I found a clear green Nintendo 64 with CastleVania and Kirby from a local Savers. The system is fantastic, but the games… not so much.

Part 1: Game Boy Screen Repair Part 1 of 2

Part 1: Game Boy Screen Repair Part 2 of 2

A “hot tip” left as a comment on this blog leads to a thrift store with a handful of games for SEGA, Nintendo, Atari, and Intellivision.

I went trolling thrift stores today and didn’t have much success finding any video games or accessories that I had.  A few NES games here, some sports Genesis games here.  A stack of very worn Nintendo 64 games over here.  One store had this Atari 2600 shown before.  It was a Goodwill store which had a mint Lynx with 2 games for $20 about a year ago.  But this taped up mess was an atari, one wireless controller and the games featured in the photo.  Guess how much?  $79.99!

At another Goodwill store about 9 months ago was another Atari lot with several games and a few mint rarer games such as Mario Bros.  They too wanted $79.99.  I can only imagine that some clown in the back is pricing this stuff because its ridiculous.  In six months time I acquired 3 Atari 2600s with a total of about 50 games for less than $80.  Don’t get fooled by this junk.  Ataris are selling well right now because of the nostalgia, but it shouldn’t cost you $80!

I found the above games at a Goodwill thrift store I frequent.  Recently most Goodwill’s have been dry for video game finds.  They’ve recently gotten rid of locked up merchandise and you really have to search for anything of videogame value.  The two PS1 games are Tetris Plus and a Rainbox Six Game.  Watch the video below for more details.  Enjoy!

So I go to the Goodwill thrift store near my house and first I find a complete copy of Yoshi for Nintendo NES.  Then I find Alex Kidd in Miracle world.  I head to the back of the store and I find a SEGA Master system with one controller and the arcade stick ($5).  Then I find the phaser ($3), and then I find a SEGA Genesis with two controllers AND a mint Power Base Converter for $10!

I pay for this stuff put it in my car and go back inside.  Then kablamoo!  The motherload!  All for SEGA Master System: Zillion, Rescue Mission, Shooting Gallery, After Burner, Black Belt, Great Football, Gangster Town, Ghostbusters, Great Soccer, and Hang On/Astro Warrior.  But the story doesn’t end there.  The next day I go back and I find Transbot, with the game still in its case.  I buy it for $2, open it in the parking lot to find TWO copies of the game in the box.  SCORE!

All of the SEGA hardware must of came from the same person, as all of the cartridges have ‘Cuco’ painted on them in blue.  Also, a hate crime obviously occured infront of these games.  Look at Zillion:

What fool ‘tags’ a video game cartridge?  Why couldn’t they have abused Great Soccer and not Zillion?  Shesh.  I’m certain there is a circle of hell for what ever punk tried to ruin this SEGA Master System game.  The good news is I’m already in the process of restoring it.  Restoring it?  How can I restore a game that has been this abused?  Well, I guess we’ll have to wait for the second part of this post.

A few items I passed up were Madden ’94 and X-Men for Genesis.

In the back of the store was a beatup original GameBoy covered in paint, a Nintendo Gamecube, Super Mario World for SNES, and a Star Wars game for N64.

1.  Nintendo NES – Avoid systems that are missing screws.  The chances are more screws are missing from the system and the tray is probably cracked.  Don’t expect the pin connector to be in good shape unless its clear that the system has never been used.  A “new in box” (NIB) NES is rare, but they do exist.

2. NES Advantage Joystick – the buttons on these sticks are notorious for sticking.  Even with gentle use they will stick.  The rubber membranes under the buttons wear out very fast.  Outside of collecting one of these to say you’ve ‘collected one of these’ pass on all NES Advantage Joysticks.

3. NES Max Controller – Finding an NES Max Controller that works is always a crap-shoot.  I’ve yet to find one that was in excellent condition that works.  Typically if I find one that does work it looks (or smells) terrible, or vice versa – new out of the box condition but doesn’t work.  You can swap the guts if need be, but otherwise avoid it.  It wasn’t that great of a controller – even if it was the precursor to the Dual Shock.

4. NES Games – I’ve yet to encounter an NES game from a thrift store that didn’t work.  Always clean the games – duh!

5. PlayStations (PS1s, PSones, PSXs, etc).  Unless you don’t have one already (who doesn’t?) avoid these.  There is one notable exception – mod chips.  If you want a modded system thrift stores are a good place to find them, however the spindles will often be damaged.

6. PSone LCD Screens – if it works take it!

7. SEGA Genesis – You’ll find plenty of Model 1 and Model 2 SEGA Genesis at thrift stores (I have 3 in my possession right now).  Make sure the expansion port has its cover (located on the otherside) and that the cartridge slot has its two ‘folding lips’.  As with any system shake it gently to determine if there are any loose or broken parts.  On the Model 1 don’t forget to use the slider on the headphone jack.  If its sticky then something has probably been spilled on the unit.  Avoid it.  Sticky = roaches.  Also the Model 2 power supply will not work on the Model 1 Genesis.

8. SEGA Genesis Games – Unless the game is complete I’ll normally avoid it unless its a particularly rare game.  You’ll often find cheap sports games complete in cases for cheap.  Don’t pass these up.  You can always reuse the cases.  If you have Genesis games with out a case, recycle the sports case, find someone you know who has the case with sleeve, then color copy the sleeve and then you’ll have an almost complete copy (sans the manual of course).  Keep in mind that many of the simpler SEGA Genesis games releaed early in its life had a fold out single page manual.  These are easily photocopied.

9. SEGA Saturns – Don’t buy unless you can try a game in it.  If the store doesn’t have games, try a Music CD.

10. SEGA Dreamcasts – same as number 9 above.

11. Gameboys, Game Gears, Lynx – make sure the unit doesn’t have damage in the battery component.  Make sure it has the battery cover.  Test the unit and ensure the screen works and isn’t cracked.  (Bring test batteries just in case).  Pay careful attention to the buttons – no ‘give’?  Avoid.

12. Disc Based Games (Any system) – as long as the disc is not scratched you should be OK.

Like I fool I walked away with only three titles.  I felt the others were in too shabby condition to keep.  That evening the more I thought about it the stupider I felt for not getting the others.  I’ve posted on here before about making new labels for games that have their’s ruined and why I didn’t jump on that opportunity or why I ignored it I’ll never understand.  The next morning I went back to the thrift store if by the odd chance they were still available I was ready to take them.  Goodbye Championship Bowling, RBI Baseball 3, Tecmo Bowl.  You and your bretheran are now in the hands of someone else.  Sigh.