Introduce Yourself, Fellow Collectors

Posts: 4865 · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:03 pm

Welcome Laertes!

Is Janesville near Dicksville? I mean...I'm just asking.

Posts: 11 · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:30 pm

That's a good one. I never thought about Dick and Jane jokes (that is not sarcastic in case it comes off that way).

Posts: 3926 · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:11 am

Welcome fellow Wisconsinite*.

* Well I'm only 2 months removed, but will always be a Wisconsinite regardless where I live.

ShaneG.

Posts: 2 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 9:27 am

Howdy Acaeumites,

I'm new to this forum, and have been lurking for only a couple of weeks. I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Ed, and I work for Troll and Toad. As of October, I've taken over the RPG department. I'm coming from the board game department. I've worked the board game department for three years, and I think it has developed nicely. The higher ups would like to see similar changes in the RPG department.

I'm kind of a jack of all trades when it comes to games, I play board games, RPGs, CCGs, and on occasion, even some miniatures. I started with D&D in 1978 and played till 2nd edition came out, skipped that edition completely, and bought the third edition. I didn't play much, mostly due to lack of time, I've got two kiddies. I skipped 3.5 as the changes didn't seem that big of a deal to me. Then I bought 4th edition which I really like. I know that puts me into a very small minority. Smile

When I was a youngster I played with many systems, Traveller, Hero, Call of Cthulu, World of darkness stuff, Runequest, FGU stuff, and Harnmaster. I currently have a big pile of 4th edition books, pretty much everything Harn, including Harnmaster Gold, a smattering of Call of Cthulhu, and some off the wall stuff like Lords of Creation, CthulhuTech (I just picked this up, and so far it's been an interesting read), and Burning Wheel, I also have large quantities of war games and board games. When I was playing AD&D we did mostly home brew games, but I did run through quite a few modules, probably my favorite was Dark Tower from Judges Guild, though White Plume Mountain was very cool as well.

My coolest rpg item, definitely my Dad’s homebrew adventures all unique, and all a lot of fun. I remember going to cons and people asking him to play in his games, even though they had to put up with me!

When I took over the rpg department I felt there were two main issues with it. One, prices had not been systematically updated in a very long time. Two, the categories and items were poorly named, and organzied. I've worked on reorganizing the categories, and then picked 2nd edition D&D to work on heavily. I've made it through about half of the 600 items we currently carry for 2nd edition. It's a big project but I'm excited about the opportunity to make the RPG department shine. If anybody has some constructive criticism I'd love to hear it. There are some things I have no control over, but any good ideas I will try to implement. It might take awhile though, as I think I'm going to be buried for at least 6 months just fixing problems I know are there. If anybody is in need of a job let me know, I could use the help!

Anyways, I look forward to poking around here on occasion, and the database of info is a really great resource!

Ed

Posts: 948 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 9:41 am

HI Ed,

Welcome to The Acaeum.

I have bought from Troll and Toad and had various experiences. Please see this thread: http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8977 for a discussion of Troll and Toad schizophreniz shipping charges.

I had a damaged item but T & T replaced it quickly.

Martin

Posts: 2 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:06 am

Prufrock wrote:

HI Ed,

Welcome to The Acaeum.

I have bought from Troll and Toad and had various experiences. Please see this thread: http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8977 for a discussion of Troll and Toad schizophreniz shipping charges.

I had a damaged item but T & T replaced it quickly.

Martin

Unfortunately, shipping is one thing I'm not able to change. If you see a weight that looks wrong let us know, and we can reweigh it.

Tips for buying from Troll and Toad.

1. If it is on eBay it is on our site for cheaper. We add ebay fees to the costs of our items. The only exception are live auctions, in which it may be cheaper on eBay.
2. Shipping and eBay are a nightmare. Troll and Toad is not a mom and pop shop, we're not running out of our garage. This means we have lots of things automated, including eBay listings. eBay is not a friendly site to list multiple auctions, and is very unfriendly when wanting to do unusual things. Combining shipping for multiple invoices is one of them. Shipping will typically be much cheaper ordering through our website.
3. Flat rate shipping. We simply don't have the programming in place to do this. This has been mentioned in several meetings and is on our programming list, but has no definite time.
4. We've been around for almost 20 years, you can't do that if all you are about is screwing people over. We try and keep our customers happy, if you aren't happy then we'll try our best to rectify the situation. That said, because we are a big company, and RPG's are not the majority of what we sell, the customer service people might not be aware of the product you are talking about please be patient with them, they are trying their best.

5. GenCon. Wow what a mess! Here is what I know.

The charity auction, is a charity auction, and all the proceeds go to the charity, and the Charity actually gets paid. The Partnership does not skim any off the top.

The regular auction. The Partnership is half owned, by the owner of Troll and Toad. They are NOT the same thing. When I buy something at an auction, the Cost of Goods assigned to it, is the value I bought it for, not 15% less. As for the auction being a cash cow, it isn't. The Partnership might make 2-3K total for the weekend. This GenCon they probably lost money due to the stolen laptops. Jon helps run the auction simply because we would like to have a venue to buy items. We think it is worth our time to make sure the GenCon and Origins auction are running smoothly. For full disclosure, Origins, is NOT run by the partnership, it is run by Troll and Toad, with a bunch of great volunteers. The head volunteers are NOT Troll and Toad employees. Some employees help when needed, but for the most part both auctions are run by volunteers. Troll and Toad lost money running the Origins auction due to the terrible events that happened there this year. Lastly I'd like to thank the volunteers for running the auctions, they do a great job, and I appreciate all the hard work they do.

Ed

Posts: 948 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:38 am

Hi Ed,

Thanks for taking the time to read the thread and reply. Clears a lot of things up - which needed to be cleared up. Sounds like your going to do some good things with the RPG department.

Martin

Posts: 1321 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:43 am

Welcome Ed and as above, thanks for taking time out to answer a few points previously raised.

If you can get accurate descriptions and actual photos of items up on auctions, you may move yourself into 'legend' status.. Wink

Hope you stay around

Cheers
Dave

Posts: 718 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:40 pm

ashmire13 wrote:

If you can get accurate descriptions and actual photos of items up on auctions...

+1

Please do this. I know you have like a million items up... but for this crowd (your "community") It will certainly help your sales... People like me may actually buy something from you guys. As it is right now you come off a little like crooks. I know that you very well might not be... but remedying this practice of stock photos and blazé, non-committal descriptions would reassure the skeptics... of which there are many.

Also, your prices are a tad on the high side. There are more than a few items that if your prices came down even 15-20% (still a little high) I would probably jump on them... but this combined with accurate descriptions could probably lock you in as "THEE go-to" place.

Welcome Aboard

And hopefully welcome to a new T&T.

Cheers,
D

Posts: 4285 · Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:46 pm

Hi Ed,

Thanks for joining us and welcome to the board.

Most of the membership here are not your regular RPG player buyers. Accuracy, honesty and fullness in the description of items and their condition is very important to us. It's probably the most important thing for a lot of us.

That said, we're not too fussed about condition descriptions of a copy of X1 or B2, or a copy of Dungeon 68, as opposed to say a 1st print DMD or a white box in shrinkwrap. So there is scope there to concentrate more experienced and wiser staff to dealing with more expensive items, and leaving the regular stock to the less talented staff.

As an aside, now that you have browsed th Acaeum, and the more you do so, you will become aware of the expertise that resides here, and the manner in which collectors collect. We have a Classifieds section, and maybe bringing premium items to our attention through the Classifieds will allow us the ask specific questions, and allow you to shift product faster to a cliebnt base that has the money to pay for quality rarities.

Welcome aboard.
Ian

Posts: 3 · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:41 pm

Hello all,

I'm new to the Acaeum having been a lurker for the past six months or so. What a fantastic site. Kudos to the admins and the many contributors on the forums.

About me: D&D player since 1982 when I purchased my first Players Handbook from a fellow 7th grader on the school bus. That book atop my Kiss trashcan served as the table for my alarm clock all through college and beyond until my wife made it clear it would not make it into "our" bedroom. Most of my gaming was AD&D (1st) with a little D&D (no OD&D). I played more D&D on my Commodore (Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder, etc.) than I did on the table top but the books were my regular bathroom readers over the years. Don't worry, they're clearly marked "has been in the bathroom" and they're never going to see the likes of ebay et al anwyay. According to my will they're to be buried with me.

I've recently started collecting modules without being too fussy about condition. Once most of the set is filled in I plan to focus more on quality. That should give me enough time to perfect my process without worrying about an accident downgrading a collectible. Sad

Apologies in advance for any overly green questions I might ask.

I look forward to getting up to speed here and perhaps bumping into a few folks at a convention or two.

Cheers,
James

P.S. No gmail addresses for signup? Ouch!

Posts: 1321 · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:27 pm

Welcome James (or BoB, seems shorter) Smile

enjoy your time on the boards and asking green questions is the start of the slippery slope to getting a huge quality collection... Smile

Posts: 3926 · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:27 pm

Welcome James,

We're always open to questions, just know that you are now entering the collectors zone and it gets harder and harder to not spend money the more you look at the site and read the forums. Smile

ShaneG.

Posts: 948 · Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:35 pm

Hi Binibren,

Your going to fit in real nice. Have no worries about questions - the guys here have a great deal of "gamer" knowledge and if they cannot anwser your question they get real excited, if you know what I mean.

Two conventions to be aware of are Gencon (or course) and The North Texas RPG Con (NTRPG Con). The NTRPG Con was created by several folks from this website and is dedicated to a weekend of gaming. With emphasis on "old school" games.

Welcome,
Martin

Posts: 4 · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:43 pm

Hi, Everybody! My real name is Andreas, but you can refer to me by Corum.
Very Happy

I'm a D&D fan since 1985, when I first read (and played) the Red Box. I'm turning 38, by the way.

My main interest in (A)D&D always were 3 things, in this order:

1) Alignments. I love alignment, and never got why some quarters seem to have a problem with grasping the difference between a Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral or Neutral Good character, for instance.

2) Planes. Ooooo, I love Planes.

3) Simulating old Fantasy novels with AD&D. For example, Gwydion from the Prydain Chronicles was an Lawful Good Ranger/Fighter, Dalben was an Seer/Druid, and so on...

Posts: 1883 · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:16 pm

corum wrote:

2) Planes. Ooooo, I love Planes.

A few Acaeum members love them some Planescape, though I don't know if this is what you meant by Planes. Me, I have enough problems with one fantasy realm of existence. Smile

BTW, Dragonsfoot is a good place for discussing the gaming aspects of AD&D, more so than here.

Welcome aboard! Someone will be by shortly to nail your head to the floor for any perceived faux pas. Wink

Posts: 4 · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:22 am

JohnGaunt wrote:

A few Acaeum members love them some Planescape, though I don't know if this is what you meant by Planes. Me, I have enough problems with one fantasy realm of existence. Smile

BTW, Dragonsfoot is a good place for discussing the gaming aspects of AD&D, more so than here.

Welcome aboard! Someone will be by shortly to nail your head to the floor for any perceived faux pas. Wink

Hi, John! Thanks for the good words.

No, I meant the 1st Edition Multiverse. I didn't mean Planescape-- their "chant" always got on my nerves. Besides, there was supposedly a whole campaign setting dedictated to TSR's Multiverse-- and they wasted that opportunity by publishing stuff concerned more with "factions" and "chants" and Sigil and whatnot. No, I'm not a friend of Planescape. Crying or Very sad

Thanks for the hint about Dragonsfoot. If it's a board solely devoted to AD&D 1st Ed, instead of lumping everything from ODD to 4 Ed in one board, I should like it there.

Posts: 478 · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:18 pm

Binibren of Bristlebane wrote:

Hello all,

I'm new to the Acaeum having been a lurker for the past six months or so. What a fantastic site. Kudos to the admins and the many contributors on the forums.

About me: D&D player since 1982 when I purchased my first Players Handbook from a fellow 7th grader on the school bus. That book atop my Kiss trashcan served as the table for my alarm clock all through college and beyond until my wife made it clear it would not make it into "our" bedroom. Most of my gaming was AD&D (1st) with a little D&D (no OD&D). I played more D&D on my Commodore (Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder, etc.) than I did on the table top but the books were my regular bathroom readers over the years. Don't worry, they're clearly marked "has been in the bathroom" and they're never going to see the likes of ebay et al anwyay. According to my will they're to be buried with me.

I've recently started collecting modules without being too fussy about condition. Once most of the set is filled in I plan to focus more on quality. That should give me enough time to perfect my process without worrying about an accident downgrading a collectible. Sad

Apologies in advance for any overly green questions I might ask.

I look forward to getting up to speed here and perhaps bumping into a few folks at a convention or two.

Cheers,
James

P.S. No gmail addresses for signup? Ouch!

Welcome to the Acaeum.

Noticing your avatar (and name), I'd just thought I'd mention that I play a Cleric (Rorrik) on the Drinal Server (That's Everquest for the rest of you...). Smile

Posts: 2 · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:57 pm

Hi Everyone... Many years ago I was here ALOT... when the kids were young. I was 'jonoakes' then 'gamesguy' then fell off the planet for a while starting a company, raising kids and having no time for collecting (and pretty much completing 90% of the collection I wanted to build).

Well, last night Grodog came over to my house, showed me some of his stuff and got the old fires burning again. Obsessing over little details in 30 year old maps, looking at my woodgrain and trying to figure out if it's 100% 1st ed or a hybrid. It was good times and made me want to stay up last night reviewing my collection.

Anyway, I thought I'd re-register. I don't have access to my old Emails to reactivate my account so I'm creating a new one, but I'm really an old-timer.

And just for fun, here's my gaming bio... Smile

Started Playing when I got the 'blue box' in 77 and was hooked. Ran several failed attempts at B1 with friends, finally met a 'real DM' who showed us what to do and played solidly every week until '85, then off to College where it was sporadic. Gaming after that was start/stop as locations and jobs changed but I've always considered myself an active gamer.

Collecting didn't start until the late nineties when I discovered Ebay, and then by chance the Acaeum (when someone linked to the Acaeum as a reference point in their auction).

I initially was mostly interested in 1st Ed published stuff the mainstream monochromes and source books. I collected alot of 2nd edition stuff along the way, which, IMHO is mostly drek, but still worthy.

I completely ignored 3rd editon/3.5 because I just didn't like what I saw. Interested in 4th but haven't sat at a table with it yet.

I'm noting that right now is a good time to pick up 3e stuff since it seems to be plentiful and cheap but wondering if it's even worth it.

What fires me up that's 'odd' is I love getting old homebrew dungeons, character sheets and adventure notes. Weird one-off stuff that sometimes gets tossed into lots on Ebay because the person selling it doesn't know or care about it. I find that fascinating. Most of it is unintelligible garbage, but sometimes you get a glimpse of what that group was like, or an iteresting idea or seeing what influences were guiding them. It's like CSI:D&D. I also like old indpendent published stuff. The grotty coarse black and white trades made up on some desktop publishing software and printed at the local copy shop. Can't get enough of that.

Also, art. I have not collected any original art personally yet, but it's an area I'd love to get into. Even just cataloging digital versions of all the art in the RPG universe would be great.

So, enough wind bagging about me... Glad to be back.. I hope I can stick it out and not get pulled away by work and other things. I'm really glad the Acaeum is still here. I have been popping in and lurking every now and then just to make sure it's still going strong. You guys rock.

-Jon aka Nada

P.S. Now.. who wants to bring me up to speed on what I missed? Twisted Evil

Posts: 3 · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:52 pm

Invincible Overlord wrote:

Welcome to the Acaeum.

Noticing your avatar (and name), I'd just thought I'd mention that I play a Cleric (Rorrik) on the Drinal Server (That's Everquest for the rest of you...). Smile

Thanks Overlord and everyone else for the friendly greetings.

I haven't played EQ in years (1999-2001) but had some great memories playing that game. How long have you been playing?