Well it sure isn't the money as you said.  Well then again Ok it is money thatkeeps me going. But DARN little of it.

I enjoy the buying and reselling. I just like to see the stuff. I grew up in a house that was VERY shall we say limited on the finances. Which as we all know was not the type home to live in if you wanted as much as we all did in the 80's for our gamming items.

So I had very limited items. A basic set, an Expert set, a DMG, MM and PH with a coupel modules. That was my whole collection I had gathered from the time I was in Jr. High to the end of Highschool.

Then I got to the Military and ended up with a collection of all the HC books and a large assortment of modules. These becuase a guy who I gamed with was our DM and he was going to Japan so he gave EVERYTHING he owned to me and said Don't worry I got a spare set of it all at home.

So since over the time I either got rid or traded out or sold most of it all. By reselling items I get to actually hold and see the things I only dreamed of as a youth. I never dreamed of olding some of the things I have gotten too.

I know a good number here ouwld laugh, but Hey I am like a kid at christmas when I get a box of stuff. Like the time I opened a wilderness Survival guide and found aWild Things in it I was blown away.  Getting my hands on a Near Mint GDQ was pretty awsome.

As I said before my most prized though is my 1st print Eldritch and Blackmoor that I have. My dream is a wood box of originals and an original of the rest of the supplement books. When I get that I may try to actually get other stuff too.

I do try to get stuff in PDF form just so I have it to game with.  I also always wanted an Undermountain Boxed set when they came out and could nto afford them. So I have boxed set one and boxed set two that are under my bed where no damage can come to them, and I can occasionaly take em out. I am fortunate enough to have kids who enjoy playing and a wife who will join in too.

There is my reasons It the enjoyment of seeing and holding even if briefly the items I only dreamed of when I was younger.

oo this is a good thread!
well i have always had an imagination that is perfect for D&D, so once i got wind of it way back when, i was utterly hooked and its been a part of my life ever since then. have never collected in a major way but from time to time have had some VERY nice items. after all, everyone has their preferences and what is nice and perfect for me doesnt mean it is for someone else etc...

when i got divorced 4 years back i sold everything i had. not through wanting to - i had no other choice....it was a very sad day and really, like part of me dying. i turned my back on D&D really, cos i loved to play but never really had the chance anymore due to not knowing anyone that way inclined etc...

now.... my girlfriend loves the game, my oldest daughter thinks its fantastic and my youngest daughter likes it but doesnt understand it yet, so a budding player to come. between them, it fired me into gear again, so i bought what i would need to play again...YAY!!!

i dont need the money really...have a good job and i get along ok, but the items will always be dear to my heart, especially judges guild stuff and old D&D and AD&D 1st.....so i buy some stuff and sell it on, and keep the odd item which is something i really want.

plus along the way, you meet some great folks, such as mbassoc2003 and b_stedman - cracking guys and a pleasure to know them....

and somehow, life just seems that little bit brighter once again

Collecting things is like an addiction. . . I can always feel the "buzz" in my brain driving me to seek out and acquire new things.  It gets me in my car and causes me to wander through used book stores and far away comic shops.  It tells me to organize and bag and sort and alpha-numerically arrange my collections. . . it makes me grade and code and price my items and create elaborate excel spreadsheets that contain all my information.

It makes me have everything just so. . . if forces me to have every comic bag & board just right - perfectly tight and form fitting. . . but not overly tight. . .

It makes me arrange. . . and rearrange my bookshelves and organize my collection of literature by era and book size and book color and the lettering on the binding until it appears just right (to my eye).

Since the time I was a child I have collected. . .

Bottle Caps, Beer bottles, golf balls, baseball cards, Star Wars cards, Scratch 'n Sniffs, Rock Group Pins, Stamps, little football helmets (the kind that used to come in the 25 cent machine), miniature baseball pennants, rocks, fossils, Star Wars figures, coins. . .

Currently, I have it down to some nice, organzined ones:  Comics Books, Out of print Hardcover literature classics and RPG items.

My motivation is my urge to know everything about a certain setting I really like. I then go and try to get everything written about this setting so I finally have a complete understanding of it. It is also nice to see how campaign settings have evolved over time with every new book that was released. Oh, and I hate pdf files when it comes to reading books so that is no option for me. Sure it would be easy and cheap to buy everything as pdf but I still prefer to sit down on my couch with a glass of whiskey and read through a real book or booklet. So I do not collect just for the sake of it but to gain more knowledge of something.  If I would not plan to read it I never would consider buying it. That's also quite handy because I will not spend too much money on expensive things. Up to now I have been a pure buyer and no item has yet left my collection through reselling on ebay or another service. Perhaps that will change over time but I dont think so.

For me it's probably an OCD thing.  

I am similar to a few people on here that I collect several things other than D&D.  I have been collecting comic books for over 20 years and dont plan on stopping any time soon.  But I don't just collect for the money or because I must have more than anyone else.   Comic books for me are wonderful entertainment.  I read all the comics that I buy.  I do bag, board, and box them so they are taken care of.  When I find a comic that I have been looking for it is almost like I am a treasure hunter that has just found the holy grail.

Collecting D&D and other RPG's is more of an afterthought.  I started playing around 1980 and played sparingly through college.  I picked up most of the hardbacks and a few modules and accessories here and there in the 80's and 90's but stopped picking up most anything after the advent of second edition.

Once I discovered the wonderful world of Ebay in 1999, I started picking up the things that I wanted in the past but either couldnt find or afford.  Not only did I start collecting D&D again but also have acquired a lot of other RPG's that I dabbled with in the past such as Shadowrun, Star Frontiers, Torg, and Vampire.  I also have a decent size collection of vintage video games like Atari 2600, 5200, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis.

I just love having all the neat stuff that I had or wanted as a kid.  I am running out of room for all of it so I have to upgrade my living arrangements.    My girlfriend doesnt mind that I do all this but she doesn't understand it either and thinks that I am a packrat.   I am working on converting her though.  She loves forensic science and watches all the shows like CSI, Law and Order, and the stuff on Court TV and have started her reading the CSI comic and a couple of others that fit the genre.  Maybe someday I can get her to sit down with me and a couple of other people and take a romp through Keep on the Borderlands.  I won't hold my breath though.  

For me its probably 70% nostalgia and 25% completist and about 5% hope(or delusion depending on your viewpoint   ).  The hope part of me actually is directly connected to the nostalgia part of me because, not only do I love to reflect on great times in ther past I had playing, but a very small part of me "hopes" that sometime in the future I will be able to actually relive some of the magic that I felt long ago, that one day I will be able to participate in an active 1st edition campaign again, and not only have enough people to play with, but also have everyone with plenty of time to do it. Truthfully, the game itself for some reason still fascinates me, even though I haven't played it for probably 20 some years.

Well is there any chance all of us here can all agree on a retirement home for when we get older? That way instead of playing Uechure or somethign we can all sit around in the community room at the Big table playing 1st edition on the World of Greyhawk.

I tell ya I will sign up for that community. After all its probably the only dang way we will ever have the time and ability to play like we did when younger.

Bonus to the Retirement home scenario, Even when we complete the GDQ series or the Slavers, or any other one, we wont remember what we just did anyhow so we will be playing in bliss for the remainder of our lives.        

Someplace with a hot tub for relaxing and preferably warm environment, I live in Northern Michigan now and I tell you we been below zero a good bit of January.

I started collecting (again) in June 2004 or so for nostagia, picking up the remnants of my existing collection, but it's evolved rapidly into a quest for different printings and research.  There's a constant pull to try reselling, but I suspect it's far more difficult and time-consuming than I realize.  

My other raison d'etre would be hanging out on this forum, which is a community unto itself.  I've definitely learned a lot in my short time here.

I own more first edition "core" rulebooks than a sane man should -- 5 DMGs, 3PHBs, 6 MMs...and probably growing.  I know that's not a lot around here but considering I don't play or resell, it's significant.  My wife has questioned whether a collection of copies of the same 3 books even counts.