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='neocisco']So just copy the list and PM it to yourself. It's a simple fix and it's to the benefit of everyone here. What's the problem?[/quote]

Because I don't wanna? :razz: Like I said, if the aholes from SD/FW want to hoard every BB in the land, they'll realize that trying to Ebay the guides is futile once they see the low, low prices.

Plus, why wouldn't they have stolen every drop list SINCE the one they reposted? I think that's because most of them already learned that lesson and they don't want to make the same mistake again.
 
I'll be happy to pick up extras of DQIV and TOV if someone's got either of the Disgaea guides or Fable II LE guides that were just dropped at EB.
 
[quote name='rarebucky']I'll be happy to pick up extras of DQIV and TOV if someone's got either of the Disgaea guides or Fable II LE guides that were just dropped at EB.[/quote]


yeah same here....or i'd be nice to pickup a Fallout 3 Limited Edition also!!!
 
Checked out a BB near me today

Saw:
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Many)
Crash Mind over Mutant (Many)
Lost Odyssey (A Couple)
Mass Effect LE (Only one) someone stole the art book from another one
Ninja Gaiden 2 (A Couple)
Soul Calibur IV LE (Only One)
Spore LE Bundle (Only One)
Tales of Vesparia (Only One) may have seen another one
Too Human (A Couple)
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (A Couple)
360 Achievement Guide (Many)

I wanted to see:
Elder Scrolls IV GOTY (BLACK)
Fable 2 LE
Mercenaries 2
 
I went to a GS today and saw Battlefield: BC. I asked the guy for a check and he confirmed a penny. I asked to buy it and he actually said to my face "we have to field destroy this. It needs to be thrown out".

I'm writing to corporate about this. Incredibly nasty to say to a customer that they're a piece of shit and you'd rather throw something out than give it to them.
 
yeah i went to bb the other day and i saw GTA 4!!!!! Man all this talk and excitement seems like it's wasting all of our time when we should just wait to tomorrow but what do i know except i did see GTA4 baby yeah and FALLOUT 3
 
I went and scoped out my BB yesterday. The only guide from the list I really wanted, Mass Effect, was all gone. Still, great drop (if it happens)
 
there are 3 BBs in my area. I know one always tends to have plenty of guides. Im going to check it out tomorrow and hit up the other 2, if I dont find Mass Effect and FF VII Crisis Core
 
My local BB is PACKED with goodies. I hid a Mass Effect LE with art book (I assume that's the one?) but left all the other stuff. I hope they don't pull anything, because it's going to be a ridiculous haul if they don't.
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']@sacreddoctor

Why do you keep discussing guides that aren't even on the list (Fallout 3/LE and GTA4)?[/quote]

Yeah, I was confused about this also.

Thanks so much, Vahn. I scoped out the local Best Buy for some awesome picks.
 
Same here! My local BB had tons of guides! Scanned one or two and they were regular price, I hid the ones I really wanted, going back tomorrow at 10AM hopefully to get them (plus some for trading purposes). Keeping my fingers crossed the cashier tomorrow would be nice/don't care and let me get them for $0.01. *fingers crossed*

Edit: Thanks Vahn for the heads up!!!
 
[quote name='Sacsquash']@sacreddoctor

Why do you keep discussing guides that aren't even on the list (Fallout 3/LE and GTA4)?[/quote]

he's TRYING to confuse us! he hopes WE will go into BB and grab the unlisted guides he's mentioning and be in emotional agony when it turns out they're not a penny! :bomb:
 
My BB has a ton of goodies...

Mass Effect with Art
Lost Odyssey
Oblivion GOTY
Soulcalibur
All the Final Fantasies

And a ton more...
 
[quote name='kingotnw']I was just at BB and tried the guides on this list, not one of them rang up for less than list price.[/quote]

So, you're able to read the list, but not the DATE posted? ;)
 
scouted out my BB before going across the street for some Hooters wings...didn't see any Fable or Soul Calibur LE's unfortunately. Hopefully the multiple Mass Effect LE's will be there and i can get some for trade fodder =]
 
How many guides are you guys going to bring up at first, and are they going to be the ones you want. or do you people play it safe and bring up bad guides first. then if you get them you go back get more and bring them back to the same person. this is my first BB drop and i want it to go better than gamestop. also should i buy them when the store is busy or empty. sorry 4 all the questions ^_^
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']How many guides are you guys going to bring up at first, and are they going to be the ones you want. or do you people play it safe and bring up bad guides first. then if you get them you go back get more and bring them back to the same person. this is my first BB drop and i want it to go better than gamestop. also should i buy them when the store is busy or empty. sorry 4 all the questions ^_^[/quote]

This is going to be my first time going to BB, but I'm going to get 4-5 good guides and if the CSRs give me no problems I'm going to go for 4-5 more.

If there are more guides left I'll drop in on Tuesday and pick up a few more.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']I rented a U-Haul today with EZLoad.
It should help some.[/quote]

i hope your kidding. ahah.

but yeah there are over 20 bestbuys in my radius, so it should be a treat for me.
 
[quote name='c.gibbits']i hope your kidding. ahah.

but yeah there are over 20 bestbuys in my radius, so it should be a treat for me.[/QUOTE]

jesus. where do you live? There is 1 close to me. the rest i would have to go to new york. no way i will take a bus to NY to get guides
 
Looks like I'm waking up early tomorrow to hit best buy at open before they realize they need to pull these guides off the shelf.
 
There are three close to me. I'm actually sort of concerned about space right now. Because this drop is so massive, I'm trying to be selective about what I grab... there's just so many good ones, though.

As it stands, I have an entire storage tub filled with penny guides and I'd rather not have stacks around. Now I'm actually considering tossing some of them, as I never got around to reading them and my friends don't want them... PES and Dark Sector come to mind.
 
[quote name='SL4IN']Looks like I'm waking up early tomorrow to hit best buy at open before they realize they need to pull these guides off the shelf.[/QUOTE]

Me too, well I'll already be up (up a 6am) but Im leaving my house at like 9am to get there when they open.
 
Thirded on that. I'll be there at opening.

There's another BB about 25 minutes from me that has an obscene amount of guides (possibly near 200) all book-ended. I'm bound to get a few from there as well.

Best of luck to us all tomorrow! :D
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']before tossing , put them up on here - maybe the free stuff giveaway thread...can have people pay for shipping costs.[/quote]

That's a good idea. I'll sift through my guides this week and see what I need to get rid of.
 
I'm going to buy a camcorder there anyway tomorrow so I figure that I might as well walk up to the register with a cart full of guides and the camcorder so that I can say something like: oh you don't want to give me these guides for $0.01 each? I'm sorry, i'm gonna have to pass on this camcorder then...
 
[quote name='2sday']To anyone going to Best Buy in Joliet on Monday, please don't hoard, I know I wont.[/quote]

I was just going to respond saying ditto implying in general not to hoard and then I reread and saw you said Joliet! haha thats weird, I normally would be going to the one in Joliet but I am up at college right now in Naperville.

Either way, I hope no one hoards them because there are quite a few guides I would really like to pick up.
 
[quote name='BarbblerElf']How many guides are you guys going to bring up at first, and are they going to be the ones you want. or do you people play it safe and bring up bad guides first. then if you get them you go back get more and bring them back to the same person. this is my first BB drop and i want it to go better than gamestop. also should i buy them when the store is busy or empty. sorry 4 all the questions ^_^[/quote]

[quote name='DarkRider23']This is going to be my first time going to BB, but I'm going to get 4-5 good guides and if the CSRs give me no problems I'm going to go for 4-5 more.

If there are more guides left I'll drop in on Tuesday and pick up a few more.[/quote]

On the last couple BB drops I've hit multiple stores to get several different guides. The most I re-call picking up from one store was about 10, they just ring it up and no questions asked. This particularly happens with the BBs, the only times I've gotten weird looks or have been lied to has been at CC = weird looks and GameCrazy = lying A-holes.

Just don't worry about purchasing multiple guides. If it rings up as a penny or any where under a dollar you should be able to purchase it rightfully for that amount.
 
For those of you who want to buffer your purchase so you don't look silly with a huge stack of guides for 14 cents,
BB has 12+1 month Xbox Live Gold for $30, which is a fantastic price. Also BF:BC for $20.

You can also buy something really big with a cart full of guides and then return the big item.

The biggest problem I've had at BB, CC, GS is the employee who shouts "OKAY SIR YOUR TOTAL IS 14 CENTS!!!!!!!"
That's when a manager takes notice and comes over to investigate.

Also, before you approach a register with your loot, you should already have scouted for the dumbest looking employee at a register.
It helps to casually loaf about in an aisle near the front and pounce when that employee's line opens up.

Gosh, I really have too much time on my hands to think of this stuff.
 
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Well I was at a gamestop that was a good 2 hours away from me today and found the following:

Mass Effect W/ Art Book
Metal Gear Solid 4 LE (x2, 1 Wrapped, 1 not)
Okami Wii
Dragon Quest IV
Battlefield Bad Company
Phantom Hourglass LE

When I went to the cashier, after quickly scanning the thread on my phone, I asked him if metal gear LE was still regular price. So he scans it, and I say "how much is it?"

He goes, "uhh, um, uhh, uhh" so I said, "whats wrong? its a penny?"

he replies, "UH YEA. WHAT GAMESTOP DO YOU WORK AT!?"

So I told him, "Don't worry about it, just ring me up"

He looked pretty pissed that I knew about the penny guides. Not my fault they didn't pull them off the shelves! He rang me up, extremely pissed, I paid my $0.07, and I left.
 
[quote name='Pookymeister']Well, thats new to the list[/quote]

yea, I meant to say that.

I checked the list and I didn't see it so I just asked him to scan it.

Also, he said he had a Fallout 3 LE in the back but I forgot to ask him to scan it... he was annoyed enough as it was :p
 
[quote name='Penguin1084']Well I was at a gamestop that was a good 2 hours away from me today and found the following:

Mass Effect W/ Art Book
Metal Gear Solid 4 LE (x2, 1 Wrapped, 1 not)
Okami Wii
Dragon Quest IV
Battlefield Bad Company
Phantom Hourglass LE

When I went to the cashier, after quickly scanning the thread on my phone, I asked him if metal gear LE was still regular price. So he scans it, and I say "how much is it?"

He goes, "uhh, um, uhh, uhh" so I said, "whats wrong? its a penny?"

he replies, "UH YEA. WHAT GAMESTOP DO YOU WORK AT!?"

So I told him, "Don't worry about it, just ring me up"

He looked pretty pissed that I knew about the penny guides. Not my fault they didn't pull them off the shelves! He rang me up, extremely pissed, I paid my $0.07, and I left.[/quote]

Nice.:lol:
 
[quote name='dcgm']Thirded on that. I'll be there at opening.

There's another BB about 25 minutes from me that has an obscene amount of guides (possibly near 200) all book-ended. I'm bound to get a few from there as well.

Best of luck to us all tomorrow! :D[/quote]

You are all lucky as hell. I have school starting at 8 AM and ending at 1 PM. Why can't anything good happen on Wednesdays (the day I'm actually off)? I'll even settle for Tuesdays/Fridays... I get out of school at 9:30 AM on those days, but everything good happens on days I have school.

Either way, good luck to everyone tomorrow.
 
This is gonna be my first BB run so if I go up to the register with 20 guides that only ring up for 20 cent they aren't gonna call a manager or turn me away? Has that happened to anyone?
 
[quote name='Tempius']This is gonna be my first BB run so if I go up to the register with 20 guides that only ring up for 20 cent they aren't gonna call a manager or turn me away? Has that happened to anyone?[/quote]
It happens. All you can do is plead your case ("it's not my fault they weren't pulled from the shelf, you should sell them for what they ring up as") etc...

If it's a regular employee that refuses to sell them, demand a manager. Otherwise try to stay out of sight of the manager if possible.
 
[quote name='gordojones88']WTF is the matter with you. None of those guides have been pennied. This is the penny guide thread.[/quote]

It should be noted that this is not the penny guide thread, but the Reduced Price Guide thread. That being said, sd's posts are not productive, since he/she is basically posting guides that he/she claim to have saw, guides that are not reduced in price.
 
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