Astor Reinhardt

Haven't really been out to anywhere that has games and still avoiding things like yard sales since they're not essential things. I did pop into a pawn shop since my parents needed to go to a nearby store...but unfortunately the pawn shop is the one that has pretty much gotten rid of their games, they barely have any games and certainly no old stuff. But I did manage to find a PSP game that I didn't have! So that was surprising lol. Pawn shop: PSP Medievil Resurrection - $8 (CIB)

So the guy was cool and made an exception. Weirdly he got it to work on the stores PS2...so maybe my PS2 needs some TLC? At any rate I got two games to replace it. NES Heavy Barrel (with manual) NES Rocket Ranger It was just a simple exchange, no cash since I got the exact right amount...which was hard let me tell you.

So I finally found someone willing to buy a bunch of consoles without cables/controllers. It was my local game store. I got $325 in store credit and promptly spent it all. I had originally bought more Laserdiscs then games but the Laserdiscs didn't work for me so I had to return those and then get more games. And now one of the PS2 games isn't working (I finally got around to testing it...) so I need to see if I can still return it...technically a week has passed...but I'm hoping they'll make an exception if I call them and tell them it doesn't work. Anyways here's what I got. NES Demon Sword NES Mega Man 3 (CIB) NES Robocop 2 SNES The Adventures Of Dr. Franken SNES Battle Clash SNES Frantic Flea SNES Harley's Humongous Adventure SNES Jim Power: The Lost Dimension In 3D SNES Kid Klown In Crazy Chase SNES Robocop 3 Super Famicom Ace Wo Nerae! Super Famicom Shiku Shining Scorpion PS2 .hack//G.U. Vol 2: Reminisce (CIB) PS2 Shining Force Exa (CIB) PS2 Soul Nomad & The World Eaters (CIB, water damaged cover art) I was trying to grab the most interesting sounding games (plus the Super Famicom games I can play on my Retro Duo Portable)...and Mega Man was just...the right price for me to use up the rest of the credit. I needed that game CIB anyways.

Last Saturday there was supposedly going to be "75 yard sales" at this "neighborhood wide yard sale" down in Tacoma...there wasn't. It sprinkled and everyone got scared. There was 20 sales if that and it was really all garbage. Two people had games but of course they sold them and one guy was a reseller...had a ton of games in bins I could see but nothing for sale...ugh. So I was pretty let down and moody but I spotted a game store that I've never seen before (don't get down to Tacoma much) and it was like a light at the end of the tunnel. Now normally I don't wanna spread awareness because if a game place has good prices...I wanna keep it to myself but...eh why not. Maple Bar Games was the store. They had like 5 or 6 arcade machines up front (none of them on at the time...shame) and it had the usual stuff a game store has (plus some card games/dice for table top games). But the prices were pretty good. Lower then eBay. I found everything to be about $1 or $2 under eBay prices. And one game was much cheaper then eBay prices because it had the manual...didn't spot that until I was in the car looking things over lol. I'd totally go back there again. Maple Bar Games: NES Astyanax - $7 (has name in sharpie on back of cart) NES Battle Chess - $6 (has both back and front label damage and also plastic blistering on front of cart) NES Dr. Chaos - $7 (comes with manual) NES Gyruss - $8 NES Quattro Sports - $5 NES Shadowgate - $8 Xbox Metal Dungeon - $8 (CIB) Xbox Tao Feng - $7 (CIB) Xbox Tenchu Return From Darkness - $6 (CIB)

So I turned 29 a few days ago. WA is reopening slowly, but certain counties are in a different "phase" then where I live meaning they're going to have stuff like thrift stores open. I actually did hit a thrift store the day before my birthday and while I didn't get games, I did find a lot of cool VHS, vinyl and toys...so that was fun. Satisfied me, I had a real craving to go hunting again lol. Anyways, on my birthday I was going to just go to my favorite restaurant to get carry out and hit my favorite Asian market...but I noticed pawn shops are open...so I had to stop at a few I knew sold old games...at least in the past. I found some neat things...and over spent. Pawn shop 1: Nintendo game drawer (has a large bottom drawer that can hold 28 games and a top drawer for holding controllers, plugs and a zapper), with 14 NES games, and a NES system (with all the plugs + two controllers) - $180 NES games: - The Adventures of Bayou Billy (with manual and Nintendo dust sleeve) - Donkey Kong Classics (with Nintendo dust sleeve) - Double Dribble (with Nintendo dust sleeve) - DuckTales (with unbranded dust sleeve, spine label damage) - Golf (with Nintendo dust sleeve, name in marker on back of cartridge) - Ninja Gaiden II (with unbranded dust sleeve, several price stickers on back...including an old Gamestop one for $6.99 lol) - Pro Wrestling (with Nintendo dust sleeve) - Punch-Out (with Nintendo dust sleeve, some light spine label damage) - Spy Hunter (with unbranded dust sleeve, name in marker on back of cartridge) - SMB/Duck Hunt (with unbranded dust sleeve) - SMB 2 (with unbranded dust sleeve) - TMNT (with unbranded dust sleeve) - Top Gun: The Second Mission (with unbranded dust sleeve) - X-Men (with manual and Nintendo dust sleeve) The other games: NES Deadly Towers - $6 (with unbranded dust sleeve) SNES The Jungle Book - $9 PS3 Puppeteer - $13 (CIB, or as CIB as it can be without a manual...) Pawn shop 2: 2600 Brain Games - $3 (missing spine label) 2600 Kangaroo - $3 (missing spine label) 2600 Outlaw - $3 (missing spine label) SNES Super Battletank: War in the Gulf - $3 (back label badly torn) DS Puzzle de Harvest Moon - $3 (CIB) 3DS case that has a NES controller design on top - $3 (also has storage for 6 games) Pawn shop 3: 2600 Amidar - $2 (label came off, going to have to glue it back somehow) 3DS Animal Crossing: New Leaf - $10 (CIB) Also I've bought a few things online. One from an Instagram seller and the other from a game store here in WA that has some of their inventory up on a website. Instagram seller (all this was $49 with shipping): GB Dragon Warrior Monsters (some label damage) GB Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 Tara's Adventure GB Super Mario Land 2 (with manual) GBC Klax (with manual, some label damage) Online store: DC Armada - $25 (CIB) DC Record of Lodoss War - $45 (CIB) I found some great stuff. I just wish that bundle could have been split up. I ended up just selling the pawn shop the NES back because I didn't need it and I wanted the price to be lower...they only gave me $40 for it The online store I'm not going to name because I'm no so sure about these guys, I'm interested in some of their stuff but they have 0 pictures up and don't tell you if a game is Greatest Hits edition or not. I messaged them awhile back but they never got back to me on if the games I was interested in were GH or not. I mean their prices are good/decent, but I just wish they had pictures up. Anyways of the drawer lot I'm keeping the manual for Bayou Billy, Donkey Kong Classics, Ninja Gaiden 2, Pro Wrestling, Punch-Out, Spy Hunter, Top Gun 2, X-Men and the manual. The rest I have. Of course I'm keeping the drawer. I just looked all the games up in that bundle and if I add the $40 NES back in...I get about $178...so I guess everything was "FMV"...I just don't wanna pay FMV lol.

So uh...that Neo Geo mini is now $56 on Amazon. I was actually thinking of grabbing it at $30 but at $56...I think I'll wait.

Has anyone been kinda...meh? On the releases lately? I'm not really buying anything from them...maybe I got burnt out but all the RPGs are feeling/looking the same or have a super boring plot line. It's actually kind of nice not having to wake up/stay up till 7 am and get anxiety trying to beat others to get a copy of a game...and of course my bank account is super happy. I'm actually not going broke at the end of the month anymore...feels great!

Any of the Fallout ones. I got 3, 4 and 76. Vegas is on my list to nab but I haven't found a good price on a complete one for PC (I get PC ones only because it's the platform I play the games on the most...plus mod support ). I was let down by the quality of the Pipboy in 4 and the helmet in 76 (and bag gate). But they still look sweet. 76 is just...HUGE. I have no room to display it at all. It's currently sitting on my CRT because that's the only space big enough for it...where it won't be damaged.

Not running on a full tank of gas. Two cards short of a full hand. Potatobrained/potatohead.

Oh there's a lot of stuff I hate about collecting. - Having to compete against local resellers/other collectors to get to a sale first...and then missing out. - People thinking their banged up loose copy game is worth CIB mint condition eBay prices. - Game stores. - Gamestop's retro program. - Pokemon GBA games...god damn. Finding a real one is hard. - Shipping prices when buying online (though in general I don't...) - Stickers on the cover art/label/cardboard....WHY!? - The high price of games. I don't pay these prices of course but...it just boggles my mind that complete shit games are worth so much...like Stadium Events. - Online sellers who don't clean and test their games (and ones who don't say they own pets/smoke). - Buying loose copies of games because you know it's probably going to be the only way you can afford it/find it and then the struggle of finding a manual and case for said game. I have a lot of loose DS/3DS/PSP games that are just...impossible to find case and manual only. - Thrift store prices. The worst is Value Village/Savers. When they do get games in...they are extremely over priced. - Goodwill sending every good game/older game to their online store and not having anything in their actual stores...because that makes sense. Also not locking up the disc games so when/if they get something semi decent...some lowlife steals the disc and leaves the case. - Sellers who won't break up bundles. I don't need ANOTHER system, I just want one or two games. - Selling consoles in bundles without the cords...I have so many consoles missing power cords/AV cables and controllers...and no idea what to do with them. - Buying dupes when I don't realize I have the game at home (even though I keep a list updated...I still do this sometimes!) - Lack of space....so many games and no where to put them. And probably ten more things but my mind is going blank...yet even with all of this, I still really enjoy collecting. The thrill of the hunt, giving games a good home...cleaning old, beat up games and loving them...the way they deserve to be loved. They're pieces of art after all...well...most are lol.

I'm never up early enough to hit the stupid turnip lady up so...I never bother. I do it the old fashioned way...lots and lots of gathering/crafting It's incredibly slow and boring. I experimented with my first time travel. I hate TTing but...I did it to get rid of my most hated villager. Thank god it worked. I did it literally for that reason because screw paying real life money for amiibo cards to kick out a villager...stupid system. I've nearly got my arcade complete I'm just missing the last pinball machine which is brown. Then I'm done for the most part. Everything else is color variations on items I already own like the pool table, the gumball machine, the popcorn machine...that stuff. Which I can slowly acquire one way or the other. I just want to get that last pinball lol.

I got lucky and found someone with the white pinball machine...now I have it cataloged. I think there's five variations in total, so I still have to hunt down four more. I'm focusing on the pinballs right now...specifically because they only cost 2,700 bells to order. So if I offer up 3k to someone as a trade...I should get them fast...or so I think. The Reddit trading thread is...bad. I keep getting downvoted for some reason 3k is reasonable isn't it?

I have the foosball table already made so it can be cataloged. Want to catalog it and I'll catalog your bubblegum machine?

What with all this virus BS going down, thrift stores are closed and yard sales...while still sort of popping up...aren't a good idea soooo I haven't really done much in the way of hunting. I did get some games recently through a local group that's doing some deliveries of food and other things...and they were free to boot. I also bought cases for the 3DS games because I found some cases with manuals for cheap...and I also picked up a case plus manual for my loose copy of Super Mario 3D Land. Feels good to case loose games...I don't find a lot of cases and manuals cheap so I haven't been able to case my loose games but...yeah it feels super nice to complete a game. Free games: DS Final Fantasy III DS Guitar Hero On Tour 3DS Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon 3DS Super Smash Bros All loose, the FF game I already own and the Guitar Hero one I don't really care about but the 3DS games are great! I've been wanting them both for awhile...plus free is free!

Anyone have the various pinball machines, a ping pong table, neon signs/neon clock, desktop computer, LCD TVs and anything else that might belong in an arcade that they'd be willing to let me catalog? Trying to make a basement arcade. I've already cataloged the three arcade games, the arcade seat, the dart board, the jukebox, the foosball table, the pool table, a popcorn machine and I have the break tapper "slot machine" from Pocket Camp... I tried asking around on Reddit but...I'm getting a bunch of people flaking out on me at the last second or asking for stuff I don't have for a fee to come catalog... I get tipping...but a fee? Seriously, I'm just asking to pick up your items then drop them and leave. Why charge a fee for that. Plus I'm broke so...can't afford it at any rate.

Obsessed with ACNH...I have to log in daily and do my "chores"...like shake my trees, hit my rocks, chop the trees for wood, talk to my villagers, look at new items in the shops, hunt down my random visitor, dig up fossils...and by that time I'm 4 hours in...wondering where the day went.

Clean all the things! But no really. Clean my bedroom, bathroom, game room, and computer room. And by clean I don't mean vacuuming or sweeping. I mean going through all my stuff and sorting it. Keep, donate or trash. I'm looking to get my rooms back...I've been really bad about using my space to the fullest and just piling stuff up. It's reached near hoarder levels. Honestly getting sick of not being able to go over to my bookcase to grab a book like a normal person...instead I have to get on top of my bed and walk on it over to my bookcase since the end of my bed, where I would normally walk to get to the bookcases...is full of stuff. Just...every inch other then a narrow pathway is FILLED with stuff. I'm not getting rid of video games...god no, but I am planning on getting rid of some other items that I've collected over the years...like toys. But just stuff I don't love and wouldn't regret getting rid of. After that, then the actual cleaning can happen since...I can't remember the last time I vacuumed in any of my rooms. And there's some various fixing jobs I need to help my dad with...like my sink leaks, my tub's drain stopper won't seal so I can't actually take a bath, only showers (it's a shower/tub combo), my under the sink storage is missing the doors (we had to remove them for some reason and I only recently found them again) and just various other issues that are all little annoyances and nothing critical (the leak has a bucket under it)...but they need to get fixed. And specifically for my game room, once it's cleaned out...it can actually be a game room and not a storage room that I call a "game room". I need to put my shelving up and finish various things in that room, then I can finally put my games in there. Other then those things, which is my main focus... I want to work on my new years resolutions...at least the ones I can do at home. So eating better, hanging out with my parents more, learning to cook, learning to sew...little things like that. Now that I don't have to worry about hunting down video games at yard sales and the like this year...I can focus on taking care of the items I do own. Like cleaning out my computer room? I found a bunch of games I forgot I owned...or yesterday I was sorting through some stuff in my bedroom and found two bags of games that I was wondering how the hell they ended up at the very bottom of this pile of stuff...they should have been in my computer room where I put all my games that I need to catalog before I put them into my collection. Just...weird stuff. Sometimes I wonder what I'm thinking when I find stuff hidden...

What don't I collect...is a better question. Ok so I collect: - Sailor Moon - Hello Kitty - Various manga and anime (Black Butler, Future Diary, Attack on Titan...) - Unicorn stuff (I love unicorns, so if it's unicorn related...I usually will try to get it) - Dead media (cassettes, VHS, Laserdiscs...) - Old electronics (old radios, boom boxes, clocks...usually from the 1980s) - Video game related items (merch, magazines, books, promotional items...) - Vintage cook books and magazines from the 1940s to the 1960s (for the magazines...specifically stuff like Good Housekeeping) - Vintage cookware/dishes like Pyrex and Fire King - Civil Defense/fallout shelter items - Toys, dolls, figures, plushies, books, magazines, cups, board games...just everything from the 1980s that I can get my hands on. And some choice 1990s items that I had when I was a kid...or always wanted. - Limited edition...food packaging (specifically junk food like Oreo packages...I'm a bit ashamed about this one. I just keep the packages though, not the food!) - Vintage Halloween items (like 1940s, 1950s and 1960s stuff...I really don't have much though), I also collect 1980s and 1990s Halloween decorations Really I collect a lot of stuff and probably forgot 50 other things I collect... Those are just the "big" collections I listed off. I have other small collections that I'm not sure if they count or not...like my collection of cute Japanese stationary...or my collection of bottlecaps... If you're interested in seeing some of these things, check my Instagram out: https://www.instagram.com/astorreinhardt/ I post a lot of pictures of the items I find at yard sales/thrift stores that I bought...well not right now since...can't go outside but my old finds are still there. I'm also planning on taking some deep dives into my collections later this year...take pictures of my weirder items or my favorite items...

I use Google Rewards to grab a buck or two of Play store credits for game apps if I want to buy something in game. Unfortunately they only give me surveys once in a blue moon anymore...not sure why. I use Shopkick...or used to...when shopping in a store (haven't used it in awhile since...we get stuff delivered). Basically you walk into a store, open the app, make sure it gives you points for walking into the store, and then go hunting barcodes. You just scan barcodes and it racks points up...if you buy certain items and then take pictures of the receipts, you get even more points. But I'd say...a handful of trips to the store and just randomly scanning things I see on the list...would net me a $5 gift card. Points rack up fast if you go to a lot of stores. It's a good app, it works and you actually do get usable gift cards. Nice thing is they pop up right on your phone so you can scan them or the check out person will scan them...no having to wait for them to snail mail a real card to you.

So what ended up happening?

I have a lot more time on my hands...to do things I've been putting off for years. I'm also losing weight (not a ton mind you but...every bit helps) because no fast food. I'm not spending nearly as much as I normally do right now since I'm not out there hunting for video games... And maybe this is just me...because I don't listen to the news (sick of it and I haven't really listened to the news since 9/11...)...but the world seems...slower...more calm. I live on a busy main road...and it's so much quieter now...I'm really enjoying that. Everyone's finally slowed down to my speed...and it feels...great. I'm not comfortable at how fast the world moves...this makes me feel better. I can't really explain it.

Now that's an interesting idea. I could see doing this with a few other collectors so the start up price isn't as bad? You put up 1/3rd of the price, Joe puts his third up and Sally puts her third up and then you just have to figure out how to divvy up the spoils...

Bloodfire Quest by Terry Brooks Just one of a long series of fantasy novels that take place in the future after a "great war". It's an interesting concept since it takes all that fantasy stuff...magic, demons, elves...and puts it in our world...in our future after we've destroyed the world...instead of it taking place way, way back in the past. I recommend the series if you like fantasy and you love long series.

I hate Wal-Mart. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you should probably ship a product in a...oh idk...shipping box? Nope, they sent the item as is in it's own box...and it got written on by the post office, damaged and ripped in the mail...and I'm stuck wondering how to return this thing since I'm immunocompromised and it's not safe for me to just go out and drop something off at the post office.

Not sure if this belongs here or in the question section since it's a question but...I'm looking for more opinions then answers? Anyways people who have multiple current gen consoles...which platform do you pick for multiplatform games? I've been struggling with this one because I have a Vita but when something releases on the PS4 (which I don't currently own) and Vita I'm always unsure which to get. Do they downgrade the game for the Vita...will it impact the game at all if I pick the Vita version...that sort of stuff goes through my head. I do have games for the PS4 (LRG stuff that didn't release on another platform or what have you), and I plan on getting one eventually but...idk if I made a mistake picking Vita over the PS4 in the long run. And now that I have a Switch...it adds that to the mix. Now it's PS4 vs Switch. I mean my gut says Switch so I can play the game but idk if the PS4 games would be better quality over the Switch? One game made me question this all, Psyvariar Delta. It looks interesting but it's on both systems and Googling Psyvariar Delta PS4 vs Switch gets me nothing. I mean the PS4 overall has to be better in terms of performance...regardless of game right? So would that mean the PS4 version is better? I never had this much trouble figuring out older gens... Oh I will say this is just for PS4, Switch and Vita (when it applies). Not planning on ever getting an Xbone lol.