Firstly, if you have never heard the song Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell by The Offspring, you should probably have a listen. I think of this song whenever I think about there being “slim pickings” in the retro hunting world, so I thought I’d share one of my favourite tunes by my favourite band. If you do watch the music video here, at 2:32 there’s a very Zelda 2-like falling scene for a few seconds…
A few days ago, I got an email from a guy we had bought games from in town previously. He said he had a boxed copy of The 7th Saga with its manual and map and that it could be all mine for the low low price of $150. Normally I like to buy up boxed games if the price is right, but this offer was definitely pushing it for me. When I was contemplating buying a guy’s SNES collection for $2000 last year, I had done a pile of reading on many RPGs including The 7th Saga. Of all the SNES RPGs, it was certainly closer to the bottom of my list of things I still wanted to acquire, and I wasn’t too keen on picking up a copy for more than $30. I ended up checking online for the game, and the lowest price I found in Canadian dollars was $30, shipping included. I bought it up and turned this guy down. Someone out there that loves The 7th Saga and would enjoy the game in its completeness deserves to have this guy’s copy. I did ask about any other games this guy might have come across recently, and he did have a copy of Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts with its manual. From his initial offer of $40, I got him down to $30 and we agreed to meet the next day for pick-up.
Living in a small town can become problematic when you’re answering anonymized ads all the time. You unknowingly run into the same people a lot, and that can get a bit awkward. Sometimes you’ll encounter good people who are willing to work with you and reward repeat business, but sometimes there are others that make doing business unpleasant. For example, this guy that I bought Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts from completely stood us up. He left us waiting in a parking lot in sweltering midday heat for 30 minutes and didn’t respond to texts or emails for several hours after our meeting time. Most people would just not do business with him again, but it’s the small town curse: 1 out of every 3 ads I respond to are his, so burning bridges is tricky business! Because we’ve had good luck with him in the past, we gritted our teeth and reluctantly accepted his apologies and went back to meet him the next day. The politics of small town retro game buy-ups is serious stuff, I swear! Sometimes I just wish I had more options.
For anyone wondering, despite our best efforts, neither my boyfriend or I could even beat the first level of Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts. I own and have played Ghosts and Goblins on NES and can at least beat the first level, although everything goes to Hell once I get to the Ogre House partway through Level 2. Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts is tremendously difficult for the moment, but it seems like one of those games that requires practice. With some solid time with the mechanics, I’m sure we’ll be able to make it out of Level 1 someday. At least we have the trusty manual with its obscure descriptions and hints to guide us along this horrifying quest!
I picked up a few other things recently but haven’t had a chance to photograph them yet. We have been renovating the house, so that’s been eating up lots of my spare time. Hopefully your adventures in gaming have all been more fruitful than mine.
Thanks for reading and sleep well!
-GG