2019 Yearly Finds

[Slate]

Found the Pong Console at a yard sale on July 12th, paid $1.

Not Pictured:

Nintendo DS Lite, Crimson Red & Charger - Not Working - Free (Yard Sale Item)

A Game Boy Advance (missing the battery cover,) 3 Playstation 1 Controllers and a bunch of twine for $1 in the last week.

Found all the other pictured items (Playstation, N64, Gamecube, Controllers, Wires, Memory Cards + Rampage on PS1, Madden 06 on Gamecube, Mario Kart 64 and another N64 game I forgot) today but not all at the same yard sale. I found the Gamecube at one yard sale and paid $5. There was a cute, little nice dog at that sale. At another yard sale a few hours later, I paid another $5 for the N64 and Playstation. Funny thing is both lots were "$20 or make offer" and I got them for $10 total. Otherwise, many yard sales lately just had Playstation 2s or Xbox 360s either at market value or overpriced.

Father and I have been finding other items at yard sales that don't pertain to Video Games; Stainless Coffee Pots, for example. I also bought 2 Dazey Donut Makers from the 70s recently (not worth a lot) and made donuts at home. It doesn't sound like I look at donuts from a health standpoint but I do; I don't eat them much but if I want any, I want to know what I put in them.

- Austin

[Steve W]

I was searching for a few Wii games that don't end up in store shelves too often, and for some reason I came across loads of 3DO games. I want to know what's going on. After I bought my 3DO it was a pain to find any games for the console. I went to Game Master in Rowlett, TX today and they had a stack of copies of Return Fire. About 6 copies, and mixed with their other 3DO games. Went to a Movie Trading Company location and saw maybe 15 different titles. Where were all these games when I was searching all over for them, ready to feed my freshly acquired console?

Movie Trading Company was charging $550 for a caseless copy of Snatcher for the Sega CD. They like to put odd games with recognizable names into their glass cases and charge out the butt for them. Star Fox for the Atari 2600, loose, for $15. Or Donkey Kong for the 2600. One store had a Wii truck racing game for $60, the next location had it for $2.99. But $550? Screw them.

[Slate]

I was searching for a few Wii games that don't end up in store shelves too often, and for some reason I came across loads of 3DO games. I want to know what's going on. After I bought my 3DO it was a pain to find any games for the console. I went to Game Master in Rowlett, TX today and they had a stack of copies of Return Fire. About 6 copies, and mixed with their other 3DO games. Went to a Movie Trading Company location and saw maybe 15 different titles. Where were all these games when I was searching all over for them, ready to feed my freshly required console?

No idea. While seeking a Power Glove from 2003 - 2008 (when finds were much more abundant) I never found one. Come mid 2018, I found one while not looking and paid nearly nothing much to my surprise; all with no NES to test it with.

[Niku-Sama]

been dry out west, and since i haven't been finding any thing lately (even at yard sales) i picked this up to spend some time on:


$400
1992 Mercedes 300ce Sportline
rather un common car
about 325,000 miles

it didnt run when i bought it but the next day i had it running, had a blown fuse on whats called an OVP relay
after i got it running i made a quick run down of what else it needs: water pump, power steering pump, has no reverse.
alot of stuff in it is serviceable, the power steerin pump for instance can be re built for about $20 and some time.
Reverse its acting differently than what the internet explains when reverse is out in these cars, i get the feeling its some broken spring/valves in the valve body, or it might just be stuck from sitting a while

[Steve W]

No idea. While seeking a Power Glove from 2003 - 2008 (when finds were much more abundant) I never found one. Come mid 2018, I found one while not looking and paid nearly nothing much to my surprise; all with no NES to test it with.

I never came across Colecovisions in the wild until I went to a convention in 2008 where I picked up a Coleco homebrew, Spectar. After that I started finding loads of consoles in the wild. And none of them worked. My fifth machine was boxed and finally worked, and after finding a functional one I never came across another unit again. That Colecovision was dead within a year. Of course.

I bought a Power Glove at a flea market along with an Atari 7800 and some Atari 8-bit cartridges, $1 each. I didn't need an Atari 7800, but it was such a shock to me in finding one I just had to get it as a spare. After that I started finding loads of them. After the fourth or fifth one I decided to stop buying them, and they stopped showing up in the thrift stores I went to. It's funny how these kinds of things work in waves.

[Slate]

I never came across Colecovisions in the wild until I went to a convention in 2008 where I picked up a Coleco homebrew, Spectar. After that I started finding loads of consoles in the wild. And none of them worked. My fifth machine was boxed and finally worked, and after finding a functional one I never came across another unit again. That Colecovision was dead within a year. Of course.

I bought a Power Glove at a flea market along with an Atari 7800 and some Atari 8-bit cartridges, $1 each. I didn't need an Atari 7800, but it was such a shock to me in finding one I just had to get it as a spare. After that I started finding loads of them. After the fourth or fifth one I decided to stop buying them, and they stopped showing up in the thrift stores I went to. It's funny how these kinds of things work in waves.

I've seen it happen multiple times. Would you believe it, I've bought a second Nintendo 64 just this month not even 10 days later? I've also seen 3 of the same rare guitar model show up on eBay simultaneously in 2010; this is a guitar that had a production of 300 (give or take) in the 70s. There really isn't a large demand for them, few even know about them and fewer want one. It's a Mosrite 350 Stereo Guitar.

As for my finds on the 14th and 15th (Saturday and Sunday: )

On the 14th (Saturday,) I went to a community yard sale on the side of a grocery store. I only bought a PS1 or PS2 extension cable there for 25 cents.

Later, I followed a yard sale sign to a trailer. Someone had 7 N64 games and a few PS1, PS2 and 360 controllers out along with common 360 and PS2 games I mostly passed on. I didn't pick all of this up on the same day and not everything was out until I asked if there was more than what I listed just above but I didn't want to complicate the list:

Genesis:

Model 2 System
1 RFA
1 Official Controller

Games:

The Adventures of Mighty Max (Complete but Manual's missing its cover)
Ecco the Dolphin (W Box)
Kid Chameleon (W Box but the game is a MEGADRIVE cart? Why?)
Mick and Mack Global Gladiators (Kinda complete but the box spine plastic's gone and the insert, which is tucked in the case, is messed up. The game doesn't work, yet at least, even after cleaning with QuikGlo. and Rubbing Alcohol.)
Landstalker (Complete but not working, yet at least, even after cleaning with QuikGlo and Rubbing Alcohol.)
Monopoly (in case without spine plastic)
Mortal Kombat II (Complete)
Ranger X (Complete)
Sonic 2 (W Box, Spine Plastic's damaged)
Sonic 3 (Complete)
Toxic Crusaders (Complete)

N64:

System & Power Adapter
1 Official Controller
1 Offbrand Controller
1 Memory Card (not working, apparently)

Games (All Loose: )

Diddy Kong Racing
Monopoly
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Stadium
Rush 2: Extreme Racing
Super Mario 64
WCW vs NWO Revenge

Xbox 360:

Fallout 3 (With a junky case and scratched up)

Controllers:

PS1 Official
PS2 Official
PS2 Off Brand
Xbox 360 Wired, Gamestop Brand, Missing USB Stress Relief Cable
Xbox 360 Remote

I paid $23 total. Frankly, some of the Genesis games really weren't working right even after Rubbing Alcohol so I had to use QuikGlo in more of a liquid than a paste form to clean the contacts; that fixed Mighty Max, Monopoly and Ranger X. Global Gladiators and Landstalker aren't working yet. I'm not going to try working on them now.

Also, I apologize for the color tone in the photos. Next time, they'll be closer to reality.

- Austin

[Slate]

At a yard sale:

Brain Age 2 (With case, manual and papers)
Nintendo DS Lite (Crimson Red) With Traveling Case & Power Adapter

$10 total. I should be able to re-sell these easily enough.

Non-Game Items:

Black & Decker Arctic Twister (It's an Ice Cream Twister) - $2.50
Groundhog Day DVD (Like New) - 35 Cents
Marble Rolling Pin - $2.50

EDIT: I'm also pleased to find the Pong console I bought in July is not so common; Montgomery Ward's "Video World of Sports" is an R7 in DP's Rarity Guide. (I just looked it up, months later.)

- Austin

[YoshiM]

I had a good run on Monday. I had an actual lunch break whete I could do what I wanted! So I hit up a thrift and found something I never found in the wild: A Microvision! It came with Brick Breaker and everything looked great save for a missing rubber foot. After work I hit a coupke more thrifts. Here's the run down:

Microvision console with Brick Breaker: $3 (got for free with coupon)

Adult Pac-Man costume: $5

Super Mario Land cartridge: $4

The Microvision works great. The kids passed it around to check it out. The costume needs something to widen the top if Pac's head. It fits over your head and covers the torso and waist. Right now it looks like Pac is pitching a mental tent when I wear it. I haven't tried Mario Land yet.