Trophy Room 2025

I'm changing the format up a little bit this year. When I started this section it was about amazing deals I found at garage & estate sales. That was 19 years ago and a lot has changed. Now it's more about absurd game prices in the physical world. I'm presenting it more like a year-long rambling story than a gallery.

2025 started like many others, with a trip to the local bookstore to buy a cheap calendar. I enjoy page-a-day calendars with some sort of a puzzle and don't care what kind it is. I just grab a random one that's on clearance. This year I went to 2nd & Charles. If you're not familiar, they're like a larger Half Price Books. Although they also sell new items, it's kind of confusing what is new vs used there and I suspect that's by design. They have a decent sized game section, but the prices aren't exactly decent.

Those are on the high side for ebay prices. Which of course is not what these actually sell for there. Same for these other two:

I own a boxed copy of Shadowgate. I did not pay anywhere near that price. I can't tell through the case whether that is original shrink wrap.

They also had this, which I'll admit is rare to see in a store:

This is not a good deal though. This flash cart uses CF cards which most people don't have lying around. If you're willing to gamble, NES flash carts are available for under $100.

The Party City chain went out of business this year. I stopped by one in January but didn't buy much. I grabbed a Bowser Jr. Hot Wheel for half off because it was the only one they had I didn't already own. They had a ton of Mario party favors still. I bought one that looked neat and decided to gamble that the others would be 90% off soon. I also took an empty display box which I'll figure out something to do with.

I posted this in January so there's not much yet. Check back later.

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