Badmike wrote:
Wow, someone just had to have it.  Insanity.  

Mike B.

Hi guys!
I'm the ....... (add your preferred definition of me) guy who just bought the caverns of tsojconth for 2 grands
Since it's not too much time that I know of the Acaeum, I'll use this opportunity to make your acquaintance!
I just wanted to give you some insight on what I did, which I hope will help solve some of your questions (about my actions)

I'll start with the "rational" reasons:
1) As some have pointed out, I live in Italy. This brings some interesting things. First of all, these getting paid in EURO raises a lot my purchasing power versus the dollar... I used to buy in the US - actually, I used to be one of your customers, Mike! How are you doing these days? Happy to meet you again!!!!! (BTW, I'm Luca from Italy, check your records from 5-6 years ago... - sorry for the spin off.
What was I sayng? Oh, yeah! My money is worth a lot nowadays! that's the first thing.
Second, I can't go to all the CONS that happen overthere... Actually I've never been to one. I wish I could go to GENCON some day.. Maybe for my honeymoon! This means that I have only the net to get some of the stuff that I want.
2) Yes, I'm willing to pay higher sums than the "normal e-bay deals" - if something like that can really exist... I usually look only for SW items, and honestly, to me buying from a big retailer, which "should" be more reliable, is totally worth the 5 or 10 bucks more that I pay. Moreover, once I find people that I can trust, I rarely buy somewhere else if they have what I need. I hope this explains why I stick with the people I "know", like I did years ago with Mike B.
I actually I'm also a recurring customer from NKG (Hi Aaron), which probably has bought a new Viper by now with my money....
This for the same reasons: great service, cheap prices (believe me: no matter what you think, if I bought the same thing in italy, I would have spent 20 to 30% more - even after S&H costs. The sale price for the new colossal blue dragon in Italian stores is 40€ i.e. around 50$....)
3) per the reasons above, AD&D collectors'stuff is rarer in italy, and is therefore more valued.
One of the most complete italian guides rates the module I just bought as ultra-rare and worth 1400€ (around 1800$, more or less)
4) luckily, four uninterrupted bull years in the Stock Exchange have given me more money for my hobby!

These are the ratonal reasons, but the real truth behind my purchase is quite simpler (if maybe stupid).
I'm a huge fan of AD&D since more than 20 years. And I decided to eventually collect ALL of the D&D-AD&D items ever published. possibly in Mint or SW conditions, so I can pass them to my son(s) as my personal legacy... (Or to Manolo if I won't have kids....).
I don't care about the monetary value of those items. Actually, I don't plan to ever resell them. I'm not looking for the best deal. If I get one, all the better, but to me the importan thing is "to get the item".
To me, D&D items are part of my youth, and some of my fondest memories. not an investment that must be "sound", but the well into which to throw the money made with "sound" investments (sorry for the pun)!!!
Besides, as long as someone is willing to spend one and half million dollars for some stupid collection of old signatures, I'll always be in good company at the sanitarium!!!!!

And, I too saw the Inverness at Dragontrove.
And, Yes, I toyed with the idea of buying it.
And, if you don't take it off your site, I'll probably do it as soon as I have the money!
And I won't put it for sale, for sure! I already buoght the IKEA displaying glass to put it under...

hope to hear from you guys!

see ya

Luca a.k.a Sven

bombadil wrote:Well, congratulations, Luca.  Did it arrive yet, and if so, how was the condition?

Thanks!
actually it arrived this eve with FedEx.
It seems in NM conditions as described!
Gosh, typed sheets and ziplog bags... these really were the good days of old!

Wow Sven.  I'm sure the offers to sell other rares have been coming in, but if not, I'll try to save you a few thousand in the currency of your choice:

Post what you're looking for here first!  (In the Classifieds section.)  These guys won't rip you off.  

sven wrote:
Hi guys!
I'm the ....... (add your preferred definition of me) guy who just bought the caverns of tsojconth for 2 grands
Since it's not too much time that I know of the Acaeum, I'll use this opportunity to make your acquaintance!
I just wanted to give you some insight on what I did, which I hope will help solve some of your questions (about my actions)

I'll start with the "rational" reasons:
1) As some have pointed out, I live in Italy. This brings some interesting things. First of all, these getting paid in EURO raises a lot my purchasing power versus the dollar... I used to buy in the US - actually, I used to be one of your customers, Mike! How are you doing these days? Happy to meet you again!!!!! (BTW, I'm Luca from Italy, check your records from 5-6 years ago... - sorry for the spin off.

Yes I do remember you Luca!!!!  A very good Italian customer, seems all my brothers from Italy are rich and discriminating collectors!!! Welcome to the site!  
  Well, I know the Euro has increased buying power overseas because my international sales are booming.  So I guess this makes sense.  And like I said, a lot of people don't want to get involved in a giant bidding war. But still, in terms of what I make each month, the cost of those super rares....insanity!

Mike B.

Thenraine wrote:
Is this now considered a confirmed sale at a record price?

No idea.  Unless they've made a change in procedure, however, the Valuation Board won't consider it in their calculations.  BIN prices are ignored as a general rule.

Beyondthebreach wrote: He wanted it now . . . he paid for it.

This seems to be true.

Beyondthebreach wrote: the buyer even logged on to show they are not clueless either.

However, I think that the jury is still out on that.

Out of curiosity, does Brian's $500 BIN snag for the 1st woodgrain get counted in the valuations?  I can't imagine that it would drag down the listed price much, given the number of higher prices out there.

grodog wrote:Out of curiosity, does Brian's $500 BIN snag for the 1st woodgrain get counted in the valuations?  I can't imagine that it would drag down the listed price much, given the number of higher prices out there.

I would have to insist on the answer to that question as being no.  

For one, it was listed by the seller as a 2nd print,which it is clearly not, even though I actually was buying it on the premise of it being a 2nd print(I didn't look at the pctures supplied by the seller that closely until I got it in the mail and realized by inspection that it was not a 2nd print).  

Secondly, and far more importantly, that price of $500 was due in large part to a campaign of misinforation that was done to the seller by someone else, thus my comments about the auction being "tainted".  This misinformation that was given, led the seller to beleive that the set that I won was not only a 2nd print set(thus his listing it as such), but also that the set had a much lower value that it should have been.  I won't go into anymore specific details other than that, but I will say that I was fully unaware of these goings on until after I actually received the set and post my "find" here.

Well, regardless of misinformation/less-knowledgeable sellers, the set sold for $500, which is a solid amount of money---not for a 1st printing, mind you, but certainly solid for any D&D collectible that's not an uber-rare, and within-normalcy for a 2nd woody in general over the past few years.  Now, whether that sale should count as a 2nd printing sale (since that's what you thought you bought, and what the seller thought he was selling), is an interesting question.  The fact that it actually was a 1st printing is somewhat separate from that question, in my mind, at least

Now, in terms of BINs being out there that are undervalued (whether mis-described or not), that happens.  Some folks see them and obviously take advantage of the savings, some folks miss them, and some items probably get ditched if they're never picked up on via the BIN (though the latter's unlikely, given your uncanny BIN radar, Brian ).  What's wrong with letting the dice fall where they do?  

The Fazzlewood that someone bought awhile ago that was listed as "Fazzle Wood" that they outbid me on and the whole lot went for $110 or somesuch; is that similarly excluded from the listings---it wasn't a BIN, but certainly only one other searcher had found it at the time, which doesn't mean that it's not "worthy" of being factored into a FW's value, does it?  Creative and diligent searchers find the best goodies, right?  If the idea of the prices is to average out (or median out) the prices, one or two outliers won't unduly impact the overall value of the books, since so many other high prices will buoy them up (if averaging), or the math itself will chop out the unreasonable low/high values (if medianing).  So the rogue FW would still be counted, but it's impact would be lessened by the other higher-priced sales out there.

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud about the process here, and definitely not trying to be argumentative or to be nitpicking anyone's valuations, etc., etc.