As pointed out in another thread, our favorite seller is now selling items under username jorig8850.  Be forewarned!

Foul

Looks like a Print-on-Demand copy, which, provided the originating source has the right to reprint (DrivethruRPG or wherever), then it isn't illegal to sell the product. Only misleading description and ridiculous price. If you were in the UK I'd say send it back and get a full refund, because in the UK we are entitled to a full refund on anything we buy online for any reason if we are dissatisfied. We do not need to demonstrate wrongdoing. Sad for eBay sellers over here because a lot of sellers get stung when buyers feel remorse about buying stuff.

Clearly something which is maybe worth $25-$30 if you particularly wanted a hard copy. At the moment you can't buy hardcopy from DrivethruRPG. But theres a lot of stuff on eBay now that is Print-on-Demand being sold at ridiculous mark-ups. So if you paid $100, and you like it and want to keep it, and its worth $30, and he gave you a $30 partial refund also, then its a $40 lesson which is not a bad price to open your eyes to the shenanigans that go on around the collecting market these days.

Thanks for letting us know.
In regard to the quality of the reprint, is it clear and with pages that are well centred? Does any of the text disappear into the binding? Are the maps okay? The original has a map booklet, so I am assuming this has the maps bound in at the back?
I'm just curious, because PoDs such as these are done from scans of the original books, which you can clean up with software, but are never clear and perfect like modern PDFs are. I've never seen a Print-on-Demand product from a scanned PDF before, so I am curious about quality.

Welcome to Acaeum, btw.
Hope you stay with us.

Sounds like a good quality print, and to put it in perspective, a near mint copy of ToEE original would set you back $100+
https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modcode.html
The forum tracks prices on most of the key D&D items, and has data going back decades (although I don't know if historic data is available on the site.)

If you're thinking of buying Print-on-Demand, now that you are aware of the eBay scams, I'd go to DrivethruRPG first. The ToEE soft cover reprint is $20 with a copy of the PDF thrown in.

Syranimys wrote in ETC/GAME EMP/jonb7839,lisas_stuff_too! is now she_wolf626:Hi.
    I added myself as a member because I started researching this person (JR) due to what I felt was an odd transaction. I purchased a hardcover ToEE (imagine that!). I kinda already knew it was a bootleg, but didn't know the history of this person. My thoughts were that I'd be getting a lot of use out of it, so the hardcover edition might last longer; Or, if it was indeed some crazy rare promotional copy from a Con or something, I'd put it away into the collection. It was sold as "Near Mint". It would have been too if it didn't arrive with slight water damage on the inside cover. I asked for a $30 partial refund (The book was $100. A steep price for a printed copy, considering a new 5E book is half that price.); The person gave me the partial refund.

    It was sold as "rare", but their completed listing showed they were selling one a week like clockwork. I brought it up and the person stated that their late husband passed away and these were from his collection and that she only had a few left. My thoughts were, "Where did she get them? These are sold nowhere else. This is not an official TSR or WOC product." My impression was they were just printing them off somewhere and selling them one-at-a-time to give the false impression of rarity.

Anyway, is that the MO of this person? Do they have a history of selling fake D&D memorabilia? I'll avoid in the future if so. Sounds like a character!

It's a print on demand item, either legally from Drive thrus or Lulu, or via uploaded files to Lulu or another place. It's not worth $100, but it's a nice way to read this without damaging an actual copy. While not illegal to sell, it's dishonest if it's being peddled as some sort of rare collectible, because it's not.

The "my husband died and these were from his collection" is an out and out lie, she/he/it was trying to peddle this  story 15+ years ago, there is no dead husband and no old collection they are selling from.

FYI, as Ian says, just buy POD from Drive Thru, much cheaper.

Mike B.

Eruantien wrote in ETC/GAME EMP/jonb7839,lisas_stuff_too! is now she_wolf626: Happy to provide more details,

Yes, please.