First time in probably twenty years: a find in the wild!

[ifkz]

I had to share this one:  I found a new in the box Turbo Stick arcade-style joystick in my local thrift store for $15, with a vintage 39.99 Babbages sticker intact!  Wow, I could not believe it!  No other items in the store, and this is my first Stick, I had been trying to find a good price on one.  One oddity:  the rubber from the cord reacted with the box styrofoam and ate through it.  It melted through the side at one point, pretty weird!

Anyhow, I could not be happier, and best of luck to everyone else.  I will be going back to the store in the next day or so to double check for games in the CD section, a loose power supply, or really anything else!  I would even spring for an old RF box if I found one.

[NightWolve]

I thought I'd be happy with a joystick when I bought a NES Advantage but just didn't take a liking to it as much as I thought I would. Dunno how the Turbo stick compares to it but the general gamepad - though hurtful to thumb joints - was just better control to play most console games. If the home joystick can't give you the arcade feel, you might find yourself preferring to return to a gamepad. Anyway, it was a good deal given the eBay effect.

[Keith Courage]

 I use primarily joysticks now and do like the feel of the US turbo stick.  My thumbs and wrists get sore way too fast using a standard control pad of any sort now these days. I think it's from all the years of guitar playing mixed with cell phone use and soldering work.

 anyways, I use joysticks only now and feel that the turbo stick is a good alternative to the control pad. Congrats on the find.

[segasonicfan]

I love it when that happens! It's like seeing one of these:


One of the craziest finds I ever had was a US TG-16 box. I had never seen one before but coming home on the bus one day there was a box on the sidewalk... blowing into the street.  This was only a block away from my house!  I thought I was high/dreaming/something but sure enough, one of my neighbors must've thrown it out and didn't have the heart to stuff it in a trash bin. I cleaned it up and gave it to my friend who was an avid TG-16 collector

[SignOfZeta]

That stick is one of those things TRU had sitting around in heaps on clearance for ages. Kaybee toys had them as their last TG-16 item after everything else had gone. I'd say it's probably the most overproduced item they made that wasn't a sports game or the system itself. The odds of you finding even a loose Kieth Courage chip in that same store are 1000x higher than finding that stick. You think seeing that stick means someone around there has more TG-16 but all it means is that there aren't any Kaybee toys anymore to store NIB Turbosticks and they have to go somewhere. It may have not been in the same room with other Turbo stuff for 23 years. This is actually possible.

I'm glad you like it. I consider the standard pad to way bettter.

[ifkz]

After going back for two days straight, there was no more OBEY.  I looked everywhere, but only found systems that had newly hit the shelves: PS2, PS1, and a Wii plus a few games.

I am glad I started this thread, in my searching around I found two TurboVision units that I had stored away, along with a ruined regular controller.  Is there any hope for a TG-16 controller with the metal end of the cord removed and a broken outer case?

It is back to my regular once a week schedule with the thrift store; but this was easily the high water mark of 2018's finds so far.

[Groover]

I always love a good arcade stick. Nice find.

[exodus]

it's always great to find something like that!
hopefully the cord is fixable... I guess you'd have too replace it.

[Dark Fact]

The Turbo Stick is excellent for Dungeon Explorer!