Has anyone besides me noticed the general lack of classic gaming knowledge of the average thrift store employee? Now, before anyone bashes me for dissing the disadvantaged, let me also state that most charity thrift store employees I see look much better off than the handicapped people shown on their ads, but also please take my comments in proper context. All I am saying is that they need to maybe put a bit more thought in their pricing and system packaging practices as it pertains to classic gaming items. All would benefit from it.
For instance: I went to a GW today and bought a pirate plug n play system called a Maxx Play 85-in-1 system. From the Chinese sweat factory, it came as two controllers, one of which plugged to your TV via RCA cables, and the other which plugged into the first controller via a 9-pin Atari 2600 type plug. Basically, the first controller contained all 85 Famicom pirate ROM's on a chip and a menu system, along with a start and reset button. The second controller looks similar to the first, except for the different cable coming out of it. There was nothing more to this "system" as in a console. The GW had these two controllers rubber banded separately and priced at $4.50 a piece, and the proprietary battery pack was over in a bin of power adapters to be sold separately. I took the two controllers up to the register along with the orphaned battery pack, and the cashier proceeded to tell me that she would have to charge me separately for each item. I explained to her that it was all one game system, and she called her manager who promptly told me that the items were for separate sale. Now, come on: Controller one with the games on chip would work fine as long as it had the battery pack inserted, but controller two? Maybe I should have left that one behind since I don't play many two-player games anymore, but how would they have ever sold it? Probably would have sat around until they finally threw it out for the trash man.
Another instance: I saw a pieced out N64 system at another GW store one day priced for the reasonable amount of $15. Here is what it contained: one N64 console and its power pack. The top hatch where the memory pack goes had been removed and some thief had stolen the RAM expansion module. After looking up and down a few aisles, I saw the remainder of this system. They had two N64 controllers listed for $3 a piece, and a SNES/N64/Gamecube AV cable in the bin for spare cords listed for $1. The memory expansion module was nowhere to be found. Come on, why not package the entire system to make it worth somebody's while?
Repeatedly, I see PS1 consoles sitting on shelves with no cords or controllers, listed for ridiculous prices like $20. Then I go down another aisle and find the controllers and cords thrown in spare parts bins for separate sale.
Does any of this make any sense?
