RPGA and R Series modules • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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RPGA and R Series modules
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Egg of Coot
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:13 pm

Hello folks,

This might sound like a bit of a silly question to some of the more veteran collectors here, but I'm trying to get an idea of the relative rarity of the RPGA and R series modules. Is there a ballpark estimate of how many of these modules were printed? Or of their subsequent attrition rate? I know these questions will be a bit difficult to find answers for, but I'm considering breaking down and trying to acquire these sets. I'm just wanting to get as much information together as possible before I start looking.

The Egg

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FoulFoot
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:22 pm

Both series of modules were trumpeted as collector's items from the get-go, so there's little chance that many were discarded or forgotten about. They were only available through the RPGA, though of course it was easy to become a member of the RPGA.

The RPGA-series is rarer than the R-series by about a 2:1 margin (guesstimate). If I had to throw out a figure -- based on the frequency of copies popping up on eBay, and in consideration of the factors mentioned above -- I'd guess about 500 copies of each of the R-modules, and maybe 300 each of the RPGA-series.

While the price on these hasn't been rocketing up (there's a stable supply base, and they all come available several times a year), their value has been steadily, if slowly, appreciating.

Foul

harami2000
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:40 pm

Egg of Coot wrote:This might sound like a bit of a silly question to some of the more veteran collectors here, but I'm trying to get an idea of the relative rarity of the RPGA and R series modules. Is there a ballpark estimate of how many of these modules were printed?

Print run for the Rs, 5-10k(?) about2353-0.html
A bit less for the RPGAs, maybe.

Quite a large number pulped in the US (apparently), but spares sold to Joe Public via Imagine in the UK. Would guess more like 1-2k of each still around, just sitting in collections.
(R1 may be more common in the UK because it was cheapest! Certainly have seen a few more of those here than the other Rs).

(IMG #26, (c))

beasterbrook
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:46 pm

I was going to bring that up as well, by the end it looked like they were almost giving them away...

Brette:)

harami2000
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:49 pm

beasterbrook wrote:I was going to bring that up as well, by the end it looked like they were almost giving them away...

Brette:)

Is money in the pocket, after all.

(However, I can see why they didn't tell RPGA members in the US that all-and-sundry could buy the "exclusive" mods in the UK!).

bclarkie
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:51 pm

harami2000 wrote:
beasterbrook wrote:I was going to bring that up as well, by the end it looked like they were almost giving them away...

Brette:)

Is money in the pocket, after all.

(However, I can see why they didn't tell RPGA members in the US that all-and-sundry could buy the "exclusive" mods in the UK!).

David, you are "back". So where the hell have you been.

Sorry.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

harami2000
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:56 pm

bclarkie wrote:David, you are "back". So where the hell have you been. Sorry.

Not in the JG Inferno, per that other post I just made

Just ticking over (like John H., Improv, and a few others). Ain't all holiday, alas... ^^

Thanks for asking!

beasterbrook
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:12 pm

I also believe towards the end there the mods were made available to all and sundry to by as well...

Brette:)

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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:17 pm

If someone would feel compelled to ask...I think exTSR is the best person to ask for an opinion on this matter.

"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

bclarkie
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:23 pm

Adam Shultz wrote:If someone would feel compelled to ask...I think exTSR is the best person to ask for an opinion on this matter.

I am pretty sure that is where David's source for the original print run of them came from. Allan<grodog> asked Frank back in June or so on the DragonsFoot forum, and the ~5K to 10K was the quote from the man himself. :wink:

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:27 pm

It amazes me how these things have held values through the years. I has seen them dip to as low as $90 for a SW R1 some years back but they quickly corrected.

I really love these items. Probably my favorite gaming items of all.

"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

bclarkie
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:31 pm

Adam Shultz wrote:It amazes me how these things have held values through the years. I has seen them dip to as low as $90 for a SW R1 some years back but they quickly corrected.

I really love these items. Probably my favorite gaming items of all.

I really love the R series too. Its very well done, TBH it is definitely a Top 5 series in my book. I think RPGA2 is cool too, but RPGA3 & 4 kind of bore me.

I dont have RPGA1 just yet, but I remedied that one a few days ago. :wink:

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:35 pm

Waht I like about this R series is it is simple enough to complete within a tourney....yet complex enough to make it interesting. Nothing like starting out the series against a dragon (Falx) :wink:

But what I think makes these most romantic is the fact that nearly all are tied into the mass produced 1e items that we grew up with.

"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

ExTSR
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:02 pm

We printed 2500 of each, iirc. (I may have guessed at 5k before, but I think I was being optimistic.)

About 250-500 of each were sold. (R2 was the least popular.)

The PoG destroyed the rest.

Note: R4 was never shrinkwrapped; R 1-3 were.

Frank
RPGA Founder & Author of the above

harami2000
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:07 pm

Welcome back, Frank!

Did you manage to dig out the print figures from the archives?
And are those sales US only, out of interest? Seem to pop up rather too often to be global, far less with the wholesale disposal of surplus stock at reduced prices in the UK...

killjoy32
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:13 pm

harami2000 wrote:Welcome back, Frank!

Did you manage to dig out the print figures from the archives?
And are those sales US only, out of interest? Seem to pop up rather too often to be global, far less with the wholesale disposal of surplus stock at reduced prices in the UK...

yeah welcome back Frank, nice to see you here again!

david, i remember the ad in that imagine mag many moons back. it didnt quote numbers tho did it? it just said "while stocks last", so that could have meant anything between 1 and whatever

and even if there were 500 left, i would still think that was a possible global figure you know.

Al

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macordani
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:14 am

Hey guys, I don't have many rare items but I do have a mint shrinkwrapped R1. I got it for around $90 or so a few years ago. I've been looking for the other three in NM or so condition but haven't found any that fall within my price range. That is OK though as the hunt is as fun as actually getting the item.

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