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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[quote name='gantt']I was at my BB yesterday and they moved the guide section again, from within the videogame section toward the back of the store, across from the PC games. In the process, it seems like they expanded the shelf space.

I find it interesting how often my BB seems to re-arrange the store significantly. I wonder:
1) are these layouts orders from the mother ship, or the idea of local store managers
2) do they measure results (sales) before and after, and retain lessons learned
3) is someone getting promoted based on improving sales, or simply for shuffling the store around

I bet the rank-and-file employees love these changes.

Sorry, got a bit OT.[/quote]

Its odd sometimes. I know of a BB that will rearrange things periodically every other month or so, while every other BB around here keeps about the same layout with maybe a minor shuffle depending of stock here and there. And its a lot of work to move a whole section, so somebody higher than the usual store employees has to make the decision
 
i got soul calibur iv ce and ff tatics a2 today. i walked in to get a used psp and they were on the revolving rack, sweet had no problem getting them
 
[quote name='camelking6969']i got soul calibur iv ce and ff tatics a2 today. i walked in to get a used psp and they were on the revolving rack, sweet had no problem getting them[/quote]
They better not give you problem with the 2 guides since you were buying a used psp from them.
 
ugh that's lame but thanks for the info antic and jimijumper, i really felt like something would have dropped because ninja gaiden II, GTA IV, and super smash bros. brawl guides disappeared from the site....
 
[quote name='Brian9824']I'd expect a drop to occur NEXT monday or the monday after. Its usually been the beginning of the month.[/QUOTE]

If there isnt a drop next monday, we likely wont see another drop till next year since it is the holiday. In the past there were any drop around the end of the year
 
[quote name='jester695']When you scan "everything in sight," do you take them all up to the register and ask? Or are there self-scanners located in the store?[/quote]

Lol. I wondered that myself. I'm willing to ask an employee to scan 2 or 3 guides, tops. There are no self-scanners marked as such in the stores I've been to (unlike Target, for example). I guess I could try using one of the terminal scanners, but I suspect it would draw some concern from the nearest blueshirt, not to mention every time I ask one to scan something it seems they have to login first.
 
[quote name='jester695']When you scan "everything in sight," do you take them all up to the register and ask? Or are there self-scanners located in the store?[/quote]

It really depends on the layout of the store and the employees that work inside the store. I've got enough penny guides that the employees know me to a certain degree and think nothing of it to help me out. For awhile I was just using the scanners located in the store, but they've stopped working properly within the past 6 months or so. I know someone in the game section and he'll grab a gun and scan them with me if I ask him. I would NEVER do anything like that though if I knew that the employees and manager wouldn't be so helpful or willing to sell me the guides. I'll usually give some to the employees too if they're interested in one of the guides.
 
[quote name='jester695']When you scan "everything in sight," do you take them all up to the register and ask? Or are there self-scanners located in the store?[/quote]


fortunately the BB nearest me has price scanners so I just do it myself, no hassles whatsoever.
 
Picked up 2 copies of the following at a closing Circuit City:

Super Mario Galaxy (softcover)
Devil May Cry 4
Super Paper Mario (Nintendo Power)

Left behind at least one of each.
 
Cap'n_RDM;5156102 said:
Picked up 2 copies of the following at a closing Circuit City:

Super Mario Galaxy (softcover)
Devil May Cry 4
Super Paper Mario (Nintendo Power)

Left behind at least one of each.
Click to expand...

Is it one that is controlled by the liquidators? I was under the impression that they went in and manually changed all the prices in the system. Perhaps I'll have to check another one out soon to try to score a Super Mario Galaxy.
 
[quote name='Rollobobo']I was able to score:

Marvel Ultimate Alliance .01
Suikoden V .01
Wild Arms 4 .01

i was pretty happy about that![/quote]


Uh...where?
 
[quote name='Rave Child']Is it one that is controlled by the liquidators? I was under the impression that they went in and manually changed all the prices in the system. Perhaps I'll have to check another one out soon to try to score a Super Mario Galaxy.[/quote]

Yep...I've scored penny guides at 3 local "Store Closing" Circuit Cities. I imagine the liquidators didn't bother looking at the prices for the guides as CC already sells them at cover price & I don't think they'd be dumb enough to raise the price above that.
 
I used to be able to get a best buy employee to log me into their system and let me check a stack of guides but not that I work full time by the time I can check someone else has already done so.
 
My best buy completely cleared out the guide section and only the very newest guides are on the shelf. I hope they put the old ones back out after BF.
 
So I'm at my 24 hour Wal-Mart at Midnight.
Picking up last minute junk for tomorrow.
(Today technically)
Drove near Gamestop and stopped by the dumpster.
It was full of cardboard and I decided not to dig around.
Kicked a box that had regular non-cardboard trash and it had some good weight to it.
Took the bag off the top and the first thing I see if Soul Calibur 4 Limited Edition guide.
Im summation, 3 SC4LE guides, 2 Crisis Core guides and 1 Grand Theft Auto 4 guide.

:)
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']So I'm at my 24 hour Wal-Mart at Midnight.
Picking up last minute junk for tomorrow.
(Today technically)
Drove near Gamestop and stopped by the dumpster.
It was full of cardboard and I decided not to dig around.
Kicked a box that had regular non-cardboard trash and it had some good weight to it.
Took the bag off the top and the first thing I see if Soul Calibur 4 Limited Edition guide.
Im summation, 3 SC4LE guides, 2 Crisis Core guides and 1 Grand Theft Auto 4 guide.

:)[/quote]

Holy shit man thats awesome. I wish I could find a SC4 guide.
 
[quote name='Frosty The Batman']So I'm at my 24 hour Wal-Mart at Midnight.
Picking up last minute junk for tomorrow.
(Today technically)
Drove near Gamestop and stopped by the dumpster.
It was full of cardboard and I decided not to dig around.
Kicked a box that had regular non-cardboard trash and it had some good weight to it.
Took the bag off the top and the first thing I see if Soul Calibur 4 Limited Edition guide.
Im summation, 3 SC4LE guides, 2 Crisis Core guides and 1 Grand Theft Auto 4 guide.

:)[/quote]

I was wondering why the hell I didn't see any GTA IV guides when I went to GS this past week to grab a few games to add into the bundle I sold my buddies' brother in law. Can anyone confirm this dropped?
 
[quote name='Owen']Maybe a worker was trying to give a buddy a deal and you found his secret stash box.[/quote]

I've never had the chutzpah enough to dumpster dive for stuff, though my one buddy used to dd at Chucky Cheese. He picked up a couple of the higher end prizes by digging out intact bagfuls of tickets. But eventually they caught on and started shredding them like I think they're supposed to.

Another buddy found an LCD tv in an open dumpster behind a CC store once. The only thing that was wrong with it was the power cord was cut. He got it fixed and evaluated for $100-150 and had a perfectly working LCD tv.
 
I swung by a gamestop this week found a twilight princess hard cover guide. I had the girl at the register scan it. She told me that it was a penny and that the manager usualy pulls all the guides as they penny out. she said that he had been waiting on that one to penny so he could have if for himself. she then laughed ad told me not to worry about the penny and I left the store a happy man.
 
I checked the second post, but I thought I would double check. Has the Blue Zelda Hardcover been pennied at Gamecrazy? What about Resident Evil 4?
 
snagged 2 copies of Final Fantasy Crisis Core at Rock Springs Wyoming location. They also had a blue Zelda hardback but wouldn't sell it to me because it was out of the system. 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
 
I checked Best Buy and a Gamestop and came away with a bunch.

I picked up about 20 guides from BB and ONE lone guide from Gamestop, but I saw others there and didn't remember they dropped. So, I may try and re hit that same GS tomorrow and nab a Civ Rev for trading purposes.
 
I'm still holding off on looking at the second post, since I know I probably missed a bunch. I was surprised to even find that ONE SCIV LE that I did. The clerk asked me if there were anymore. I had to tell him 'I don't think so'.

They moved many of their guides onto a smaller rotating rack with 3 sides to it now, so some of the guides weren't out.

Oh and I checked GTA IV's guide, it's still FULL PRICE. So whoever it was who dumpster dived and found a copy, you really must've happened upon someone's stash a friend junked out for them.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I'm still holding off on looking at the second post, since I know I probably missed a bunch. I was surprised to even find that ONE SCIV LE that I did. The clerk asked me if there were anymore. I had to tell him 'I don't think so'.

They moved many of their guides onto a smaller rotating rack with 3 sides to it now, so some of the guides weren't out.

Oh and I checked GTA IV's guide, it's still FULL PRICE. So whoever it was who dumpster dived and found a copy, you really must've happened upon someone's stash a friend junked out for them.[/quote]

SUCK IT GAMESTOP!!
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']

Oh and I checked GTA IV's guide, it's still FULL PRICE. So whoever it was who dumpster dived and found a copy, you really must've happened upon someone's stash a friend junked out for them.[/quote]


I was just going to report GTA IV is still 19.99 at GS.
 
Looking at the site, it looks like the following guides have disappeared recently:

Grand Theft Auto 4
Halo 3
Lost Odyssey
Mario Kart Wii
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Pokedex (Prima)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Too Human

I haven't been up to date in checking the website, so these may have gone at an earlier time.
 
[quote name='loxthefox']Looking at the site, it looks like the following guides have disappeared recently:

Grand Theft Auto 4
Halo 3
Lost Odyssey
Mario Kart Wii
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Pokedex (Prima)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Too Human

I haven't been up to date in checking the website, so these may have gone at an earlier time.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for actually looking, lox, and not just asking someone else to do it. I appreciate people taking initiative and not just being lazy.

To add to your list, I also didn't see Call of Duty 4 on the site this morning. There may be others missing, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
Well I thought I worked today - showed up and saw I was off today... oops! I tried to see if the price change list had printed up already but no dice. I am still sticking to my theory there will be a good size drop real soon, we just have way too many guides.
 
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