Retro Gaming Stores in the UK

Post by **andymol21** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:59 pm

This will only apply to a limited number of readers but I'm pretty fed up with my local shops here in the UK.

Ever since Gamestation destroyed (!) all of its Retro section I have been looking everywhere for a new shop that is dedicated to my needs. Reading all these posts from the US posters about "Goodwill" and "flea markets" and the sort of finds they get there makes me green with envy! Oxfam now seems to be too upmarket to stock old console games and systems, along with every other charity shop in town. Cash Converters seems quite good, picked up Lylat Wars for £1 today, but still their choice is pretty small, and charging £6 for a broken boxed copy of Sega Rally 2 is a bit steep.

So what do you do? The internet knows what the games are worth now, if you know what I mean. Where do you find your bargins?

Post by **Niode** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:12 pm

Nowhere, it was a sad day when Gamestation destroyed their retro collection (?! INDEED). Now even CEX doesn't sell retro stuff. Ebay sucks for semi-rare because all the collectors know what it's worth. I tend to luck out on 2nd hand markets every now and then. The only other thing is car boot sales, but there's not many of those nowadays with the Police cracking down on Pirates who used to use them to sell dodgy DVDs all the time.

Playtime is the only shop I know of that are a bit of a chain and sell retro stuff, not as well known as Gamestation but theres at least 5 shops that I know of in Yorkshire at least. I'm not sure how big they are yet, but they are a fairly young company (as apposed to Game/Electronics Boutique, twas a sad day when Game bought EB out, they were awesome. They were how GS used to be, mainly run by gamers for gamers, always had quite a knowledgable crowd in there. Now it's all little kiddies and their dumbass parents who will just buy the kids whatever barbie or power rangers branded shite they whinge for). The only problem with Playtime is that they are extremely over priced for a lot of well known rare stuff that comes in (except they offer a pittance for the poor sap selling it) I pretended to know a guy once just so that I could offer him more than £5 for Paper Mario on the N64. I couldn't believe it. I offered him a tenner and he took it. Bonus for me, but I still felt a little guilty. Not as much knowing that Playtime would have stuck that up for sale at £70 though. Robbing bastards.

Post by **Bev** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:56 am

I was thinking the exact same thing reading that thrift store finds topic. It's really difficult finding retro stuff for a decent price in the UK but I think Cash Converters is probably your best bet. Depends on the individual stores, but if the people working there don't know their stuff they'll price old games up pretty cheap. My partner used to work there and we got a big pile of SNES games for £15 including Link to the Past and Super Metroid.

Post by **Curlypaul** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:35 am

Its pretty crap all in all, trying to find stuff in the wild now that Gamestation has done the unthinkable. They seem to be rebuilding the retro stock in the bigger shops albeit with the more valuable games which makes sense on their part but I miss being able to go in and buy 2 games for £3.

In Birmingham there is that Scottish guy in the indoor markets, he sells some nice quality stuff thats generally at a fair price, and theres the guy just outside the door from him who's stuff tends to be cheaper but not in as nice condition. Thats about it as far as I know though and for a city as big as Brum its pretty dissapointing. In Dudley, where I live, there is a Mr Chips - they have a small selection of Dreamcast, PS1 and GBA games on sale along with the odd console and sometimes pads and memory cards but it probable isnt worth the travel from the city to look at.

I too keep looking in charity shops even though I have never found a single game or console in there and I am too lazy to get up early enouth to go to a car boot sale and catch a console there.

Post by **turbolegs** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:20 pm

My gamestation just recently, as in 2 days ago, actually stocked some ps1 games, very odd indeed considering they just dumped the rest of them a few months ago. Unfortunately the only other retro game shop near me is shockingly overpriced and you have to haggle with them to buy everything.

I was truly gobsmacked when after taking a fairly tatty copy of Shenmue 2 DC to the counter and was asked to hand over £70 well earned pounds. Even one of the shop assistants gave me a look of "wtf? Are you gonna pay that?" I haggled it down to £30 simply because i wanted it there and then.

They also get away with selling second hand n64 consoles (complete mind, but no box) for £50. I hate this shop but it is all i have.

Post by **andymol21** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:24 pm

I had no idea about the guy in the market in Birmingham. I'll go in tommorrow and have a look, been away from Birmingham for the past 3 weeks so hopefully Gamestation has had a bit of a turnover regarding Retro stuff as well. I'm pretty excited about the guys in the market, what are we talking about contents wise. I've been looking for a NES as cheap as I can find one, and I'm always open to finding games in any condition for systems I own. I'm not a collector at all, so condition is the last thing on my mind, just want to get playing some classics!!!