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='Ubiiquitous']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.[/QUOTE]

It seems like that one's been gone from the site for awhile now. Again, haven't been up to date with the site. Also, looking at the site again, it looks like the LE guides of Madden 09, Soul Calibur IV, and Spore are gone, though if any guides pennied today, I doubt those ones did just yet.

Finally, was Mirror's Edge ever on the site? I've seen that guide in-store but not on the site.
 
[quote name='fuss']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.[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot, fuss! Does that mean that were no drops or does that mean you aren't certain just yet??

Again, thanks for checking! Yet another proactive CAG in this thread.....good to see....
 
[quote name='Ubiiquitous']Thanks a lot, fuss! Does that mean that were no drops or does that mean you aren't certain just yet??

Again, thanks for checking! Yet another proactive CAG in this thread.....good to see....[/quote]
Not certian yet, I WILL swing by shortly after opening to see whats up. I am cool with the person working this morning (unlike last time where I tried to check and the guy working was a tool).
 
I'm tempted to go, but I know the guy who helps me isn't working today so I'd run into an issue scanning. Hopefully Fuss or someone else can give a definite answer soon. :)
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I can't go today...Plus they are already pulled if there was a drop at my local store. Where is my praise for the trips I make to BB Ubiiquitous?http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/member.php?u=14583[/QUOTE]

All hail slowdive21. I have the same problem, all the old guides were pulled for Black Friday. :( I'm not sure what to do about that. I can't order online either for instore pickup if the guides are missing from the website...
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I can't go today...Plus they are already pulled if there was a drop at my local store. Where is my praise for the trips I make to BB Ubiiquitous?[/quote]

Thank you for your trips, slowdive. You're probably the most consistent person here. And of course we all thank fuss as well.
 
[quote name='hellmutt']All hail slowdive21. I have the same problem, all the old guides were pulled for Black Friday. :( I'm not sure what to do about that. I can't order online either for instore pickup if the guides are missing from the website...[/quote]

I was just kidding around...but I will still accept your worship even if it is sarcasm! :D For the record I checked CC on Sat and God of W2, twilight princess wii premere edition were still full price.
 
Thanks for checking guys. I had to work through my lunch and get even get out today. I think last year December was pretty dry and there was a big drop after New Year's.
 
Guys, don't you all remember that drops stopped from about November until Jan-Feb last year? I don't expect anymore drops before the end of the year but hopefully I'm wrong.
 
just got back from BB, I scanned eveything they had (which was a lot! including lost oddysey, too humn, haze, FF IV, Infinite Undisc, COD4..etc. etc.) alas I can confirm that there were no drops today...oh well heres hoping GS comes through
 
Last week I found a hardbound Twilight princess at my GS and the manger was ticked because the girl at the counter gave it to me, Today I found 3 of the white Twilight princess guides there and he wouldnt sell them to me, he said that he could only sell them at the price on the back. If they are gone next time i go I will ask him what hapened to them.
 
[quote name='lawdood']Guys, don't you all remember that drops stopped from about November until Jan-Feb last year? I don't expect anymore drops before the end of the year but hopefully I'm wrong.[/QUOTE]

Best Buy usually seems to have a good size drop about early March.
 
i tend to believe like fuss, every bb i go to has a gazillion guides. lets not forget gs had a drop last year monday before christmas. made real easy to get cuz employes to busy with customers
 
Sorry for the late report, spent all day shopping with the wife and then she wanted to watch a movie. But by the time I got back to the store the guy doing the price changes had left and had already turned inthe paperwork. But by looking at the guides it did not look like any of them had been pulled. I have tried calling him to confirm - but no return call as of yet.

I still fully expect a drop real soon. I stopped by another local BBY and thier guides were overflowing also. Again this is just my guess, take it for what its worth.

And I do not see any reason for me to have more Mondays off, this week I had it off because one of the other FTers is going out of town for the last half of the week, same thing happened last week. Its strange having Mondays off.
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']Last week I found a hardbound Twilight princess at my GS and the manger was ticked because the girl at the counter gave it to me, Today I found 3 of the white Twilight princess guides there and he wouldnt sell them to me, he said that he could only sell them at the price on the back. If they are gone next time i go I will ask him what hapened to them.[/QUOTE]

On Saturday I brought up a hardcover Twilight Princess guide to the GS clerk. He scanned it, looked bewildered, whispered something to the coworker next to him, typed something in the computer, then said it would be $14.99. I told him no thanks. What I don't get is why he would change the price to $14.99 and not the sticker price of $29.99.
 
[quote name='Josef']On Saturday I brought up a hardcover Twilight Princess guide to the GS clerk. He scanned it, looked bewildered, whispered something to the coworker next to him, typed something in the computer, then said it would be $14.99. I told him no thanks. What I don't get is why he would change the price to $14.99 and not the sticker price of $29.99.[/QUOTE]

I have had great luck bring up guides and saying: "I think this guide is on clearance, can you check please? I only want it if it IS clearanced out." That sets them up to expect an unusually low price, then they don't seem to flinch so much.
 
Thanks to everyone checking BB today. It would make sense that there wouldn't be another drop until at least next month, due to the huge drop they just had. I'm still finding Mario Galaxy hardcovers at some of my BB's.
 
[quote name='hellmutt']I have had great luck bring up guides and saying: "I think this guide is on clearance, can you check please? I only want it if it IS clearanced out." That sets them up to expect an unusually low price, then they don't seem to flinch so much.[/quote]

same here. i havent been denied at all. in fact, ive been encouraged to grab more.
 
[quote name='shelisheli']same here. i havent been denied at all. in fact, ive been encouraged to grab more.[/quote]

I think it depends on the employees. There's one particular Gamestop near me that always denied selling me guides when I tried the "I heard this was on clearance" routine. Now I just bring them up and keep my mouth shut, and they tell me it's my lucky day. Luckily it's enormous and extremely highly trafficked, so no one seems to remember me as the guy who gets penny guides.

Of course, when I'm at Best Buy, the cashier almost always comments, "Wow, that's a lot of guides!," to which I reply, "Well, they're cheap." And once they begin to ring up as a penny, I add, "Really cheap." Then they usually stand there with their mouths agape and use words like "wow" and "ridiculous" and "incredible."

In all, I find that the best methos is to keep your mouth shut at Gamestop since they sometimes know they shouldn't sell guides, but act like you know what you're doing at Best Buy or Circuit City, otherwise the rookie cashier might get confused and call a manager, who might end up denying you.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I think it depends on the employees. There's one particular Gamestop near me that always denied selling me guides when I tried the "I heard this was on clearance" routine. Now I just bring them up and keep my mouth shut, and they tell me it's my lucky day. Luckily it's enormous and extremely highly trafficked, so no one seems to remember me as the guy who gets penny guides.

Of course, when I'm at Best Buy, the cashier almost always comments, "Wow, that's a lot of guides!," to which I reply, "Well, they're cheap." And once they begin to ring up as a penny, I add, "Really cheap." Then they usually stand there with their mouths agape and use words like "wow" and "ridiculous" and "incredible."

In all, I find that the best methos is to keep your mouth shut at Gamestop since they sometimes know they shouldn't sell guides, but act like you know what you're doing at Best Buy or Circuit City, otherwise the rookie cashier might get confused and call a manager, who might end up denying you.[/quote]

Or in my case, the newbie calls over a manager, who takes one look at me, smiles, and says "its fine, he's doing us a favor" ^_^
 
[quote name='Visc']Or in my case, the newbie calls over a manager, who takes one look at me, smiles, and says "its fine, he's doing us a favor" ^_^[/QUOTE]

I started working at Best Buy a few weeks ago, and I asked my manager about pennied-out items. He didn't really know what I was talking about, so I explained the whole deal to him and he replied "Heck, at that point I'd rather just take the penny and be done with it."
Now if only I could figure out how to get my hands on the drop lists (when they come out), I could start helping cag out.
 
[quote name='shelisheli']same here. i havent been denied at all. in fact, ive been encouraged to grab more.[/quote]

That's how the one clerk was at the newest BB I've been hitting for guides lately. She told me, after clearing it with a management type, to go back and grab some more. My closest store is a completely different story, however. If the one guy is working in media and the cashiers actually question the .01 price, he gets called and tells them to 'charge full price'.

[quote name='Rave Child']I think it depends on the employees. There's one particular Gamestop near me that always denied selling me guides when I tried the "I heard this was on clearance" routine. Now I just bring them up and keep my mouth shut, and they tell me it's my lucky day. Luckily it's enormous and extremely highly trafficked, so no one seems to remember me as the guy who gets penny guides.

Of course, when I'm at Best Buy, the cashier almost always comments, "Wow, that's a lot of guides!," to which I reply, "Well, they're cheap." And once they begin to ring up as a penny, I add, "Really cheap." Then they usually stand there with their mouths agape and use words like "wow" and "ridiculous" and "incredible."

In all, I find that the best methos is to keep your mouth shut at Gamestop since they sometimes know they shouldn't sell guides, but act like you know what you're doing at Best Buy or Circuit City, otherwise the rookie cashier might get confused and call a manager, who might end up denying you.[/quote]

There's only ONE Gamestop by me that lets me get guides anymore when they penny. The rest tell me they 'have to throw them out'. Then again, those ones are staffed by people who have worked there for 3-5 years each, so I don't blame them for not wanting to lose their jobs over selling or giving me a guide.

Funniest thing is, the store that lets me get them, is actually the one their district manager who hardlined the 'no sell' rule on penny guides uses as his base of operations in his district.

So far I've lucked out and not run into him while scouring their racks for guides to try and grab, but I have a feeling I'm gonna be banned someday when he IS in the back office.
 
I'm amazed at how many chasheeirs have no idea what to do when they see penny guides, you would think that they would ahve seen them before, I have learned which employees to take the penny guides to in my local stores. expeccialy gamestop, the managers are usualy greedy gamers that grab them up. A worker at my local store told me that the manager takes all the stuff they are supposed to throw away. I'm wondering how many rare PS1 games he held in the back untill the day came to trash the leftovers!!
 
at best buy i dont say shit, i throw the guides up there and hand her my rewards zone card, and walk out with the goods. i have learned the more you talk the worse it is.
 
[quote name='camelking6969']at best buy i dont say shit, i throw the guides up there and hand her my rewards zone card, and walk out with the goods. i have learned the more you talk the worse it is.[/quote]

That's my attitude now. I also frequently pick-up a drink or a nominal purchase so the total isn't just some change and the cashiers pay less attention. I don't even use my reward zone card when I purchase them anymor.
 
^^^Whenever they say 'Do you have a reward zone card', I always reply: 'It's not worth it on these and ;)'...They scan the guides and are usually surprised or they say 'Oh are these the ones that are a penny?'

Last time a girl said to me: "Are you the guy that buys all the penny guides"? and I said "I'm one of them, someone already bought all the Hardcovers. I always leave some guides for everyone else. There's more back there if you are interested".
 
[quote name='h3llbring3r']That's my attitude now. I also frequently pick-up a drink or a nominal purchase so the total isn't just some change and the cashiers pay less attention. I don't even use my reward zone card when I purchase them anymor.[/quote]

I don't use my RewardZone card either. No sense in creating any more of a paper trail that might alert someone.

BTW, HB, have you been able to get guides at the Kennesaw store lately?
 
I just found a whole bunch of pennied guides from the last drop at an out of the way BB while hitting some GameStops in the area for Blu Rays and GB/C games -- some more DMC4 and GoW, no hardbacks though.
 
[quote name='SDC']
Now if only I could figure out how to get my hands on the drop lists (when they come out), I could start helping cag out.[/quote]

Well....have you tried asking?
 
[quote name='Visc']Well....have you tried asking?[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't even know who to ask, as the guides seem to shift from the video-game section to the computer section every so often. Nor would I want to appear suspicious in any way. I'm just a seasonal employee at the moment.
 
[quote name='SDC']the guides seem to shift from the video-game section to the computer section every so often.[/quote]

True dat. They're the hot potato of BB gaming merchandise. Or, the last guy picked for gym team. "You take 'em." "No, YOU take 'em."
 
[quote name='neocisco']I don't use my RewardZone card either. No sense in creating any more of a paper trail that might alert someone.

BTW, HB, have you been able to get guides at the Kennesaw store lately?[/quote]

No, and the Galleria BB seems to be pulling them as they are gone by lunch time.
 
I've only been "denied" once at a BB when the manager told me 3 of each so other people can buy them. I went back later and of course the extra guides weren't on the shelf and probably destroyed. As such, I made a 2nd run with a reg cashier.

Another time, some clerk was like WTF?!?! And he calls his buddy over and they're like holy shit. Do you have a list? So I just gave it to them despite the fact that I pretty much cleaned it out. I even offered one of the employees one of my guides and he's like nah it's cool.
 
[quote name='SDC']the guides seem to shift from the video-game section to the computer section every so often.[/quote]

The one CAG I talk to regularly said they were told that BB nationwide is supposed to be doing full on 'resets' of their stores, which includes moving tons of shelves around. I know the one newer BB already shifted their guides to one big section at the back of the store.

I stashed one of the first edition WOW Atlases with bookmarks behind the one shelf, but it fell flat to the floor and has been there ever since.

I wonder how long it is before the pennied guides/items get taken completely out of the system?
 
[quote name='camelking6969']at best buy i dont say shit, i throw the guides up there and hand her my rewards zone card, and walk out with the goods. i have learned the more you talk the worse it is.[/quote]

I never say anythign at Best buy, I just find the cutest casheeir becase the cuter they are the less likely they are to call a manager in my experience. Gamestop is the place I have the most problems, If I say anything about tehm being penied before they scan them they refuse to scan them.
 
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