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PSA: A $2 bin of loose Genesis carts at a flea market in Toledo taught me to check the labels before I brag
Last Saturday I hit the Lucas County flea market with $20 in my pocket and found this old guy with a cardboard box of loose Sega carts marked 3 for $5, so I dug in and felt like a king. I grabbed Sonic 2, Streets of Rage and a copy of Aladdin that looked clean, handed him five bucks and walked off grinning. Got home, wiped the pins with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol, and Sonic 2 booted right up, but Aladdin showed a black screen and Streets of Rage played like it was under water with garbled sound. Turns out both had water damage on the board, the labels looked fine from a foot away but one had a warped corner and the other smelled faintly like a basement. My dumb mistake was not bringing a cheap handheld cleaning kit or asking the guy if I could test them on his little CRT he had sitting right there. In my experience most flea market sellers will let you test a cart if you ask nice and bring your own cables. Now I test everything on the spot or I walk, and I've saved myself maybe $30 in junk already. Has anyone else figured out a good pocket test rig for loose carts, or am I overthinking this and should just stick to the two games that worked?
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