End of the Year Brag

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

Inspired by the story here of the thrifts overflowing with last minute tax write-offs, I visited a few in my area today.  While none seemed to be overflowing, I was pleasantly surprised to find some stuff. It's been a long time since I've found so much new stuff at once! (And it's been a couple weeks since I've done a proper thrift shop run.)

At the first stop I picked up a hard cover copy of the 1986 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records for $1.  This is the last edition to contain video game world records.  (And they'd only started in 1984.)  Off-topic, I also picked up DragonLance Chronicles vol. 4: Dragons of Summer Flame.  I enjoyed the original DL books back in high school, and this is by the same authors.  I'm sure it'll be worth the 50 cents I paid. 8)

The second stop was the highlight of the trip.  First I see two stacks of boxed Intellivision games behind the cash register.  But there's not an employee in sight!  @!#?@!  I managed to restrain myself and check the rest of the store.  First thing I find is two set of Pac-Man twin sheets for $3.99 each.  The total is two fitted sheets, two flat sheets, and three pillow cases.  This works out fine since I found a set of just the fitted and flat sheet in this same store some months ago.  Once my son's out of his crib, he'll have plenty of Pac-Man sheets. 8)

Darn right, "colors may vary"!

In the board games, I found a Pac-Man puzzle.  It's not a jigsaw puzzle, but more of a logic puzzle.  Take the 12 pieces and fit them in the four Pac-Man shaped slots in the tray.  Then move them to the three circular (Pac-Man with his mouth closed, it says) slots.  The box is in so-so shape, but all the pieces are there.  I wonder if I can still write to the address given for the solution? 8)  Oh, yeah, the box says "colors may vary," and they weren't kidding.  The box has yellow Pac-Man with a blue tray.  I got blue Pac-Men with a yellow tray.

Okay, now I'm back up front and ask one of the two salesladies (Where were they when I came in?) to show me the old games.  Most of the games had overlays and instructions, but I'm short on money.  At 99 cents each, I pick out the ten I don't think I have.  I forgot my list, as always, and don't want to pull it out right in front of the cashier any way.  I told her I'd have to dig out my Intellivision. What I mean is that my room is one big heap o' stuff right now, but of course she thinks I put it away in the attic or something.  Who am I to correct her?  Here's what I got:

• B-17 Bomber         
• BurgerTime          
• NFL Football        
• Tron Maze-A-Tron    
• Space Spartans
• Vectron
• Happy Trails (Activision)
• Carnival (Coleco)
• Beauty & the Beast (Imagic)
• White Water! (Imagic)

It turns out I already have Football, Maze-A-Tron, and Space Spartans. I also already have BurgerTime, but not with the box.  I left a dozen or more games there.  All common, but maybe I should go back. After tax, I spent a total of almost $21.

The next two stops yield nothing.  In fact, one seems to be trying to empty some parts of the store in some sort of clean up effort.  They did have two Champion Joysticks for the SNES, but at $10 each I'll pass.  (They're large, arcade quality joysticks.)  Besides, I already have one.

I'm late getting back to work, but there's really nothing for me to do this week anyway, so I make one more stop.  For 25 cents, I get the original, black cover version of How to Win at Nintendo by Jeff Rovin.  I've probably got half a dozen red cover versions, but this is the first black one I've found.  It's a shame thrifting isn't always like this any more.

[I'm not sure what the first stop was, but it was probably the Goodwill on University Dr. I think the second was Value Village on N. Memorial Parkway. The next two were probably the Breaking Free Rescue Mission Thrift Store, also on N. Memorial Parkway, and the Salvation Army around the corner on Oakwood Ave. I have no idea what the last stop would have been. Unless it was the short-lived store I've forgotten the name of on Oakwood on the other side of Memorial Parkway.

Today (2018), only the Value Village and Salvation Army stores are still there. Goodwill moved to Whitesburg Dr. and if Breaking Free is still around, I don't know where.

Today I'm kicking myself for not getting those SNES joysticks. They sell for a lot more than $10 today. And apparently they were made locally.]