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 VII
Today’s Sam’s Scores will be 4 old scores and a bonus at the end, enjoy!
4) – Sega Saturn controller
Although I don’t even own a Sega Saturn (yet), when I found a controller for the system I wanted it! It looked to be in good shape, all the buttons have a nice stiff response, so I assume everything works. Surely not something you see everyday at a thrift store, at least not for me.
3) – Quickshot NES Joystick
This may look like a repeat of a previous score, but there is a difference. This one is actually a Quickshot brand joystick and the other was Radio Shack’s Archer brand. They are nearly identical in every aspect, except for the brand markings. I will be going into a little bit more detail with the pair in a later article. But for now, lets show off that price!
2) – Quickshot Maverick 3
The Quickshot Maverick 3 was obviously modeled after the NES Advantage, which I happen to love. Naturally when I saw this I had to weigh the price vs unknown functionality in my head, but what I bought with it (see below) really helped push my choice over the edge. Luckily, everything works well with the exception of a weak turbo on/off switch.
1) – Sega Genesis 3
The Sega Genesis 3 was the smallest and last Genesis ever produced, and from what I understand it wasn’t even made by Sega! Sega gave Majesco the rights to make this little system and slap their name on it. The Genesis 3 has the bare essentials to play Genesis games, and I do mean bare! This system isn’t compatible with all Genesis games, nor any Sega CD or 32x attachments. Since I don’t own any of those attachments, the system works perfectly fine for me.
Sam’s Storage!
When your video game collection starts to grow, you need somewhere to store it all. I had been using cardboard boxes, but lately those have been spilling out onto anywhere my video games will go. While I was on the hunt for video games I came across 2 very useful ALS (a company well known for making storage drawers and carrying cases for the video game industry) storage systems.
The first of which is a Nintendo unit with 2 draws that holds the Zapper and 2 controllers at the top, while holding up to 28 NES games at the bottom. It will only hold loose cartridges in sleeves easily, but it may hold fewer boxed games, just not very well. The top has a special place for the cables for the controllers and zapper, but if you wrap them tightly enough, they will fit under the controller, giving you more room for other cables.
The second unit is based off their Sony Playstation drawer, only this one just says Video Matic on the front. It is a single drawer unit, meant to hold CD cases but I find that it holds a lot of other games just as well. There was a little organizer inside, but after a while it got in the way of other games so I took it out.
The outer box of these units is made of particleboard and a black vinyl is glued on top, while the drawers are made of pretty solid plastic. These units stack really well, saving me room, and have really been helpful in keeping my collection under control. I found the Nintendo one on a half price day at Goodwill. The Video Matic came from a flea market where I initially passed it up, until I did more research on what it was used for, but went back the next day to pick it up.
Video Matic: $1
Sam’s Scores: Gameboy Edition!
Today’s Sam’s Scores is yet another special edition. I had enough to do a special Gameboy Sam’s Scores, enjoy!
8) – Turn and Burn
Turn and Burn is much like Top Gun for the NES, to a point. It isn’t bad, but its far from great. I picked it up at a Goodwill just because it was cheap and it was a video game.
7) – Rechargeable Gameboy Battery
Sifting through bric-a-brac sometimes yields interesting results, and this is one such case. The Gameboy logo is worn off, but its pretty clear what this is. I’ve actually had this for a long time, avoiding adding it to a scores article because I don’t even know if it works. Even so, its a pretty cool little piece.
6) – Gameboy/GBC AC Adapter
Another thing that I find myself doing quite a bit in thrift stores is sifting through the cables and power adapters. Sometimes I come out a winner, like this time, but mostly I find myself trying to untangle a rat’s nest of stuff to come up empty handed. This thing works with both GBC and Gameboy, with a switch on the unit to get the right power to which device you need to power. Although the case is broken, it still works and with a little super glue it will be good as used.
5) – Castlevania: The Adventure
I found this one at Half Price Books, during a strange mark it at a single price and sell it period. This game, to be honest, sucks! I like Castlevania, but Konami really screwed up a good thing with this one.
4) – Pokemon Red
Way back when this game originally came out, I bought it. I loved playing this game because of it’s RPG style gameplay. I ended up loaning this game, and sadly the box and manual, to someone and never saw it again. I had always kept my eyes open for a loose copy of it and never found one less than $7, until Half Price Books got one in.
3) – Pokemon Silver
Yet another tag it and sell it score, brought to you by Half Price Books! The Pokemon Red above was exactly a week before I bought this one, so prices went down. Sadly the battery inside this one doesn’t work, but I did swap the battery in the Pokemon Gold I had, which will become a tutorial at some point.
2) – Zelda 1 and 2 for the GBA
I personally don’t think the Gameboy Advance is a vintage system, but these games certainly are. Even though they’re remakes for the system, they’re still vintage gaming classics. I must note that I bought these with another Gameboy Game (Dr. Mario, not pictured) at a Goodwill and had to wait 15 minutes for someone to go unlock the case!
1) – Green Gameboy Color
In a previous Sam’s Scores I showed you a Green GBC that I picked up off Craigslist for $10, so when I saw how cheap this one was I didn’t care whether it worked or not. I figured at the very least it would give me a matching green battery cover for my other one. When I took it home it didn’t want to work, but after shaking it, it sprang to life! The screen was scratched and it only works on batteries, later I decided to buy a new case and swap it out, so its no longer green.
Sam’s Scores VI
4) – Yellow N64 controller
Sadly this isn’t the DK edition controller, but the yellow sure is bright. When I found it, it needed a lot of cleaning, but that is something I do to all my scores anyway. The joystick is pretty loose on this one but its overall completely functional.
3) – Gameboy Color w/ games
Over a year ago now, I passed up a Gameboy color in a thrift store because I didn’t know whether or not it worked, and to this day I wish I had bought it. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for another one at a reasonable price when I saw a Craigslist posting. The ad was a few weeks old but I took the chance. 2 days later I became the owner of a lime green GBC with Galaga/Galaxian and Yoshi’s Cookie, beside the atomic purple battery cover (at least it had one!) everything was in great shape!
2) – Beeshu Zinger
Every once in a while I will come across something so wild, I have to buy it and this is such an occasion. I own a Beeshu Zipper, so I have a little background with Beeshu’s products. I was checking out a Goodwill I had never been to before when the box (and the bright colors!) caught my eye. I picked it up and checked inside, everything but the instruction manual, if there even was one, was inside the box. This thing is a bright pink with a white cable, very strange for an NES joystick, but everything works and its just a fun piece to own.
1) – Casino Kid 2
If you’re an NES game collector, you may know Casino Kid 2 is one of the harder to find games. I’ve only seen 2 of them and this is 50% of that equation, the other was $20 or $30 at a local Disc Replay store. This particular copy had been sitting in a bin at a flea market, I knew the game was harder to find and I knew it might get snatched up at the $5 they were wanting for it. Week after week the game was still there, so I decided to take a chance and buy it, but when I got to the cash register they had a surprise for me..
