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I went to the annual Brownville NE flea market last year. They basically shut down the entire town and bring in hundreds of vendors. It goes as far as the eye can see in both directions. When I went last year, I saw exactly one display with maybe half a dozen PS2 games. And they were sports games at that.

I couldn't figure it out. There were lots of vendors with toys. Lots of vendors with old technology like cameras and calculators. Lots of stuff from the 1980s. But there were absolutely no technological toys from the 1980s. I didn't even see a Speak & Spell.

Oh well. That's one flea market I never have to go to again. I did buy a 2 gallon crock to make some pickles in this spring. Mmm, pickles.

We have a few Goodwills in our area. All of them are stocked to the rafters with junk and broken things. It's essentially a city dump without a biohazard, unless you count bathing suits and shoes. They run a good scam tho. I'll give em that.

I really need to go on a thrift store run soon. Haven't been in a while. There used to be a place here called 'The Foundry' which was a pretty giant thrift store and I'd walk out with something every time I'd go. But then they moved their location to Fairfield, and I refuse to go to that part of town.

As far as the thrift stores I haven't had any luck in at all..Goodwill. Every time, nothing but clothes. Same with 'America's Thrift Store'. Apparently they've gotten better though because a friend of mine got an N64 haul recently from it. As far as flea markets go, there's a place called Tannehill Trade Days here and I found ONE good haul from it. Sega 32x with 8 games and all the needed hookups. $5. But other than that every single time I've ever gone it's just been cheapskate resellers that want $40 for a loose Super Mario 3

A few years back I used to always find at least something when I went on my thrift store runs. Where I went, there were about 4 thrift stores all within walking distance from each other, so I would hit all 4 up every time and usually at least one of them would have something decent. Nowadays though, I think too many collectors and especially resellers know about thrift stores. Unless you arrive at the exact right time, some reseller would have already grabbed the good stuff. I just don't go anymore because of that... not worth the price for gas for me and the chances of finding something are too slim.

It's a shame really because that used to be the best part of collecting. Hitting those places up not knowing what you're going to find.

Nemoide wrote:I've never found a game I cared about at a thrift shop.

Ditto! When I went to one of the thrift stores in downtown Harrisburg, PA, the majority of the games there are sports games, which are not my cup of tea. Others tend to be crappy games as well. Ironically, it is the only thrift store that I've been to that sells video games around thecity.

When it comes to flea markets, I have been to the Saturday's Market in York, PA in June 2006. When I saw a vendor that sells video games, I was surprised by the plethora of retro games they sell! Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to check the conditions of the games, but as far I as remember, they seem to be in "acceptable" or "good" condition. That was the only time I went there though, but I plan on going there again someday to look not only for retro games, but other vintage/discontinued items (one of the reasons why thrift stores and flea markets are invented!).

I was very happy to find silent hill 4 and origins for ps2 complete. Sure enough though the games were so scratched even after i cleaned the disc, the games don't work.

Retrodude wrote:I don't go in thrift stores often, but when I do, I usually find a couple of boxed Genesis games mixed in with the video tapes. I also make a point of perusing the CDs and DVDs looking for PS1 and PS2 games. That's how I was able to pick up Final Fantasy X CIB in good condition for $2. It helps that all the thrift stores in my area are run by older folks who don't know the first thing about games.

I read the first part of that in "The Most Interesting Man in the World" voice.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:This is pretty common.........

Most of the games I find at the local Goodwill are nothing but Windows 95 solitaire/poker discs.

If I could tell you the number of those I find, as well as puzzle games and "casual" style computer games at my Goodwill .... They also put PS1 games and PC game jewel cases on the shelves with the regular MUSIC CDs and GameCube/PS2 titles with the DVDs, so you really have to have an eye for those labels. Near those shelves is a basket where all the educational/how-to/simulation PC games sit as well as the outdated Xbox sports games. But sometimes, repeated visits pay off --



Scored these last year. The boxed & complete Call of Duty GOTY was in the basket with the usual PC games and I had to look real hard for MOHAA, but at $5 for both it was worth it.

I used to hardly have any luck at all with Goodwill but lately, in the last couple of months, they've actually gotten in a lot of (not necessarily good) games. But it's always exciting to at least find something. Other stores are usually kinda hit or miss, but I often walk away with at least a random controller or a PS2 AV cable (seriously, I find those things everywhere and I have like a million of them, haha).

ExedExes wrote:

BoneSnapDeez wrote:This is pretty common.........

Most of the games I find at the local Goodwill are nothing but Windows 95 solitaire/poker discs.

If I could tell you the number of those I find, as well as puzzle games and "casual" style computer games at my Goodwill .... They also put PS1 games and PC game jewel cases on the shelves with the regular MUSIC CDs and GameCube/PS2 titles with the DVDs, so you really have to have an eye for those labels. Near those shelves is a basket where all the educational/how-to/simulation PC games sit as well as the outdated Xbox sports games.

True dat, I love digging through everything and finding those hidden games. Our Goodwill has gotten to a point where they put a lot of their games behind a counter and you have to ask to see them and they won't let you walk away with them. Yeah, I understand it's an anti-theft measure but it's a pain having to ask to see them, especially since they like to act like they're too busy doing something else to turn around for 5 seconds and pull them out of the case.

I'm just dreading the day that they start printing out listings from ebay and charging that amount for a game, they're already doing it with other stuff.

Ok, I'm done rambling. haha

I've got at a goodwill a 3do, turbo express, sega master system, turbo grafix, R-zone xpg sealed, tomba 1 disc, zelda a link to the past CIB, psone with the sony screen, psone clocktower and some other things I can't remember on hand.