The Video Game Critic

Sometimes when I buy a game off Ebay it'll come with an old receipt tucked inside the instruction book. Always interesting to look at those.

The latest one was in the game Stellar Fire for the Sega CD. The Toys R Us receipt was dated 2/18/1996, and the game cost $9.97. The cashier was Ninoska.

It's like a little trip back in time to when Sega CD games were on clearance.

Anybody else have similar experiences to share?

I do it too, and I also find it interesting to see when I bought it. However, I only do it with used Gamestop games because of their seven-day return policy.

I purchased a large lot of atari 8-bit computer items off of craigslist this year and it came with a folder full of receipts for all the hardware and software that had been purchased. Also included in the folder were letters from various software companies and brochures for items i believe he had on his personal wishlist. I love going through these as it gives a true snapshot of the times. The games and hardware in the lot were a great pickup but this folder was a great surprise!

Yes, I'm a big fan of this stuff. I can get a bit sentimental about games and really like when there's some information that reveals the history of the game's life before it came into my collection. Receipts are cool like that..I find it interesting to see when and where the game was bought, how much it cost, etc. Same for systems. And I always try to keep my system receipts for that reason too..for example, I find it cool to look back on my receipt from when I saved up my money and bought my original Xbox at launch in 2001..it's like a piece of that memory from my youth.

Another thing I like is price tags, as they tell the story of where a game came from and how much it cost. Especially on sealed games. Some people see those as a cosmetic blemish, but not me. I have a sealed game from 1981 for the Microvision that I bought online from France and it has a great price tag on it. The store was called "Au Vieux Paris" (which I think translates to "In Old Paris"?), and that store doesn't show up in a google search, so it's probably been out of business for years or decades. The game sold for 59 Francs, which is great because Francs were replaced by the Euro in 1999, so you know it's probably the original 1981 sticker. I like these history lessons that a little price tag tells us about where the game has been.

Even when I buy used games, I generally keep the price tag on the game. Again it's interesting to me... "Oh wow, I got this from Goodwill for $3.99 and it's worth $25 now" or "Hey, a Digital Press sticker... I must have bought this game during my vacation in 2009." It's my own personal story of how I got the game (and as a bonus, it helps me see if the game has increased in value). The only price tag I consider to be a blemish is Gamestop stickers.. rarely a good reason to keep those hideous things.

I have had this happen myself a few times and I agree , it’s cool to kinda get an idea where the game has been before I got it.

Right on Dudes. I love finding receipts and I tuck mine somewhere hidden in the instruction manual. Most recently I bought Tiger Woods 99 on the PlayStation 1 at Salvation Army for two dollars. In the manual was the original receipt from Best Buy in Indianna from 1998. Some dude named Mike originally paid $39.99 for it with some credit card.

Found a toys r us receipt in the case of Quackshot for Genesis. I was shocked that it even had a case given that I ordered it from GameStop