Wow, its been a long time. This year has been really dry for me, every time I browse the small scores thread, I get more and more jealous of the finds other people are getting while I'm stuck in a drought. But I suppose its not all that bad since I'm out of room for most of my systems anyway. I've resorted to having some SNES and some Genesis games on the floor because there's just no room left on the shelves for them. The PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PS1 are all right behind them, with room for less than 5 games left on each of those systems. Maybe that's why I've been apathetic toward getting up early to hit up garage sales like I used to. This past weekend was the first time I actually woke up early and got out there on Friday and Saturday, but it still didn't do me any good. And don't get me started about the flea market this year, its gone to total crap. It used to be 75% people selling their personal stuff and 25% professional sellers. The last few years its been 50% and 50%, last year was closer to 25% and 75% and this year is more like 99% professional and 1% regular people. At first it seemed like the flea market quadrupling in size was a good thing, but if all they're going to sell is overpriced storage unit junk and crappy Dollar Store junk, it doesn't really matter how big it is. I guess that's just the evolution of flea markets though. They start out small with good stuff, get a bit bigger and have more good stuff, then they get too big and commercialized and the buyers that made them popular quit going and all your left with is people coming from church, retired people, and hipsters that just browse and don't actually buy anything. Before long, the whole thing collapses, and is either gone for good, or the process can start again.

Enough of my rambling, I know that's not why you read these, you want to see those deals! I hope your not too disappointed with my meager finds over the last couple months.

Picked these up at one of the very first flea market vendors I saw that day. They were sitting out in the open on a table, so I figured they were overpriced, but that Power Base Converter was screaming at me, so I had to investigate further. I checked it out, the box was beat up, but the styrofoam was intact, and the hardware itself looked to be brand new, so I asked the seller what ridiculous price he wanted for it. He just showed me five fingers, so I had to ask if he meant $5 for fear he meant $500. Seeing his price was very reasonable on the Power Base, I asked how much the Ataris were, they were also $5. So I offered $10 for all three. He came back with $15 and he'd throw in a few random cords and 3rd part Sega controllers. I only spotted one thing in there I wanted, a SNES/N64 A/V cord, so I offered $12 for the systems plus the cord. He accepted.
The A/V cord isn't pictured because I somehow managed to lose it between cleaning the systems up and taking the picture.
The Ataris were incredibly dirty, I tried my normal rubbing alcohol and rag cleaning technique, but it just wasn't cutting it, so I took the case apart and gave the top half a bath in the sink. They both came out super clean and shiny. Taking them apart also gave me an opportunity to see their manufacture dates, one from 1979, the other from 1981. The older one had a broken channel selector switch, but luckily the parts were still floating around in the system so I was able to put it back together. It still has no sound, just static. The other works perfectly. Both are on GameGavel right now.

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Spotted this under a table at the first garage sale that day (I think it was last Friday). I don't normally have much interest in handhelds, but this thing just looks awesome and its got the After Burner name on it, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad. I asked for a price and was told $1, which seemed like a fair price, but I still offered $0.50 which was accepted.
It turned out to be a great price, ones on ebay sold for between $20-50 recently. Though I didn't realize until doing research on it that it is incredibly yellowed. I thought it was supposed to be that olive green drab of Army equipment, turns out it should be grey. After I looked it over better it became obvious that I was just oblivious to the discoloration at the sale. Guess I was just wearing rose yellow tinted glasses that day.

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I actually picked this up in the trash at a moving sale. It was just sitting there so I grabbed it on the way back to the truck. Now, before you get too excited, it is just the box. No manuals or anything. The only thin inside was a couple twist ties and some old pens. But for the price, I thought it was worth picking up. Plus, its a variant that's not in the DB so I'll be able to add it with some pictures. As soon as I figure out what to call it...

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I don't usually show non gaming related pickups here, but since its been so slow, I figured I would this time to fill some space. I picked this up at the first sale on Friday. I almost didn't notice it since I wasn't particularly looking for one, but the name Buffalo caught my eye since every time my current router fails, bickman2k tells me to get a Buffalo. So I thought I'd do him proud and finally get one to replace my ancient Linksys. For anyone familiar, $10 is a steal, but I still offered $5 for it, which of course was accepted. The thing is brand new and when I checked to see what they're selling for, they're going for $150-250, so I think I did alright.
I didn't realize until I set it up that its actually quite a bit older than I thought. The included CD was designed for Windows XP and wouldn't install on 7 at all. After installing the drivers from the Buffalo site, I was able to get it working properly. Here's to no more sudden disconnections and weekly router resets!

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