“I really appreciate you volunteering the time to come and have a look at this, Mr. Wilkins,” said the Salvation Army lady, a retiree named Gladys. “We know clothes, and shoes, but electronics are tough and these old video game systems are just beyond me.”

“Happy to help,” Wilkins said. He passed over a fresh business card to replace the one Gladys had torn off the wall to call him. “What do you need me to look at?”

Gladys and her fellow retiree hefted a box onto the Salvation army’s counter. “We had this come in the other day, but it’s so old. I’ve never heard of it. We were just about to put it in the trash, because it’s so dusty and old, but we thought you would know better.”

“Let’s see here.” Wilkins opened the box and pulled out a large black video game console. True to Gladys’s description it looked like it had spent the last 30 years in someone’s nose, but the caked-on dust came off easily under his fingernail.

“TurboGrafx-16,” he said, setting the system down. “It’s from 1989, not very well known. Back cover’s here.” The system was worth close to $200 even if it was fried–Wilkins had never even seen one in person.

He pulled out four TurboPad controllers–themselves $50 each–which was more than the system could handle. A minute of rooting around revealed a rare TurboTap accessory, itself another $50.

“Joysticks for the games?” Gladys said.

“Of a sort,” said Wilkins. The next thing to come out of the box was a TurboCD, an add-on that let games on CD-ROM
be played in the system. It was dusty, but cracking the lid showed it to be pristine inside. Most people wanted $500 just to say hello for one of those. A tangle of audiovisual cables followed, along with a ziploc bag filled with game cards and game CDs, all still in their original jewel cases.

“How much do you think we can sell it for?” Gladys said.

Wilkins turned to the old ladies. “Frankly, this is a lot of junk,” he said. “But I think I can use it for parts. I’ll give you $20 for the lot.”

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