Value Village

March Madness!

Time: 2 days
Number of Value Villages hit: 15
Number of Salvation Army Stores hit: 3
Other: Talize (1) - coming soon to PTBO!, Buy n Sells (2)
Money spent: too much!

Findings:

Priciest VV: Thornhill
Cheapest VV: Rexdale
Crappiest Toy Selection: tie between Queen St E and Danforth/Woodbine
No parking in front of the Games store at Keele and Bloor between 4 and 6 pm (if you do the police will make their presence known and strangers will honk and you and wag their finger to admonish you)
There are awesome bakeries all over Toronto EXCEPT where we live!


It's Spring Break, and we did not go to Florida this year like we usually do.  So we decided to do something a bit different... visit every single Value Village thrift store in Toronto and Mississaga... 15 in all.

It took two days, and a full tank of gas, but we did it!  After about the sixth one, they all started looking the same, however the excitement at what we might find kept us pumped up.  Who knows... maybe we would find inexpensive Sega Genesis games?

Richmond Hill location

Lawrence & Markham Rd. location

Vaughn location

What is that in my hands?  Could that be Sega Genesis games for $2.99 - $4.99 each?  I wonder if there are any in there that the Sega Dude doesn't have?  Lets take a closer look shall we?!

Holy crap it is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker!  Before the king of pop died, this game went for around $10 - $20, but now stores are charging $40 for just the cartridge.  I guess it is a good thing that the one I found was complete.  True, there is a small tear on the instruction booklet, but the cartridge and case (with tab intact) are in mint condition.  If the Sega Dude wasn't such a dick, I would just give it to him.  

I've posted it on craigslist.  http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/vgm/3675189602.html

I'm not sure why we didn't buy this?  Maybe $2.99 was just too PRICEY! It is a knockoff Simon game from the '70s








Unfortunately this is not our new couch.  We didn't buy this only because we didn't have a way to take it home.  It has only one cushion, would make a great couch to sleep on

GOLD!  In these bags are G1 transformers.  I rarely see these anymore as every jerk in town collects them (it's a good thing my collection is almost complete, though the Sega Dude might say otherwise).  In fact I actually found a two pieces i didn't have.  The others are on craigslist.  I throw one in for free if you buy Moonwalker:)

The Value Village at the Thornhill location had the neatest toy shelves I've ever seen in a thrift store!  Usually the shelves are a disaster as people seem to enjoy watching their kids destroy the toys that they have no intention of buying.  Fortunately the things I like are made of metal (Tonka Trucks), or behind glass, so kids don't get their grubby snot fingers all over them.

These two finds are two such examples.  Behind glass, a collectors edition copy of both Elder Scrolls IV, and Dungeon Lords were found.  SCORE!  Both of these were fantastic games, but I think I enjoyed Dungeon Lords more as it had a much better ending.  Elder Scrolls games are good, but they just can't seem to end them well... very anti-climactic.

This last shot was actually not taken at a Value Village, but rather at a store called Talize.  This is a store that is a bit more expensive than a thrift store, but more upscale and classy.  This is where the billionaires thrift shop as the prices are about 50% more.  Anyhow we caved and purchased a working Fisher Price TV and record player.

All in all, a good time.  This is definitely not trip for everyone, and hardly matches that of the sandy Florida beaches, but it beats the 24 hour car ride home:)