The Greatest Deals Ever Made

**digitalpress** · 06-13-2003, 05:29 PM

Come on, you've probably got a story to share.

If you've been collecting for any amount of time, you've probably made a deal that you walked away from not even believing yourself that you pulled it off. I'm not talking about the great "finds", I'm talking about the great trades or offers with other gamers and collectors that found you sitting pretty, maybe not right away, but today for sure.

Share your story! Please don't use real names though, because I don't need to see my name listed a hundred times as "the guy on the short end of the stick"!

**maxlords** · 06-13-2003, 07:01 PM

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that her dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all

I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well

I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around

That's my best deal ever.

**autobotracing** · 06-13-2003, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by maxlords

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that here dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all

I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well

I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around

That's my best deal ever.

.

holy shit! I would have crapped my pants on that deal!

**Videogamerdaryll** · 06-13-2003, 08:03 PM

[quote="autobotracing"]

Originally Posted by maxlords

The best deal I EVER did was one I still can't believe. When I was in college a friend of mine told me that here dad had some arcade machines in his garage still from when he used to run an arcade. I naturally got all excited and told her if I ever got a chance to come down to her home (which was 4 or so hours away) I'd love to take a look! So one day, I'm down there visiting and she shows me...not just a garage full, but a HUGE storage unit full of classic Pac-Man era arcade machines and pinball machines! So I go and talk to her dad. Turns out he kept the stuff just cause he thought it was a waste to throw it all away, and that he can't really afford the storage unit rental cost anyway.

So I offer to take them ALL off his hands! I rented a semi for $550 and he let me take EVERY machine...over 60 in all, plus 50 boxes of parts and manuals, 9 pinball machines, and even a few electromagnetic machines! For $550! I ended up selling them all for around $10,000 (which is quite cheap) after I got them all working...paid a tech in free machines to fix em all

I split the proceeds with him cause it was only fair. That was the wildest deal I've ever done, and for 6 months I had my own arcade with working retro 80s jukebox, pins, and everything!

The only machines I REALLY regret getting rid of were Joust and the Joust cocktail 2 player pinball machine. Ah well

I had NOWHERE to put the stuff when my buddy closed his store...they were all in teh back and I had to sell em fast. Otherwise I'd have kept em and sold em off slowly. I still have about 20+ boxes of parts and over 300 arcade machine manuals, as well as a few classic game PCBs and stuff lying around

That's my best deal ever.

.

holy shit! I would have crapped my pants on that deal![/quote]

Me TOO.........................Wow!

**Kid Ice** · 06-13-2003, 08:21 PM

At a garage sale, all the following:

complete NES ROB
complete NES Power Glove
5 assorted 2600 controllers
5 assorted Colecovision controllers

cost = 25 cents!

ICE

**Britboy** · 06-13-2003, 09:13 PM

Mine's not so great, but it seemed great at the time....

I was given a bunch of games for about 20 bucks, including five Pitfall II Atari carts. He threw them in free because they were "broken". He said he was going to throw them out, so I took 'em. I took them home and sure enough they didn't work. A few Q-tips, some alcohol, and a pencil eraser later, each of them worked just great. Sold off 4 for 20 bucks each, kept the 5th.

Like I said, not huge, but still enough to give me the "rush" that ALL of you know so well

**Ed Oscuro** · 06-14-2003, 12:32 AM

I got a Mac Classic 2 for free...eh. Well, it did come with a printer and stylish dust covers. It also has more memory (16 MB RAM in 1991) than some online Mac info sites tell me is possible for this machine. As if you care.

Well, then I just got a whole bunch of stuff from some guy in college for around $170, thinking it will arrive in a few days:

(note all this stuff is complete and in awesome shape)

Phantasy Star 2 - $20
Phantasy Star 4 - $20
Super Metroid + Guide (in perfect condition, not bad) - $40
Sega Nomad (!) $45
Suikoden 1 $25
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - $35

This was just a few weeks ago. CURRENT. I'm not sure if it was going to eBay or what was going to happen, but in any case I didn't do too bad.

**Atari7800** · 06-14-2003, 09:22 AM

I've only had one trade where I came out the obvious winner (in retrospect... I had no idea that one of the games was so hard to find and would become so damned expensive)... I usually end on on the crappy end.

I got...

Sega 32x DarXide
Sega 32x FIFA Soccer
(both of these games were UK-only, both complete)

He got...

A new mini SNES I got on sale at Toys R' Us for $25

**autobotracing** · 06-14-2003, 09:48 AM

I guess the best deal I ever got was arc the lad collection sealed right when the game was released for $10.I also got a half working pinball machine for free but it was falling apart.

**Mr-E_MaN** · 06-14-2003, 01:12 PM

My best find just happened to me! http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14181

The funny thing I didn't even want to go to the garage sale, but my dad wanted to go. I saw 720 for the NES in the distance so I went over to take a look. When I got there I noticed they had about 60 boxed games sitting under the loost games. I started to freak out. I waited for this guy to but down one of the games he was looking at, then I picked up the box, told him I was getting it all and went to go pay for it. I said I'll give you $60 for the lot and they accepted & I walked away with my million dollar smile.

**norkusa** · 06-14-2003, 01:22 PM

My greatest deal was trading around 50 boxed common/uncommon NES carts (about 1/2 had instructions) for a mint & complete Bubble Bath Babes. The kid I traded them to was hard-up for boxed NES games and I really wanted to complete my Panesian collection, so we were both happy with the deal.

**AB Positive** · 06-14-2003, 01:28 PM

So far, value wise I probably got lucky paying $30 for a working CDX with 3 controllers, joystick, and 16 Sega CD games with instructions. Although getting a free Dreamcast BBA (which I've long since traded) was nice.

However personally, getting a free TG-16 made my month. I love it, just played a couple hours of Bonk's adventure. gold.

-AG

**orrimarrko** · 06-14-2003, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by norkusa

My greatest deal was trading around 50 boxed common/uncommon NES carts (about 1/2 had instructions) for a mint & complete Bubble Bath Babes. The kid I traded them to was hard-up for boxed NES games and I really wanted to complete my Panesian collection, so we were both happy with the deal.

Very nice!

Come on vets - write in here! THis should be a great topic, even though most aren't following the thread started by DP.

In the history of your shady dealings, there has to be a few that make you laugh/cry/smile.

Do tell...

(By the way, I've only made one trade ever, and it was recently with DP - a sealed Deion Prime Time (GEN) for an NES Rainbow Islands (cart only.) So, I myself, don't have much to tell.)

**Boboduo** · 06-14-2003, 02:09 PM

About a year ago, I recieved a free vectrex (minus controller :/ )
from a lady my mother was helping move.

**Captain Wrong** · 06-14-2003, 02:23 PM

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

**maxlords** · 06-14-2003, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Wrong

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

Here's some pics for those who are interested:

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade1.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade2.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade3.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade4.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade5.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade6.jpg

The back of my friend's bookstore had a GIANT warehouse in it with a 30 foot ceiling and a whole suite of offices...so they all got stored there until they were sold

It was a fun deal....wish I'd been able to keep it all!

**chadtower** · 06-16-2003, 10:54 AM

Dude, that's a wet dream. I mean seriously... I'd add onto my fucking house if I had to to get all those games for $550. There's no way I'd sell any of them... tell me this is just a hoax! Things like this don't really happen, do they?

>.<

**Mr-E_MaN** · 06-16-2003, 11:12 AM

WOW!

I wish I had something like that!!

**Reverend JagDiesel** · 06-16-2003, 11:15 AM

Swordquest Waterworld for 49 cents and Tank Command for 59 cents the same day at different Salvation Army's...
I'd also say the Sony component rig I got a week ago for $10...

nothing will touch Maxlords though.. holy shit!!!

**Cheese** · 06-16-2003, 02:08 PM

I have two Vectrex's that were both given to me along with about 13 games for them.

Recently I ordered Masters of Orion 3 from amazon at a sale price of 17.99 with a twenty dollar rebate, they paid me $2.00 to take it off their hands. My pleasure.

**autobotracing** · 06-16-2003, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by maxlords

Originally Posted by Captain Wrong

Maxlords wins.

Did you take any pics? Where did you store all that stuff? Sheesh, you've just described one of my greatest dreams (the other one being similar senerio but with someone who had a wherehouse of soul and jazz records from the 60s.)

Here's some pics for those who are interested:

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade1.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade2.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade3.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade4.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade5.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/maxlor...es/Arcade6.jpg

The back of my friend's bookstore had a GIANT warehouse in it with a 30 foot ceiling and a whole suite of offices...so they all got stored there until they were sold

It was a fun deal....wish I'd been able to keep it all!

drool!drool!drool!drool!drool!drool!

**videopac** · 07-10-2003, 05:57 PM

My two best deals were both Videopac related (Videopac = European Odyssey2).

The first was when I saw an ad in small ads magazine, the ad read something like "40+ games for the Videopac plus extras, 400 kr". 400kr equals $45 (roughly). Turns out that the guy was a Philips employee and that in the end of the 80's Philips realised that they were not going to move the old games stock so they gave some away to their employees and took the rest to the dump. So, he had most of the Videopac game titles *unused*, his children had not liked the system very much...

I was, luckily, the first to call and got the stuff for the $45 asked! That was how I got started on my Videopac collection.

The second deal was another ad in the same magazine (but a few years later). Sometimes people put in ads and want to get almost what they gave for the stuff ten years ago... I get kind of annoyed when seeing such ads. Still, I found one reading something like "A lot of Videopac games and more, 3000kr", I thought that this is such a crazy person who wants to get back what he forked out ten years ago. But, I called him and we started talking and then I asked how many games are there. The reply was "oh, one or two pallets" WHAT??? I'll take them I said, and got his account number and transfered the money the same day. I borrowed a trailer for my car and drove the 200km to where he lived and he was right! Most of the stuff was new in the box Chess modules for the Videopac (then, at least, rated UR in the lists...

) Turned out that he had been assigned to clear out a storage that Philips rented. The stuff was meant for the dump but this guy had driven it home to his place instead!

Guess if I was happy, driving home that night!

Those were the days...

**Buyatari** · 07-11-2003, 02:57 AM

My best deal may have been a deal I didn't even particapate in.

I got a HUGE collection traded into the store soon after we opened.

I had just changed our policy on "old" games after an employee paid $2.00 for Combat

Our new policy was 25 cents trade 10 cents cash on anything "old"

I was out and about doing I dunno what when I came by to check on the store. Some lady had traded in a HUGE collection of games after her son went away to school.

It was quite a collection. I don't remember everything but.....

NES system
SNES system
3Do System
Many loose SNES ,NES games
approx 20 - 3do complete games
and
300+ complete Nes games including Flinstones 2 !!!!

price ?

under $60.00

Well the workers didn't get yelled at this time

I should frame that $2 combat now.

Adam

**Half Japanese** · 07-11-2003, 11:11 AM

I guess the best deal I got was this:

I bought a Sega Saturn with 17 games off of a friend for $50, included with this bundle was Shining Force III, Albert Odyssey and several other uncommon RPGs. I also got a cart for playing imports and a few import games.