CALL FOR DONATIONS- 2010 CHARITY AUCTION

[aaron]

i'll be donating some things this year, i just need some time to get through my trade list. i have some good stuff.

[dsheinem]

Since yesterday we've added about a dozen more items. Keep them coming please! As of now we have probably around ~75 actual auction numbers for bidding (some bundles and some individual items).

To spur your thinking I am going to post an idea every night for this last week.

Tonight's idea:
Who do you know at work, at school, in your family, in your community, on another gaming forum, or anywhere else that would be interested in donating some of their old stuff for Make-A-Wish? There's no need to even mention the site, the forum, the auction format, etc. if you don't want - just tell them you are accepting old games to raise money for the Make A Wish foundation!

Surely you know some gamers or ex-gamers who would rather donate their stuff to a good cause than see it go to eBay, a yard sale, etc.? You could even offer to ship it for them! Use your networking skills!

[dsheinem]

We still have a long way to go to equal last year's donations....

Tonight's idea: abandoned and hated games
Look around and find all the games that you haven't played for one minute in the last five years. If you are like many of us on these forums, that equates to a very substantial stack of games. Now, chose five of those games and create a "Forgotten Five" bundle. Donate the bundle!

Next, look around and find a few games that you actually did play in the past year, but couldn't get interested in despite several attempts. The game might have been something you were really interested in, an entry in a favorite series, etc. - but it just didn't click with you once you gave it a good try. Odds are, someone else here is just as interested in that game as you once were. Donate one or two of these!

Finally, purge your collection of some of the games that you own but can't stand. Maybe you have an RPG with a story that makes you vomit, a platformer with poor controls, a light gun style game that makes you use a controller, etc. Purge! Purge! Purge!

Remember, if you aren't enjoying these games, you may as well use them to bring joy to the lives of a potential bidder and to a Make-A-Wish recipient. This is a great opportunity to turn a bad experience for you into a great one for others!

[pakopako]

Tonight's idea: abandoned and hated games
...
Purge! Purge! Purge!

Don't egg me on... You have yet to see the depths I can plunge. (I pay half a dozen conventions to work their ungodly hours.)

Actually... how many light gun games do I have left? (Can't play any of them; the only CRTs I've got are PC monitors.) FFfffff... I had half a box of Sega Saturn Pro-Action Replays sitting around somewhere and a bunch of DexDrives I know I couldn't sell back in 1999. Anyone interested in an art book for a game? (I think I have one of those Langrisser ones by Satoshi Urushihara -- whose name usually == NSFW content.)

Crap, forgot to upload this image to dsheinem.

[dsheinem]

Today's idea:

Two words: gaming swag

A big part of the auction last year was game-related trinkets, homemade items, pre-order bonuses, etc. Surely you have a significant other who has been telling you to get your Bubsy statue off the bedside table? Maybe you've realized you'll never fit that Mario Bros. shirt that you bought back in '97? Perhaps you don't plan to ever play that demo disc again now that you have the full game? Donate your swag!

[aaron]

i will have at least 10 items to donate by week's end. i gotta get through everything... so much crap...

[dsheinem]

I'll post another "idea" tonight, but in the meantime I was asked what we are still lacking this year. The most obvious holes are that so far we have only:

2 GCN games
1 PS2 game
1 SNES/SFC game
1 Wii Game
0 games for the 360, oXbox, NES, GB, GBA, DS, PSP, SMS, 7800/5200/2600, Jaguar, PCE, Sega CD/32X or other minor systems

We're doing pretty well on Saturn and PS1, and we have a few things for N64, Dreamcast, PS3, Genesis, and PC. We could use more in all of these areas though...

In fact, the games area of the auction is where we are seeing the least amount of donations overall We are doing awesome in print and accessories, decent in systems, decent in "other media", and a nice selection of harder to classify items (toys, etc.).

Anyway, that's the state of things so far. Games are easy to donate - just shoot me a PM with the title(s) and let me know if you plan to pay shipping or not (please consider doing this - it is very cheap and was part of the reason we were able to offer free domestic shipping last year!).

[tommyboy8689]

i will have a couple things... i havnt had much time to get stuff together for this

[pakopako]

The most obvious holes are that so far we have only:
2 GCN games, 1 PS2 game, 1 SNES/SFC game, 1 Wii Game
0 games for the XB360, Xbox, NES, GB, GBA, DS, PSP, SMS, 7800/5200/2600, Jaguar, PCE, Sega CD/32X or other minor systems

I keep thinking I have this cache of PS2 games that I know I bought but never play (never had a PS2) -- I realize I might have already given them away as part of another charity auction. (I'll see what I can dig up in those other categories though.)

As it stands, anyone have any interest in non-game related DVDs? I have some pro-wrestling, Harry Potter and anime memorabilia. (And a box that says "Celeron500/Socket/Heat Sink" that should probably get recycled somehow.)

And what ever happened to the game port? Because I've got a case of boxed Gravis GamepadPros that's doing nothing by keeping my desk up.

[Hobie-wan]

And what ever happened to the game port? Because I've got a case of boxed Gravis GamepadPros that's doing nothing by keeping my desk up.

USB is simpler and the old game port was usually on sound cards which needed the room for all the surround speaker plugs. Can't hurt to offer them up though. Someone might be able to use some and if not, no loss.