January 2013 pickups

[Polygon]

I went to a new store that popped up here in town that sells retro games. I was really surprised, but soon disappointed. I ended up with nothing because their prices were insane. They wanted $45 for a loose Mario Kart 64 and it wasn't even in the best of condition.

[SasoriSoren]

Arseen I sent you a reply back.

Yeah stores that know value tend to sell higher. I have seen Super Smash Bros with permanent marker on it for $50 so hearing your story is not unexpected.

[redsox2012]

I'm glad that the Game Exchange chain is in my area because they sell games at reasonable prices.  Although each store is independently owned, it is very corporate (which is good for retro gamers).  Their prices are set at a home office, and the franchises simply price according to the computer.  The stores don't price individual games according to current market value, which makes for some great deals.

Nearly all N64 games are $15 or less.  I bought boxed Paper Mario & Mario Kart games there recently.  The most expensive N64 game I've seen there is Conker's Bad Fur Day for $25.

Nearly all Sega Genesis, Sega CD, & Saturn games are $7.95 or less, and many are $1.95.  I bought a complete Sega CD Snatcher for $7.95.  I've seen only one game priced higher than $7.95.

NES games have the widest range of prices, and some are overpriced.  However, I've bought games such as Mike Tyson's Punch-out for $7.95, and most games are less than $5.

[mojoeskateco]

I'm glad that the Game Exchange chain is in my area because they sell games at reasonable prices.  Although each store is independently owned, it is very corporate (which is good for retro gamers).  Their prices are set at a home office, and the franchises simply price according to the computer.  The stores don't price individual games according to current market value, which makes for some great deals.

Nearly all N64 games are $15 or less.  I bought boxed Paper Mario & Mario Kart games there recently.  The most expensive N64 game I've seen there is Conker's Bad Fur Day for $25.

Nearly all Sega Genesis, Sega CD, & Saturn games are $7.95 or less, and many are $1.95.  I bought a complete Sega CD Snatcher for $7.95.  I've seen only one game priced higher than $7.95.

NES games have the widest range of prices, and some are overpriced.  However, I've bought games such as Mike Tyson's Punch-out for $7.95, and most games are less than $5.

I would never want to own one of these stores then.  If I can't charge more than $7.95 for a Sega Saturn game then I'm not making any money.

Of course as a collector this place would be sweet.

I think there is a big gap in the retro market as places either charge way too much for everything or they price everything the same which means all the good stuff is bought up quickly.

It would be nice to walk into a place where everything was fairly priced.  My local reseller used to be like that but now everything is priced at the high end of ebay BIN auctions so I spend less $$ there now.

[SasoriSoren]

The best place for varied prices are the Video Game Wizards here in Portland. Great place good prices.

[Polygon]

Yeah stores that know value tend to sell higher. I have seen Super Smash Bros with permanent marker on it for $50 so hearing your story is not unexpected.

Oh, of course. However, I can go on eBay and buy it complete and in great condition for that price, possibly less. They won't be in business long charging those prices. And I made sure to inform them of that.

[fiatbravodriver]

From the postman today:

[Blueprint]

Ick, a ton of crappy games in there.  Sorry, I don't buy games just because they're cheap, so seeing all those sports titles and whatnot just sorta puts a taste of bleck in my mouth.

Still, some good finds in there!  I gotta see if my local stores have been cleared out yet...


Man, I've been slacking in the pickups posts lately, and I was the one who campaigned for the damned thing.  Anyway, I've got a purple GB micro on the way finally!  One step closer to a complete micro collection.  Not looking forward to that mother 3 set.  No way I'm gonna snag one of those on the cheap

I know a lot crap but I also resell to pay for my actual game collection.. and also all those sports games are going to be bundle with 4-5 gamecubes systemsthat i have to sell. makes them more attractive to sell if they come with games.. I pick another 10 copies of sports games today for .23 cents each and they all have Official Gamecube cases so I'm keeping those cases and selling all those sports games soon in generic games..  

[zygmuray]

Grabbed these today from a local pawn shop. They go with Ebay price most of there retro stuff, but they seem to lack in Gamecube prices which makes it nice for me

[redsox2012]

I'm glad that the Game Exchange chain is in my area because they sell games at reasonable prices.  Although each store is independently owned, it is very corporate (which is good for retro gamers).  Their prices are set at a home office, and the franchises simply price according to the computer.  The stores don't price individual games according to current market value, which makes for some great deals.

Nearly all N64 games are $15 or less.  I bought boxed Paper Mario & Mario Kart games there recently.  The most expensive N64 game I've seen there is Conker's Bad Fur Day for $25.

Nearly all Sega Genesis, Sega CD, & Saturn games are $7.95 or less, and many are $1.95.  I bought a complete Sega CD Snatcher for $7.95.  I've seen only one game priced higher than $7.95.

NES games have the widest range of prices, and some are overpriced.  However, I've bought games such as Mike Tyson's Punch-out for $7.95, and most games are less than $5.

I would never want to own one of these stores then.  If I can't charge more than $7.95 for a Sega Saturn game then I'm not making any money.

Of course as a collector this place would be sweet.

I think there is a big gap in the retro market as places either charge way too much for everything or they price everything the same which means all the good stuff is bought up quickly.

It would be nice to walk into a place where everything was fairly priced.  My local reseller used to be like that but now everything is priced at the high end of ebay BIN auctions so I spend less $$ there now.

They're a lot like Gamestop, except they're franchises.  They buy at a fixed price, and mark it up a certain percentage to sell it at the required profit.  So, while they may pay only $6 or $7 for Paper Mario, it's always $15 to buy it.  Market value isn't taken into consideration either way - it's strictly about profit margin.  Apparently the business model is good because one guy owns all five stores here in Connecticut, and he's planning to open three more this year.

As a collector I know the value of many retro games, but the games are just a commodity to the store.  As long as they can re-sell it, they don't care what it is.  While something may be a treasure to us, it's just another product to them.  It may sound pretty cold and sterile, but it's benefited me greatly, and I'm sure my business has benefited the store.

[Blueprint]

pick up a few other games today:

Dark Cloud 2 -$23
Shadow of the Colossus-$16
Street Fighter Alpha Anthology -$ Free

Buy 2 get one Free Deal from Gamestop..

My Co-worker is buying the Street Fighter for $15 so that makes my other 2 games about $12 each..

I also pick up Ico complete from Ebay for $10 free shipping...

Ico has lost so much value since the PS3 HD release but I still want to add it to my collection...

[AO007]

Well I hear the PS3 versions are the definitive versions of those games. Not much demand for PS2 copies when the collection is now so cheap.

Anyways, got all the Crash PS2 games(As well as Spyro Enter The Dragonfly) today that were worth a damn. Wrath of Cortex was the greatest hits version... and my god the load times really were fixed. Nitro Kart is also fuuuun, but playing Twinsanity(Which requires a Dualshock 2 for god knows why), I found out my PS2 controller's left stick is pure ass... so I may have to get that fixed in the near future, or consider keeping my Xbox copy of Twinsanity... decisions. :/

Now only have to wait for my Amazon trade-ins to process, and also Sonic Heroes Gamecube Edition to be delivered. Everything should be finalized by the end of the week.

[Nacho3]

Found this at GameStop today:



I just got my Wii U for Xmas and have been thinking about getting a Pro controller for a few weeks, this was $10 cheaper and at least 100 times cooler.

[madrocsz]

but, it doesnt work as a pro controller.... I was close to buying one too

Can use it as a wiimote (which is akward), and classic controller, it will work for some wiiu games but will not have the same functionality as a pro controller, hard to explain lol

[PeT]

A new game for my Nes collection arrived today.. Duck Tales 2 NTSC version..

Not many games left before my NES collection is complete of games that i want.