I started playing D&D in 1976 while stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago. We made a couple of trips to the Dungeon in Lake Geneva and got to meet everyone there. We played F.I.T.S., Naval minis, and of course D&D. Even went into the original Blackmoor castle. If I remember correctly it was Terry Kuntz that took us in.
Was pretty heavy into it for a couple of years along with EPT and Traveller. Even was invited to DM at the Dragon Seekers club in Chicago in early '77. Have a copy of their first issue of The Wizard from Feb. 1977. Kept playing after being transferred to Orlando, but when sent to Idaho started drifting away and after being assigned to sea duty lost track entirely.
Couple of years ago I saw how collectible this stuff had become and decided to invest(won't go near the stock market). Just wish I had held onto some of the early stuff I had, like earliest issues of Dragon starting with #1(I could kick myself). some things I did keep(no thanks to me) were a Palace of the Vampire Queen and a Beastmaker Mountain. Also some minis from those early days, including what I believe might be the first lead dragon made. I suspect it's Grenadier, but nobody has been able to tell me anything about it. Could definitely use some help there.
Since collecting I have picked up some decent items thanks to my knowledge of those early days. For example:
I won an auction on eBay about 1 1/2 years ago for the first 16 issues of the Journal from JG. All subscription items in great condition along with some non-sub items. That's right, Citystate, Tegel Manor, TAC cards, the whole shooting match for about $300 dollars. When I opened the package the very first thing I saw was an absolutely cherry copy of The Character Archaic. I hadn't seen one since my very first characters. Since it wasn't in the auction I had to inform the seller. He said he didn't want to bother putting it up in another auction and thought I would appreciate it. Boy, did I ever. The thing is TIGHT.
A shrink-wrapped EPT(2nd print). Have also picked up stuff to go with that, like Missum, Tsolyani Language I and II, and Deeds of the Ever-Glorious.
A real nice Metamorphosis Alpha(1st print). Was that game ever a hoot!
Punched and unpunched copies of Divine Right.
Punched and unpunched copies of FITS. We used to have tons of fun with FITS.
Lots of Dragon's starting in the high 20's.
First Fantasy Campaign from JG(1st print)
Lot's of other stuff from AD&D 1st through 3rd editions.
Just about everything ever put out by GDW for classic Traveller. Funny, I only remember playing with those first 3 books. I could not believe how much it grew since I played. Have gotten Marc W. Miller to sign many items for me. He trades on eBay as onlooker1, a great guy. Have recently picked up an unpunched copy of Chaco that I'll get him to sign. I also collect wargames.
Speaking of which I also have a mint copy of Guidon's Tractics with Fast Rules also. Even the box is sweet.
I've wasted enough of everyone's time for now so I'll sign off. Very happy to join The Acaeum crowd and look forward to the future of collecting. Thank you.
                           Tom Wargo

tntwargo wrote:I started playing D&D in 1976 while stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago. We made a couple of trips to the Dungeon in Lake Geneva and got to meet everyone there. We played F.I.T.S., Naval minis, and of course D&D. Even went into the original Blackmoor castle. If I remember correctly it was Terry Kuntz that took us in.

Hi Tom, and welcome to the boards

If you were friends with Terry and Rob Kuntz, you should stop by Rob's boards to say hello: http://pub175.ezboard.com/bpiedpiperpublishing
I'm sure he'd appreciate it (Terry is MIA so far as I know, alas...).

bclarkie---

I think they're both pretty aware of the Acaeum in general, as well as our general level of obsessiveness.  I haven't explicitily invited either to join here, though, which I supposed I should fix

Thanks for the heads up, Allan. I will check out Rob's board as soon as I get the chance. As for being friends, I certainly wouldn't say that. We made at most 4 or 5 trips to Lake Geneva. At that time the Dungeon was a small house(red, if I remember correctly) with a Pizza Hut across the street(very handy).
    Terry worked the retail counter and would moderate or DM for us. The others were busier than the proverbial one-legged man in the butt-kicking contest. We would even go out to this bar afterward. They had some killer burgers and a Breakout video game. Funny the little things you remember.
    Again, I'll check out Rob's board. I would like to see if I can get Gygax and Kuntz to sign some stuff for my collection. Does anyone know how they feel about this?
                                                   Tom