A bad day for rare stuff at a flea market...

[Mark30001]

I don't know if this should go in the Off Topic section, or remain in the Rare & Obscure section, but moderators, if I made a mistake, sorry about it!

Today I had a bad day for rare things at a flea market.

I went to one flea market. Inside, there were many shops. In one video gaming shop, I saw 5 boxed SNES consoles!!! :D

I asked the woman how much they were, & she told me $50!!! No way! :-(

Just when I was about to leave, out of the corner of my eye at one corner, I saw an original Top Loader NES console!!! Way!!!

I asked the woman how much that was, & she told me it wasn't for sale! :smt022

I was so sad! I looked around for a bit, then asked, "So it's still not for sale?" Same thing! Man, what a bad day! :die
It would have probably been less than half the price of the SNES consoles since they don't consider them rare over there...

I'll probably go back days later when someone different is there!

[citcelaid]

I've NEVER found anything good at a flea market. I scoured a bunch of fleamarkets once in search of an MSX, but you couldn't even get a C64. All we have here are illegal immigrants selling bootlegged mobile phones, piles of loose car radios (hmm... wonder where those came from...) and of course those ubiquitous "one-million-games-in-one" systems for 50,- Euros. :(

[cahaz]

you should have made an offer, cause you never know, and it cost nothing to try.

[Mark30001]

Yeah, I kind of feel bad I didn't try. I guess I kinda didn't want to seem too interested before she would have made it the same price as the $50 boxed SNES consoles. I would think if she were to actually sell it, it would have been around $20, but I don't know...

[cahaz]

return there as soon as you can, because those kind of things fade away very easly.

[Jaysmith2000]

It's tough to get anything good at the Flea Market anymore. I used to frequent 2 Flea's in the Bay Area about 3-4 years ago and would LOAD up on all kinds of goodies. Now, you're lucky to find anything worth mentioning..... :smt100

[cahaz]

depends on where you are i guess.

[PhantasyStar]

I was about to buy an Atari 2600 at the flea market once, and sadly it was gone when I went to pick it up the following day :(.

[Calpis]

It's tough to get anything good at the Flea Market anymore. I used to frequent 2 Flea's in the Bay Area about 3-4 years ago and would LOAD up on all kinds of goodies. Now, you're lucky to find anything worth mentioning..... :smt100
One of 'em Laney in Oaktown?

[sayin999]

i havnet been to a flea market in a long time, though a friend of mine that goes to one around where i live says he often find sega cd and at times saturns there, me think i should one of these days pay a visit there.

[vanadium]

Same here, Jay. I went to our local flea market about a month back with my wife and there were a few gaming-oriented booths/areas. The only one worth a damn (as far as what games it had) was unbearable; $70 per Super Famicom game, and $39 for a Famicom game!

It seems that the only way to find a decent haul is to go to a) a larger flea market, or b) one quite out of the way. I'm just not finding much anymore. (However, thrift shops I've found some awesome stuff at.)

[Sparky]

Heh, most of the people at my local swapmeets still don't know the value of these things. I'm usually able to talk down prices on lots of good things like box consoles and parts. I usually just tell them if they can verify it works and when they say they can't I tell them "I'll give you half then."

That usually works when the people have no idea what they have and just want to make a quick buck. (Which there are a lot of people around here.)

Another thing I do is just call all the systems "Nintendo". If they have a Sega Saturn I will say "$5 for the Nintendo." and for some reason they always agree.

Also, the local Goodwills and Pawn Shops are filled with some neat stuff. A lot of boxed consoles and games. I've actually seen a Sony MSX in one of the Pawn shops here for like $30!

The Swapmeets are every Saturday and Sunday here and I'm going to go today to get a few more things. Wish me luck!

[Roi]

I've NEVER found anything good at a flea market. I scoured a bunch of fleamarkets once in search of an MSX, but you couldn't even get a C64. All we have here are illegal immigrants selling bootlegged mobile phones, piles of loose car radios (hmm... wonder where those came from...) and of course those ubiquitous "one-million-games-in-one" systems for 50,- Euros. :(

Yes excactly! Or Mario Bros/Duckhunt carts for E15 :smt009

[PhreQuencYViii]

Man, people price there just completly stupid around here since all the thrift stores and stuff near me are in West Virginia, home of the rednecks. One cool one near me had some Jaguar games strewn around....but no Jaguar and the games were 20$ each, along with the old PC games and Fear Effect. Used CD's were like, 3 for 20 too...and it's WV....so nothing good. There usually isn't much anyhow, it seems like people would rather throw there stuff away, like some kids Iknow who threw away there NES and 20 games, PS1, Dreamcast, and whenever they get CD games they put the CD in a carry case and toss the case with the book and art away......pisses me the hell off. I hate when kids are spoiled brats who don't take care of there stuff (stuff listed was usually broken and REALLY GROSS.) I think a large reason there's less and less games circulating in flea markets, yard sales, blah blah, is because of freaking GameStop and EBgames ripoff trade-in garbage.......everyone gives there crap to them. :mad: Arggg I hate places like $^%$^$ GameStop........I use to have a blast scouring fleas, goodwill, thrifts, yard sales....but no, of course some people have to turn something people really really like into a thing to ripoff kids and make money...

[Mark30001]

I agree with you PhreQuencYViii. GameStop is a real ripoff, before they were changed from FuncloLand. Once, I sold my Yoshi's Story N64 cart for $7, the next day, I saw it for $40!!! I don't know what I was thinking, I really needed that $7 at that time though. Even now, they don't let you sell games for cash, they make you do some kind of store credit.

I used to like GameStop from other electronics stores because they had retro systems & games there, something most electronic gaming stores lack nowadays. Now, it's like they're all trying to be the same as everyone else & only have the newer games.

[PhreQuencYViii]

The one here NEVER has anything older then a few PlayStation games. Now EBgames never does, making the places around me pretty damn crappy. I use to like EBgames a lot too, I hear the GameStop takeover is suppose to happen in early 2006 too. :smt009

[Mr. Casual]

I agree with you PhreQuencYViii. GameStop is a real ripoff, before they were changed from FuncloLand. Once, I sold my Yoshi's Story N64 cart for $7, the next day, I saw it for $40!!! I don't know what I was thinking, I really needed that $7 at that time though. Even now, they don't let you sell games for cash, they make you do some kind of store credit.

I used to like GameStop from other electronics stores because they had retro systems & games there, something most electronic gaming stores lack nowadays. Now, it's like they're all trying to be the same as everyone else & only have the newer games.
Our Gamestop must be the exception. I sold 2 3rd party PS1 controllers and got $16.

[The VGM]

Gamestop sold me Tail Concerto for $5, not really a ripoff there. :D

[Mark30001]

Our Gamestop must be the exception. I sold 2 3rd party PS1 controllers and got $16.

Wow, those must have been high tech PS1 controllers! The controllers at the GameStop here are priced at $2 each!

[Perkunas]

Flea markets can be good, but you need to be at the right time/right place. I once found a MegaDrive/MegaCD combo with a few games for 5 euro's, which was 5 euro's lower than the lady was initially asking. ;p

Most of the times people tend to rip you off though, like asking 25 euro's for just a GameBoy cartridge (with some pretty obscure/crappy 'games') and 60 euro's for a used GameBoy Pocket without anything else...

[cahaz]

what i like to do in flea markets is negociating. But sellers seems to forget that a flea market is a place where negociations are expected. Most of the flea market are flooded by people selling new stuff and have stocks anyway, just like a shop, but i guess it cost more to rent a place than to pay for a table at the flea market. -_-


Anyway, there's always some people that remember the old days. :) it's fun to negociate, even when you don't really want what you're negociating on. :smt043

There was this amazing oportunity one day, on a table was sitting Final Fight CD and a coleco vision siting next to each other, that was like the only thing the guy had on is counter. So i asked the guy how much was final fight cd he said it was 15 bucks. Boo. not bad, but i had not enough cash. Then for the fun (because i knew the price would be higher than 15), i asked for the coleco. The guy replied it was 100 bucks. I was surprised, it's not like it was in a good shape or anything, so, without even thinking, i said ''WTF, that's way too overpriced''. Then the guy said there's always a place for negociation.

So i looked at Final Fight Cd, 'cause i know the coleco was a lost cause. i had 8 bucks in my pants, and the guy didn't looked like someone who would cut the price in half, so my plan was to look like someone not really intersted, open the box, name to no one the missing things and all, looking at the cd like if it was scratched, and with a deceived face say i wouldn't pay more than, let's say, 8 bucks. Mind you that i didn't know what was on the box, so i opened it looked at the manual and all, then looked at the cd, like my plan suggested to (:D), but wait. there was like 2 other cds below it. so i checked them discretly, it was prince of persia and sonic cd.
i then tried to close the box, but i missplaced the discs or something, 'cause it wouldn't close as it did. Result: the seller took the box out of my hands to try to close it, but then he saw that the box contained more than just final fight.

So i was like ''erm... can i still make a price?'' i my head. I thought there was nothing to loos then, and it tried. the guy responded there was no way he would cut the price, because there was more than one game and blabla. So i walked away
(it sometimes work you know? you walk away and the seller try to make you one final deal) but he didn't. Damn! so i continued, but i still had those games in mind.
Before i quited the Flea market, i returned in the halley where he was. I made that guy that isn't searching for anything in particular and all, and then came accross the seller. I then said: Still not going to change the price? He answered with a laugh, he was really aroguant. That made me mad. So i said, dude, i'm like the only one that own a sega cd, or even know what it is in kilometers (i'm not living in town or anything, mind you) (he didn't even know what it was himself) so he said ''Someone's gonna take it in the next days, watch this, now go away.''


It's been 2 years, and everytime i come back at the flea market, i see this seller, with it's colleco and games, and i come accross it's place, i make a big smile and say ''see you next day''. yeah, i have the money now, but i just want him to suffer, my friend gave me his copy of final fight and i already own sonic cd, anyway. ''Gwahahahahaha!'' :p

[Mark30001]

*Update*

I went back to the flea market. The Original NES Top Loader was still there! To my disappointment, the same person was there. This time I asked why she wouldn't sell it. She said it was broken (prob doesn't power up). I'm sure I can fix it. :( Maybe the 3rd time, I'll try when someone different is there & ask them for a broken top loader...

[PhantasyStar]

I managed to go to a Flea Market I have never been to here, only to find out they had great gaming items. For instance, a boxed Dragon Warrior for $4.25, and a Top Loader Nintendo for $85. I know the DW is a deal, but not really the Top Loader Nintendo. They had Ataris too, which is really neat to see. Two 2600s; one black and the other brown.

[K7Sniper]

I grab old GBPs for like nothing. People come trading them in, but we dont take em back, so they just leave em there. So nice of them ^^

[AntiPasta]

Flea markets are a mixed bunch, really.

The good: Imports SNES + 32M copier for 25e, Lynx for 9e, CD-i prototype disc in package deal for 30e
The bad: loose NES carts for 10e
The ugly:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/5991/cover7.jpg

[PhreQuencYViii]

HHAHAHAHHHAHAA

[Kron]

Isn't that the guy from the James Bond film View to a Kill?

http://www.jamesbond007-online.de/filme/14-avtak/images/01.jpg

:D

[PhreQuencYViii]

Hahahahah man, that guy is so freaking hilarious...(Christopher Walken)

[PhantasyStar]

I saw him last night on Batman Forever. He got fried by Catwoman.

[Mr. Casual]

Batman Returns. He couldnt be in Forever, cause of said frying. ;) I watched it, too.

[AntiPasta]

No, it's Heino, a German singer. I actually bought a record from him at a flea market, because I felt rather sorry for the two old people not getting many customers, because it was only 0.27e and because it looks so ridiculous it's camp :D

[liquitt]

I've NEVER found anything good at a flea market. I scoured a bunch of fleamarkets once in search of an MSX, but you couldn't even get a C64. All we have here are illegal immigrants selling bootlegged mobile phones, piles of loose car radios (hmm... wonder where those came from...) and of course those ubiquitous "one-million-games-in-one" systems for 50,- Euros. :(

haha yeah, flea market is the biggest crap here in germany...

[liquitt]

Flea markets are a mixed bunch, really.

The good: Imports SNES + 32M copier for 25e, Lynx for 9e, CD-i prototype disc in package deal for 30e
The bad: loose NES carts for 10e
The ugly:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/5991/cover7.jpg

you got a Heino LP for 27cents?? You dirrrrty bum!!!! :D

And concerning your other, post, i also feel pity all the time with old people :( just had to tell this, old people always look said...sry for offtopic

[PhantasyStar]

Batman Returns. He couldnt be in Forever, cause of said frying. ;) I watched it, too.

Yeah, you're right. I always got the two mixed up on SNES. ;)

[PhreQuencYViii]

hehehe plus Batman Forever starred Miss Valerie Kilmer as Batman, I mean Val Kilmer....though thats not as bad as Clooney as Batman. The funny thing is on the cover of Batman Forever it shows Batman and Robin (played by Chris O' donnel) and Robin is way more muscular and tougher looking than Batman Wahahahahaha :-D

[madhatter256]

That "guy" is Christopher Walken. Show some respect!! He's damn creepy looking.

[PhreQuencYViii]

Ever seen him on Saturday Night Live? Try watching that and then you'll have a very hard time taking him so serious because hes so freaking funny.

[schnookums]

I did find one good bargain..guys were selling lots of video game stuff, had a table full of saturn games, 3 for 20 bucks. I walked away with Albert Odyssey, Shining Wisdom and, oh a little game called Dragon Force There actually was an extra game in one of the cases, but I walked back and gave it back, figuring I'd already gotten a pretty damn amazing deal as it was.

[AntiPasta]

I did find one good bargain..guys were selling lots of video game stuff, had a table full of saturn games, 3 for 20 bucks. I walked away with Albert Odyssey, Shining Wisdom and, oh a little game called Dragon Force There actually was an extra game in one of the cases, but I walked back and gave it back, figuring I'd already gotten a pretty damn amazing deal as it was.

That not bad! The only Saturn games I find at flea markets are the Fifa soccer games, and one time a US copy of Cyber Speedway in a PAL box :confused:

[nandy]

I found my Multi-Mega in really good condition (but not boxed :( ), NHL 94 (CD-version) Shining Force CD and a 6-button controller for 50 kr (that's 3 pounds, 5 € or 6 dollars) :D Both games were in extremely good condition with manuals.

And it was the first time at a flea market for me :) I'm thinking of going this thursday again if I got the time