Best thrift store/garage sale game show find?

[MikeK]

Since there are a few folks here who visit thrift stores and garage sales to find board games and other game show-related items, I\'m curious what your best find is.  The reason for this thread is that I found mine this afternoon, a copy of The $50,000 Pyramid\'s home game in real good condition for $1.49.  Pickings are generally thin in this area.  Before today, my best finds were an almost complete 10th edition Jeopardy! game and a Break the Bank game from 1977 in questionable condition.

[Matt Ottinger]

I\'ve been doing this a lot longer than most of you, and by far, my greatest thrift store find was a sensational copy of Shenanigans for 75 cents. 

 

One of the things I wish I\'d done back in the day is kept track of where my games came from.  I remember some (like that one), but unfortunately in most cases I no longer recall which ones were thrift shop finds vs antique malls, garage sales, mail-order, Ebay, trades and whatnot.

[clemon79]

My best find so far has been a complete-and-damned-near-mint copy of http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2453/blokus\'>Blokus for...I think it was three bucks?

 

If trashing counts, one day I got home from work and saw that a neighbor had placed a largeish stack of games next to the dumpster in the garage, including a complete-and-in-great-shape sixth? (not sure, as I\'m still at work. Definitely single digits though) edition Concentration. It was promptly rescued.

[snowpeck]

I\'ve been finding a few more game show-related games lately, but nothing earth-shattering. Latest have been the 80s $OTC complete with Quizzard for 25 cents, and the 2nd edition of $10,000 Pyramid for $1.

[TLEberle]

My best find so far has been a complete-and-damned-near-mint copy of http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2453/blokus\'>Blokus for...I think it was three bucks?

I say you overpaid.

/I prefer the two-player version.

[Bryce L.]

Found a 2nd edition Deluxe Wheel of Fortune game from the 80s (with removable wedges) for $3 and the Wink Martindale High Rollers game for $1 at a thrift store where I am (in both cases, the boxes had seen better days, but all the parts were still there and both games were still playable)

[DoItRockapella]

I don\'t go to thrift shops much myself, but a lot of people I know who know I\'m a game show nut will give their thrift shop finds to me, whether I want them or not. I have too many Password and Jeopardy games even for me, but there was one that made my day - a 1992 Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego game from University Games in the shrink wrap. (This is stretching the topic a bit - it\'s based on the computer game, not the game show). 

 

I\'m also reminded of the time I was at a game shop and saw a bunch of used game show games on a very high shelf. I went to the counter and asked if they bought used games. They asked \"What do you have?\" When I replied that I have a ton of game show games, they told me they don\'t buy those. 

 

Me: \"You have some on the shelves\".

Them: \"and they\'re still there, so we\'re not buying more.\" 

 

It was more polite then that, but you get the idea. In hindsight I should have been considering buying, not selling.

[TimK2003]

One of my better finds the other day was a near-mint condition DVD Recorder (how to burn the discs was very confusing for the seller) for $10.00.  I have now started my transferring of VHS game show tapes into DVDs which hopefully wont take as long as my conversion of all my vinyl records into CDs.

 

I also remember picking up a Tic Tac Dough (50s Home Version) game for under $10 at a thrift shop years ago, then used it as trade bait for a sizable amount of game show tapes.

[SuperMatch93]

The majority of my 230-odd board games were from thrift stores (the only ones I remember buying on eBay were Say When!!, 3OAM, the 1st and 3rd MB Price, and I think Who What or Where and $ale of the ¢entury 1st editions)

 

Some of my thrift finds includes

 

• DeWitt Tune with the record,


• an incomplete Shenanigans,


• 1963 LMAD,


• 50s and 70s TTD,


• several editions of MB Jeopardy,


• Get the Message and Eye Guess from the same booth at a flea market,


• a 9th edition Concentration with all of the pieces,


• Bid it Right in fantastic condition,


• Missing Links with a ratty box that was almost unused on the inside,


• the 1st-5th editions of MB Feud


• Word for Word (though I have since misplaced the Gyro-Timer)


• and my personal favorite, the 1943 edition of Take it or Leave It for about $1 at a random flea market on the outskirts of Des Moines.

[DoorNumberFour]

As some of you know, http://instagram.com/iwinthrifting\'>I\'ve damn near built an occupation out of thrift shopping. My main goal when I go out is game show stuff. Some of my most recent finds:

 

• Beat The Clock by Milton Bradley, First Edition


• Countdown (UK) with the little sound box that plays the clock music


• Seven Keys, Video Village, and You Don\'t Say! all wrapped together with one HUGE rubber band, for some reason


• Now You See It, unwrapped but never played


• Camouflage (1961), complete with the magic screen that goes over your old TV so you can play along with the contestants


• Name That Tune electronic game (Castle, 1980) complete in box


• A Vanna White doll


• Truth Or Consequences from 1955, with all pieces intact


• Pyramide (French Pyramid) board game from 1997(?)


• Qui Veut Gagner Des Millions (French Millionaire) second edition


• Electronic Play-Along Wheel Of Fortune unit, complete with VHS tape and original paperwork

 

Check out that link up there, though, because the fascinating stuff found in thrift stores goes way beyond board games.

[Chief-O]

In all the years I\'ve been scouring the local thrift shops, I can count these finds.....

 

-Many years ago, I spotted a $20,000 Pyramid home game at an area Goodwill.

-About as long ago, I found an SOTC Quizzard game.

-Probably more important than the aforementioned [in my mind!], I found a copy of Harry Eisenberg\'s \"Jeopardy!\" book.

-A local estate sale shop has, probably ever since they opened, a copy of the \"Shenanigans\" home game. I bet I\'m their only customer who\'s even heard of the show. Willing to let someone else buy it.

-Seen a good number of home games from [relatively] obscure shows, usually in antique malls.

[Mr. Armadillo]

I\'m not sure what my best one was, but I once found the board game version of the Scrabble (the game show).  That has to count for something.

[parliboy]

I got an original, unpunched \"Was Sticht\" a few years ago for $6.  Flipped it for a decent profit when \"Mu and Lots More\" was coming out. And I got a German edition of \"Scepter of Zavandor\" a couple of years ago for $5. It sits next to my English edition, though I\'m tempted to flip them for $50 each based on current out of print prices.

[TLEberle]

Until I can manage to find Fireball Island, I think the winner was my Ticket to Ride copy, in shrink wrap, for eight bucks. Almost all of my Concentration and Jeopardy games have come via either the Kent, Tukwila or Maple Valley Goodwill/Value Village.

[WarioBarker]

Much of my board game collection comes from thrift stores. Unfortunately, I never kept a list of what came from where, so here\'s what I remember from my travels:

* The $100,000 Pyramid (Sierra), found at a local thrift store
* Pressman\'s first Jeopardy! game, also found at Goodwill (missing one clicker and two $500/$1000 money slides, but otherwise complete)
* Endless\' Newlywed Game, Second Edition
* Several Endless versions of Password in various states of completeness; one was found at a yard sale held by my apartment\'s landlord
* SEALED copy of The Singing Bee at my local library\'s bookstore
* A near-complete copy of the Trivial Pursuit game based on the show
* Both 1980s Deluxe Wheel of Fortune games, one from a local thrift store and the other from Goodwill (First Edition is missing the plastic wedge pieces and the stickers had been put on the Wheel, while the Second Edition\'s puzzle bag is tattered; both are in good shape otherwise)
* Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? (First Edition)
* Win, Lose or Draw \"Party Edition\", also found at Goodwill

I know it\'s nowhere near as cool as some other finds posted here, but then again I haven\'t taken stock of what I have in a long time.