Thrift Stores?

The last 2 I have found I believe are totally coincidental. Pole Position at the catholic store, Space Duel at the Gospel Mission. But I remember maybe 2 or 3 years ago before I was into collecting arcade games, I saw a dead Heavy Barrel at Savers (Value Village) for $50 and a Galaga CT at the Goodwill for $200. I passed on them both and I really wish I didnt these days.
 
I've never seen an arcade game at a thrift store. I consider myself lucky if I find console games! Thrift stores around here are slim pickings - I have a hard time even finding television sets.

-Ian
 
I used to visit several thrift stores every day after work for 2-3 years when I was collecting Atari 2600 games and the like. In all of that time I only saw two arcade games -- a nice Zaxxon that I bought and a pitiful Dragon's Lair conversion to Shinobi.

Chris
 
I find most of mine at thrift stores but then again I don't look for them other places unless I find one sitting at the side of the road. You'd be surprised at how many I've seen on the side of the road...
 
i haven't come across an arcade in a while at the thirft stores. over the years i've found a golden tee, mappy, red tent, space invaders taito (sadly converted to a time pilot). i passed on a cheap beatup galaxian once too. should of snagged that one. oh well. chris
 
got my first game at a goodwill..

Road fighter... in a zaxxon cab.. still have it! never breaks down.. never worked on it!

I did see some crapped out , stripped Tempest there too... i passed cause they were so bad...
 
I've only seen an 8-liner game about a year ago at a Salvation Army, but nothing else. Check that, I found an old air hockey table as well.
 
Around 2000, I found a Carnival at a thrift that seemed totally dead for $20.00. I took it home, and noticed the wires leading to the volume knob were torn off. I soldered them back on, and heard the game playing blind. I replaced the monitor, and had it in my collection for about four years!

In the late 90s, I saw a Mario Bros in a D.Kong cabinet at one thrift (unplugged and the store refused to plug it in!), and a Mat Mania in a D.Kong Jr. cab at a different store. Should've gotten the Mat Mania, it was only $65.00, but I had no truck, and no reasonable access to one.

But since 2000, I haven't found any coin-op games at a thrift.

Kyle :cool:
 
I find most of mine at thrift stores but then again I don't look for them other places unless I find one sitting at the side of the road. You'd be surprised at how many I've seen on the side of the road...

Now, we all want to know what city and road are you in and driving on?? LOL.
 
I found a $50 Whirlwind at the flea market but never a game in a thrift store (and I go to them quite a bit).
However, my girl told me that a month before she met me she had seen a $50 Donkey Kong at the thrift store by her house. (It was not there a month later when I went bolting through the door).
 
I got my Neo Geo cabinet from the local Salvation Army. It was there for $200, but I arrived during the half off sale, so I snagged it for $100 with two games. I frequent thrift stores, and that was the only time I ever saw an arcade game at one.
 
Been thrifting for about 13 years now and have never seen an Arcade Game or a Pinball. Lots of console stuff and vintage computer goodies though. Most all of my Apple II, Commodore & Atari computer stuff is from thrift stores as well as some of my home console stuff. The day I see an Arcade game at a thrift store will probably be the day I soil myself, but knowing the stores around here I bet the price tag will bring me back to the real world.
 
I've seen a couple here and there in south fl. thrift stores, but not too often...
 
Been going to thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales for who knows how long and have yet to see an arcade game of any kind. I think the best arcade related thing I found was a Pac Man mug 5 or 6 years ago. Have gotten my fair share of retro console gaming goodies from a combination of these three places however.

Seems when you go to a thrift store/yard sale/flea market searching for something in specific you will never find it, but if you go on a whim you never know what will turn up.

I'm sure the minute I decide to stop my vigorous hunt for affordable arcade games plenty of them will pop up in my area.
 
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