Back in 2003, MP3 players were relatively new and rare, and an interesting device hit the shelves at Best Buy: a Game Boy Advance peripheral that would turn your handheld gaming device into a handheld music and recording device. It went off the market at some time, probably around the same time that the Game Boy Advance itself did. Like all discontinued and long-obsolete electronics, though, it lives on…at Walmart. [More]
raiders of the lost walmart
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Still Playing Game That Shut Down In July 2014
By 12.30.15
Eventually, all things end, and that includes multiplayer online games. The game Vanguard: Saga of Heroes shut down in July of 2014, but Walmart is trying to keep its legacy alive by continuing to sell useless game discs in the discount bin for fifteen bucks. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Rich Vein Of Overpriced Electronics From 2008
By 10.29.15
Kevin is one of the bold explorers who form the Raiders of the Lost Walmart, checking dusty clearance racks for secret caches of ancient flash drives and defunct multiplayer games. While exploring a retail archaeolgy site, or “Walmart store,” in upstate New York, he found an especially rich collection of finds. [More]
This Blu-Ray Player Was A Fine Holiday Gift In 2007
By 10.22.15
If you’re shopping for a new Blu-Ray player, you could walk into any big-box or electronics store and pick one up for under $100. For that price, you’ll get a high definition picture and the unit may even include streaming video apps. Or you could go to Walmart, where this 8-year-old player that originally cost $499 is marked all the way down to $200. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Strange And Useless WebTV
By 10.16.15
Do you remember the WebTV? You may not have even known anyone who used them, but they were a device that turned a regular TV into a slow Internet terminal. Some people who find computers intimidating really liked the idea. However, they should not pick up this unit that Liz found on the shelf at her local Walmart, mostly because there’s not much you can do with it. [More]
This Walmart Is Apparently Stuck In 2011
By 9.21.15
Reader Knah is one of the bravest explorers who form the Raiders of the Lost Walmart: retail archaeologists who comb the nation’s big-box stores for retail antiquities that have somehow stayed on the shelves even though they’re now obsolete, sometimes comically so. Here are his three latest finds: all of which are out of date, if not useless, yet are locked up in security equipment. Why? [More]
10-Year-Old MP3 Players Fail To Fly Off Walmart Shelves At $80
By 9.14.15
When will the MobiBLU, the world’s smallest full-featured MP3 player in 2005, finally sell out? Maybe never. The devices are doomed to roam Walmart aisles for years to come, reminding everyone that Walmart once had its own music downloads store, and that for some reason the retailer’s much-praised inventory control systems can’t understand how to get rid of decade-old gadgets. [More]
Raiders of the Lost Walmart Will Accessorize Your Ancient Digital Camera
By 9.9.15
How long does it take for something to become a true antique? For the bold explorers who form the Raiders of the Lost Walmart, any obsolete technology for sale at an inappropriate price is precious and in need of documentation. There are some electronic relics that are older and more precious than others, though, and reader/Raider Lathi recently excavated some digital camera accessories from the late Mavica era. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Ancient And Mysterious My Little Ponies
By 8.25.15
Within the elite squad of retail archaeologists known as the Raiders of the Lost Walmart, some Raiders have subspecialties. Their deep subject knowledge gives us a better understanding of the antiquities that they find buried in the nation’s big-box stores. One of these specialists is Professor Jeffrey, subject expert on My Little Pony. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Discover That PS2 Memory Cards Are Finally On Clearance
By 8.7.15
Back in 2012, one of the brave explorers for the Raiders of the Lost Walmart discovered a rack of memory cards for the PlayStation 2, still on the shelf and still priced at $20-$30. That was three years ago, though: Sony is up to the PS4 now. Surely Walmart has noticed that PS2 accessories aren’t really flying off their shelves. Well, one Raider’s local Walmart has moved them to the clearance aisle… still marked at $30. [More]
Now Your Kid Can Enjoy A Disney-Licensed MP3 Player That’s Older Than She Is
By 7.20.15
The first film in the live-action Disney franchise High School Musical was released in 2006. Like all Disney properties, it came with a significant amount of licensed merchandise, since that’s how Disney keeps Mickey Mouse in cheddar. So this movie-branded MP3/WMA player found on a shelf at Walmart wouldn’t really have attracted our attention…if it were still 2007. [More]
This 9-Year-Old MP3 Player Is Ready For The Latest Tunes, Costs $300
By 7.10.15
If you weren’t all that familiar with technology, this “portable media center” that reader S. found in the clearance section at Walmart might seem like a reasonable enough purchase. What isn’t obvious until you look more closely is that the $300 price tag has been on the box since 2011. What isn’t obvious until you perform a quick Google search is that the PMC7230 has been on the market since 2006, which would explain why it’s still languishing on the shelf. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Can’t Find Their Way Back From 2007
By 7.7.15
Members of the Raiders of the Lost Walmart, our brave band of retail archaeologists, need a GPS unit to help them find their way from one big-box store to the next. However, the savvy big-box store explorers know that while this rare and ancient Garmin unit is a special find, they shouldn’t purchase it. Because it’s old and overpriced. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Wal-Mart Are Virus-Proof Through 2011
By 6.24.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are the brave retail archaeologists who comb our nation’s retail stores for hopelessly outdated electronics at comically high prices. The items may not always be useless or dangerous, but they are destined to either be purchased by clueless customers or to sit on the shelf indefinitely. [More]
Walmart Marks Defunct Multiplayer Game Down To Only $15
By 6.15.15
Back in 2010, we pointed out something kind of silly and unfair that happened at one reader’s local Walmart: there was an old computer game on the shelf. This happened to be a multiplayer game, which required access to servers to play. Those servers were shut down in 2009, making the game completely useless if purchased in 2010, or in 2013, and it’s just as useless now. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Ancient And Mysterious Feature Phone
By 6.8.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a brave band of explorers who comb the darkest corners of the world’s discount stores to find the ancient gadgets with inappropriately high prices. We call these finds “retail antiquities,” and share the explorers’ field notes with the world. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Will Upgrade Your PC At Reasonable Prices
By 5.19.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a fearless band of retail archaeologists who will stop at nothing to find uncover every retail antiquity that the world’s big-box stores have to offer. Whether it’s a rebate due in 2004 or a Game Boy Advance of ambiguous color, the Raiders have shared their findings with Consumerist so we can all…well, mostly we’ve just learned not to shop for electronics on clearance at discount stores. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Excavate More Decade-Old Video Games
By 5.7.15
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are an elite squad who comb the retail stores of North America for rare and precious antiquities. No, Walmart hasn’t taken to selling actual fossils: these are Information Age antiquities, or old video games for older consoles with inexplicably high prices. [More]
