Buyer's Remorse #6 - Pawn Stars

I'm back and filled with remorse...and games!

Tommy mentioned last Friday's ultimate game chasing day in his last entry, but it's now time to weigh in on my big scores from that particular adventure. It was a very lucrative day for collecting, but it was not without it's risks.

We started the day at some second hand stores and I picked up a nice copy of WWF Smackdown 2 on PS1. We then headed East to sweep the area of the city that is farthest from our home base. Nothing really stood out, but when you have all day to look for cheap games, you can hit all the spots that you normally don't make it to. Game collecting is all about dedication and consistency. You have to check all the possible locations to make sure you don't miss a gem. If you don't have the commitment to really dig into some unsavory places, you might as well stay home and get robbed on ebay instead.

The Eastern sweep also included a music store that also carries used games. I snagged Super Street Fighter IV for $6.99 and a cheap copy of Wild Arms Crossfire for PSP. This spot had some juicy PS2 RPGs as well, but most were priced just out of our price range, and we didn't want to go too nuts so early in the day. A chasing day like this also includes a lot of coffee so we really had to stop for a bathroom break before we braved the Pawn Circuit...

 

We then decided to hit downtown. Yep. Short North! Probably the single worst area of the city. I really do feel sorry for the folks in our city that have fallen on hard times, or live a life on the cold streets, dealing with mental illness or substance abuse, but at the same time, I really don't want to be stabbed, shot, robbed or raped while I'm trying to buy a cheap video game, so we usually avoid this area. Not today! I'm sure there is some type of grand social commentary about two middle class white guys who spend a bunch of money on video games while the people around us are starving and suffering, but I'm not going to get into in here. The irony of us trying to save money on games (when we both already own over 1000 games) by buying said games from the pawn shops where they were sold for money for drugs, booze, food, or clothing is not lost on me. Maybe by breaking the pawn cycle on these items, we are somehow helping the community? Probably not...

First World Problems = Tyson and Tommy

Anyways, we dug through the cluttered world of the downtown pawn shops and unearthed some really amazing deals. Considering it's "Fighting Game Month" we sure scored some solid fighters. One of the highlights of the day was when Tommy tried to buy some games and the debit machine did not work at a particular shop, so we had to go to a bank machine in the worst hotel/bar in the city. I kinda felt like Rick Grimes walking through a sea of zombies. I have no idea how we did not get robbed. However, we did not get approached or bothered by one person at all, so it just validated the prejudice and stereotypes that exist towards our inner city from middle class dorks like us. I asked Tommy if he wanted to go inside the bar and have a beer, but he politely declined by whispering "Fuck NO!" under his breath while he clutched his wallet and tightened his butthole with fear.

One shop proved very fruitful and the owner was a really friendly chap. Sad when the customer service at a dark pawn shop is better than EB Games. We really need to get back to this one place as we barely scratched the surface. Here's the first set of scores:

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 for $6.50? Duh, okay!

We decided we had pushed our luck long enough and moved on to a safer area of the city. If we stayed past sundown I was going to suggest buying a bunch of cheap sports games to keep under our jackets, so that when we eventually get stabbed, the game cases would act like body armor. Having said that, I'm not sure that a copy of NHL 09 on Xbox 360 could stop a bullet. We decided that we really needed to wash our hands and stopped for another coffee and pee break.

The rest of the day was spent bouncing around the rest of the city hitting more second hand stores, pawn shops, and used game stores. More scores were made throughout the day as I found the Zelda Collector's Edition for Gamecube and King's Quest V on NES for $5.00 each. Out of everything I got, the most I paid for one game was still under $7.00. The GOTY Edition of Dead Island was also $5.00 at one of our usual stops.

I hear Rumble Roses can be played with one hand...

We closed out the day at Tommy's place having a cold beer and reviewing our loot. After I went home I painstaking cleaned all the games with alcohol swabs and added everything to the collection. It was a great day of collecting, made even better by the thrill of surviving a tour through a pretty sketchy area of town. It really solidified our dedication to our collections, when we dig deep into the city to find games. Remember to help out your fellow man and offer to buy some food the next time you run into a homeless person who asks you for some change.

He offered to sell me a boxed copy of Earthbound in a back alley... 

I guess that's all for now, kiddies! Remember to say no to Meth!

Super Robot Tyson