Aneoth wrote:I would therefore value the incomplete box set at or about the grade of Very Good to Excellent, based on the Acaeums lists.  There is no way I could place a value anywhere near the top listed value shown on that list for recent sales of similar Box Sets. Those were to my knowledge ALL complete sets.

So, after this long-winded script, what is my final conclusion?
I am afraid that the set that you have is quite unfortunately, incomplete. And that is truly tragic.    As I was perfectly willing to accept the wrath of my wife and put myself to the curb with no roof over my balding head for a First Print Woody.

Tragically, your set is much like the set of Wood Grain Set Books with NO box at all, which sold on E-Bay (Along with several other rare books included in the auction) for less than $150 less than a month ago. I know, I was bidding on it just for the woody books alone. Someone here (I forget who) can attest to this as he won the auction by sniping me!

No box = No box set.  
Only two books with a box = No box set.  

There you go.... my 2 coppers worth....

OK....
My take, and just a personal opinion since Peter asked for these.

I know there are investors, resellers, wealthy individuals and tax-deductable orgs (*grr*) who might state a higher value or be "able to afford" more, for obvious reasons.

Best to start on firm foundations, however...

- The highest obtained for an EX/M 2nd print set is $850, less than a year ago. Probably hasn't declined in "value" since then.
- The 2nd print volume 3 in this set has a fault. This ain't terminal by any stretch of the imagination and would be on the purchaser's "to be replaced" list, anyhow.
- "Added value" for a 1st print box is difficult to attribute since we still have no consensus on woodgrain direction and there's is known degree of "mix and match" randomness, anyhow (as with per Acaeum notes and my recent comment on 4th- prints Post research tidbits here ).
At best(?), 1st and (most) 2nd prints do appear to have smaller box labels.

Working upwards...

- Paul's 1st print (EX/NM; although the box /appears/ to be better) got caught up in last-minute bidding and last-second manual and automatic sniping (see the auction history, above). The end result was higher than expected and the support level appears to be around $1,800, albeit I'm sure there are other snipes that didn't make it onto the system).
- Some people still state that the odd colored 3rd volume in Paul's set deserves a scarcity premium. Others that it may be a reprint or other anomoly. As discussed before...

Looking at The Acaeum estimates, auction histories and by comparison with other collecting fields it is clear that values increase strongly towards (and for) the first prints and fairly strongly towards mint condition; both factors combining to an extent.
Moreso, the premium for "getting everything together" is clearly there, hence my attempted disaggregations on Original TSR Box Sets w/ no box, what can be expected? which no-one has yet denounced. (And they are a reasonable first-cut match to the realisations).

Resistors...
- The set ain't worth top-dollar premiums (above) until someone gives up a NM 1st print volume 3.
- It /should/ be easier to obtain such a book, than an appropriate box, even though the former would be (1/1,000) whereas the latter is still (1/most of 3,000?), since books are usuall found in higher grading.
- However, in obtaining, it is likely that another set would be "destroyed".

Finger-in-the-air...

1) On component parts (using numbers from my other post)...
- Box (presuming OK on the side, too): EX: $600 (or a bit higher).
- Books; factoring in minor damage to vol. 3: EX-EX+; (1st print; $500, 2nd print; $250)-- averaging out (oh the horror of doing so! *g*): $425.
= $1,025-1,050.
Couldn't allocate a "well matched set" premium on the basis of 1st or 2nd print quotes, but possibly a lesser figure (+10-15%) to allow for good appearance and potential.
= $1,150-1,200, say.

2) On realisations (per above)...
- 2nd print (per before) - $850 (and forgiving the current volume 3 that minor defect).
- 1st print (with allowances for the nature of high bidding on "one offs") - $1,800, say, based on "support level".
... Taking a "stab in the dark", difficulty in completing the set without damaging others and making allowances for weighting towards volume 1 might yield $1,200, say. (Science, what science?).

Anyhow... add in further presumptions.
(BIN "carrot"; +10% say = $1,250-$1,325 by method 1; $1,300-$1,350 by method 2... possibly a bit more).
(aside: even if not BIN'd, the current strength of foreign currencies could add 10% or more if the auction was opened to, or made easier for, such buyers).

...Plus of course presumption regarding no dramatic paradigm shift in bidding/valuation (difficult to tell just now!), "one off" sale effect, or other people being able to bid higher for various reasons such as tax breaks or being able to resell at collectors auctions or via private sales lists.
i.e. This needn't be a self-fulfilling prophecy, just an attempt to /estimate/ an extremely difficult item in a somewhat niche market with a limited number of buyers.

To sum up the above: $1,025 (lower base estimate) ranging to mid $1,300s (allowing for BIN offers and suchlike)

Anyone care to rip this to shreds, now?

Regards,
David.

Deadlord36 wrote:Aneoth is right. Verbose, but right.

Heh, you thought <aneoth> was verbose.
I'd better go hide, Frank!

Well, I think we've successfully terrified every casual user out there into never offering their woodgrain finds on eBay.


It sounds like the seller took the high road, accepting all criticism and education as it came.  Whatever he wants to do with it now is up to him.

And my $40 offer also still stands...
Three of four parts of a First Woody is better than NO parts of a First Woody.

Hey guys,
    I thank you for the discussion. This is a great little education on my set. Whatever I choose to do in the future, this is just the kind of discussion I need to see in order to make an iformed decision. Who knew that the direction of printed woodgrain would lead to such confusion?

You know, I used to spend my summers in Delavan, Wisconsin, which is the next town over from Lake Geneva. Now I wish that I spent more time going to garage sales and such. Perhaps I would have ended up with a stack of these sets to hand out to you all for helping me! Maybe I'll just finish that time machine that I am working on... err...  

PeterFedofsky wrote:You know, I used to spend my summers in Delavan, Wisconsin, which is the next town over from Lake Geneva. Now I wish that I spent more time going to garage sales and such. Perhaps I would have ended up with a stack of these sets to hand out to you all for helping me! Maybe I'll just finish that time machine that I am working on... err...  

*g*. That sounds so familiar, Peter.
Hindsight can be fun in this context!

(oh, btw, was your woodgrain purchase from that same area??)

Compare with...

<clip> from Vote for your favourite TSR Artist

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 3:54 pm
.....
That second point is no joke, Pat... I picked up Elrohir's cover art for Dragon #11 last year on ebay (two bids, only). The vendor (still living in Lake Geneva) only knew about the TSR connection because of their locale/connections and had *no* idea that the artwork had been used on the magazine. A couple of quotations from their response made interesting reading in the context of any surviving early artwork, especially by lesser known names... "Thank you for sending the picture, too, as my sister worked for TSR for many years. I asked her if she saved anything good, and she replied, she didn't think it would ever amt. to much. Which was the general attitude in this town at the time. Gary Gygax was considered kind of a local nutcase back then. If we had only known.... I cannot remember the exact address, as it was an estate sale so many years ago, but I do remember close to what year, and that it was bought right here in town. Could've even been sold to me by the original artist, they were all poor back then and sold off a lot of the art for grocery money." Sounds like Lake Geneva would have been a good place to help pay the bills of starving artists, etc., back in those days  
....
<end clip>

Heh, heh... Once upon a time...

(oh, btw, was your woodgrain purchase from that same area??)

Oddly enough, it was purchased in Seattle, Washignton.

Peter,

 With all the time you've been hanging around here maybe you should consider joining this mad hatter crew of D&D geeks,    keeping the woodie, and begin a lookout for a 1st print Underworld & Wilderness Adventures yourself. Not a bad place to start a collection

I've deduced two reasons, and their JMO as to the "condition" of the woodie.

1. the owner lost or somehow destroyed his 1st print Underworld & Wilderness Adventures and obtained a new copy probably by mail order just after the second print. This would explain why the errata sheet is present.

or-

2. the woodie is somekind of hybrid of surplus 1st print and 2nd print books sold when the second print run sold-out mid 1975. There appears to already be two diffrent variants of the 1st print Underworld & Wilderness Adventures according to the Acaum. Maybe there where problems with the print run and a few leftover 1st print Men & Magic and Monsters & Treasures where in surplus until the second print run. This again would explain why the errata sheet is present. Not an uncommon practice I've seen several copies of Tractics in the hands of longtime owners with diffrent printings in box.

I've got the question into Tom Wham former TSR employee at the time. Maybe he will shed some light on the subject.

Mike

dsaunders wrote:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5930601206

woodbox with more supplements than i care to name...

s'OK. I was chatting with the seller 10 minutes after the auction started. *g*.
There are obvious faults, but the signed Blackmoor is kinda nice...

d.