The Great South Florida Thread

[JustRob]

Holy Shit. There's a Play n Trade in SF...

Was checking out the retro map thread, took a look at the map, and there we go, a pin in south florida.

It's in the Main St. Shops in miami lakes. I'll be checking it out this weekend as I live in hialeah, if anyone gets there first, let me know what you think.

BTW, is this the only "retro" game store in town? I honestly don't know of any others.

[Nitrosport]

What? Can you please give me the address? I looked at the map but it didn't show up for me. I don't know of any stores in Florida.

[JustRob]

6371 Main St
Hialeah, FL

according to the map, that should read miami lakes, not hialeah.

Called the girlfriend. Says she saw it like months ago coming out of the johnny rockets there but forgot to tell me. I believe that little discrepency calls for a rethinking of my marital planning...

[Viraneth]

Holy Shit. There's a Play n Trade in SF...

Was checking out the retro map thread, took a look at the map, and there we go, a pin in south florida.

It's in the Main St. Shops in miami lakes. I'll be checking it out this weekend as I live in hialeah, if anyone gets there first, let me know what you think.

BTW, is this the only "retro" game store in town? I honestly don't know of any others.

It's where Raw Wear used to be. They also have tournaments every weekend.

the prices aren't always the best, but for a lot of the games, the prices are really comprable to what you would pay on ebay. I got a PSone (brick size) for $20, cords, system, and controller.
they had an SNES for $30 and an NES for $35, but they were bought already. I'm pretty sure the Atari 2600 with donkey kong, pac-man, and pitfall is still there. If you do go on friday, you might see me there. I'm usually there every friday since it opened. There's some good stuff there. Not too much, it's usually what people trade in. But you can make good finds. I have :D

[JustRob]

I'll most likely end up going saturday or something. We should all pick a place and make it our local 'home'. We don't have the DP store etc down here, so we should totally adopt a place.

[Coldguy]

Holy Shit. There's a Play n Trade in SF...

Was checking out the retro map thread, took a look at the map, and there we go, a pin in south florida.

*sniff* I am so proud people are using my map...

Also check the other pages, it can only show 200 at a time so there might be one on another page. Let me know if you find any other that are not on the map.

[Viraneth]

Well, as for adopting a place, all we could really use is play and trade. We can ask them to bust out one of the clones and some cartridges they have under the counter, and play for a while. They don't really have everything out I think. They only have one counter available for classic stuff is the glass counter. It's not much, but, it's better than nothing.

[JustRob]

*sniff* I am so proud people are using my map...

Also check the other pages, it can only show 200 at a time so there might be one on another page. Let me know if you find any other that are not on the map.

Shit, there's a play n trade in weston too...this map is fucking awesome.

[Viraneth]

Weston is far though... D:

[JustRob]

well, I'm in the middle reallly. I live in east hialeah but I spend all my free time at my girlfriend's house, 75 and miramar...right smack in the middle.

[exit]

I was just out in Miami the other day for some BS meeting thing for work and since I'm unfamiliar with the area, I was looking for interesting spots to check out after. That would've been nice to pass by if I had known.

[JustRob]

Hehe, I just noticed...that last one was my 200th post.

Popped my cherry...

[Nitrosport]

I might be going sometime today. If not, definately Saturday after my round at the flea market.

[Viraneth]

I might be going sometime today. If not, definately Saturday after my round at the flea market.

Like, the Opa Locka flea or do you go to a different one.

Weston is still bloody far! I live in Miami Lakes, literally in front of goleman. Weston is far for me. Plus, I'm cool with all the guys who work at the one at main street so... yeah :D

[Nitrosport]

Like, the Opa Locka flea or do you go to a different one.

Weston is still bloody far! I live in Miami Lakes, literally in front of goleman. Weston is far for me. Plus, I'm cool with all the guys who work at the one at main street so... yeah :D

I go to the Swap shop. Everything else that's close to me has no video gaming items.

[Viraneth]

If you want to get good classic stuff at the Play N Trade in Miami, ask for Jon. He'll show you the good stuff.
They have an original Game Boy with a few games and rechargadble battery, plus a carrying case.
A few Atari systems (2600, 5200, Jaguar) and one of the systems is in box, with original receipt (I'd keep it XD) and 55 or so games. All for $230.

The 5200 is nearly mint, and some of the games for the 2600 and 5200 include Joust, Super Breakout, Pac-Man, and the ill-fated E.T.

Also, they have an NES, and I'm not sure if it's the Master system or the Mega drive.

I just picked up Alex Kidd in Miracle World (CIB), Solstice for the NES, and Mario Paint for the SNES for $10. They'll also do repairs, and the rates ain't half bad.
If you guys get the chance, remember, stop in and ask for Jon.

[Nitrosport]

I went yesterday. How did you get Alexx kid in miracle world for that cheap? They wanted $20 when I asked them. Anyway, I picked up 4 Jaguar games from them, tempest 2000, raiden, wolfenstein 3d, and cybermorph. I wanted starfox for snes but they said the battery was dead.

[JustRob]

I'm actually headed that way now. Likely going to be hitting tony roma's for lunch with the girlfriend and hitting the play n trade...not necessarily in that order...

I'll be the big doofy dude with the "I void warranties" t-shirt.

[Nitrosport]

Cool, they still have all the Atari consoles, a model 2 genesis, a snes, and I think a nes. They have a load of 2600 games, a few n64 and snes games, like 2 nes games, and maybe 3-4 more master system games. I saw about 4 different nes clones aswell.

I think the owner said they're doing the grand opening in like a week. I might go there and hang out for a bit.

[Viraneth]

I spend most of my friday evenings there usually now. XD
Yeah, the really good stuff they don't have on the shelf.

[Coldguy]

If you want to get good classic stuff at the Play N Trade in Miami, ask for Jon. He'll show you the good stuff.
They have an original Game Boy with a few games and rechargadble battery, plus a carrying case.
A few Atari systems (2600, 5200, Jaguar) and one of the systems is in box, with original receipt (I'd keep it XD) and 55 or so games. All for $230.

The 5200 is nearly mint, and some of the games for the 2600 and 5200 include Joust, Super Breakout, Pac-Man, and the ill-fated E.T.

Also, they have an NES, and I'm not sure if it's the Master system or the Mega drive.

I just picked up Alex Kidd in Miracle World (CIB), Solstice for the NES, and Mario Paint for the SNES for $10. They'll also do repairs, and the rates ain't half bad.
If you guys get the chance, remember, stop in and ask for Jon.

Added to the giant retro map, Miami location. Let me know of other comments.

[JustRob]

Well, just came back from *BOTH* locations...

Hialeah: Well, I have to say I was underwhelmed. I got there in the middle of about 20 teens having a SSB Brawl tourny of some kind. There were people everywhere. I couldn't get to most of the shelves with the good stuff and the case with the classic stuff was blocked by people so I could barely see in there. What shelves I could get to had all newer era stuff and I'm just not into those atm.

Honestly, if I had gone any other day, I likely would have been impressed. But, the selection of retro stuff was too on the low side for my tastes. That, and blocking merchandise for tourny purposes is just bad business. I guess I'm getting too old...

Weston: The girlfriend said fuck it, let's go check out the other place since we really had nothing better to do. Got a little lost in Weston, but eventually found the place. Take I75 to Royal Palm, go west to Bonaventure Rd, turn north, it's the first major shopping center on the left.

Anyway, it was nice and quiet, just a couple of guys and a mommy with her little girl buying little girly wii stuff. The guy behind the counter was cool, patient. I went nuts picking up some stuff. They had a 20% off sale on gba stuff and a buy 2 get 1 free sale. Managed to pick up the following...

Ace Combat 3 (cib) psx - $4.99
X-Men 2: Clone Wars -loose- Genny - $2.99
Iridion II - loose- GBA - $3.99 -20%
Mega Man & Bass -loose- GBA - $7.99 -20%
Journey to Silius (cib) NES - FREE (fuchs yeah)

They also seem to have a discount card like GS does. $10 for the year and 10% off everything, so I picked that up. May as well.

There also seems to be a PnT in Naples...may have to make the road trip. You Fort Myers guys have better access to that one though.

Altogether, a cool place. Both locations are a bit cramped for tournament stuff through, at least during normal business hours. Each is a bit smaller than the typical GS storefront slot so already not much room. Game selection was decent. The fact that they have the older stuff puts them a giant peg above GS, plus they're franchises, which adds to the kickassness vs GS.

So, any other opinions?

[Nitrosport]

For the Miami Lakes location, they keep like 80% of the retro stuff in the back.

[Viraneth]

Rob, next time you go, ask to see the stuff in the back room. If you're into Atari, ask to see the Atari. If you don't want to bump into a tournament, go on weekdays, I reccomend Thrusday, around 2-5 p.m.

[Coldguy]

The one thing I am noticing about PnTs...they LOVE to do tourneys in their store. Before you go check the website of the store so you can plan accordingly.

[Viraneth]

Yeah. The tournaments are big money makers. The ony in Miami Lakes has tournaments on weekends 99.9% of the time. So, like I said, go on weekdays, Thursday being the slowest day... somehow...

[Penguin]

Our Play and Trade in Fort Myers closed a few months ago. They had a lot of neat stuff but they could not compete with Gamestop, than again our town is overrun by Gamestops, there are 5 within a 10 mile radius, I hate gamestop so much, they always force the mom and pop stores out. Speaking of places closing, Silver Platter is closed now too, only places to find retro games now are thrift stores and flea markets. :(

[Viraneth]

Our Play and Trade in Fort Myers closed a few months ago. They had a lot of neat stuff but they could not compete with Gamestop, than again our town is overrun by Gamestops, there are 5 within a 10 mile radius, I hate gamestop so much, they always force the mom and pop stores out. Speaking of places closing, Silver Platter is closed now too, only places to find retro games now are thrift stores and flea markets. :(

That sucks hard man.

[exit]

It seems that I had good fortune today, because I struck a nice little find at the Salvation Army on Pines and University. I went there not expecting to find anything, especially when I saw that the CD section that's usually by the VHS/Bookcases is gone, but I was in for a real surprise when I checked by the register. I spotted an NES cart in a basket filled with various things in it, I looked through it and saw a few nice little treasures in it.

NES

RoboWarrior
Skate or Die
Total Recall

SNES

The Tick
Super Return of the Jedi

Genesis

Superman
Sword of Vermilion (Boxed w/ instructions, missing hint book)

I feel even luckier since the girl at the register told me that everything was half of, so I got all of it for $19.93 and struck a small conversation with her in the process when she asked me if I still owned a Nintendo.

I also stopped by the thrift store on Hollywood and 441 and picked up an NES for $20, not sure if it works, but if anything I can use the casing to transfer the parts from one of my beaten down NES' and give it to my friend so I can get my Toploader back.

All I have to say it's about damn time I hit a small jackpot, looks like I'll be checking out this place more often again.

[JustRob]

Wait, is that on Pines or Johnson? Cause that huge bitch of a SA was always just clothes and furniture. I was always surprised when I saw a random stack of books lying around?

[JustRob]

Ok, the new year means a new focus to collecting. Let's make the final list on hunting spots here. Now, you don't have to give up your uber super secret goldmine stash location, but general places that you have found items will be good.

I hit that big thrift mall in hialeah today. All but one of the stores was closed, and the only one open was the one that prices loose psx unites at $59.

So, to start:

Hialeah Thrift Mall
I don't know if that's what it's called, but for our purposes it is now
9th Street and E 10th Ave (Hialeah Streets)
There are about 5 thrift stores in this strip mall. All but one is general purpose, the last is a clothing-only place. I've had good luck with the biggest of the stores to the left of the mall, next to Winn-Dixie. They will usually have a Genesis or NES bundle of some kind in the bags on the hooks. I found the sears versions of the 2600 and INTV there once, both in working condition, so they are good for random finds.

Game-wise, they do well with random stuff in the CD/Book section. I've found 13 CiB Odysessy 2 games, several boxed NES and Genesis games. Just random stuff. Beware their newer generation stuff. They have a basket near the registers of loose CDs that they stick in zip-loc baggies and price at $3.99 each. I've found parts of rare games in those loose baggies, usually scratched beyond repair. I've found disc 2 of FFVII, one of the Sega CD Lunar games, a few 3D0 games in there. They sometimes will have xbox or 360 games, for example, but those will either be sports crap or decent games that simply have not been treated well.

The other couple of stores in there are pretty hit and miss. The occasional game boy or game gear game will end up in the corner of the jewelry cases etc.




So, with that, where else can we add to the list?

[JustRob]

So, I'm off tomorrow, so I've decided to dedicate the day to a good hunt. In an effort to keep this thread going, I'm going to list out my normal route, as I've somewhat perfected it the last couple of trips I've done.

So, to start.

1) Hialeah Thift Mall. It's actually called Flamingo Plaza, but I like my name better. There are the 4 or 5 thrifts in here, so it's always a good place to start.

2) Gamestop on Le Jeune and 9th street. (42nd ave and 62nd street for miami numbering). They've usually got a good selection of GB/GBC stuff, and it actually seems to rotate, which amazes me to no end.

3) If I'm feeling up to driving around this ridiculous traffic neighborhood, I'll try the trifecta on NE 6th Ave and 125th St. There's a red white & blue, a goodwill, and I think the third is a think thrift. It's been forever since I've hit these places, but they are there anyway.

4) Goodwill on Miami Gardens Dr in Skylake. This place has always been a good random find stop for me, plus it's next to my grandma's house so I can stop in there for lunch, :)

4a) This used to be where I included the 4 thrifts on Hallandale Beach Blvd, but I've been told they no longer exist. I know the Salvation Army that used to be in the Guitar Center strip mall closed years ago. The 2 little jewish recycling center places just west of 95 I've been told have closed, but I have yet to verify that for myself. Also, just a few blocks west is the Douglas Gardens Thrift place. Never found anything too interesting in there, but it's there nonetheless.

4b) There is a liquidator type place just a few blocks west of that on the north side of the street, I think it was called ABC or something. I used to hit this place up BIG TIME when I was heavy into classic pc and mac collecting. They literally have a warehouse just full of random shit. Again, haven't been here in years, but if it still exists, it may be worth a look.

5) Goodwill on Taft and 62nd? - I've recently added this place to my route. I have yet to find anything gaming related aside from a couple of old Win95 games. Every time I come here I walk out with a stack of D&D or Star Wars or Star Trek or some shit mass market paperbacks. Last time I walked out with something like 23 of them.

6) Salvation Army on Johnson and University. I'd given up on this place not too long after it opened. I stopped in for the fuck of it the last trip I made and walked out with a couple of random Saturn cib games. Nothing rare but nice to find some anyways. They were just sitting in a basket at the register. The girl behind the counter looked at me and asked "What are those, some kind of video game?" I just nodded, paid, and walked out.

7) I've sort of adopted 2 Play n Trades on the west side of town. The one in Westfork Plaza on Dykes and Pines is kind of my home store. They have a decent selection of 16-bit and n64 games. They've recently started making their own replacement cases with shittly printed covers. Normally I wouldn't care, but I'm mostly sega now and refuse to buy anything loose if I can help it and these are just ass ugly. Lately, this store has been kind of over packed with douchebags who just go in there for the CoD tournaments and crowd the classic case. I swear I'm going to deck one of them one of these days for being in the way.

8) The second Play n Trade is on Miami Gardens, just east of the I75 exit, in the plaza with Sedano's and Carraba's. This one is "officially" having it's grand opening this month but they've been open for a few weeks now. Pretty weak selection of the classic stuff, but one of the guys who works there is a member here and I'm sure he'll be taking care of that...hint hint. I much prefer the layout of this place over the one in West Pines. No tvs crowding the display cases, little more breathing room between them too.

So, anyone care to share their routes and experiences?

[bo0naka]

My cousin and I have been frequenting the Flagler flea market (the one down by what is left of the dog track as they're tearing that down). There's a few tents that are solely video games, and you can always find random games or systems lying around. Mostly stuff for NES, SNES, GB/GBC/GBA/DS, Genesis, and the newer consoles, but I did randomly stumble upon a Lunar SegaCD game for $5, just in a blank jewel case, no instructions or manuals. It takes some digging around sometimes but you never know what you can find.

I found a Model 2 SegaCD just lying on the floor half hanging out of a box and got incredibly excited, expecting to purchase it until I opened it and saw the inside with a bunch of dirt particles, especially right around the laser, and then realized that the latch to close the lid was broken when trying to close it again.

My cousin seems to dig up much better places to find than I do, he's picked up some decent stuff from craigslist sellers, and just seems to randomly find people who are about to get rid of things for garage sales and let him get first dibs before they put things out for sale.

[Daft Punk]

North Florida isn't much better. There is only 1 game store in alachua county that sells anything classic . I'm looking at opening a store in gainesville sometime this year so hopefully things will change ;).

In ocala we have a shop I work at in the flea market and has a bit of everything as long as it's not for a sega system (No one ever trades it in :shrug: ).
There is also a play n trade over that way.

Jacksonville has a few indy game stores but there prices are absolutely ridiculous . I'm talking $600 for a neo geo cart system ridiculous.

There are tons of thrifts , pawns and fleas around here but most of them give me the ol "its $X.XX on eBay" bs with the prices.

I was in Tampa the other day going to Busch gardens the day before the super bowl and the exit before and after seems to have quite a few thrifts and a few indoor flea markets. I didn't get to go check them out though.

[bo0naka]

My girlfriend was telling me that there's a pretty big flea market over in the Orlando area. I took her for the first time this weekend and she was in awe, I think I've got her hooked on treasure hunting at fleas and thrift stores, hehe.

Does anyone know if there really is one up in that area? If not, I'll do some exploration the next time I go up to visit some friends that live in the area.

[JustRob]

I know there is a like, mega one in Sanford. I've been meaning to visit my friend in Orlando and take him with me to that one. Maybe soon...

[jetset516]

Hey, I don't suppose any of you fellas in S Florida know how to do system mods? I'm on Broward and want to have a few of my classic systems composite modded but don't want to ship them out (especially the 5200!)
LMK!

[BetaWolf47]

Hey guys, I'm in the Broward area. Now I know why it's so hard to find classic games around here. You guys keep cleaning the shops out!

I've been to the Salvation Army Family Store on University and Johnson. No classic games there when I went, period. In fact, the only thing I saw game-related were a PC controller and a single Xbox game. The end. Nothing. Zilch. Well, some crap PC games.

The Goodwill at Taft and 72nd (or was it 62nd) had Sol-Feace for Sega CD, which I picked up. It was a lucky find, and I enjoy the game a lot.

There's also the Goodwill on Pines, not too far from Pembroke Lakes Mall. There's a few assorted Genesis titles there. The place has them scattered about, however, so you might not find any unless you look. Nothing noteworthy though. I did get a few PC games there, including the original Tomb Raider, Midnight Club 2, Simcity 2000 Special Edition, and Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed.

The Play N Trade on Pines Boulevard closed. All of the stuff that was there got moved to a new Play N Trade on Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road. There was an Atari 2600, GameGear, and Nomad there which have already been snatched. Now they've got some decent SNES games like the DKC games and Mega Man X. They have Mega Man X hidden behind the counter for some reason.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

My girlfriend was telling me that there's a pretty big flea market over in the Orlando area. I took her for the first time this weekend and she was in awe, I think I've got her hooked on treasure hunting at fleas and thrift stores, hehe.

Does anyone know if there really is one up in that area? If not, I'll do some exploration the next time I go up to visit some friends that live in the area.


sandford, yes, the sandford flea market, this is definetly the best central florida has to offer, video game traders & cybertron always look out, good prices, there are at least 2 other vintage & retro shops in same flea market but not as good as game traders, they also got a good selection of anime & vintage strategy guides if you're into that.

but orlando as far as i know doesn't have shit, there used to be an ok mom & pop shop in the vietnamese area of orlando, but i think they moved or closed down,

kissimmee has a handful of mom & pops but nothing to crazy, the flea market is bullshit, broken duck hunt carts is all you're going to find

daytona has a video game traders operated by the same people in the sandford flea market but i've never been so i cant vouch 4 them

[BetaWolf47]

There also seems to be a PnT in Naples...may have to make the road trip. You Fort Myers guys have better access to that one though.
Been about a year since this post, but if you're still interested, please respond to this post.

I'm from Naples and know all of the places to hit. The Play N Trade there is pretty good. I got a few rare CIB Saturn games, including Saturn Bomberman, Dragon Force, and Albert Odyssey, for chump change there. Last I checked, they also have a rare NES game: Miracle Teaching Piano, or whatever it's called. I'll be visiting my parents there in a month, so if anyone wants me to keep my eye open for anything, I can. Collecting in Naples is great by the way. I think I'm the only hardcore collector there.

Hey, if anyone in the Broward or Dade area has a spare Master System, 32X, or Dreamcast, I'm looking for one. I'm willing to pay or trade for it.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

sandford, yes, the sandford flea market, this is definetly the best central florida has to offer, video game traders & cybertron always look out, good prices, there are at least 2 other vintage & retro shops in same flea market but not as good as game traders, they also got a good selection of anime & vintage strategy guides if you're into that.

but orlando as far as i know doesn't have shit, there used to be an ok mom & pop shop in the vietnamese area of orlando, but i think they moved or closed down,

kissimmee has a handful of mom & pops but nothing to crazy, the flea market is bullshit, broken duck hunt carts is all you're going to find

daytona has a video game traders operated by the same people in the sandford flea market but i've never been so i cant vouch 4 them

I live in the Altamonte Springs area near Orlando and I've been able to find quite a few good things in the Lake Mary/Sanford area.

I frequent the Play-n-Trade in Lake Mary. I was able to obtain a copy of Cheetahmen II for $3(!) there on one of my first trips, and I promised to stop by a couple times a week to pick up items there since I felt so bad. I've been able to get a 3DO (with 22 games) and an Atari Jaguar CD (working), amongst other rare items. I've seen a couple Jaguars traded in and a boxed Turbografx-16, but I typically clean him out of anything rare if I don't own it. He has a boxed Mermaids of Atlantis behind the counter if anyone's interested.

The Sanford Flea Market is also a good place to hunt. Video Game Trader has a VERY large resource, but they're hit or miss because their stock is not clean and typically abused. There's a copy of Fire 'n Ice for NES there I've been eying, but I keep putting it off since the label is starting to peel. Cybertron is a better bet. They have a more diversified selection, but they have a smaller amount of resources. The owner is a collector as well. I picked up a mint Sega CD Model 1 at Cybertron for $35. They also have some PC-Engine games if anyone's interested. I saw some guy stop by the shop last time I was there, inquiring about the price to some sort of SNES development cartridge (didn't look like a proto...had it in my hands for two seconds before he started asking for it back).

I haven't really searched anywhere else in the area, but Craigslist is a good bet as well. I've heard from some of the Craigslist guys that estate sales are where they get a large chunk of their games for cheap.

I hope this helps some of the Central Florida guys out. Feel free to stop by the Lake Mary PnT, as they always have some good deals going and the owner is always willing to work with you.

[kupomogli]

Too bad I don't live in the West US or South Florida. I'm in North Florida in the central time zone and there's nothing gaming related ever in this area.

[fuchikoma]

My PnT experiences have been mixed. On one hand, it seems they'll accept anything for trade. I've scored a WD Arc The Lad hardcover guide and a couple saturn imports.

On the other hand, since they're franchises, there doesn't seem to be much regulation. For example, the aventura store on biscayne blvd sells bootleg limited edition DS Lites. The actual hardware looks newish but the cases and boxes are all HK knockoffs. The owner (I assume) started giving me grief when I pointed this out after looking at one. Also, there's no central database for the 10% member cards. Each location wants me to replace my current card with one from their store, and I've even had it denied (pembroke pines store).

[Shadow Kisuragi]

The Central Florida PnT stores seem to be pretty reputable. I see most of the owners come by the Lake Mary store to exchange stock, promotional items and ideas for increasing traffic. The only "knockoff" item I've ever seen sold there are the clone systems for the 8/16-bit systems, and I haven't heard of any such problems from other PnT stores in the area.

The guy from Video Game Trader in Daytona, on the other hand...

[BetaWolf47]

My PnT experiences have been mixed. On one hand, it seems they'll accept anything for trade. I've scored a WD Arc The Lad hardcover guide and a couple saturn imports.

On the other hand, since they're franchises, there doesn't seem to be much regulation. For example, the aventura store on biscayne blvd sells bootleg limited edition DS Lites. The actual hardware looks newish but the cases and boxes are all HK knockoffs. The owner (I assume) started giving me grief when I pointed this out after looking at one. Also, there's no central database for the 10% member cards. Each location wants me to replace my current card with one from their store, and I've even had it denied (pembroke pines store).
I got my card from Pembroke Pines and the one in another city accepted it. The thing is that the guy in that place is an honest man though.

[FamicomFreak]

My PnT experiences have been mixed. On one hand, it seems they'll accept anything for trade. I've scored a WD Arc The Lad hardcover guide and a couple saturn imports.

On the other hand, since they're franchises, there doesn't seem to be much regulation. For example, the aventura store on biscayne blvd sells bootleg limited edition DS Lites. The actual hardware looks newish but the cases and boxes are all HK knockoffs. The owner (I assume) started giving me grief when I pointed this out after looking at one. Also, there's no central database for the 10% member cards. Each location wants me to replace my current card with one from their store, and I've even had it denied (pembroke pines store).

Wow really I didn't know that about the NDS. Who knew?? Anyways, I had good experiences there the last couple of trips. Like today, I got Castlevania Symphony of the Night for 9 bucks! I'm also taking advantage of their buy 2 get 2 free on their used ps2, cube, and xbox games since I missed many of them. They don't seem to get much NES stuff though....

[JustRob]

I hit up a few thrifts today, my normal route for the most part.

Goodwill on Miami Gardens and E 18th in Skylake:
Nothing there really, a few loose PS1 sports titles, a broken madcatz dreamcast controller, and some old gameport PC joysticks.

Goodwill on Taft and 62ndish:
Game wise, a few loose NES commons for $3 a piece. Nothing I needed really. Left them there in a nice pretty pile in plain site. I guarantee they'll be all over the place by the morning. I *did* like always walk out with a stack of paperbacks. Love that place.

SA on University and Johnson:
A few random ps1 tiger woods and maddens, blah blah. Not even a few books to add to my collection.

[exit]

My friend told me that there is going to be a new thrift store opening around Hallandale Bch and I95, not quite sure exactly when it's going to open, but I'll post when it does. I hit up the Johnson Salvation Army today just because I was in the area and left empty handed like usual. The real disappointment of today was that I saw that the Suncoast/FYE that was right next to the Goodwill shut down, which suck because I actually had a few CDs in mind that I wanted to pick up.

[BetaWolf47]

Goodwill on Taft and 62ndish:
Game wise, a few loose NES commons for $3 a piece. Nothing I needed really. Left them there in a nice pretty pile in plain site. I guarantee they'll be all over the place by the morning. I *did* like always walk out with a stack of paperbacks. Love that place.
Any of the NES games good? I'm always glad to find anything decent. I was at that Goodwill recently and that's where I got Sol-Feace for Sega CD :P

I also scored Mega Man 6 at the Play N Trade on Flamingo Rd. and Miramar Pkwy for $15 on Tuesday. Decent price, but the label isn't in the best shape. But hey, it's the first time I've ever seen it, and it's possibly my favorite Mega Man for NES.

To anyone interested, I spotted some Genesis and Master System games at Goodwill by Pines Blvd and Palm Ave (or is it Hiatus Rd?). They had CIB Parlour Games and Great Baseball for SMS, Aladdin, Ecco 1, and some weird game for Genesis, and also a copy of Ken Griffy Jr. for SNES.

[JustRob]

Any of the NES games good? I'm always glad to find anything decent. I was at that Goodwill recently and that's where I got Sol-Feace for Sega CD :P

I also scored Mega Man 6 at the Play N Trade on Flamingo Rd. and Miramar Pkwy for $15 on Tuesday. Decent price, but the label isn't in the best shape. But hey, it's the first time I've ever seen it, and it's possibly my favorite Mega Man for NES.

To anyone interested, I spotted some Genesis and Master System games at Goodwill by Pines Blvd and Palm Ave (or is it Hiatus Rd?). They had CIB Parlour Games and Great Baseball for SMS, Aladdin, Ecco 1, and some weird game for Genesis, and also a copy of Ken Griffy Jr. for SNES.

I *knew* I forgot something! I stopped there too and picked up a few of those. The 2 SMS games and the Aladdin and Super Tecmo Bowl. The girl at the register had no idea what they were priced. The SMS games were labled .50 and 3.00 so she gave me all 4 for the .50 cents. I should have gotten the others too, but I didn't want to be greedy.

[Daria]

It's so weird that there's so many South Florida members but no one else in Palm Beach County. It's not like this is a small area or anything.

[BetaWolf47]

It's so weird that there's so many South Florida members but no one else in Palm Beach County. It's not like this is a small area or anything.
I'm in Broward, somewhat close.

...you wouldn't happen to have a Master System, would you?


I *knew* I forgot something! I stopped there too and picked up a few of those. The 2 SMS games and the Aladdin and Super Tecmo Bowl. The girl at the register had no idea what they were priced. The SMS games were labled .50 and 3.00 so she gave me all 4 for the .50 cents. I should have gotten the others too, but I didn't want to be greedy.
Yep, I organized them in that neat pile by the VHS tapes. They used to be all over the place.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I'm from Palm Beach County, and moved to Central Florida for school. The job market is much better up here and cost of living is much lower in comparison to Palm Beach.

Speaking of which...any good places in Palm Beach, Daria? I have family there and my fiancee's dad is pretty interested in helping me with my collection. Congrats on your recent PS1 RPG collection as well :)

[JustRob]

Well, I made a run to the same three places again today after a cardiologists appt on my way to work.

GW Taft: Nothing. just a few more books and a $2 logitech usb gamepad I needed for mame on my macbook

SA Johnson: Useless as always

GW Pines: They still had the leftover genny and SNES games from last time, f22, ecco, ken griffey blah blah. I walked over to the kids toys section and...a stack of SNES games.

All for $2:
Final Fantasy II
Super Mario World
Super Return of the Jedi
SimCity

and CiB for the same price, Midway's Arcade's Greatest Hits.

Eh, not too bad. A couple of decent games to play on my model 2 snes, which I've still never actually used.

[BetaWolf47]

All for $2:
Final Fantasy II

Damn, I didn't know the GW had that. Been looking for it. Is it a duplicate for you? Interested in a transaction?

Also, what were those "computers"?

[Daria]

Speaking of which...any good places in Palm Beach, Daria?

Heh. No.

Place sucks. There's a couple chains around but they're terribly priced.

BetaWolf: No I don't have a master system. Well, I do. But it's not a trade item. o.O

[JustRob]

Damn, I didn't know the GW had that. Been looking for it. Is it a duplicate for you? Interested in a transaction?

Also, what were those "computers"?

Actually, just typewriters. I used to be into typewriter and Word Processor collecting. There were a few brother and smith corona units. What I think you saw were the floppy drives on some of them. Most used standard 3.5" drives and disks but some had freaky custom disk sizes.

yeah, i didn't see that stack of SNES carts the last time either...they must have just pulled them from the back, there were about 6 of the "new" stock bins in the middle of the floor and the ladies were shelving them all

[BetaWolf47]

JustRob, I've been looking for SNES RPGs for a while though. Though there's a lot for the taking where I'm originally from, SNES RPGs are still extremely scarce. In fact, I did see FF2 in addition to FF3, Chrono Trigger, and SMRPG, but I didn't have the place's asking price at the time. As of now, the only SNES RPG I own is The 7th Saga.

Would you be willing to sell that copy of FF2, or is it your only one?

[JustRob]

I don't collect the japanese RPGs if I don't absolutely have to. Most just piss me off, so, all yours dude. Got anything on a trade list?

[BetaWolf47]

Hmm, not a whole lot. Let's see:
Myst (Mac)
Myst (Saturn, CIB)
Game Action Replay (NES) *RARE*
Aero the Acro-Bat (Gen, box or CIB... forgot)
Clayfighter 63 1/3 (N64)
Harvest Moon GBC (GBC)
Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES, very poor condition)
RBI Baseball 3 (NES)
Super Battletank 2 (SNES, good but has permanent marker)

[Daria]

JustRob, I've been looking for SNES RPGs for a while though. Though there's a lot for the taking where I'm originally from, SNES RPGs are still extremely scarce. In fact, I did see FF2 in addition to FF3, Chrono Trigger, and SMRPG, but I didn't have the place's asking price at the time. As of now, the only SNES RPG I own is The 7th Saga.

Would you be willing to sell that copy of FF2, or is it your only one?

I have a friend who's selling Secret of Mana. She was asking $25 last time I spoke to her.

[BetaWolf47]

Cool, where at? I might be interested.

[Daria]

I posted a topic for her here. She just asked me to try and find a buyer.

[exit]

Well today must have been my lucky day, because I struck it pretty big, at least for where my area is concerned. After dropping my buddy off at work, I decided to hit the thrift stores in the plaza on University and 441 since it's on my way back.

Think Thrift (I think that's the name)

I scored a copy of Tomb Raider Last Revelation for about $2 for Dramcast, in great condition at that.

Now in the bigger thrift store I was quite surprised when I looked behind the glass counter and saw a box neatly lined with NES games, I asked the girl to see them and since it was busy, she let me go behind the counter. They were $2.99 each, which may be kind of steep a few of them I grabbed, but considering that even if I got them off of ebay for 99 cents I would still end up paying more with shipping costs and they did all came with dust covers (and seem to be in great condition) so that makes up for it.

Mario/Duck Hunt
Ghostbusters
Top Gun
Rad Racer
Off Road
Hogan's Alley
Othello
Double Dragon II
Mystery Quest
Darkman
Blades of Steel (I seemed to have confused this with Rollergames, should have looked at the cart)
A Boy and His Blob

I then decided to try my luck and hit up the Salvation Army on Johnson and University, of course absolutely nothing. Then I hit up the Goodwill on Pines and Univerisity and after being teased on seeing a few good things on the CD rack that ended up being empty, or just the wrong game in general, I was able to score a Game Boy Color for $2. It had battery's, a copy of Super Mario Land in it and it worked, so that was the icing on the cake.

I also hit up the Pawn Shop in downtown Hollywood by Young Circle for the hell of it, haven't been there since I got a "It's that price on E-Bay!" response from one of the guys there when I inquired in a PSX game, but I'm glad I did because I was able to get a copy of Haunting Ground for $10 and I've been looking for that game for a while.

So today indeed was my day, the best haul I've ever had.

I also have a suggestion to make, we should compile a list of all the thrift stores in our area and make a map out of it. That way it'll be easier for all of us and help weed out the good areas from the bad. It could also make trading easier, since we could just meet at a neutral spot and do business there.

[BetaWolf47]

I'm all for a meetup area.

These are my spots:

-SA on Johnson and University (only been there once, crap)
-Goodwill on Pines and Palm Ave/Hiatus Rd (not University, but close)
-Play N Trade on Miramar and Flamingo. Lazy employees, but good selection from time to time. I've gotten Mega Man VI and a few other good games here. Also got some great deals from their predecessor on Pines.

[JustRob]

Ok, let's do it then.

What areas do we want to specifically target? Looks like most of us are south broward, which leaves out Daria for the most part. Or, do we want to make this an all over south florida deal?

As for added spots, just getting a list of thrifts from the respective company sites is easy, let's focus on spots we actually find stuff at and add them as we discover viable locations.

A few of us have posted spots before, I can compile those. Any others that we should look at?

[BetaWolf47]

Well, I'd like to know more about the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop. It's supposedly the biggest flea market in the US, right?

My choices are kind of limited for a meetup place, as I have trouble getting to places that aren't a general straight path to me. I can make an effort to get to a different place though.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I can possibly stop by whenever I'm down in Palm Beach County (which hasn't been often lately). I'm willing to make a trip to Broward next time I'm down in Palm Beach if you want the Master System, Beta...

exit, I read your post and originally thought you were talking about the Orlando area :) I was thinking "I don't think University goes to 441...that's a bit of a ways", but then realized you were talking about Miami. It's been a while since I've been down there, but I know my way around Broward County. The flea market is huge, but I haven't gone there since I started collecting.

Also, I'd be interested in a "quarterly" deal for heading down there for swapping. I've been thinking of organizing a monthly deal at my place if anyone near Central Florida is interested.

[exit]

What areas do we want to specifically target? Looks like most of us are south broward, which leaves out Daria for the most part. Or, do we want to make this an all over south florida deal?

I say lets have it be all over South FL, of course we may only mainly focus on the Broward area, but you never know who may need the information in the future. Hopefully in the next week or two I'll be hitting up some stores with a buddy of mine, so we'll probably print a list out from Google or something and I'll report which ones are worth the time.

As for the Swap Shop, a buddy of mine went there a few months ago and said he didn't see anything. He isn't a collector like any of us are and looked around because I always mention wanting to go there to look for games whenever the subject comes up, but I know I can trust his judgment and can safely assume it's a dry area. Of course things might have changed since then and it never hurts to look if you live in that area, but I'm not about to drive to Sunrise and come back empty handed.

[BetaWolf47]

I can possibly stop by whenever I'm down in Palm Beach County (which hasn't been often lately). I'm willing to make a trip to Broward next time I'm down in Palm Beach if you want the Master System, Beta...

Hmm, I'll have to make it worth your while then. I could probably meet you as far as Coral Springs. What are you looking for?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I'm still trying to sort out my collection and put it in viewable form for others somewhere. Any recommendations? I have a checklist that I use to track what I currently own, but it doesn't cover condition (loose/CIB) or duplicates.

Also, as an aside...any clue on how common a Transbot card with a "For Product Display Unit only, not for sale." sticker is? It came with my first Master System. Sounds like a Not for Resale or kiosk version sort of deal.

[BetaWolf47]

I'd like to know that too... I think I need a spot to list just my trades, however few I have.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Here's my haul for the day from the Oviedo PnT:
ESPN Extreme Games - PS1 Long Box, CIB
NFL Gameday - PS1 Long Box, CIB
Gorf - Atari 5200, Loose
Zoop - Genesis, Cardboard Box, Viacom Version, CIB
TNN Outdoors Bass Tournament '96 - Genesis, Cardboard Box, CIB
Primetime NFL Football Starring Deion Sanders - Genesis, Cardboard Box, CIB
World Series Baseball '95 - Genesis, Cardboard Box, CIB
College Football's National Championship II - Genesis, Cardboard Box, CIB
NHL All-Star Hockey '95 - Genesis, Cardboard Box, CIB
Ghostbusters - SMS, Cart and Box
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story - Genesis, CIB
Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45 - Genesis, CIB

Sega Game Gear - Battery Pack
Sega Game Gear - Super Wide Gear
3DO - Capcom 6-button Controller
NES - Flightstick 2 Controller (Quickshot)

I was on a Majesco/Cardboard Box kick since they were all in such great condition, CIB.
Is Operation Europe really an R6? I have two CIB copies now.

Also saw a Mint, CIB Lunar 2 there for $100 and Sol-Feace (missing manual) for $8. They seem to have quite a few interesting items there, but they're all over the board in terms of pricing items. Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt for $9? Seriously?

[BetaWolf47]

Hey, nobody wants to have a meetup spot?

Also, the Miramar PnT has a Genesis 2, NES, GG, Dreamcast, N64, Gamecube, and PS1 if anyone here wants one. I'd take the Dreamcast myself but I'm not ready to start a collection for another system yet.

Prices are reasonable except for the NES. $69.99? Oh please. Plus the SNES is badly yellowed.

[BetaWolf47]

Hey guys, sorry for the double post but nobody has bothered to respond lately.

I'm going to Naples for two weeks pretty soon and was curious if anyone wanted to know how the wild is over there. I'll probably be hitting the pawn shops at least once and going to Play N Trade a few times. I almost always find one good deal when I go out.