Author Topic: Where do you get your retro games?  (Read 10128 times)

jobocan

Where do you get your retro games?
« on: March 13, 2011, 02:57:32 pm »
I see that we have quite a few avid collectors on here, so I thought I'd ask about something of interest to all retro game collectors: How do you go around buying old video games for your collections? Do you have specific stores that you go to, or flea markets/swap meets, or do you go online, or what?

I'm interested in seeing what everyone has to say about this.

jobocan

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2011, 03:11:22 pm »
As for me... There's no thrift stores/pawn shops around here that ever have games, only one retail store that has retro games (that overprices most games) and the flea market is terrible (lol @ Mega Man 2, cart only, for 35$).

There is one tiny store in a tiny flea market (about 40 minutes away from me) only open on Sundays that has really good selection, but the prices are hit or miss. Sometimes they have great deals, but sadly the owner knows about the Ebay prices of games so any rarity you might find there is priced accordingly (I did see Little Samson, Bubble Bobble Part 2, Snow Bros and Surprise at Dinosaur Peak there... all over 100$), and some common games are priced higher than they should (no game is priced less than 5$, other than Atari 2600 games which are 2$ each). Still not bad, they sometimes have some surprising things (I saw a Vectrex in the advertising they put on Kijiji once).

I sometimes use Kijiji (since craigslist sucks here), but people around here are idiots who WAY overprice their stuff. The worst I've seen is Final Fantasy cart only for 100$, but it's almost always stupid like that. I got a few good deals on system bundles there, but generally kijiji isn't too great here.

My best bet for collecting classic games seems to be online stores. Not all of them are great, since shipping to Canada always costs a lot (that includes Ebay, I never use that). I generally use jjgames.com for NES/SNES/Genesis, or atari2600.com for atari games. I'm always looking for other sites, so if you know any good sites to order from, post them!

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2011, 03:38:51 pm »
There are a few local stores in my area that are pretty good to find common games. I've hit them up a few times just to grab a few titles. The problem with these stores is that anything of value is marked up about 50%. So that usually leads me to eBay, Amazon or Digit Press. Hopefully once our user base grows I'll start doing business in our own marketplace.

atariboy

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2011, 05:15:53 pm »
I have a really good pawn shop locally that I buy snes, nes, ps1 and more modern games. i also frequent yard sales and some thrift stores. I try to avoid online buying. I enjoy the hunt of it all.
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scott

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2011, 08:07:14 pm »
I hit up the same shops that Matt does, maybe every other month. But for a lot of things I hit amazon or ebay mostly. I was able to get a bunch of complete Game Boy accessories really reasonably on both. As far as games go, I'll pick up games pretty much anywhere, since I'm more interested in the carts themselves.

Perhaps I'll go yardsaling this summer.
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Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2011, 09:46:49 pm »
I frequent Goodwill... Ive picked up quite a bit from there.
Only one brick and mortar store in my current city that sells retro/classic games. The common stuff is all buy 1 get 1 $5-$10, but outside of that forget it...

There is also a nice store in my hometown in OH that every time I go up to visit I pickup a few games.

I also do ebay for junk consoles and fix em up.

scott

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2011, 10:47:39 pm »
I never think to check Goodwill...
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Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2011, 11:20:37 pm »
Most of them I get at local small/independent game stores.  A couple here and there at pawnshops and swapmeets.  

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2011, 09:18:55 am »
I should probably check out a few of our local pawn shops. It's been awhile since I'm made the rounds. Spring is coming and that is yard sale season which really excites me. I almost never find anything gaming related nowadays but it's still fun to get out in the field.

And @scott, I check Goodwill often and never find anything worthwhile. :/

tpugmire

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2011, 10:00:41 am »
We seem to have quite a few local retro game stores around the valley, 7 or 8 I think.  So I hit those pretty regularly when I'm on my route.  In the summer, I go to the one big swap meet at least once a month.  In Utah, there is a local classifieds listing that is part of a big local news website that is very popular here, so I'm on there almost every day looking for good deals.  Surprisingly enough though, I've gotten about 50 to 60 games from friends that don't want them anymore, and know that I collect this stuff.  Not to mention, I've been given 2 NES, 1 SNES, 1 N64, and an Atari 800xl for free.
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Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2011, 09:23:52 pm »
Sometimes I check out Play 'N Trade, even though I don't buy anything there. Sometimes you can find a good deal at a flea market. A couple years ago I got a complete copy of Alundra for the PS1 for only $5. And the other place I go to is the Estarland Warehouse in Fairfax.

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2011, 12:16:07 pm »
There's a store here in Austin called "Game Over" with an incredible selection of old games from every system, and I mean _every_ system. When it comes to retro games, I really only collect NES. Their NES selection is insane, but mostly overpriced. Lowest cart only I could find there was $7 for Harlem Globetrotters. The rest ranges from $10 up. Rarities like Genghis Khan sit in a glass case with super-high price tags. It's sure fun to browse there though!

That said, I've either stumbled into my games at thrift stores on the cheap (BurgerTime CIB for $2 comes to mind), or ordered them in groups from eBay sellers.

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2011, 01:17:08 pm »
@bsmith I know exactly what you mean. Here in mid-Michigan we have a few small shops but all of their stuff outside of sports titles is all over priced. Such is life in a post-eBay/Amazon retail world I guess. I still enjoy browsing though.

scott

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2011, 01:29:11 pm »
@matt I have to say that the Buy two, get one I got this weekend was a decent deal.

As long as the free game is close to the same price as the other two, and you don't burn it on some $3 cheapy. ha
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jobocan

Re: Where do you get your retro games?
« Reply #14 on: April 03, 2011, 04:44:33 pm »
Oh wow.... This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen....

So I remembered there was a small game store within a video store that had a few old games near here (basically the only store in my whole city with old games). So I decided to check it out after work. They have a Bally Astrocade with 7 games for 300$, which, by my calculation, is slightly too high, but that's not the ridiculous thing there.
So I see a fairly okay condition copy of Mega Man X on SNES, and the first thing that catches my eye is the big sticker on it that says "special collector discount: 15% off!!!!". The price? 99.99$... And you're telling me THAT'S after going 15% off?

Seems people around here, even game store owners, REALLY are morons when it comes to game pricing.