Half-Price Books - What do you think?
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:23 pm 
 

silver_beetle wrote:I was there Tuesday, they're down to one. I took a look at it, and thought about buying it, but declined. I'm a little tired of WotC putting out loads of useless, overpriced books (though $13 is pretty good.)


My main problem with the DMG II is actually the name.  When I flipped through it, I seemed to recall seeing some decent advice related to designing and running a campaign.  (Not sure I'd buy it even at a reduced price, but it wasn't completely horrible.)  However, the title makes it sound far more important and necessary than it really is. :roll:

  

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:28 pm 
 

Heh, they should've called it Creative Campaigning. Oh, wait, that's been used. :) Then again, WotC does like re-using names... and covers.


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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 5:59 pm 
 

Badmike wrote:Are you already there? Man, someone got up early today!!!

I got up at 0-dark-thirty Tuesday morning, drove to Houston, did the loop of the stores, and then drove back home Tuesday night.  It was worthwhile, though not as fruitful as it could have been.

I should have picked up all of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventures that I found at one of the stores . . .  :x   But I did find an R.L. Stine book that was of the CYOA genre. :D

Do other people make similar expeditions to HPB or gamestores in their general area?  I tried doing the same thing in the Seattle area in the 90s, but the stores were too spread out to do it effectively.  Houston is definitely doable in one eight-hour day; Dallas-Fort Worth takes a long day.

[Edit:  I mean Wednesday, not Tuesday.  'twas a long day.]


Last edited by JohnGaunt on Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:29 pm 
 

JohnGaunt wrote:I got up at 0-dark-thirty Tuesday morning, drove to Houston, did the loop of the stores, and then drove back home Tuesday night.  It was worthwhile, though not as fruitful as it could have been.

I should have picked up all of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventures that I found at one of the stores . . .  :x   But I did find an R.L. Stine book that was of the CYOA genre. :D

Do other people make similar expeditions to HPB or gamestores in their general area?  I tried doing the same thing in the Seattle area in the 90s, but the stores were too spread out to do it effectively.  Houston is definitely doable in one eight-hour day; Dallas-Fort Worth takes a long day.


I've done both Houston and Austin in one day....I suppose San Antonio could be done, but traffic is such a bear there...have done the Kansas City/Lawrence stores in one day (there are only four of them, I believe, and not that spread out).

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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:46 am 
 

JohnGaunt wrote:Do other people make similar expeditions to HPB or gamestores in their general area?  I tried doing the same thing in the Seattle area in the 90s, but the stores were too spread out to do it effectively.  Houston is definitely doable in one eight-hour day; Dallas-Fort Worth takes a long day.


Dunno how many there are in Houston or DFW, but there are four stores in the Cleveland area and one can make a circuit of them in half a day or so. I've done it a couple times when I have days off during the week, then I usually throw in a few Goodwill/Salvation Army visits as well to keep things interesting.


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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:47 am 
 

silver_beetle wrote:
Dunno how many there are in Houston or DFW, but there are four stores in the Cleveland area and one can make a circuit of them in half a day or so. I've done it a couple times when I have days off during the week, then I usually throw in a few Goodwill/Salvation Army visits as well to keep things interesting.


I'm 44 years old, and after all the visits in my life, I have yet to find a gaming related item in a Goodwill store... :cry:

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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:24 am 
 

Goodwill is where I found my now-lost copy of Worlds of Wonder, The Arcanum 2nd Edition, Outdoor Survival, Battlemasters, Lord of the Rings Chess, and a few other items. Then, the store stopped carrying games. Now, my only hope are used book stores, but I don't know where any are, online, and two game stores, one of which overprices everything OoP considering I can find the same stuff elsewhere for about 5%.


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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:35 am 
 

serleran wrote:Goodwill is where I found my now-lost copy of Worlds of Wonder, The Arcanum 2nd Edition, Outdoor Survival, Battlemasters, Lord of the Rings Chess, and a few other items. Then, the store stopped carrying games. Now, my only hope are used book stores, but I don't know where any are, online, and two game stores, one of which overprices everything OoP considering I can find the same stuff elsewhere for about 5%.


I think it has to do with fact there are 35 HPB stores in Texas....most in Houston, Austin, D/FW and San Antonio...and people have been conditioned to bring their books and games there instead of Goodwill.  The practice is probably different in other states that don't have chain used bookstores.  I rarely see books of any kind at all in the local Goodwill stores.

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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:57 pm 
 

JohnGaunt wrote:I got up at 0-dark-thirty Tuesday morning, drove to Houston, did the loop of the stores, and then drove back home Tuesday night.  It was worthwhile, though not as fruitful as it could have been.

I should have picked up all of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventures that I found at one of the stores . . .  :x   But I did find an R.L. Stine book that was of the CYOA genre. :D


Hi John.  The far-west Westheimer HPB location (west of the outer beltway) used to be a great store for games, but I was just there the other day and didn't find much of anything.  They were also in a smaller suite down from where they used to be...  Maybe they changed hands or their thoughtful 'Games' section curator moved on to another gig?  Dunno, but I was disappointed.

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:01 am 
 

I visited the Half Price Books in Tukwilla, Washington on the way home from Seattle today.

I found two Cloud Kingdom publications.  They were:

Riddle Rooms #2, Wilderness Puzzles and Perils

and

Thieves Island, A Riddle Rooms Adventure

They are pretty much mint.  I guess they would qualify as Near Mint.

They were $4.98 each.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:05 am 
 

Is HPB associated with ABE.com? I dunno, but they've got an awful lot of neat stuff. :) Just bought me a Mayfair CSIO in shrink for not too bad, and they had practically everything else for the CSIO line and some other stuff, too, and they even carry OD&D material on a rare visit.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:17 am 
 

serleran wrote:Is HPB associated with ABE.com? I dunno, but they've got an awful lot of neat stuff. :) Just bought me a Mayfair CSIO in shrink for not too bad, and they had practically everything else for the CSIO line and some other stuff, too, and they even carry OD&D material on a rare visit.


HPB uses ABE to price a lot of their material, which IMO is  a big mistake, ABE doesn't reflect any sort of real world or average price.  I suppose ABE is the best they can do for collectibles, but when a HPB has a Deities & Demigods for $50 (with cthulhu) that's absolutely beat to hell there is something wrong with that. Particularly when the guy who priced it tells you he didn't get the price off ebay (a truer gauge of the market) but ABE.....
 Serleran I hope they didn't ding you too much on the CSIO Mayfair stuff...it's absolutely el stinko....!

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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:16 pm 
 

serleran wrote:Goodwill is where I found my now-lost copy of Worlds of Wonder, The Arcanum 2nd Edition, Outdoor Survival, Battlemasters, Lord of the Rings Chess, and a few other items. Then, the store stopped carrying games. Now, my only hope are used book stores, but I don't know where any are, online, and two game stores, one of which overprices everything OoP considering I can find the same stuff elsewhere for about 5%.



I drained all the Rochester and surrounding area comic book & RPG stores of their good overstock about 4 years ago.  Nary a deal to be had when you drive out this way Serl . . .   :P


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:23 pm 
 

Serleran I hope they didn't ding you too much on the CSIO Mayfair stuff...it's absolutely el stinko....!


The price wasn't as bad as I'd expected, and I did want it for the Gygax foreword. :) I also like the city/castle of Briarwood (I know, I know) on some dark level of my subconscious. ;)

Oh, and BTB... I'll just have to show up at your house! :) Or, are you just trying to keep me away? ;)


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:50 pm 
 

From the 80s, you would flip back and forth and melee with each other using the books.  I grabbed the unicorn and gold drake ones, left the others.

Other than that it is mostly World of Darkness, Exalted, a Dragon Magazine or two and misc. Shadowrun stuff.  The inventory keeps dropping rather than growing.


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:25 pm 
 

Half-Price Books in Seattle's University District, Wednesday....

FASA Star Trek Federation Ship Recognition Manual:  $2
FASA Star Trek Romulan Ship Recognition Manual:    $2

Both in excellent condition.

ICE Shadow World:  Sky Giants of the Brass Stair:  $3.48

Excellent condition

CM6 Where Chaos Reigns:  $2.98   Excellent condition

ICE Arms Law, First Edition:   $1
ICE Spell Law, First Edition:   $1
ICE Book I, Of Channeling:   $1
ICE Book III, Of Mentalism:  $1

All in rough condition...obviously used by active gamers.

Not too bad, eh?


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Post Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:38 pm 
 

FormCritic wrote:Not too bad, eh?


I think that's pretty darn good.  I recently picked up the Spell Law boxed set (that the Book of Channeling and Mentalism are from) and thought they were  an interesting read.  You can't go wrong at those prices though.

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:04 am 
 

OK...

I hit Half Price Books in Tukwilla, Washington today on my way home from Sea Tac Airport.

The booty list:

The Adventure Begins Here
(3.0 introductory boxed set...in SW) - $4.98

Then, as I was leaving the store I noticed on the discount rack outside:

Penumbra - Unhallowed Halls - $1

Last Unicorn - Aria RPG Worlds - $1

Pardigm Concepts - Slaves of the Moon, Guide to Lycanthropes - $1

Malhavoc Press - When the Sky Falls - $1

Whit Publications - Scortch (sourcebook for Wizards RPG) - $1

Paradigm Concepts - Codex Arcanis - $1

Wonderworld Press - The World of Synnibarr - $1

OK, OK...I know I overpaid for The World of Synnibarr, but overall not bad, eh?

Anyone in the Tacoma area who wants to collect Freeport, there were four or five different Freeport publications in the Tacoma Half Price Books...all for less than you would pay on Ebay.

Also, anyone looking for Lost Souls (second edition)?  It was at the Tukwilla store.  There is a photocopied letter to Roger Moore (editor of Dragon magazine back in 1993) asking him to explain to readers that Lost Souls had a new publisher.  It was $7.98...and only an owners name inside the cover, otherwise no faults.

Anyone here familiar with the Legend of Yore RPG?

There were also other items I left behind on the $1 rack in Tukwilla, if you live near there.

While I was in Tukwilla, I should have tried to look up the Wonderworld Books owner and see if I could get the author to sign The World of Synnibarr!  The book was only about a 10 minute drive from its publisher.

I noticed that Lost Souls was published by two different companies in Beaverton, Oregon.  I think of the Pacific Northwest as a gaming backwater, but I guess it really isn't....except that a lot of the OD&D stuff did not make it out here in the 1970's.  

(As I have mentioned before, I was astonished to discover Mary and Ben Ezzell, of Dragontree Press, living almost within eyesight of my house.)

So, anyone else?

Mark


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