It has come to my attention in my visits to The New Gamer in the recent months that while there is a wonderful niche being filled by peccaui and unitdaisy, there is a vast untapped audience being ignored and thus, hopelessly shunned. I am of course speaking of us metric geeks. The Great White North does thaw over the summer and the first thing that happens when the ice recedes is massive garage sales. Let me make it very clear that I would not be doing this or be suffering from this grand addiction were it not for the Chi-Style Drunksaling. And it is in this spirit that I will do my best to not replace but supplement the great humour that they brought us. And so begins my adventures in the week of May 29th.

Before I begin, it has occurred to me that once in a lifetime there's someone that rises above the ordinary. Someone that looks at life and shouts, "Bring it on!" A person that meets life head on and fights it every step of the way to make the best of what they can. Then there's people like me that go drunksaling just so that people can live extraneously through him. This is one such adventure.

*music* One of these things is not like the other....

I found these at my first garage sale of the day, an omen for things to come. He wanted $10 a game but I got the whole group for $25. Almost had him for $20 but he wasn't going for it unfortunately. Never mind my first offer was $10 total. I'm such a cheap bastard.

Either they didn't have FF8 or it just sucked so bad it collapsed in on itself.

Looking at this box I can draw one of two conclusions. A) This person was a bandwagon fan and now that XI is online and XII is months away he's purging his collection. B) He's one of those freaks that actually likes FF8 and couldn't be bothered keeping the rest. Snob.

This ain't your kids FF. This is your daddy's FF. Can you say pencil and paper?

Long long ago in a land far far away (England) Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone decided to make a version of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for the masses. Thus Fighting Fantasy was born. Using only 2 six sided dice you fill out a character sheet and "Choose your own Adventure" your way through the book, battling monsters and collecting gold and items. Just recently the series went into a reprinting run, but these ones in particular are first edition if I'm not mistaken. Later printings had more green to them while the 2002 printings are more heavily art oriented.

Well did you? The inanimate object asked you a question, doofus...

Apparently this seller is from an alternate dimension where a used (and looking about 2 years old) PS2 goes for about 90% of the current Suggested Retail Price*. $180 for a used PS2 is definitely barking up the "I'm looking for something for the Kids and don't know crap about consoles" buyer demographic.

Just in case you didn't believe me *points to the sticker on the PS2*

NOW I know why they sold it. They played Jak 2 and got all worked up about the system then went and picked up Enter the Matrix and subsequently lost all interest in life itself. Perhaps the $180 will go towards one of those "Suicide Bags" I hear so much about.

First non pornographic movie ever that encouraged me to "Catch some Tails"

Moving on I stumbled upon a horde of VHS tapes, including some Japanese imports such as Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie (dubbed into English of course).

Monster Rancher. Somehow I'm not picturing a bunch of redneck cowboys as being their target audience.

Apparently a popular series of games in Japan was made into a cartoon. And thus Monster Rancher was born. And the world in turn weeps. I can't tell if the Ranching use was just to create a rustic feel for the series or just a way to get lil' redneck American kids to buy them.

And just when you thought it couldn't get any more wacky....

How can we get through a box of obscure video tapes without stumbling upon at least one Jim Henson travesty. Muppets from SPPPAAACCCCEEEEE. But I digress.

You know you're a redneck when... nevermind. The picture speaks for itself.

Just in case you couldn't get enough of Ma and Pa in Redneck Rampage, there's Redneck Rampage Rides Again and Redneck Rampage: Sucking Grits on Route 66. Yeeeeeeeeehawwwwwwwww! Luckily for me, something special was waiting just around the corner.

"Super" and "3K RAM" just don't go together anymore for some reason.

I'm seeing a lot of Commodore related hardware lately. Perhaps its a sign that I should actually be buying some of this crap. Or maybe its a way to remind me that I could be sicker than I actually am and I'm strong for not letting my addiction expand to that level. *pats himself on the back for a successful self-diagnosis*

There's something mything from this caption. I'm probably just myth-taken though. Things like this are usually hit and myth. (Shoot me now...)

Those that did their fair share of young adult reading in the 90's might remember the Myth series starring Skeeve and his Pervect friend, Aahz. Written by Robert Asprin, this is the whole series, all in one place. I almost bought this. But looking at these reminded me all too much of how much Xanth was a part of my youth as well and how unreadable that series is for me now.

Must fight urge to tackle someone! Grrrrr... too much testosterone. Must... watch... Oprah.

Ah Sierra. You've brought us so much joy. And so much PAIN. I used to like the YDKJ series. Then they found Schmitty. And now, they must burn in hell. Cookie was much better than Smitty as far as sarcasm, wit and general delivery go. And what happened by YDKJ Volume 2? He was delegated to intro fodder. Bullshit.

Tetris and Tetris 2. Why they felt the need to slap a number on it like a sequel when the game has been redone SO many times I have no idea.

If it were not for two rather pathetic facts I would not even have taken this picture, much less actually bought the genesis cartridge. A) I'm a new collector and as such don't have this version of Madden. B) I biked all the way out to this sale, hugely out of my way, and I wasn't leaving empty handed.

Sweet buttery goodness. Not just a SNES but an SNES Super Set!

This was waiting for me at the next garage sale. Upon discussing the situation with the owner I found out he would only sell it as a complete set and was asking $35 for the SNES, 17 games along with 2 controllers and a mouse for Mario Paint. At first I tried to buy the games, and while he only wanted $2 per game, he didn't want to part with more than four or five because he wanted to leave it more or less intact. And for some reason I just couldn't let this come to pass.

One thing I didn't expect to find... the mouse pad. Yes that is hard plastic.

So, considering there were 17 games and $2 each puts it at $34 not counting the system itself, I basically picked up a SNES for free. That and I talked him down to $30 somehow. Who knew I was that cute. Quick Role Call: Super Mario World, Mario Paint, Donkey Kong Country, NBA Jam, NHL 94, NHL 95, NHL Stanley Cup, NCAA Basketball, Troy Aikmen Football, Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, MLBPA Baseball, David Crane's Amazing Tennis, Street Fighter II Turbo, Taz-Mania, Aladdin, Batman Forever and We're Back: A Dinosaur Story.

Can't have a trip through garage sale land without the obligatory GameBoy sighting!

This was just sitting out in the sun, that one bag in the bottom left, had condensation inside it. Don't want to know how that happened. Needless to say I didn't buy it. I'm not that much of a fanatic, yet.

Even upon closer inspection the huge sucking noise doesn't go away.

Here's what was bundled with the GameBoy. Nothing really sparked my interest. I've never been a big Castlevania fan, in fact I've liked the flash animation rip-offs better than the game itself. Something about stair walking skills that I don't have. Can walk just fine in real life, put me in Castlevania and suddenly I'm falling off staircases left and right.

Never ever mix Corona with watered down draft beer. Trust me.

And thus another day of drunksaling comes to a screeching halt. My poison? Draft beer today. Rickard's Red to be specific. Nothing like having a beer three hours before work to really show your dedication to the job.

Find of the Week: I have to go with the SNES just for sheer value for the money. A complete system with 17 games and mouse to boot. Sweet score!

Unexpected Find of the Week: Paper Mario for the N64. I paid 6.50 for it, and its turning out to be a good little game. Better than Super Mario RPG by a long shot and I can see now why Gabe and Tyco can't shut up about it.

Lesson of the Week: You know you're having a good day when you make more than one visit to a bank machine. Unexpected but welcome purchases are usually pretty rewarding. And hard on the wallet. *wince*