Funcoland Price Lists

[scooby105]

I was thinking about the Funcoland price lists earlier today and remembering how cool it was to walk into the store and pick up a price sheet and browse around. It was also cool to be able to take the lists home and look at them. There's always something about printed lists that is nicer than looking at price lists online.

Anyways, I was wondering if anybody still has these old price lists laying around. I thought it would be cool to get together scans of some old Funcoland price lists to post and take a look at.

[tornadostormxl]

What happen to funcoland?

[InsaneDavid]

What happen to funcoland?

Absorbed by GameStop I believe?

[MarioMania]

Funcoland was great...Why did Gamestop buy then out..Is it because of Funcoland was doing better then them

[Sniderman]

Funcoland was great...Why did Gamestop buy then out..Is it because of Funcoland was doing better then them

If Funco was doing better than Gamestop, then they would've had more money and THEY would've bought out Gamestop, wouldn't they? ;) But since it happened the other way around, then I believe you can figure out who was doing better than who.

[InsaneDavid]

Funcoland was great...Why did Gamestop buy then out..Is it because of Funcoland was doing better then them

If Funco was doing better than Gamestop, then they would've had more money and THEY would've bought out Gamestop, wouldn't they? ;) But since it happened the other way around, then I believe you can figure out who was doing better than who.

If they sealed some descrepancies (ie. raising the price of those $0.99 NES cartridges a bit and lowering the prices of those $44.99 NES cartridges) I think they would have still been around. In the present marketplace, with the monopoly on large chain game stores and removal of retro stock, a store like how FuncoLand used to be would do well again. People have realized how much they miss good customer service and people that actually like games.

Remember kids, there are "chip smashers" in the XBox360, OMG, don't open it!!! LOL

[MarioMania]

That's a shame..I really liked Funcoland, You could just go in & browse the store for a game or a controller.Now the only thing for me fro buying 8 & 16 bit games are online..Gamecrazy dosnt have the games I like & they can't specail Order any hard to find games

[Goodwill Hunter]

I still have my Funco Price sheets from the good old days...here is the picture from my Room of Doom Gallery. (http://videogamecollectors.com/gallery/Goodwill-Hunter-s-Room-of-Claustophobic-Doom/11GWHFUNCO)

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6137/11gwhfuncoul4.jpg

I'd always pick up 2...one I kept in a folder, and the other I would trim off the borders, fold it up, and keep it in my wallet. This was before I had discovered DP, so I used it as a poor man's rarity list. It also helped me to know which Blockbuster ex-rentals to buy to get maximum trade-in value at Funcoland.

I'll see if I can post some scans later this week...
Rich

[scooby105]

I'll see if I can post some scans later this week...
Rich

That'd be awesome. I think it'd be cool to see at least a few of the scans so we could look over them and have a good laugh or two and remember the days when chain video game stores weren't bad.

[mario2butts]

I might still have mine somewhere, but they're probably folded up with highlighter and scribbles all over them. I used them at flea markets to compare prices back in the day. One flea market seller I got to know pretty well actually pirce matched to the list. At the time I never dreamed that Funcoland would die, or that the lists would be a nostalgia item!

I miss Funcoland sooooo much!! :(

[Steven]

I miss Funcoland sooooo much!! :(

heh, I miss them a bit myself too. The best thing was driving by at night and unexpectedly spotting the bright rainbow colors of FUNCOLAND lighting up the night.

My last memory of them came in January 2001 when I first got hardcore with the Saturn. I came in and walked out with WSB II and Galactic Attack for 10 bucks. It kind of started my rage that culminated 4 years later and saw over 350 games bought.

I still have a pricelist somewhere in my game room

[Steven]

Here's a Funcoland post I made elsewhere... oops Jan 2001 wasn't my final good memory of FL... Dec 2001 actually, when I bought Dark Legend CIB.

-------

Why I don't hate FuncoLand as much as the next guy...

Speaking of yesterday, it only felt that when my enthusiasm for the Saturn was reignited. I bought a Saturn in January '99 (@ FuncoLand), and for 2 years, only had World Heroes Perfect and Fighter's History Dynamite.

February 2001 I was going to my cousins' house when I saw a FuncoLand and decided to stop by. I bought World Series Baseball II for 3.99 and Galactic Attack for 4.99.
WSB II, I had heard was a quick-paced arcade-like baseball game (like the classic Ken Griffey MLB on SNES) and Galactic Attack -- # 86 in EGM's top 100 (issue 100, November 1997)

There was also Quake & Fighters Megamix for 9.99 each but I decided not to get them (disc only). The clerk looked at me and said, "You still playing these games?"

"No... just starting." And he looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was... but damnit, if I was crazy, I was gonna have a good time being so.

Now I had six games in my collection, and couldn't wait to try out these new ones. It became an addiction.

I left the games in my glove compartment and made my way to my cousins' house. They had to make a run at the grocery store; told me I could join them or stay back and surf the net or something.

I stayed back and searched for info (read: reviews) on WSB II and GA. I'll never forget . . .

sega-saturn dot com

My God -- hundreds of user reviews! US and JPN game reviews. The works! I was absolutely floored. I read WSB II and GA reviews til my cousins came back. I was so happy to read all the good things about both games.
What do I think of both games today? Well, WSB II has largely been superseded by WSB 98, and GA... GA's still GA -- which is damn good fun and the shmup that brought me back into the genre.

Over the years, I occasionally referred back to the reviews found on sega-saturn dot com, either before purchasing a game, or just after playing it; reading what others thought of certain games and then comparing that to how I felt. It was part of the fun of buying and playing Saturn games.

I've definitely read one too many JM Vargas and Dark Falcon reviews!

Anyway, the last Saturn game I ever bought from in-store was at FuncoLand after I took one of my damn college exams on December 17 2001.

I know, I know, most gamers have nothing but shit to say about FuncoLand, but you can see my history with them. I'm not crazy about them but they helped me get started... which is why I don't view FuncoLand as some sort of evil empire. I always say, "bring 20 bucks, look around for 10 minutes and then get the hell out."

BTW, the last game I bought from a real life shop was...

http://www.rolandit.com/games/Games/GamePics/DarkLegendSaturn.jpg

Heh, I remember seeing it at the bottom pile of some crappy sport games. I remember looking at the Goro-like creature thinking... cool, it's a Data East 2D fighter... and you know me and Data East fighters. ;)

I stopped over to play a Metal Gear Solid PS2 demo, then I went back and said to hell with it and forked over the 5 bucks.

http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/saturn/dark_legend__1.jpg

I had never heard of Dark Legend before but I brought it home and had a pretty good time with it. It's not very good, but I found it decent enough for a '95 fighter.

http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/saturn/dark_legend__2.jpg

The semi-sequel is also only available on Saturn, via the JPN market, called Suiko Enbu Fuunsaiki. It adds from Fighter's History Dynamite fame -- Ryu clone Mizoguchi and the long-legged chick Yung-Mie. This game is pretty over-the-top with long-ass combo chains and 5 fireballs in the air... like a cross between a SFII game and a Versus game.

http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/saturn/dark_legend__3.jpg

12-17-01... damn... it's almost been 5 years...

[Synergy]

Hehe, my brother bought me Final Fantasy III from a phone order as an early birthday present. I think Funcoland charged something insane for a FFIII cart at that time; like $65. Yeouch.

At least it worked fine. And I didn't want any other game so bad at the time. ;)


If they sealed some descrepancies (ie. raising the price of those $0.99 NES cartridges a bit and lowering the prices of those $44.99 NES cartridges) I think they would have still been around.

QFT.

[Garry Silljo]

I HATED my local Funcoland.

They always had hundreds of display boxes out for games that werent even in stock. So you would take them to the counter and ask to purchase it, and they would tell you it's just for display. Why display product that isn't for sale?!

When they did have something I wanted in stock, Shining Wisdom for Saturn, they sold me they only copy of the game they had and refused to allow me to have the box and instructions because they needed it for display even though they no longer had the item for sale. I demanded I be permitted to return it for a full refund immediately, and the manager with an annoyed smirk tossed the box in my bag hard, cracking the case against the counter and tossed his arm to the door as if to say 'here get the fuck out.'

They always refused to tell you what they had available, they said we had to find the item we wanted on the list and ask for each individually to get an answer on if it was even there or not. My friend Vinny and once recited the enitre Saturn catalog 3 times in a row until the employees stopped ignoring us and gave us an inventory list. They had a whopping 4 games and 60 boxes on display, non of which were for those 4 games.

I hate Funcoland.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Yeah, I don't see any reason to be all nostalgic about Funcoland. While they may have carried more than the most absolutely recent games like Gamestop does today, they almost never had anything decent for the older systems and finding out what they did have was a huge pain in the ass unless on rare occasions you found someone sensible and friendly working there who would let you go behind the counter and look through their stock yourself. In any case, Funcoland wasn't unique in carrying stuff for the 16-bit systems at the time, most video video game chains back then carried more than current generation, at least EB and Software Etc. did, I don'tknow about Gamestop since there wasn't a Gamestop in my town until they bought both Funcoland and Software Etc and then there was two...a block away form each other.

I can't be too anti-Funcoland, though, since I did once get a free shopping bag full of Intellivision carts there form one of those rare friendly employees who hauled the bag out from the back room as soon and handed it over to me as I mentioned that I'd just picked up an Intelly at the local flea market. Apparently someone had brought them in a few days before hoping to sell, but just left everything there when they found out Funco wouldn't buy them.

Actually, though, the Funcoland brand is not totally put to rest, there's still a Funcoland at Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa, CA, which I go to frequently. I don't know if that's the only one left in the world or what.


...word is bondage...

[MarioMania]

Yeah, I don't see any reason to be all nostalgic about Funcoland. While they may have carried more than the most absolutely recent games like Gamestop does today, they almost never had anything decent for the older systems and finding out what they did have was a huge pain in the ass unless on rare occasions you found someone sensible and friendly working there who would let you go behind the counter and look through their stock yourself. In any case, Funcoland wasn't unique in carrying stuff for the 16-bit systems at the time, most video video game chains back then carried more than current generation, at least EB and Software Etc. did, I don'tknow about Gamestop since there wasn't a Gamestop in my town until they bought both Funcoland and Software Etc and then there was two...a block away form each other.

I can't be too anti-Funcoland, though, since I did once get a free shopping bag full of Intellivision carts there form one of those rare friendly employees who hauled the bag out from the back room as soon and handed it over to me as I mentioned that I'd just picked up an Intelly at the local flea market. Apparently someone had brought them in a few days before hoping to sell, but just left everything there when they found out Funco wouldn't buy them.

Actually, though, the Funcoland brand is not totally put to rest, there's still a Funcoland at Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa, CA, which I go to frequently. I don't know if that's the only one left in the world or what.


...word is bondage...

Is it like the old Funcoland or the feel like Gamestop...Can you still get 16-bit games there

[InsaneDavid]

Actually, though, the Funcoland brand is not totally put to rest, there's still a Funcoland at Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa, CA, which I go to frequently. I don't know if that's the only one left in the world or what.

Yeah but they're just GameStops now with the old name. Hell, I knew of a Software Etc. up until a couple years ago until it finally got branded as what it really had become and was - a GameStop.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I have had quite a few bad experiences at FuncoLand. EB/Gamestop is catching up however, seems to have accelerated since the merger. FuncoLand rubbed me and my childhood bubs so wrong, in fact, we used to call the stores FuckYouLand. I'm guessing it's a store by store deal. YMMV in full effect. :D

[blue lander]

I don't think Funcoland was "bought out" by Gamestop, I think Funcoland merged with a few other software/game stores like Egghead Software to become Gamestop. I know I have a few really old Funcoland price guides from way back when they used to sell Neo Geo AES games, but I don't know where I put them. They're probably all marked up anyways since I used it as a makeshift check sheet for what NES games I did and didn't have back before I got the DP price guide.

[googlefest1]

in my area - i can always tell which game stop used to be a funcoland

the dirty looking and odd smelling ones - they also have the same color theme (which is probbaly why they look dirty )

i just dumped all the funcoland price guides i had laying around - i was thinking of offering them to up for grabs but i didnt think anyone would care for them

[64Bits]

Why all of the hate on Gamestop/it's employees? Saying that they themselves don't play games and aren't gamers is just wrong, atleast in my area.

As far as funcoland is concerned, about 4 years ago I found a website dedicated to people bitching about Funcoland. It was pretty funny to read. But for my personal experience, I've only been to one Funcoland, and it was in Appleton, Wisconsin. A very nice store, but the staff was a different story. All of them were disinterested in helping customers, but there was one female employee that I really liked.

Also, Gamestop and EB BOTH used to sell "classic" games, as recently as May of this year. 8-)

[64Bits]

Why all of the hate on Gamestop/it's employees? Saying that they themselves don't play games and aren't gamers is just wrong, atleast in my area.

As far as funcoland is concerned, about 4 years ago I found a website dedicated to people bitching about Funcoland. It was pretty funny to read. But for my personal experience, I've only been to one Funcoland, and it was in Appleton, Wisconsin. A very nice store, but the staff was a different story. All of them were disinterested in helping customers, but there was one female employee that I really liked.

Also, Gamestop and EB BOTH used to sell "classic" games, as recently as May of this year. 8-)

[64Bits]

Why all of the hate on Gamestop/it's employees? Saying that they themselves don't play games and aren't gamers is just wrong, atleast in my area.

As far as funcoland is concerned, about 4 years ago I found a website dedicated to people bitching about Funcoland. It was pretty funny to read. But for my personal experience, I've only been to one Funcoland, and it was in Appleton, Wisconsin. A very nice store, but the staff was a different story. All of them were disinterested in helping customers, but there was one female employee that I really liked.

Also, Gamestop and EB BOTH used to sell "classic" games, as recently as May of this year. 8-)

[RetroYoungen]

Man, Funcoland was awesome. When I discovered them I was in junior high I think, maybe my first year of high school, and I would be down at my local chapter for something like two, three days a week... so often that they actually knew me. But I wasn't one of those kids that would stop by and just play (when they had the classic system set-ups), I would save up every dollar of lunch money I could and buy at least one game nearly every time I went in there. That's how my collection grew to the size that it is now, all of those $0.99 and $1.99 NES games I found, as well as the cheapo Genesis games I could get (that weren't sports titles lol).

They even offered me an application once when I found a price for a customer in the price guide faster than they found it in the computer. When I was 15 and couldn't take it. *snap*

I miss that place, the people at mine were absolutely awesome and the place kinda had that hole-in-the-wall feel, which suited it perfectly I think. Now it's a GameStop... and the people who work at there (my old one, don't know about the one I'm nearby now) just... meh. Don't seem to know a whole lot, and don't really give a comfortable feel.

I miss the good ol' days... :(

[Porksta]

Just about all the Gamestops here still have "FuncoLand, Babbages, Software Etc, GameStop" on the bottom of the receipts.

[cyberfluxor]

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6137/11gwhfuncoul4.jpg
Oh man do I remember those papers! The Funcolands that were around here all turned into GameStop and slowly GS got rid of all the older games (Whatever methods I don't know). The odd thing is that only 1 of those converted Funcoland locations is gone now and I believe it's from so many other EB/GS locations around it. Up at the nearest mall there's 3 GSs and an EB within half mile of the mall. It's pretty insane because it's the same way around every mall. They need to spread themselves out farther instead of clumping all the locations together.

Back to Funcoland though, I never had a problem with them. Anything I wanted they had and everyone was so friendly. On top of that they had nearly every game system out on display for customers to play and they'd even sometimes swap out games so people could test it. I wish I had a stack of papers like Goodwill Hunter does so I could look over the prices and compare to todays standards and maybe print a few out at school and show them to others. :P

[InsaneDavid]

Also, Gamestop and EB BOTH used to sell "classic" games, as recently as May of this year. 8-)

mm-hmm, good luck if you could even find them then, and then spend an afternoon removing the 20,000 price stickers. You know "USED, PLAYED BEFORE, OLD!, INVENTORY FILLER, NOW OVERPRICED!, PLEASE BUY A DISCOUNT CARD!, 15 CENTS OFF!, BUY SOME DVD'S AND INUYASHA ACTION FIGURES WHILE HERE - WE'RE NOT A GAME STORE - THAT'S JUST A FRONT!!" and so forth.

[64Bits]

Also, Gamestop and EB BOTH used to sell "classic" games, as recently as May of this year. 8-)

mm-hmm, good luck if you could even find them then, and then spend an afternoon removing the 20,000 price stickers. You know "USED, PLAYED BEFORE, OLD!, INVENTORY FILLER, NOW OVERPRICED!, PLEASE BUY A DISCOUNT CARD!, 15 CENTS OFF!, BUY SOME DVD'S AND INUYASHA ACTION FIGURES WHILE HERE - WE'RE NOT A GAME STORE - THAT'S JUST A FRONT!!" and so forth.

gamestops/eb's around here put classic cartridges in plastic bags with a cardboard tag stapled to the top..... so that wasn't a problem, atleast around here.

[InsaneDavid]

gamestops/eb's around here put classic cartridges in plastic bags with a cardboard tag stapled to the top..... so that wasn't a problem, atleast around here.

That was called sarcasim (http://www.answers.com/sarcasm&r=67), lad.

[Goodwill Hunter]

Here are the price sheet scans I promised earlier…sorry they’re so big, but the small print used, especially at the end of their run, required a bit of enlargement…

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/5097/93aam7.jpg

This is one of Funco’s earlier sheets from Demeber of 1993, where they had so much room, they let the NES List take up the entire front cover, and then some. These sheets helped me trade in a ton of cheap NES Blockbuster ex-rentals for big-time credit…anyone remember those yellow Funco credit slips? (“…and don’t lose this, because it’s just like cash and can’t be replaced!”), my wallet back then was stuffed with them.

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9854/00aap8.jpg

Ahhh….this one brings back fond memories as well. The few months after Christmas 1999 was the sweet spot for NES collecting. It seemed like everyone had traded in NES games for the Holidays, and every Funco was stuffed with ‘em. There were literally hundreds of NES games priced under 2 bucks, and I think I picked up one of nearly all of them. I would take a price sheet, highlight all of the games I wanted, hand it to an employee, and say, “One each of these please!”

I was getting 50-60 games at a time, and after the discount card, paying only $40-$50 in credit. Because of the screwy way that their registers worked, checking out sometimes took as much as 20 minutes, pissing off everybody else in the store. But filling a ton of holes in my NES collection for next-to-nothing was definitely worth the hassle. This was also one of the last price sheets to feature the NES on the cover…the PS1 took over in the Spring of 2000.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5300/01aiu9.jpg

This was the last Funco price sheet that was out on the counters. I also have an April 2001 sheet that was sent out to stores, but not given out to the public (at least in my area). I still remember walking into my local Funcoland and being told that price sheets would no longer be given out. I thought, “This can’t be good news,” and sure enough… the Funco marquees soon started coming down , replaced by the soulless entity known as Gamestop. I kept a copy of that last sheet in my wallet for a good six months, before it completely fell apart. Funco was the source of huge chunks of my NES, Genesis, SegaCD, and Saturn collections, and I still smile whenever I come across an NES game that still has one of those cardboard Funco sleeves.

Rich

[kainemaxwell]

Wow, thanks for the scans!

[Goodwill Hunter]

Wow, thanks for the scans!

My pleasure! I didn't really read these over when I scanned them in, but looking them over here has given me another reason to smile...I always asked about this game, but unfortunately they never had it in stock...check out the asking price for Stadium Events in the middle scan... LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Rich

[Synergy]

Some of those prices are insane. $42 for Lolo III? $29.90 for Jurassic Park? $32 for Barbie!? Barbie is more expensive then Final Fantasy and Contra Force. :/

$39.90 for Tecmo Super Bowl. $39 for Tetris 2.

ROFL

The second list looks a little more realistic. I thought some of Funco's prices where out there before, but...yipes!

Thanks for the scans!

[Synergy]

Ohh, ok. The first one is from '93. That makes a little more sense, but those prices are still based on the loose cart I'm guessing...? Those are still pretty steep, imo.


Ahhh….this one brings back fond memories as well. The few months after Christmas 1999 was the sweet spot for NES collecting. It seemed like everyone had traded in NES games for the Holidays, and every Funco was stuffed with ‘em. There were literally hundreds of NES games priced under 2 bucks, and I think I picked up one of nearly all of them. I would take a price sheet, highlight all of the games I wanted, hand it to an employee, and say, “One each of these please!”

I was getting 50-60 games at a time, and after the discount card, paying only $40-$50 in credit. Because of the screwy way that their registers worked, checking out sometimes took as much as 20 minutes, pissing off everybody else in the store. But filling a ton of holes in my NES collection for next-to-nothing was definitely worth the hassle.

That's just awesome! I didn't have a physical store anywhere near me around that time or else I would have got my NES buying mojo on at that time too.

The third scan is interesting. I didn't know they lasted long enough to start listing PS2 games. Hmm...

[cyberfluxor]

Man do I wish we still had a strong going store with lots of Dreamcast selection... :(

[wallydawg]

Haha I remember they had a Director chair in the front of the store that said "Mom" on it.

[MrRoboto19XX]

Thanks for the scan!

How about Dragon Ball Gt: Final Bout for $99.99, hahah. Totally worth it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

99 CENTS FOR CHAVEZ BOXING 2?! D:

[MarioMania]

Mega Man X3 wasn't cheap back then eather

Bonks Adventure on the NES $3.99...I wish that was the case now

[InsaneDavid]

Bonks Adventure on the NES $3.99...I wish that was the case now

It was still a bitch to find.

[Push Upstairs]

$.99 for Super Mario/Duck Hunt in 1993? Asking a bit much back then weren't they?

$5.90 for "Lifeforce"? A year earlier (in AZ) i bought that from a pawn shop/game store for like $12.

I wish i could remember the place. Anyone have good memories of the Phoenix/Glendale (more Glendale) area circa 1991/1992?

[ReaXan]

Their were about 3 Funcolands in my hometown of Memphis Tennessee,the only problem was that in this part of the country you only find extremly common games compared to places like California or New Jersey were you will find alot better selection than you would down here.

I use to go into Funcoland with my Dad,he hated the place and how they ripped you off{I can see where he is coming from,buying a 50 dollar game and being offered 75 cents for it like 2 years later}

One of my good friends worked for Funcoland for about a year just right before the Gamestop merger,He loved to rip certain people off while he would be nice to little kids and such.I remember he would get my other friend Brad to steal new games from Walmart and get like 40 dollars store credit and then prepare to offer certain customers the credit for like 30 Dollars Cash.It was a shady ordeal the whole time he worked their,I came in 4 or 5 times but they never had the shit I wanted and loved to press the new shit and preorders on your ass