Where do you guys find your games?

[Carlos]

What's your best source for finding retro games and consoles? Outside of eBay and forums like here and neo-geo.com, I don't know of many other places. I may find a rare gem at a thrift store or garage sale, but that doesn't happen too often around here. There's a chain here in the Dallas area called CGX, but they're a bit pricey and way too proud of there games and consoles that they consider "rare".

[Rob]

I get mine from a variety of sources, mainly Ebay and thrift stores and flea markets. There's two Cash Converter stores, and if you've never been in a Cash Converters they're basically a pawn shop that you can't pawn anything at, they buy your goods outright. The one closest to me used to be a great place to pick up rare games and systems, but now they have a guy there named Anthony. Anthony prices every single game and system according to ebay rates and whatever he thinks is fair. So it used to be that you could get rare games at a cheap price, but now all NES and SNES titles are 5.00 and up. All the Final Fantasy games are fifty bucks and higher, and SMB/Duck Hunt is fifteen dollars. They used to be priced at a quarter.

The one further away from me, however, is pretty fair on their stuff. They pretty much price all older games at 2.99, so that's a pretty good deal for when you come across something like Super Punch Out! or Ghoul Patrol like I did a couple of weeks back. I picked up a boxed, sealed Sega Saturn there for five bucks one time!

Ever since Ebay became popular I rarely come across any good deals in the wild, though. It's nice when I do, but compared to ten years ago I pick up nothing. Everybody thinks that what they have now is golden, so it's cool when you find someone that doesn't really know they have a small goldmine on their hands. I picked up a Genesis 3 yesterday for ten bucks, and they had a Genesis 2 sitting there next to it for seventy dollars! Amazing.

[Jakenut86]

Up here in maine there's Bull Moose music, they only carry Genesis, SNES, N64, Dreamcast, and PS1 titles and of course the current gen titles. I also heard a classic gaming store opened in portland that carries all systems but haven't had a chance to go there yet.

oh and $70 for a Genesis?? Thats crazy, I see em' all the time around here for $10-15.

[Carlos]

That's what I mean. CGX and another place called Movie Trading Company sell old consoles like SNES and Genesis, but for $50.

[TheSSNintendo]

A place in Fairfax called Estarland. They even have stuff like TurboGrafx-16 and Jaguar.

[TwinChargers]

I frequent the pawn shops regularly, especially with the way the economy is right now and people needing a few extra bucks. There are some pawn shops that are really quite reasonable with there prices, and others that have no clue what there products are worth (like $25 for Sonic Spinball for the Genesis, but then selling R7 and R8 Atari titles for $3 a piece.)

For newer titles,(last gen), I really have no problem going to a place like GameStop or GameCrazy and waiting for a sale or until I see the game I want get to a reasonable price. I personally will not spend more than $10 on a title. I know some people hate the practices of those types of stores, but you just have to take them for what they are worth. I know not to trade games there and buy new titles there (since they open them).

Other than that, I don't buy things over the internet other than what I find on craigslist (which I've only used twice). That might change someday, but for now I just enjoy looking out in the wild for my game purchases. In the summer I like to search garage sales and flea markets. I also hit up a lot of thifts, but its pretty rare that I find much there.

[Zap!]

Usually on eBay, sometimes off Atari Age. I have also been to the Digital Press store in Clifton, NJ. About 45 minutes away from me.

[Carlos]

So I went to my local CGX store at the mall tonight, and I can't believe what they're selling systems for....

* $100 for a top-loader NES
* $80 for a regular toaster NES
* $50 for a Genesis (Model 2)
* $50 for a SNES
* $60 for a Sega Master System
* $50 for a Colecovision
* $50 for an Atari 2600

Here's the real kicker.......$150 for an Atari Jaguar! WTF!?!

It just blows me away how this chain stays in business and is able to compete with stores like Gamestop and Best Buy. Even their games are overpriced. $130 for Suikoden on PS1. $80 for a used Final Fantasy VII. Ridiculous!

I'm glad I discovered selling forums online and chasethechuckwagon.com

[Zap!]

So I went to my local CGX store at the mall tonight, and I can't believe what they're selling systems for....

* $100 for a top-loader NES
* $80 for a regular toaster NES
* $50 for a Genesis (Model 2)
* $50 for a SNES
* $60 for a Sega Master System
* $50 for a Colecovision
* $50 for an Atari 2600

Here's the real kicker.......$150 for an Atari Jaguar! WTF!?!

It just blows me away how this chain stays in business and is able to compete with stores like Gamestop and Best Buy. Even their games are overpriced. $130 for Suikoden on PS1. $80 for a used Final Fantasy VII. Ridiculous!

I'm glad I discovered selling forums online and chasethechuckwagon.com

You have a mall that sells classic systems? My mall is huge and sells nothing older than Gamecube/PS2/XBox.

[TwinChargers]

So I went to my local CGX store at the mall tonight, and I can't believe what they're selling systems for....

* $100 for a top-loader NES
* $80 for a regular toaster NES
* $50 for a Genesis (Model 2)
* $50 for a SNES
* $60 for a Sega Master System
* $50 for a Colecovision
* $50 for an Atari 2600

Here's the real kicker.......$150 for an Atari Jaguar! WTF!?!

It just blows me away how this chain stays in business and is able to compete with stores like Gamestop and Best Buy. Even their games are overpriced. $130 for Suikoden on PS1. $80 for a used Final Fantasy VII. Ridiculous!

I'm glad I discovered selling forums online and chasethechuckwagon.com

You have a mall that sells classic systems? My mall is huge and sells nothing older than Gamecube/PS2/XBox.

I have a mall in my town here that has pretty much the same thing. Its fun to look at, but man alive, they are selling a used SMB 3 loose for $35. There prices are just downright pathetic. The only thing its good for is Atari Games, and that's cause they are set at a flat $3 rate. Sure that's poor for a Combat cart, but for a MasterBuilder cart that is a steal (my own personal experience right there).

[Carlos]

So I went to my local CGX store at the mall tonight, and I can't believe what they're selling systems for....

* $100 for a top-loader NES
* $80 for a regular toaster NES
* $50 for a Genesis (Model 2)
* $50 for a SNES
* $60 for a Sega Master System
* $50 for a Colecovision
* $50 for an Atari 2600

Here's the real kicker.......$150 for an Atari Jaguar! WTF!?!

It just blows me away how this chain stays in business and is able to compete with stores like Gamestop and Best Buy. Even their games are overpriced. $130 for Suikoden on PS1. $80 for a used Final Fantasy VII. Ridiculous!

I'm glad I discovered selling forums online and chasethechuckwagon.com

You have a mall that sells classic systems? My mall is huge and sells nothing older than Gamecube/PS2/XBox.

Yea, CGX (I think it stands for Console Game Exchange) has four stores in four different malls in the area. I don't know if CGX is anywhere else outside the Dallas area. I think they're trying to compete with GameStop since they too are based out of Dallas. It's a decent store since the primarily sell retro and classic games and systems, but also sell the newer stuff like PS2, XBOX, Gamecube, 360, PS3, and Wii. A lot of there games and systems are way overpriced as noted above, but occasionally you can find a rare gem at a reasonable price up there.

[Amelyn]

I find mines at flea market, garage sales, video stores or specialized shops. When I can't find what I'm looking for, I go on eBay.

I once found a complete Vectrex system in a garage sale and it cames with four games. I've paid $70 for it, that would have been less than I would paid if I bought it on eBay, including shipping cost and all.