Why Do You Collect RPG's?
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Poll: Why do you collect RPG's?  What is your main reason for buying all these paper, cardboard and lead treasures?

As an investment 1%       1%  [ 1 ]
As a re-seller 4%       4%  [ 4 ]
As an active gamer 19%       19%  [ 17 ]
For nostalgic and sentimental reasons 54%       54%  [ 49 ]
For historical and preservation purposes 9%       9%  [ 8 ]
For the pure joy of collecting something 11%       11%  [ 10 ]
For another reason not listed here 2%       2%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 91

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Active Collector

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Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Post Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:10 pm 
 

I've recently started to reacquire most of the game books I've handed on, given away, traded, or otherwise lost track of over the years. The primary reason being that I'm actively DMing a 1st/2nd edition AD&D game and I want the books to use. Secondary is that I'm beginning to feel a sense of nostalgia for those old books -- because I'm getting into my late 30s, I suspect.

I've always played RPGs of various sorts since I started with basic D&D in 1980. But for most of my life, as I haven't needed the game books, they've flowed in and out of my possession.  I think it's been my way of helping the hobby: by getting others into it. Either through DMing or giving them the books. The playing hobby that is, not the collecting hobby; I don't believe I've helped that in any way, at least not wittingly. However, I've resolved to end this "passing the book" tradition I've had and keep most of my D&D stuff and certain other RPGs that I have developed a fondness for over the years.

Cheers,

Steve

  


Active Collector

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Post Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:01 am 
 

Thankfully, I had an idyllic childhood, and would happily lop 15-20 years off of my natural lifespan to relive even a day of it. And, as you may have surmised, role-playing games took up a large portion of my days from elementary school through high school. In fact, almost all of my most cherished memories from that time of my life involve my brother, my friends, and myself participating in all-night rpg marathon sessions over the weekends.

There is one particular session I remember as vividly today as when it originally transpired way back in 1983 when I was a tad of 11 years of age. I had decided to DM the classic AD&D Ravenloft adventure, which I had acquired the week previous, for my friend Randy one Friday night after school. As could be expected from Randy, he made my DMing job a wonderful nightmare by trying to ally himself with the the lord of Ravenloft, good ol' Strahd, by systematically setting fire to numerous buildings in and around the very town the vampire was plaguing, Barovia. Needless to say, Strahd took notice of the actions of Randy's PCs but was duly unimpressed. After all, he was supposed to be _the_ most hated despot of the area, and was not about to be upstaged by a bunch of lowly adventurers. In the end, Randy's PCs were in for the shock of their life when they did finally meet up with the vampire in his castle, for not only did Strahd refuse to parlay, but he managed to eliminate with a little help from his minions every single PC Randy was controlling save one, his fighter/magic-user elf, who eventually opted to high-tail it out of the castle before he too met his own grisly demise. I learned an important lesson that night: never underestimate the deadliness of a properly played vampire and the unpredictability of any PCs controlled by my friend Randy, who forced me to modify the adventure as written on the fly, much to my initial consternation and eventual joy.  

In short, it is the above memory and the many others that preceded and followed it that will make me a lifelong RPG collector even though I have only played once since I graduated high school back in 1990, and that was a week long session three years ago when I decided to dust off my copy of T1-4 and give it another go for old times sake. Every time I acquire a module or rulebook that my limited funds at the time prevented me from buying, a small portion of the adult in me thankfully dies and an equal portion of the highly imiginative, precocious child that I once was is given life once again. In other words, collecting for me is nothing less than a time machine to the halcyon days of my youth.


"Curses to those responsible for wrapping blackness in everlasting chains."



--WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun

  

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Active Collector
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Last Visit: Feb 21, 2024
Location: Norwood, MA

Post Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:15 pm 
 

Nostalgia all the way!

Whenever I spend time (usually reading or cataloging) with my collection, it always brings back a flood of fond memories.  Good, carefree times when you could play D&D for hours/days/weeks on end and not have to worry about things like family obligations or going to work...

  


Verbose Collector

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Post Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:50 pm 
 

my brother-in-law Ken had been going to gencon since gc2, had played d&d with gary at his kitchen table, and had one of the best wargame collections in the country. my mom wouldn`t let me go to gencon 10 (at the playboy club-gamers and bunnies what a sight that would have been) since i was 11, so he bought me my first d&d set instead. i loved tolkien (the silmarillion came out that year) so frp was perfect for me. i was already a baseball card collector, i thought i could never catch up to Ken`s wargame collection, so i started collecting frp items. i had a very large collection, but when i started working for a distributor (and could buy at big discounts), i decided to try and get one of everything ever printed in the history of frp. crazy idea but here i am 20 years later and there are about 200 old (i.e. pre 1998) things i need. i still game (played last sunday), but i think of myself as a curator of a museum mostly, saving the relics of the hobby we love.

  

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Verbose Collector
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:12 pm 
 

Uh, yup wat he sed, da last part

  

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Prolific Collector

Posts: 531
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:33 am 
 

Why do I Collect RPGs?

So I can get "the REAL power!"

:P

  

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Grandstanding Collector
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:41 pm 
 

I didnt get to vote, but ida voted other..

just to piss off the other bidders......
:twisted:

But seriously, I would have voted for either Collector or Nostalgia.

Wierd, after posting this I was allowed to vote. Before it only showed me the results.....


"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

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Grandstanding Collector
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:23 pm 
 

Obviously, my own motives are nostalgic and sentimental, although I am an active gamer and do use the ideas in my games.

Has anyone noticed that the poll results appear to be flipping us the bird?


"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

  


Long-Winded Collector
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:37 pm 
 

Mainly for the rush of memories and nostalgia.  I love the game, and those long nights with my buddies in middle- and high school were some of the most intense and thrilling times of my early life.


Let mirth prevail!

  

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Active Collector

Posts: 35
Joined: Oct 05, 2005
Last Visit: Jun 22, 2015

Post Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:41 pm 
 

Well, although I chose "active gamer', which is quite true, it's really for quite an amalgam of reasons: the nostalgia,  the joy of collecting something I love, and to a certain extent (albeit very low on the totem pole so to speak) the value of these thing as collectibles. I'm not super hardcore, but I do have few decent things in my collection, although I would never dream of selling the stuff, because in most cases I went through too much to get it! Anyway, I'm just glad there is a community of people out there who have a similar mind set towards gaming.


" I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!  My life is my own"- The Prisoner

  

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Prolific Collector

Posts: 171
Joined: Nov 20, 2006
Last Visit: Mar 10, 2024
Location: California

Post Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:57 am 
 

FormCritic wrote:
Has anyone noticed that the poll results appear to be flipping us the bird?


Tell me, do you have a history of feeling persecuted by people with seven fingers on each hand? :)

  


Grandstanding Collector

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Location: Wichita, KS, USA

Post Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 9:18 am 
 

FormCritic wrote:What kind of RPG collector are you?  What is your main reason for collecting in the role-playing genre?

Do you collect because you are an active gamer?

Do you collect for historical and preservation purposes?

Do you collect for the pure joy of collecting something?

Do you have other reasons not listed here?


I voted for historical and preservation purposes, but I actively play AD&D (although I certainly own more books that I could ever need for gaming actively), I certainly enjoy collecting (finding good deals, finding rare items, the fun of the community here, etc.), and I also listed other for my interest in Greyhawk :D


Allan Grohe ([email protected])
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Sage Collector
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:50 pm 
 

Profit. One day my collection will be worth a fortune, like for example, Andy Warhol's collection of old cookie jars.   :D


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Up to the highest height!

  


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Post Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:04 pm 
 

back up fuel for when global warming turns the british isles into a frozen waste land....

I mean 54N and no snow. what is hat about?

at a pinch ...  the sound basis for a new home make over show : wall-paper the rooms of houses in pages form your favourite module. Rule books are kept for the bog


An té nach mbíonn láidir ní folláir dó bheith glic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ajduHx5hc

  


Prolific Collector

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Location: The Frozen Wastes of the North

Post Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:08 pm 
 

By and large I'm still an active gamer, which pretty much explains my choice in deciding 'to collect something'.  The nostalgia aspect is also in there somewhere.

I think that a another major component in my collecting D&D gear is the social aspect.  I've really come enjoy talking with folks who have similar back stories, and speak the same 'language'.

The Egg

  

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Post Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:42 am 
 

Hi:

I am bumping this strand from last month.  

Anyone else want to weigh in?   :)


"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

  


Sage Collector
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:42 am 
 

"Nostalgia" would be my first three choices. And I'd make about 30 other choices (mutual funds, T-bills, property, equity, IRA, etc., etc.) before ever considering RPG items to be an "investment."

+++++

Wow, go nostalgia! Kick some *ss! Nostalgia pwns this poll.

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Sage Collector

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Location: Far Harad, Texas

Post Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:28 pm 
 

Finding an early blue book with Hobbits for $1.48 at Half-Price made me wonder what else was out there. I snapped up every copy of OD&D  remaining on the shelves of 1987 Houston retailers.

Most other gamers thought I was completely crazy to want the poorly-designed old books with goofy amateur illustrations, so I ended up inheriting their unwanted collections. The end of college was a goldmine: two copies of Deities with Cthulhu, monochrome modules..

But it was slow going after that. The selection at bookstores was tiny, & for some reason Half-Price Central Austin kept RPGs in a box behind the counter next to pornography.

The internet changed everything, allowing me to obtain what I only had seen before in old Zocci catalogs. Still wish I had found the Wee Warriors books before everyone realized they were collectible.

  
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