Sam’s Scores VIII
Well everyone, after this article I will be doing more of the new video format than written articles. Today’s Sam’s Scores is going to have more than usual. I’ve had all these items for quite a while and I feel its time to get the old stuff written up to make way for the new stuff!
8) – Bag of Atari 2600 Games
For some reason thrift stores love to use plastic bags and my favorite Salvation Army is no exception. Normally I check the bags for signs of old happy meal Nintendo toys, etc. but this time there happened to be 10 Atari games: Adventure, Combat, Air-Sea Battle, Asteroids, Casino, Football, Air Lock, Missile Command, Space Invaders and Warlords. Even though my 2600 isn’t working, I couldn’t pass it up!
7) – 3 Vectrex Games
In the same thrift/consignment store I found the Atari Jaguar in, were 3 Vectrex games. I checked high and low for the system, but I only found the games. I’m assuming there had to have been a system there, but I prefer to think there never was. These are the first Vectrex games I’ve ever seen, so I had to snatch them up!
6) – Blades of Steel Red Label
Blades of Steel for the NES isn’t a rare game, in fact I’ve had a handful of them. What makes this version harder to find (as I don’t think it is “rare”) is the fact that it has a red label and was re-released with a handful of other games late in the NES’s life. I found this at Disc Replay, where I believe 2 others were eying it before I was, but I asked for help at the case first!
5) – Resident Evil 2
Ever since I played a demo for this game, I’ve always wanted to own it. Disc Replay has it in stock on occasion, but $10 is a bit on the high side for me. Ever the one to hold out hope of finding it in the wild, luck and persistence finally paid off when I found this in the CD bin at Salvation Army. The case is cracked in some areas, but its complete and the discs are in good shape.
4) – N64 Memory Expansion
When you buy an N64, the first thing you should check is the memory expansion slot in the front. If you see a memory expansion, you’re good to go. That isn’t to say the jumper is bad, without the jumper or memory expansion the N64 won’t even display video! I found this memory expansion at a flea market, just sitting on a table and since my N64 needed one, I bought it. (Being displayed already installed into my system.)
3) – 3 N64 Games
My favorite Salvation Army does some insane pricing variations on their cartridge games, it ranges from super cheap or super expensive. This case just so happened to be a super cheap day, and I ended up getting DK64, Rayman 2 and Star Wars Episode 1 Racer, extremely cheap.
2) – Zelda 64: Majora’s Mask
I will admit that this isn’t one of my better scores, but the price still isn’t bad. Half Price Books was marking their games at a standard rate, and this one just so happened to slip through at a decent price.
1) – Vintage Donkey Kong plush
If its video game related, I’ll buy it cheap. Plush gaming characters are fairly easy to find, but when I saw this sitting on a shelf looking at me, with no rips or tears, I had to own it.
Sam’s Scores: Nintendo Edition!!
Today’s edition of Sam’s Scores is ALL about Nintendo! If you thought I was only going to make a special Sega edition, you were wrong! Maybe an Atari one next?… With this edition comes another slight change to the layout, I think I’m finally getting it in order!
8) – Gameboy Pocket
As almost always, number eight was found at a local thrift store. It was hidden amongst the bric-a-brac and at first I wasn’t sure the screen worked, until I adjusted the contrast (I almost forgot that was an option on the Gameboys). It had Pokemon Gold in the back and it was all one price. It was dirty and a little beat up, but it still functioned so I bought it!
Pokemon Gold is notorious for not saving, mine doesn’t either.
7) – Gameboy Pocket Protector
Number 7 goes with number 8, though they were found in different stores. Searching through bric-a-brac, again, I found a strange rubber device in the shape of a Gameboy. After picking it up and inspecting it some more, I found it’s a (Gameboy) Pocket Protector. You slide your Gameboy Pocket into it and it protects it from bumps and scratching, I wish my Gameboy Pocket had this in the first place!
6) – 15 NES games
Recently one of my favorite thrift stores had a stack of NES games, so I bought them all! Some notable titles include: Guerrilla War, Kid Icarus, Adventure Island and Double Dragon II. Many of them were in poor shape and 2 of them had ripped labels, but they were all worth buying!
5) – 8 SNES games
A later trip to the store from the above score gave me 8 SNES games: Super Mario World + All-stars, Super Mario World 1 and 2, Pac-Man 2, Yoshi’s Safari, Frogger, Populous and Kirby’s Avalanche. This time the SNES games were all in good shape!
4) – Plush Donkey Kong
Number four isn’t a video game but a plush video game character! Thrift stores are a treasure trove of things people don’t want, you just never know what you’ll find! I often check toys and electronics in search of misplaced or miscategorized items. I happened to pass the stuffed animal bin and saw Donkey Kong gazing out at me…I had to have him!
3) – Gameboy carry bag
As I’ve said before, I am always looking for anything related to video games, especially carrying cases! Number 3 was hidden in with the purses at a local thrift store. I was going through a bin filled with CDs right next to the purses when I saw GAMEBOY jumping out at me. I picked up the case, inspected it and bought it!
2) – NES-039 (aka Dog Bone Controller)
On a whim I went a flea market I hadn’t checked in quite some time and came out pretty well! They had a lot more booths with vintage games than I remember, but all of them wanted too much. While looking through a small basket of cables and power supplies, I noticed the carved back of the infamous NES Dog Bone shaped controller. I used to have one as a kid and I have wanted to find myself a set more recently, but I’m not the only person wanting them and they can get pretty pricey. The start and select buttons are gnarled but they still work, sadly the SNES start/select pad looks close but won’t interchange. With the price I paid, I can’t complain.
1) – Super Gameboy CIB
I found this one at a local used media store which I only purchase games from on rare occasions. The chain of stores are all individually owned and pricing seems to be the same throughout, but this particular store seems to be more fair and a little cheaper than the rest. Within their glass case they had several Super Gameboy units, I inspected them all to find the one in the best condition. Although they were all the same price they were all in varying conditions, mine happened to be the only one complete in the box.
