A bit off-topic, but semi-related:

Are 1st prints of modules any rarer or more highly valued than later prints?

For fairly common modules (say, the D-series or G-series), is a 1st print worth more, and rarer, than say a 3rd print?

misterspock wrote:
Here's your big chance  

http://fineart.ha.com/common/view_item. ... t_No=87143

Next bid is $120....THOUSAND!!!! (And really it's $143k when you factor in the buyer's premium)

Thanks Mr. Spock!

I'd gladly buy it, but I can't seem to locate my checkbook (or my Paypal password..)  

By the way, that is a beautiful painting!  

For some reason, I always think of Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta as being Fantasy competitors.  I don't know why, I just do.  But to me, Frank's stuff is better.  Vallejo's paintings can be so realistic it's almost like viewing a photo, but Frazetta just has that STYLE!

I collect for use, for the most part that means picking up rule books, modules or supplements and seeing what I can strip out of them for my own campaign. I don't care about condition with the exceptions that the items must be legible and free of any mold or mildew (and Im not a fan of moisture wrinkling).

I also collect complete campaign systems so I can index them. Go through them and make reference notes and organize them so I can later create an encyclopedic reference for the campaign. I was able to index most published references to the Greyhawk campaign for 1st and 2nd edition AD&D and the Gygax novels. Jolly Blackburn sent me all the Hackmaster material several years ago and I was able to create an index for that setting as well, up to that point it was a complete index of all published material.

With that idea in mind I am currently collecting Judges Guild material. On the one hand I want a complete collection to index it, but on the other I owned and used Judges Guild since it was originally published and I have a great love for the setting. I can find enough use out of almost any Judges Guild fantasy release to want to own a copy, and some are the treasures of my gaming collection such as Dark Tower, City State of the Invincible Overlord, or even Frontier Forts of Kelnore.

So I do not collect rares to own rares (but I do love the treasure hunt aspect of collecting, and many rare gaming items have passed through my hands over the last 30+ years as many people who remember rec.games.frp.marketplace from the mid-90s can attest).

With the ability to scan material and keep electronic copies I am trying to move into the world of pdfs and such. I hope to see every scrap of gaming material make into a vast and accesable electronic library one day. That won't end my collecting of hard copies, but it will let me browse material I would never want to own and to my mind it would be the ultimate collection.

That being said I understand (and have profited from) those collectors who love the idea of an item, kept perfect or shrinkwrapped, and not flattened, torn, stained and worn down by use.

Other than published material I love reading through homebrewed material, DMs logs that have been filled out, heavily noted modules, hand drawn maps and filled out character sheets. I love seeing where imagination has taken other DMs and players. How the magic of this game has worked its wonders on people other than myself.

I'm now at about a decade of collecting D&D and I have to say that my collecting goals have changed quite a bit.  I started with 1st Edition D&D, then branched out to include 2nd Edition and other TSR items.

At some point I branched out into nonTSR stuff as well have really enjoyed the small press stuff.  I enjoy the hunt for things and with such a broad range of things to collect it means that if I see something that seems like a good deal, I will generally pick it up.  Due to a large volume of stuff coming into my lair because of this philosophy, it also seems that I have bridged the gap into being a reseller.

Although more specifically, my main collecting focus is all small press RPGs.

I think there are a number of examples where 1st prints had a huge run and later prints are harder to find.

Collectors are weird.  I don't collect much any more, lack of funds to do so being the primary reason.  When I was actively collecting my goals were modest and simple.  Get 1 copy of each iteration of D&D (OD&D and supplements I-V, BECMI, etc.).  Any printing is fine as long as they are complete and readable, basically fair or better.  

There are exceptions though.  I specifically wanted all Greyhawk products and certain versions of other stuffs (Pastel/chromo versions of the D series and T1 as well as all the super-modules).  I'm also looking to get every printing of T1.  I cannot explain why that matters.  Collectors are weird.  

OTOH a buddy of mine wanted to collect all of the B/E modules, no interest in any other versions for him.  Go figure.   Yeah, collectors are weird.

I own virtually every commercially available 1st Edition AD&D and D&D product published by TSR, Inc., which means that my main collecting goal has pretty much been met. That being said, I would very much like to get my hands on a Daystar West Pharaoh module by Tracy Hickman, as the version published by TSR in the early eighties is one of favorite modules of all time. On a related note, I would also like to get my hands on a copy of Lost Thamoachan, the original tournament printing of the classic Hidden Shrine of Thamoachan published by TSR. Being as I would never pay more than $30 for any gaming product, even a woodgrain Original D&D boxed set, my dreams of owning Pharaoh or Lost Thamoachan will never be fulfilled.

Munafik wrote: Being as I would never pay more than $30 for any gaming product, even a woodgrain Original D&D boxed set, my dreams of owning Pharaoh or Lost Thamoachan will never be fulfilled.

I wouldn't give up hope yet.  Surprisingly, Daystar West Pharaoh has been had for prices this cheap twice this year already  

Mars wrote:I wouldn't give up hope yet.  Surprisingly, Daystar West Pharaoh has been had for prices this cheap twice this year already  

Should we start a pool to pick the date for the next time that will happen?