Gism Butter

I hadn’t been to the Laney College flea market in a couple of months, mainly due to the rain and the fact that I’ve been wicked busy since the year started. But yesterday, I went over and checked it out. good thing too, as the next two weeks are going to be no-flea-market weeks since the carnival is in town and takes up the same spot.

But, oh, what a day it was! Right off the bat, there was a guy out front with large boxes filled with Nintendo games, both NES and SNES. He had other games too, but I ended up not buying anything from him because they were all in such terrible shape. Still, lots of titles to choose from there. All common, though.

This did whet my appetite, though. Inside the flea market, my hunger was sated. First thing I found was a copy of Uncharted, the Koei pirate game for SNES. $2. Next, one of the regular game sellers had obviously had quite a haul since last I was there. This hispanic family sells modern games, and a lot of last gen stuff too. But yesterday, they had a box full of NES carts, and in there was a Dr. Mario box. I tried to buy just the box, since the cart was burried in their box, but he wanted me to get the game too. I tried not to let on that I was collecting, but the guy knows me by now, and I think he knows I pay a fair premium on good stuff. I got the Dr. Mario Box (everything, including ripped shrink wrap, but no manual), a full copy of Road Rash, and Chrystalis. I payed $20. Probably more than I should have, since Road Rash isn’t worth dick.

But god, I love Road Rash. Note the developers pictured on the back of the manual! Geez, EA has really changed.

Next up was the Asian family that sells games from all eras. They had nothing of interest! A shame. It looks like they haven’t refreshed their stock since last I was there.

There’s one guy at the flea market who always has rare game stuff. And he knows what it is, too, which sucks. But then, he always has rad things that you simply can’t find anywhere else. He had a floppy-disk adapter for the SNES, and a Vectorex, once.

Well, yesterday, he had a Game & Watch. Super Mario Brothers. No battery cover, though. Still he wanted $30. And that’s what I paid for it. He doesn’t haggle. Still, good price, I’d say. Took it home and swapped the cover from my Turtles G&W, and the damn thing still works.

Then I stumbled upon a stack of Atari home computer games at a nearby stall. These were for the Atari 400. not terribly collectible, but there was one that was: Donkey Kong. $1. Of course, the dood who’s been circling the net with his story of how he wrote that game made me really want it.

I always keep a copy of Videogame Collector with me at the flea market. When I found a box filled with an Intellivision, games, manuals and overlays, I sneaked away to glimpse the mag’s prices. A quick look told me that most intellivision games were worth $1, but that some were in their $20’s. I fretted, then decided to buy the whole box for $20. The games weren’t worth it at all, cept Locomotion, which is worth $8. But the Intellivision was in near mint shape, and there were manuals and overlays for a lot of games that weren’t in the box.

V looked at me like I was crazy, but I’m glad I bought it. When I got the box home, I photographed all the ephemera, and it’s posted below. One thing I didn’t bargain for in this set was a bag of meth. Yep, someone’s stash was in the box, unbeknownst to the seller. I flushed the stuff without confirming what it really was, but come on: white powder, small baggie… Someone in Oakland is still looking desperately for their drugs right now.

After the Intellivision, I was ready to leave, but there was one row left. And down that row I found two Sega gems: 1 full complete boxed copy of Phantasy Star 2, and a Mega Drive game called PsyoBlade. $2 each. The Phantasy Star 2 even has the map, though it is mangled and taped together. Someone played the hell outta this game!

The other day, whilst walking through the ACCRC, I spied something purple in the paper bin. That’s basically a 5-foot high cardboard box big enough to fill a pallette. It’s where the sorters put all the manuals and boxes from software. Always the last place I look, and sometimes the best.

Last week was such a week, when I saw the load of Sega stuff that was being donated. Nothing stellar at all, and I’m debating about what I’ll actually keep. But it’s cool none the less. I found a Game Gear magnifying box, and a bunch of manuals and boxes from Game Gear games. No actual games, though…

My favorite is Chicago Syndicate, a spinnoff from the Eternal Champions series. Sega really went hog wild on that franchise, eh? There was no manual for this game, only the box. But inside said box was a clothing catalog! Sonic and Knuckles, 2 dudes with ati2udes! All the clothing is emblazoned with logos to this effect, and Sonic even begs the reader to unfold the thing, with a cartoon captioned “CHECK THIS OUT DUDE!!!”

Also inside, a subscription form for Sega Visions magazine. Yikes! I didn’t even remember that mag.

Then there’s the manual for Ecco The tides of Time. This Game Gear edition of the franchise had a black-and-white manual, a sign of the latter years of the Sega empire. The game was made by Novotrade, and programmed by Sttila Bus! What a name! Also programming was Balazs Papai. There’s no contact info for Novotrade, so I can’t figure out where they were located. Maybe I’ll Google them later if I feel frisky.

But now, I’d rather take a gander at the Streets of Rage manual. Only two characters to choose from in this slimmed down version. the full color manual explains things fairly well, but it has no credits at all. Such a shame whem pubs don’t print those.

There’s an ad for the SoR on the back of the Sonic The hedgehog 2 manual I found. Text reads “Martial arts madness & knock-out fighting moves on Game Gear’s Streets of Rage! join Axel or Blaze defeat lawless thugs as they fight their way through terror in order to win back the streets! Available Christmas ‘92!

And at the bottom, there’s patent references! 4442486/4454594/4452076 I’ll look them up later. Or maybe you will.

SoR manual has an ad for Chakan The Forever Man. Text reads “Slash out with Chakan’s twin swords and incredible spinning attacks as he battles the creatures of the dark, in his quest for peace. Coming in Christmas ‘92″

Same patents below.

But the EA poster I found has, perhaps, the best assortment of great games. Not even the Tecmo poster, with ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl can compete with the lineup on this poster. Just a few examples: Starflight, Will Harvey presents Immortal, Power Monger, Shadow of the Beast 2, Bird Versus Jordan, NHLPA Hockey (THE hockey game of its day. Hell, THE sports game of its day), two Carmen Sandiego titles, Desert Strike, Road Rash 2 (weakest of the series, though) and Madden 93. Oh, Bulls versus Lakers, too!

Anyway, I’ll be tossing most of this back in the paper bin. Wave bye bye, or send me a note if you want any of it. I’m hanging the posters, though.