The $1 GameCube and other yard sale steals
by Justin McElroy 
{ Apr 23rd 2007 at 1:08PM }
Yard sales are one of the few places where you'll find items people hate so much that they'd trade them to you for a quarter. But they can also, as Cheap Ass Gamer reminds us, be a place to find some video game steals. Now, as spring has sprung in the U.S. and yard sales dot suburban streets, CAG has left a pan of hot, freshly-baked yard sale finds on their digital windowsill for you to drool over. Most tantalizing: The above cluster of 10 mint NES games like Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Bayou Billy for the low, low price of $8, less than two NES games on the Virtual Console. Then again, you don't have to wake up at 7am to buy games on the VC, so it's really a matter of priorities. If you weren't aware that "Early bird gets the worm" is the only axiom yard sale nuts hold dearer than "I'm not going to pay more than two dollars for this Monopoly game," you're probably going to need CAG's helpful yard sale tip wiki as well. Happy hunting!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jacob Bartlett @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:22PM
I found a Zelda II Adventure of Link baby shirt at a yard sale once. Now to have children...
JodyAnthony @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:33PM
only gaming-related thing I ever found at a yardsale was one of those LED football handheld things for 50 cents.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:38PM
I'm in the exact opposite situation, Ant. Every yard sale I've ever seen had loads of stuff waiting for me to buy.
AndrewNeo @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:46PM
My friend got a GC for extra cheap because the power supply was dead. He also got a DC because it got rained on and was full of water. Worked fine after he dried it out.
X GATECRASHER X @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:48PM
I used to love that game "Blades of Steel." You could get into fights and punch the other teams players.
SuperDave @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:50PM
Well I hardly ever find anything gaming-related at yard sales so I stopped trying. One time though, I picked up a Sears TeleGames Pong with the original box for $5. I have it in my closet.
Fuzz @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:50PM
Last year I picked up a GBA SP unopened for $10.00. That's Canadian dollars to, so it was practically free. :)
Vexorg @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:51PM
I haven't found a ton of stuff at garage sales around here, but I did manage to grab a GBA SP for $15 last year, and the year before I found a Gamecube for $25 (missing a power supply, but I was able to grab one from Nintendo and resell the system for $60.
ackmondual @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:55PM
I alr buy a fair amt of crap on ebay. A yard sale would offer more variety of crap (of both kinds that I don't need or may find useful). Problem is, I'm too lazy to even look up yard sale locations. If it's not too far, no S&H would be a nice change of pace, but again, gotta find where they're at first
flamecannon @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:57PM
Only video game related thing I've gotten at a garage sale was a n64 controller for one dollar. Good deal.
jpelles @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:59PM
Lord. Mint in box that stuff is worth a LOT more then he paid for it. Lucky haul.
evilmax17 @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:02PM
Check out our 2005 and 2006 yardsale finds here:
http://yardsales.lizndom.com
There's tons of stuff there, complete with pictures, prices paid, and stories.
zoso @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:22PM
I found an NES Power Pad (I think that's what the mat was called) and a copy of Track and Field, got the pair for $0.50CDN. That was pretty awesome.
J @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:15PM
I once found a virtual boy at a thrift store for $7.00 Not a yard sale, but still a good find.
_TMS @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:20PM
Last year I sold 2 microsoft sidewinder joysticks, the ones for a game port, to a guy for a couple of dollars. "Is this a microsoft joystick?" Why yes it is.
sheppy @ Apr 23rd 2007 2:30PM
Best find, Dragon Warrior collection for $8. Literally, complete copies of Dragon Warrior I-IV.
Medium finds
Einhander $3
Bust A Groove $10
Sega Nomad $25 (missing Battery Pack)
Tom @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:09PM
I got my copy of Final Fantasy for NES at a school yard sale. That was definitely my best find ever.
I haven't gone to a yard sale in quite a while. I think I should start up again. :D
RobertHMayfire @ Apr 23rd 2007 4:13PM
I bought Bart vs the Space Mutants, SMB3, and Mega Man 1 all in their boxes from different sales.
I have found a perfect condition with no color fade Original Nintendo Box. Of course I already had the NES to go with it. And I got it for free since they were throwing the box away.
And in non-video scores. I bought the 1980s Dark Tower electronic board game still with its box. For $1. And sold it on eBay for $145. Was only missing one token. :D
Pink Chiefette @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:51PM
Just last week, I scored a Dreamcast with 2 controllers at a pawnshop for $20. A long time ago, I came across a garage sale that had a whole box of old arcade cabinet marquees (those light up glass above the screen) for a few bucks each. I am still kicking myself for not buying them.
Ironhide @ Apr 23rd 2007 5:01PM
I found a Super Nintendo, for $5.00 Canadian with like 6 games. That was a score too!
MikeG @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:57PM
I refuse to sell any of my video games (or DVD movies for that matter) at yard sales anymore. Nobody wants to pay anything for them. I now sell them on Amazon in the "used" section and people scarf them up for many times what yardsalers will pay.
sphetr2 @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:47PM
Wow evilmax, that DC kiosk looks awesome! How many hours do you guys spend looking around at these sales?
Klippoth @ Apr 25th 2007 4:13PM
2 Virtual Boys with all cables and Mario Tennis $8 (Thrift Store)
Intellivision in box, voice module in box, plus about 20-something-odd games $20 (Moving-out-of-country yard sale)
Sega Nomad $10 (Thrift Store)
Phillips CD-I $15 (Open-Box Clearance @ Best Buy)
50 pounds of Nintendo Stuff (Bazooka, SNES, NES, Controllers) & Atari Stuff (Including a dev unit) $20 (Thrift Shop)
SaraAB87 @ Apr 24th 2007 4:52PM
The biggest video game find I think I ever had was last summer when I found a complete and mint copy of Dragon Force for the Sega Saturn for 50 cents... the disk was mint and looked like it had never been played. There were some other Saturn games so of course I got those as well (50 cents each as well), leaving the ones that were heavily scratched behind. I didn't even know what it was worth till I got home and looked it up.
There was a guy selling all his old games for 1.50 each for NES and pretty much 1$ each for everything else, the selection ranged from atari to super nes to genesis and everything else inbetween, there was also a boxed contra and a bubble bobble there plus some boxed mega man games, of course I bought all that lovely stuff, but I am keeping it and not selling it!
I've really had too many finds to count.. but those are some of the notables.