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...
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...
For the glory of the Lion, and for the Emperor!
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.Originally Posted by 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.
For the glory of the Lion, and for the Emperor!
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.
Last edited by exit; 11-26-2008 at 05:40 PM.
Breaking Bad 3x02 - Caballo Sin Nombre
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?
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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...
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!
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.
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
Last edited by LaughingMAN.S9; 05-22-2009 at 03:00 AM.
"Kidnap the presidents wife without a plan..."
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.
Last edited by BetaWolf47; 05-22-2009 at 09:46 AM.
Areas in Central Florida
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.
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.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
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).
MAX 330 MEGA
PRO-GEAR SPEC
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...
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.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Sega Insanity - My quest to collect every Sega game ever made!
