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A little down about that lull in collecting and need a good find out there in the wild? Take a look at the spiffy map of New England below, and find the certified hot spot nearest you! Have you got a place you'd like to share with the community? Just send its name, general location, and a brief description to Club Ninja, and he'll post it on the map for all to enjoy. Doesn't it feel good to share?
Note: Map not drawn to scale, not even close.
1. NECG Meeting Grounds at Christian's place, Jamaica Plain, MA.
2. Video Game Exchange, Malden, MA.
3. Video Game Connection, Plaistow, NH.
4. Video Game Castle, Chicopee, MA.
5. Bob's Video Games, Fall River, MA.
6. Worldwide Video Games, South Weymouth, MA.
7. Morgan Memorial Goodwill Headquarters, Roxbury, MA.
8. Maxwell's Flea Market, Uphams Corner, Boston, MA.
*Spots 2-8 submitted by Christian.*
9. Phase Four, 1208 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA. 617-497-4024
10. Video Game Castle II, 1428 Main Street, Palmer, MA. (413) 289-1599
11. Instant Replay, 172 Main Street, Monson, MA. (413) 267-9591
*Spots 9-11 submitted by Keir.*
12. Luke's Record Exchange, Pawtucket, RI.
13. Savers, Warwick and East Providence, RI.
*Spots 12 and 13 submitted by UncleFreddy.*
Not pictured on map.
3 MA Flea Markets as told by Christian:
Revere - Not one, but two game dealers set up here but you'll find no steals. Wanna pay $7 per Nintendo game? The guy from the Salem store is a real scum
bag. Almost no one here sells "junk"; its all that dollar store type stuff... cheap socks though.
Taunton (not the one that burned down, the other one)- This place gives me a headache; it's big and full of booths, but it's really a white trash mall. Lots of
redneck gear here, slim pickings on the used goods, although the outside lot can be ok on warm summer Sundays. A guy inside has some games but he's
strange and doesnt really wanna sell anything.
Brockton - Most of these dealers came from the one that burned down (dog track) and they have recreated their previous set ups. Think cheap latino music
CDs, tools, car stereo stuff with just a dash of porn and old records. Small game store booth inside run by the Malden game shop.
- The place where all the goodness goes down. Check the events link for the next scheduled meet!
- This place deals in all systems, their primary business seems to be "back up copies" but they do offer a decent selection of the older stuff. Atari, Coleco and
INTV commons can be had for $1, but their idea of rare is anything they dont have 4 copies of so watch out for the steep price increase. You might find a Turbo
Grafx or a 3do here depending on the day; expect to pay around $40 for the console. NES games run from $3 up on a Funco-like price list. They will take
items for trade, but at their exchange rate makes it not worth bringing anything along. These guys can also be found selling at the Revere and Brockton flea markets on the
weekends. The owner's name is Jim.
- This is far and away the best place to find classic games in New England, but it comes at a price. When you first walk in, you won't see much of the old stuff, but
beg to see the back room and you'll think you've died and gone to 2600 heaven. The old man who owns this place, Fred, has been buying every Atari cart he
could find since the early 80's and it shows. The wall is completely unorganized but rich in uncommon and rare games, and there's also a great deal of games to
be found for other classic systems. Fred even stocks the 2600 Jr with 32 built in games - in the box no less! Sadly for us, Fred knows his game prices, as
he sells everything by the values listed in an old copy of the Digital Press. Fred can be found at the Jolly Jim flea in Lawerence MA on the weekends, but he
doesn't bring many 2600 games there.
- These guys deal mostly in the 16 bit and on era, with a fair amount of games for the major systems. No steals here, but the prices are fair. Ask the owners to
go downstairs and bring up the big box of Atari games - at last check it was mostly commons, but he does get new stuff fairly often. If the guy goes to the trouble
of digging out the old stuff for you, then show some respect and spend at least $20 in his place.
- This guy needs to retire or something. He's got some major issues, but lets talk about the games for a minute. There's something for every system here,
but the prices are painful. A few over-priced Lynx and 7800 games round out the visible Atari selection, but (as always) ask to see the old stuff in the back.
There's a towering stack of 2600 games - why he charges $8 a cart, I have no idea... but I left behind enough uncommons that you can still get a deal here.
There's a visible pile of SMS, Coleco, and INTV games to the side, but he doesn't want to talk about that (plotting his ebay strategy perhaps?). This guy has a
serious heart problem and gets upset easily; he actually grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me out of the back when he got nervous about some kids
who just came in the door. Still scored a Springer for $8, not bad at all...
- A good sized store in strip mall. They used to have a second one, but it went under... and the way things are going, this one might too. The owner reminds me of
Al Bundy and always bends your ear with his tales of woe. He's into import games and takes pride in having a good selection for the latter day systems. He
has a pile of atari games in a glass case - all of them are $5 but he's willing to deal if you buy in bulk. I've picked up more than a few uncommons here so it's
worth a visit. He also stocks obscure systems like the 3do and Virtual Boy from time to time. Try not to laugh too hard
when you see Swordquest: Fireworld at $20! But hey, he needs your business!
- In a downtrodden section of boston known variously as Ruggles, Crosstown or "the place where drunk guys camp out", there lies a potential find. Could be
treasure, but you're gonna have to fight over some trash first. You may have been to other goodwills but you ain't seen nothing till you've shopped Big Scary -
the mothership for all Boston area Goodwills. Here, the shop keepers have dispensed with all the pretentious boutique touches, no order, no shelves, no
prices and whole lotta attitude! Donations/merchandise are wheeled out in giant bins every 15 minutes and there's always a ravenous crowd ready to pounce on it.
Fight for that blender, grab that answering machine, watch out for the smashed vase, touch my stuff again and i'll put this nine iron thru your head! It's
mayhem at its finest, but remember this is the headquarters and once in a while you will strike gold. Over the years, I've found whole consoles, rare intv games,
handhelds, dirt cheap carts, 2600, NES, saturn, tg16 it all turns up here. A note of caution: you may find nothing at all but its a decent place to score
computer parts, funky clothes and vintage plates. Forget Filenes Basement, this is the real combat shopping experience in Boston! [Editor: I don't know, those brides and twisted spinsters that like to have a wedding gown in the closet "just in case" are pretty vicious!]
- This former box factory turns into a giant Sanford and Sons every weekend. Get yourself down to Uphams Corner in Dorchester and follow the yellow signs on
the side of the road. Nobody here deals in anything particular, so just ask around. If they refer to a video game guy they mean me, as I was the first collector to
set foot in this hole in the wall. They've been trying to spread the word and market themselves as Boston's Shabby Chic Connection, but it's not really working -
the location alone prevents mass acceptance. You may find some games here, and trust me that if you do, they won't pull any of that ePay [ePay is editor's note] pricing crap on you; it's
down and dirty junk dealing! I picked up a 2600 system w/ 30 games here for $20, which is the going rate I guess. Best find was a Burgertime handheld for $1. Oh
yeah, try the fresh baked goods!
- Actually a used record store, inconveniently located
halfway between the Central and Harvard Square T
stations. They typically carry Atari 2600, 5200,
7800, NES, O2, and Sega Genesis. Commons are
overpriced ($3.50 for Asteroids!) but you're not
looking for commons, are you? They have some rare and
some weird games (like a boxed Pac-Kong) but expect to
pay at least $10. [Editor: I found this place for myself last fall, and while trying to talk down the price of an 8 dollar Entombed cart with the girl at the counter, I began to flashback to the useless exchanges between myself and the smelly old flea market ladies. She even called me RUDE for suggesting lower prices, how dare she! Ah well, hopefully you'll have better luck.]
Open Mon-Thu, Sat until 6; Fri until 8
- Like Video Game Castle in Chicopee, but smaller and
with a number II.
- They mostly sell used PSX games, but they had some
Atari 2600 and Colecovision games for $0.25 each. That
is, until I bought them all. : ) [Editor: Thanks for the *brag*, Keir ; )]
- Use to have some decent classics but the
only thing they have now really is New system stuff and Gamegear/Genesis/NES
not super cheap but some decent stuff sometimes. They still have a small
selection of 2600/Intv/Colecovision carts. The basement is FULL of vinyl if
you like records as well.
- Warwick is new I didn't find something but I
know a guy who found an Amiga monitor for $7 there, East Providence I haven't
found anything there in over a year, use to be great for a bag of 2600 games
for a couple bucks. Got a 7800, 5200, CHEAP Genesisii and saw a fairly
expensive Amiga 2000 for $50 there once. The selection in recent memory has
been bad but I dunno if another gamer has been sniping me.