Reduced Price Game Guides: Thread Nine

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IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

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First off, let me welcome you all to the new guide thread. Second, I'd like to ask you all to please keep conversations not pertaining to guide drops or which ones you've grabbed to a minimum to avoid cluttering the thread. It's not that I don't enjoy the chit chat, but that it may stop others from locating information on the newest drops.

That being said, let me thank Cheapy for creating this site, without which I would've spent probably 10 times what I HAVE spent on games and guides. Moreover, let me thank each and every one of my fellow CAGs for continuing to contribute to making this site a great place to find out about sales and clearances of the items we as gamers use most. Without a great community, NONE of this would be possible.

Furthermore, I would like to thank our Wiki editors HeatDolphin and Rocko for updating the Wiki. Great job.

Now, with that out of the way(and before I get to rambling), let's get on to making this new thread.

Useful Information(and links):

Game Guide Trading Clearinghouse(old one, locked now):
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102021

Game Guide Trade Thread(KEEP ALL TRADE REQUESTS HERE OR IN PM'S)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175548

PLEASE keep ALL trade requests in there or PM's. Thank you.

Reduced Price Guide Discussion Thread(KEEP ALL DISCUSSION NOT RELATED TO GUIDE DROPS HERE!!!)
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169252

Guide Lists(master drop lists and recent drops):

Master Drop List(by store, alphabetically):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28master_lists%29

Recent Guide Drops(by date,also check the second post in this thread):
http://wiki.cheapassgamer.com/index.php/Category:Strategy_Guides_%28recent_drops%29

What is the purpose of this thread?

The purpose of this thread is to let our fellow CAGs know when a guide has dropped to a low price(it's NOT ALWAYS A PENNY), so they can go out and grab guides for themselves and for trading with other CAGs.

Anytime you have guide drops to report, post them here. Please specify at which store you found them and which guides you found and list them in alphabetical order. Thank you.

What are penny guides?

Penny guides are guides which have been on the market for a while and the publisher(or store chain) decide that the remaining stock of these guides have little to no chance of selling, so they issue an order to pull them from the shelves and destroy them. At that time, they are also marked as .01 in their inventory system, except in the case of BBV, which marks them .01 only AFTER pulling them.

Most stores have an agreement with the publisher that states that if they destroy the remaining stock of those items, they will receive a credit for their value from the publisher. This is why many stores are usually annoyed when we CAGs come in and buy the guides AT the penny price, since otherwise they would've received a full credit for those items.

According to an employee at a local BB, they also have a recycling program for the pennied stock, so as to not clutter landfill space with the guides. As to how true it is, I cannot confirm, but I would hope that the paper is at least recycled instead of just dumpstered.

Prior Reduced price game guide threads:

Guide Three:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50515&highlight=guide
Guide Four:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1496376
Guide Five:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85976
Guide Six:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116918
Guide Seven:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131717
Guide Seven and a half:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142400
Guide Eight:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167157

Finally, below is a list of website links, each of which goes to their respective guide page. Whenever possible, I will update the links with better ones(if available).

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
BestBuy
BookPool
CircuitCity
Gamestop
Overstock
StrategyGuides.net
ToysRUs

Thanks to floormat, Guinavere and anyone else who has created and maintained the guide thread before, as well as to all of those who find out either advance information on drops or provide a list of which ones dropped when we do have a drop.

The post below this one contains a list going back at LEAST six months of the more current guide drops, which stores they occured at and which ones dropped. Note that sometimes(Oblivion guide, Quake Wars: Enemy Territory)there are multiple versions of a guide, be it that there are Prima versions, Brady versions and the occasional Nintendo and Doublejump guides.

Please specify WHICH version has dropped when mentioning possible guide drops. Thank you.


 
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I've never been to one (although I just found out I have one near me, so I'll visit it this week), but I believe this will be very YMMV, since they're all franchise stores. Hopefully mine will take some guides, but I wouldn't blame them for not accepting them if they don't sell well.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']I wish I could check Best Buy today, since its the first Monday of the month...[/quote]

You sure about that? You might want to spring for higher quality calendars.
 
[quote name='Mysterio']You sure about that? You might want to spring for higher quality calendars.[/quote]

Actually, Gatsby is right on. Since Best Buy often claims that items returned within 30 days are outside the 30 day return policy (at which point the experienced customer pulls out a pocket calendar and counts the days with them, one by one), I'm sure he'll find some blueshirts who will insist today is the first Monday of the month.
 
[quote name='gantt']Actually, Gatsby is right on. Since Best Buy often claims that items returned within 30 days are outside the 30 day return policy (at which point the experienced customer pulls out a pocket calendar and counts the days with them, one by one), I'm sure he'll find some blueshirts who will insist today is the first Monday of the month.[/quote]

You can count? :booty:;)


no drops at bby today.
 
oh. Yeah, my bad

Still, anyone get to check? ;) because if guides dropped today, and it is commonly accepted that best buy drops on the first Monday of the month, wouldn't it follow that this is the first Monday of the month.

Also, it's the first Monday of Obamadan.
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']oh. Yeah, my bad

Still, anyone get to check? ;) because if guides dropped today, and it is commonly accepted that best buy drops on the first Monday of the month, wouldn't it follow that this is the first Monday of the month.

Also, it's the first Monday of Obamadan.[/QUOTE]

The first Monday of the month was the day before the election. November 3.

HTH
 
[quote name='Slim Gatsby']...because if guides dropped today, and it is commonly accepted that best buy drops on the first Monday of the month, wouldn't it follow that this is the first Monday of the month.[/quote]

[quote name='Xizer']The first Monday of the month was the day before the election. November 3.

HTH[/quote]

Don't think anyone's getting the joke, Slim. He was trying to be funny by dropping a modus ponens on us. :) I, for one, larfed.
 
[quote name='eugaet']Don't think anyone's getting the joke, Slim. He was trying to be funny by dropping a modus ponens on us. :) I, for one, larfed.[/quote]

Okay, since I didn't understand anything on that wikipedia page, I'm going back to assuming that means "female junk."
 
[quote name='eugaet']Don't think anyone's getting the joke, Slim. He was trying to be funny by dropping a modus ponens on us. :) I, for one, larfed.[/quote]

It's Philosophy 101 all over again! :D Truth tables...

[quote name='Richard Longfellow']Okay, since I didn't understand anything on that wikipedia page, I'm going back to assuming that means "female junk."[/quote]

Hey, it's Wikipedia. You can edit it to be whatever you want it to read ;) -at least for a little while, and I think it'll stay in the revisions/history page.
 
[quote name='Richard Longfellow']Okay, since I didn't understand anything on that wikipedia page, I'm going back to assuming that means "female junk."[/quote]

[quote name='Caliburn']Hey, it's Wikipedia. You can edit it to be whatever you want it to read ;) -at least for a little while, and I think it'll stay in the revisions/history page.[/quote]OK, Longfellow, you definitely have to edit that entry to add in 'female junk'. People need to know!
 
[quote name='david12795']Does anybody know where i can get a cheap LOZ Twilight Princess strategy guide?[/quote]



Let me restate that. That sounded like a noob post.


Does anybody know if LOZ TP guide is reduced less than $10? $20 was the best deal i could find on eBay so far.
 
[quote name='david12795']Oh rly? im moving there in about 2 years, will they still be in stock?[/QUOTE]

Wait... are you moving there by choice? O_O
 
I have not gone penny guide shopping in foreverrrr. So I stopped into the local Best Buy and snagged:

FFT:The War of the Lions
Bully Scholarship edition
GoW:CoO
ET:QW
Iron Man

I added National Treasure Bluray just so the total would not be 5 cents.
 
[quote name='Dingleberry']I have not gone penny guide shopping in foreverrrr. So I stopped into the local Best Buy and snagged:

FFT:The War of the Lions
Bully Scholarship edition
GoW:CoO
ET:QW
Iron Man

I added National Treasure Bluray just so the total would not be 5 cents.[/quote]

Way to go, 007.
 
Took another pile of guides into another store tonight... waled out with a free Golden Axe (360) game... they also had a B2G1 on used games... so I picked up a copy of Ikaruga to ebay to cover the money I spent, and a copy of Army of 2... they didnt have too much else there that I wanted used... but essentially I got a couple free games by combining deals
 
FYI - before I forget to post this -- I am not working this Friday. While drops normally happen on Mondays they have happened a few times on a Friday recently.
 
New drop today at Gametop:

Zelda: Twilight Princess (white softcover - Prima)

That's the only one I know about (or it's the only one they had). I'm heading out later to a different store so the list might change, but it's a darned good penny guide!
 
Apparantly the staff at my BB of choice are even lazier than I expected - that drop I found in Texas? All of it was still on the shelf. ALL OF IT. I was leaving a lot behind and I told them this, and they actually got a little irked by it.

I paid $1.48 while I was there.
 
Second post updated with the drop info that Punkmaggit provided.....can anyone confirm or add to that list?

[quote name='emg28']That's a lot of guides. :shock:[/quote]

I think I paid over $2 for guides the one time over a couple of days at the one NY Best Buy which was infamous for leaving 2-6 months worth of drops on the shelves.
 
This was by far the biggest haul I ever had in doing this - I think they receipts would be as tall as myself if I didnb't break it up into 2 purchases (They literally told me to take the rest).
 
What do you guys do with a haul of 100, 200 guides? I mean there have been plenty of times where I take a couple of guides and there are still 5 or 6 left and I think "they will probably just wind up sitting here anyway, so I could just take them and not hurt anything/anybody", but I never do. It's just a waste, really. I have guides sitting in my closet from drops that occured from last year.
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']What do you guys do with a haul of 100, 200 guides? I mean there have been plenty of times where I take a couple of guides and there are still 5 or 6 left and I think "they will probably just wind up sitting here anyway, so I could just take them and not hurt anything/anybody", but I never do. It's just a waste, really. I have guides sitting in my closet from drops that occured from last year.[/quote]

GetWellGamers. They can always find a use for guides. Plus its a small tax writeoff.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I think I paid over $2 for guides the one time over a couple of days at the one NY Best Buy which was infamous for leaving 2-6 months worth of drops on the shelves.[/quote]

I've seen 3 in NY that have had 3+ month old penny guides. The one of them still has Turok and Hellgate: London and some of the crappier old drops like that. I think I left 15+ SMG hardcovers there, too, because I just didn't need any more. They were well stocked, to say the least.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I've seen 3 in NY that have had 3+ month old penny guides. The one of them still has Turok and Hellgate: London and some of the crappier old drops like that. I think I left 15+ SMG hardcovers there, too, because I just didn't need any more. They were well stocked, to say the least.[/quote]

I'm jealous... stopped by a BB that I was near while running some other errands on the off chance that I might find something left over from the old drop and sure enough I did! One Conan guide, which I then waited at the checkout for 10mins for while the guy called his manager, the manager called his manager, walked off with the guide, then came back and overrode the price to $24.99.

Who on God's green earth is going to pay $24.99 for a folded up copy of an old/unpopular game after seeing that it's supposed to be $0.01?

I said no thanks and walked out.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I've seen 3 in NY that have had 3+ month old penny guides. The one of them still has Turok and Hellgate: London and some of the crappier old drops like that. I think I left 15+ SMG hardcovers there, too, because I just didn't need any more. They were well stocked, to say the least.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's how I feel too. For example, when Kane and Lynch dropped earlier this year (along with some others at the same time), they had 6. I took 2 or 3 and left the rest. They are STILL there, but there's no point in taking them because I still have the same 2 or 3 from before.

Either I'll wind up throwing out a ton of guides if I take everything, or they want wind up throwing them out eventually after an inventory, or something. Either way, they will get thrown out and leaving them there may give someone a nice surprise when they go to buy it. It's somewhat tantamount to an all-you-can-eat buffet: you legitimately paid the ~$10 for the buffet, so you can eat as much as you want, but why take 10 rolls, if you really only need 2, or so??
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']What do you guys do with a haul of 100, 200 guides? I mean there have been plenty of times where I take a couple of guides and there are still 5 or 6 left and I think "they will probably just wind up sitting here anyway, so I could just take them and not hurt anything/anybody", but I never do. It's just a waste, really. I have guides sitting in my closet from drops that occured from last year.[/quote]

Back when I had 400+, I was thinking about spray painting some of the useless ones(50 Cent Bulletproof)pages and gluing them on the rest of them after stacking them in a throne configuration. Then snapping a picture of me sitting on said throne for my picture on here.

But I decided to sell/trade them for ones I wanted instead, which has worked out far better than just snapping a picture and ruining so many guides.:D
 
I can't believe I missed the Best Buy drops from 10/27. I figured I'd check anyway. I was shocked to find 1 of the Hardcover Mario Galaxy guide. It seemed too good to be true but I got it.

Quick question, the list shows Army of Two Limited. Is that the shrinkwrapped one with a 2nd little book included?
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']

Quick question, the list shows Army of Two Limited. Is that the shrinkwrapped one with a 2nd little book included?[/QUOTE]

correct
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']I can't believe I missed the Best Buy drops from 10/27. I figured I'd check anyway. I was shocked to find 1 of the Hardcover Mario Galaxy guide. It seemed too good to be true but I got it.

Quick question, the list shows Army of Two Limited. Is that the shrinkwrapped one with a 2nd little book included?[/quote]
Yeah, it's the one with the Army of Two: Dirty Money graphic novel bundled with it.
 
[quote name='david12795']Let me restate that. That sounded like a noob post.


Does anybody know if LOZ TP guide is reduced less than $10? $20 was the best deal i could find on eBay so far.[/quote]


GameCrazy just pennied out the LOZ TP guides, along w/ the Elder Scrolls Oblivion (regular edition) guides.
 
[quote name='FiendCameron']GameCrazy just pennied out the LOZ TP guides, along w/ the Elder Scrolls Oblivion (regular edition) guides.[/quote]
First stops tomorrow!!
 
I've seen two versions of the white softcover Prima guide, and the one that was pennied is the Premiere Edition. I think the other one is also Prima, but it doesn't say Premiere Edition across the top cover. It's also a little fatter, but for some reason lighter. Finally, the MSRP of the one that pennied is $19.99, while the other Prima guide is $14.99.

By the way, I didn't actually scan either guide, I just walked up with the one and the manager said to keep it. I'm guessing the Premiere Edition is the pennied one, though, because it was on the website at the time of the original posting, and it's been taken down now. The $14.99 guide still shows up.
 
[quote name='FiendCameron']GameCrazy just pennied out the LOZ TP guides, along w/ the Elder Scrolls Oblivion (regular edition) guides.[/QUOTE]

Which TP guides exactly did they penny out? There's tons of different variations of them.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I've seen two versions of the white softcover Prima guide, and the one that was pennied is the Premiere Edition. I think the other one is also Prima, but it doesn't say Premiere Edition across the top cover. It's also a little fatter, but for some reason lighter. Finally, the MSRP of the one that pennied is $19.99, while the other Prima guide is $14.99.

By the way, I didn't actually scan either guide, I just walked up with the one and the manager said to keep it. I'm guessing the Premiere Edition is the pennied one, though, because it was on the website at the time of the original posting, and it's been taken down now. The $14.99 guide still shows up.[/quote]

^^^This is what I was talking about a few weeks ago. The new one at BB is fatter, so the old (white thin wii premere edition) ones must have been pennied out or sent back. Now they have a thicker white wii guide.
 
The newly pennied Soft Cover Wii TP Guide at GS was sitting on the shelf behind the counter laughing at me today....DX
 
I went to my BB and they had hundreds of game guides on sale. Do you guys have them price check them to see if they are a penny? I had them price check Phantom Hourglass, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, and Oblivion, but all rang up as 20.
 
[quote name='jaydepps']I went to my BB and they had hundreds of game guides on sale. Do you guys have them price check them to see if they are a penny? I had them price check Phantom Hourglass, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, and Oblivion, but all rang up as 20.[/quote]

Just check and trust the lists in the 2nd post. Those guides will be pennied. Checking random guides is good since it's the best way to find out if a guide is pennied. Just post any new info here.;)
 
[quote name='slowdive21']^^^This is what I was talking about a few weeks ago. The new one at BB is fatter, so the old (white thin wii premere edition) ones must have been pennied out or sent back. Now they have a thicker white wii guide.[/QUOTE]
I went to my BB last night and they had re-organized the guides, so I noticed that thy had both. I brought up both the slimmer version and the fatter version of the guide, and they rang up for $10 and $15, respectively.
 
[quote name='FiendCameron']GameCrazy just pennied out the LOZ TP guides, along w/ the Elder Scrolls Oblivion (regular edition) guides.[/quote]

We need confirmation on which VERSION of the TP guide pennied or if all of them pennied a list of who made what version and what other words we may have to look for on the front cover.

Plus, there have been multiple 'regular edition' Oblivion guides as well. We need further clarification on those as well.

And, I doubt that Gamestop ONLY pennied the one guide, so we need to know what other guides dropped there...

Anyone have any info?
 
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