It is getting better day by day but for now Fine/Very Fine will have to do.

J

With the exception of a few recent additions (the three somewhat rare 1e true-1st hardbacks I picked up by chance at a local used bookstore) and my older copy of Supplement I: Greyhawk (which I got autographed by Rob Kuntz & Gary Gygax), most if not all of my D&D stuff is for gaming with as well as oohing and aah-ing over.  That's not to say if, for example, a woodgrain OD&D box fell out of the sky into my hands I'd say "oh, cool, another set of working books" and take 'em to my next road game.  I recognize the ultra rare stuff for what it is and treat accordingly.

But the majority of it is in rough 'n ready condition.

That's very hard. My collection is in PDF.

I voted NM.   I would say that at least 80% of my collection is either VF or NM with a large portion of unopened items.  WIth that being said, my previous stated goal is to try to get 2 of everything that I want 1 NM and unopened(assuming it actually was sold that way  :wink: ) and 1 NM opened.

VGC!  I know some rather well known dealer who's whole collection of 10,000 items per month is all that kind of shape  :twisted:

 :P  :lol:  :lol:
J

faro wrote:k... Could the other four people who responded along with Brian clarify as to whether they more than one item in their collection, or else have a huge roll of perfect M+ modules stashed away in their room (i.e. factory-fresh rolls of paper unsullied by the printed word).

=
@Deimos: Would've been interesting to have seen the results of this poll w/o F/VF and G/VG lumped in together.



(Darn... I should've selected VGC... )

In retrospect, I didn't divide it up so well. I really should have reworded the question, anyway: How important a factor is condition to you?

Like everyone else, I try to get the highest grade stuff I can, but it isn't a major concern to me. (I very recently picked up a GDQ1-7 for $25, because it had some staining and a fairly serious cigarette wound, which got me thinking...)

Regarding "average" -- assume modal average, not mean.   (If anyone claims the mean condition of their collection is NM+, it's probably not true, as faro alluded.)

My stuff runs the gamut in grades.  Most of it though isn't terribly rare or valuable, so condition isn't of utmost importance.  Of the three items I would consider scarce, one is VF/NM (LUG Dune), the second F/VF (1st print DDG), the third P (water and mildew damage on the last five pages and back cover of Warriors of Mars).

I do my best to take care of my books, for books are inordinately precious, period.

Condition is a trivia question to me.  So long as the binding is intact, and the cover is not absolutely ruined, I am happy to have a copy.  I do have some very good condition items, but I almost dread shrinkwrap...which means I cannot enjoy the publication...and therefore do not really own it.

Mark

My VERY modest stash is actually in decent shape for the most part, especially considering the fact that my "collection" consists mostly of the stuff I bought back in the day and used to  game with.  I tend to treat books, even game books I use frequently, very gently.  So even the ones I used for all those years are in pretty decent condition.  They're all packed neatly away in a travel trunk in my closet, and seem to be holding up okay stored this way.

The only items I have that are really trashed and could use replacing are my 1st Ed PHB, which wasn't mine originally, and is badly mauled and dogeared, and my Basic D&D red softcover rulebook, which saw alot of use and is also missing some pages.