shop has a turbo duo but they probably wanna small fortune for it. :roll:

[almostgotthemall]

I found an NWC 1990 in the wild less than a year ago(R10). :P
It was only $5 at Value Village.



I actually noticed at the thrift stores, it is the popular titles that get cleared off the shelf in a hurry. Often the rarer and unknown titles get left behind.

[evil_genius]

I found an NWC 1990 in the wild less than a year ago(R10). :P
It was only $5 at Value Village.



I actually noticed at the thrift stores, it is the popular titles that get cleared off the shelf in a hurry. Often the rarer and unknown titles get left behind.

are you serious

[JerseyDevil65]

I find PS1 rares from time to time. R7 and R8 games can still be found at Gamestop. I found a Team Buddies a few weeks ago at Gamestop for $6.99, I traded it to a friend since its not my type of game.

But Gamestop has stopped accepting PS1 games in trade and will stop selling them when the stock runs out, so that source will be dried up before long.

[almostgotthemall]

I found an NWC 1990 in the wild less than a year ago(R10). :P
It was only $5 at Value Village.



I actually noticed at the thrift stores, it is the popular titles that get cleared off the shelf in a hurry. Often the rarer and unknown titles get left behind.

are you serious


Yes.

[mailman187666]

I'm always keeping my fingers crossed to finally be able to find some saturn games at reasonable prices out in the wild. I mainly collect for saturn and I never find anything. The only ones I ever find are way over priced as if they were all R5-6. I found a saturn R6 (3D baseball) for $1.50 that was a disk only at Game Crazy. But thats really about it. Does anybody else have trouble finding saturn games? The only sega I really ever find is dreamcast and genesis. I don't really buy much genesis but i get some good dreamcast here and there. Does anybody else have trouble finding some sega stuff too?

[bangtango]

I'm always keeping my fingers crossed to finally be able to find some saturn games at reasonable prices out in the wild. I mainly collect for saturn and I never find anything. The only ones I ever find are way over priced as if they were all R5-6. I found a saturn R6 (3D baseball) for $1.50 that was a disk only at Game Crazy. But thats really about it. Does anybody else have trouble finding saturn games? The only sega I really ever find is dreamcast and genesis. I don't really buy much genesis but i get some good dreamcast here and there. Does anybody else have trouble finding some sega stuff too?

The problem you will run into is that a lot of the older stuff that is going to end up in some sort of store has already been taken there a long time ago. Why would someone wait until 2006 to take Saturn stuff to a pawn shop or thrift store and just give it away or sell it for $20? They could have easily done it back in 2004, 2002 or the late 1990's when the system was commercially dead.

That is what you are up against. There was probably plenty of stuff in your area but it has already been gotten rid of and then later picked up.

Many people in your area who would still have the Saturn stuff probably intend to keep it or actually sell it online. They could have also gotten it off of Ebay or in the wild themselves and they would not be interested in just taking it to a second hand shop and selling it for pennies or giving it away.

[bangtango]

i never find anything, i find lots of common stuff for great prices though. actually a local shop has a turbo duo but they probably wanna small fortune for it. :roll:

If you don't know the actual price, you might as well ask him. If it is $60 or less, then it is well worth picking up, even to resell online.

[cyberfluxor]

At lease once every 2 weeks I go wondering around to several pawn shops, thrift stores, game stores, and misc consignment stores and usually get some decent sized hauls, but most of the games I get are 3's because I stay away from MOST sports and common games that aren't worth more than $1. The highest rarity in my collection is a few 6's, each are loose but maybe one day that may chance, no idea. It's just a matter of time and looking hard to find those 7's and higher. Since I live in an area not exactly the heart of game programming central and distribution it's nearly impossible to find proto's or 8+ rares unless I hit eBay.


Now on a side note, one of the places near me have a Sega Genesis 2 and Sega CD version 2 wrapped into a bundle for $30. It comes with 2 controllers, 1 AC adaptor and the connection cords. Now, that seems like an alright deal but the catch is right next to it, a Genesis 2 with cords and 1 controller has a tag of $40. Then there's 2 others further down the shelf also tagged at $40.... None have games in their wrapping so what the hell? They have some wierd ass pricing, tis why I go there! They just dropped Genesis games to $0.49 loose, $0.59 complete. :) But on the flip side, NES games are now $2 loose, previously $1 each. :(

[suppafly]

Yes its possible to find r8s and r7s

SO far Ive found in the wild:

Fun n Games
Super TUrrican 2

both for snes

[coreycorey2000]

I know where there is a Super Turrican 2 right now. It's been there for months. They want $14 for it loose. So I haven't picked it up. I never knew it was actually rare. Should I pick it up next time I'm going by?

[coreycorey2000]

I know where there is a Super Turrican 2 right now. It's been there for months. They want $14 for it loose. So I haven't picked it up. I never knew it was actually rare. Should I pick it up next time I'm going by?

[Cryomancer]

My R8 (pole position for vectrex...a debatable R8) was sitting outside goodwill in the rain. Luckily I worked there and it was my day to work. There was a vec and a few other games, as well as a dreamcast with it. IN THE RAIN. man what is wrong with that town...

[Porkchop]

The trick is to hit thrifts early and often. Back a few years ago when I had time to hit my local thrifts every Saturday morning I found two R9 Atari XE games, Bristles and Flip Flop in a Value Village for $0.40 each.

Another time I found a complete R8 O2 game, Power Lord, for $0.50.

If you have more time than money hit your local thrifts twice a week and hit yard sales every Saturday morning. If you have more money than time search Ebay.

[Porkchop]

The trick is to hit thrifts early and often. Back a few years ago when I had time to hit my local thrifts every Saturday morning I found two R9 Atari XE games, Bristles and Flip Flop in a Value Village for $0.40 each.

Another time I found a complete R8 O2 game, Power Lord, for $0.50.

If you have more time than money hit your local thrifts twice a week and hit yard sales every Saturday morning. If you have more money than time search Ebay and pay.

[sirhansirhan]

Earlier this year, inside of a week or two I found all three SNES R8s at four different shops in the wild--Chavez 2, Aero Fighters, and two copies of Fun 'N Games. What's more exciting than that is when there's a specific, at least marginally rare game that you want to play, and you find that in the wild--for example, one of the finds that has made me the happiest in recent years was when I found a mint cart-only Duck Tales 2 for NES for $5. I was about to drop $20-30 on it on eBay just so I could play it.

[aaronpetrosky]

I also found Fun N Games in the wild as well.

[Niku-Sama]

all of my games were found in the wild, only thing is i bought alot of them new when i was a kid i never thought they'd be rare.

the games i buy now are in the wild, i havent bought many legitimate games from people like i was looking for them, i bought a boot leg copy of marvel vs capcom 2 a few months ago from some one on here and thats it.

i'm also going on the term "in the wild" being pretty borad from thrift shops and flea markets to game exchanges and eb games's. all of my games have come from a place like that.

and trust me its not always cheap doing it like that either.

[Bronty-2]

If you have more time than money hit your local thrifts twice a week and hit yard sales every Saturday morning. If you have more money than time search Ebay.

Very well said.

[Psycho Penguin]

I found a complete Dragon Warrior 3 in the wild years ago for 13 bucks.. don't know how rare it is though.

[mailman187666]

Sometimes I can find games that maybe aren't so much rare, but sought after in the wild (original Contra, NES Final Fantasy, suikoden 1) and I can find them for a good price. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I can find some rare RPGs in the wild. I'm going to a flea market bright and early tomarrow. I keep telling my roommate that my flea market dream is to go up to a table where they have pyramid style stack of nothing but Valkyrie Profiles, Suikoden 2s, and Panzer Dragoon Sagas all for only $5 a piece. Whenever I come home from a flea market he asks me "so did you find the Valkyrie stacks today?". I know it'll never happen, but wierd things do happen sometimes. Or if I come home with some good stuff for good prices, I'll say to him "The Valkyrie stacks were flowing today." So basically him and I have turned the Valkyrie Profile name into a meaning of finding good bargains at the flea market. Too bad I have yet to actually see the game.