Traveller Modules
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Post Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:12 pm 
 

As a brand new user, I think this is where to ask the following question: Are Traveller Modules going for around 2 US dollars? I have double adventure #2 and have not seen it on ebay and am wondering if the price is pretty normal for all the old modules?
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:01 pm 
 

The last LBB I bought off of ebay was Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium.  I believe the final cost on that one was approximately $10.

Most adventures have an opening bid of $.99, and usually go for between $4 to $5.  They're not all that scarce, even the double adventures.



  


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Post Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:52 pm 
 

Thank you sir!

  

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:27 pm 
 

I think there's likely to be two exceptions to that pricing, and that's Adventure 1: The Kinunir and Adventure 13: Signal GK.

Adventure 1: The Kinunir had the highest print run of any single Adventure, being printed supposedly even after the release of MegaTraveller.  As a result, you're more likely to find that one either bundled with other LBB's, or you'll find it for cheap.  Adventure 13: Signal GK, I believe had the shortest print run, and that combined with the information within it regarding the Ancients, makes that one of the more valuable LBB's.

If I recall correctly, the double adventure print runs were fairly even across the board.

The LBB's to look out for (in terms of collectibility and pricing)

Book 6: Scouts
Book 7: Merchant Prince
Book 8: Robots

These three were short printed in comparison to the first five books, especially Book 7 and Book 8.  Expect to pay in the teens for those two books, and about $10. for Scouts.

Supplements

Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium

This one is the most popular of the supplements, as it introduced new character classes to Traveller.  While it was printed in larger quantities than the other supplements, it commands the price it does (the price I paid), because its owners won't give them up.  I don't blame them.

Adventures:

Adventure 13: Signal GK (reasons noted above)

Other

The Traveller Book
The Traveller Adventure
The Atlas of the Imperium
The Spinward Marches
Alien Modules 1-8

All of these books in the Traveller line are 8 1/2"x11" , in keeping with the release of Starter Traveller, instead of the 5 1/2"x8 1/2" size of the LBB's.  Most got apparently one printing and then were done.  The least expensive of the group is the early Alien Modules at about $15 apiece.  The latter ones (6, 7, and 8 I believe) are about $25.  I paid $30 for my copy of The Traveller Book, with dust jacket.  The Traveller Adventure commands a roughly $50 price when it comes up, and the other two go for $65 - $75 apiece (really scarce).

I know that wasn't exactly within the parameters of your question, but I hope you find it somewhat useful.



  

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:19 pm 
 

The alien modules mentioned have gone for quite a bit lately when they come up.  I would agree with Traveller's valuation though when looking back a while.

The details for the modules are as follow, for those that are interested.

Alien Module 1, Adventure & Intrigue with a Proud Warrior Race, Aslan
Alien Module 2, Encounters with the Enigmatic Centaurs, K'kree
Alien Module 3, Freebooting Encounter with the Wolves of Space, Vargr
Alien Module 4, Encounters with the Psionic Masters, Zhodani
Alien Module 5, The Last of the Ancients, Droyne
Alien Module 6, Self-Proc. Champions Of Human Supremacy, Solomani
Alien Module 7, Encounters with the Manipulators, Hivers
Alien Module 8, The Secret of the Star Trigger, Darrians

The later modules do seem to be harder to find, and thus, more expensive.

Traveller, how did you manage to find The Traveller Book book with a dust jacket?  I haven't been fortunate enough.

  

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Post Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:42 pm 
 

I got lucky and went into of all places, a used book store in Connecticut by the name of The Jumping Frog.  Buried in the back they had like one shelf of RPG's and sitting right there was the book.  Believe it or not I never even knew it had a dustjacket, but I sure as all get up knew the innards.  At the time I got it, which was some six or seven years ago I thought I overpaid at $30 compared to the RPG store in the same area which would have charged about $10.00.

Now about that dustjacket, its condition is typical of the other examples I've seen, all one of them on ebay.  The one I saw on ebay had a huge tear on the back.  Mine suffers from edge flaking and a couple of small tears that resulted from the edge flaking.  But either the previous owner, or The Jumping Frog was rather smart.  They took the dustjacket and wrapped it with one of those clear plastic covers that you always find on library books with dustjackets.  There's no adhesive holding the plastic coating in place so it can be removed with ease.  However, the previous owner of the book, in an attempt to repair the edge flaking and stabilize the cover, applied scotch tape to the unprinted side of the dustjacket.  I didn't notice it until after I had bought it but said to myself "what the hey", as in that area of Connecticut, The Traveller Book was extraordinarily scarce while you could have LBB's coming out of your ears.  Besides, I love Traveller, as if anyone couldn't guess.

It sits proudly on the top shelf of my small bookcase, next to my copies of RuneQuest, Elric!, and Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium.  I'm not parting with it for all the tea in China.



  

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Post Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:57 pm 
 

Speaking of Traveller books and the alien modules, here are some of them on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 71951&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 76212&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 78100&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 79197&rd=1

  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:22 pm 
 

Not bad.  I have the Classic Books reprint (the first hyperlink), and the Aslan module (the second hyperlink).  At this point, I'm not really worried about getting the alien modules, but I don't dare get the reprints either because of quality issues in the later books in the set.  The first three reprint books, The Classic Books, The Classic Supplements, and The Classic Adventures, are perfectly fine, but quality tailed off with the release of The Short Adventures, and I stopped buying the reprints.



  


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Post Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:35 pm 
 

Well, I don't have enough computer savvy to post a link from ebay, but I saw a lot that had every Traveller module there yesterday. They looked ok but I am very new at this so don't take my word on it.

Thanks to Traveller who has been extraordinarily helpful!

  


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 3:43 pm 
 

Traveller,
As you seem to be the resident expert on these, is this module, "World Builders Handbook" really worth this price? ($76.00)

Ebay item number :5167279148

(Sorry, I have yet to figure out how you guys post the link here)
Thanks!

  

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Post Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 7:48 pm 
 

One of my MegaTraveller pieces, and yes, it is in fact worth that much.  For the MegaTraveller line, a lot of supplements were printed by Digest Group Publications.  When Game Designers' Workshop folded, the rights reverted to the Digest Group guys.  Those rights were bought out by another person who attempted to sell the rights to Marc Miller for a ridiculous sum of money (low six figures).  Marc, sensible guy he is, passed.

So these are so valuable because they will likely never be reprinted, as Marc doesn't have the rights to publish the material, unlike Classic Traveller, which he in fact owns lock, stock, and barrel.  Mine is in better condition than this one, with no creases on the cover.  I got lucky and bought the World Builder's Handbook and the Starship Operator's Manual for about four dollars apiece at the FLGS I used to frequent in Connecticut.  They didn't know what they had.

To post a link, just copy it from the address bar in your browser and paste it into your message.  The message board automatically hyperlinks it.



  


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:37 pm 
 

Traveller,
I must say you have made my day! If it weren't for you, I would have had NO idea of what I have. I was BIG TIME into Traveller when in the Army, and now have the following:

A number of both The Travellers' Digest and Challenge magazines
Books 4-8 (two copies of High Guard)
Double Adventure 2
101 Vehicles
COACC (Close Orbit and Airspace Control Command)
Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium
The Spinward Marches Campaign
Vilani & Vargr The Coreward Races
Alien Realms
101 Robots
Referee's Gaming Kit
Starship Operators Manual Vol. 1
The Traveller Adventure
Grand Survey
MegaTraveller Referee's Companion
Alien Module 6 Solomani
Alien Module 3 Vargr
Grand Census
World Builders Handbook
The MegaTraveller box set (with all three books)
The original Traveller box set (but it only has the books:charts and tables and rules book, plus a map of Mithril, a players handout on mission on mithril and an 8 page booklet Mission on Mithril) Not sure if the set is complete or not, it was too long ago for me to remember.

Only a few of the books are in really good condition, most are noticably used. In your opinion, do I have any particularly valuable items here?
Thanks again for your help.

  

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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 4:09 pm 
 

Well, condition is of paramound importance here.  You'll get the best bang for your buck if they're in tip top shape, which as you noted most of yours aren't.  But, to answer your questions.

First off, you need to look at your two copies of High Guard.  Specifically, flip to the copyright page.  If one of those is missing a notice that the starship construction section was extensively revised, then you have a first edition High Guard.  I don't believe there is much of a premium to the 1st print High Guards books, because the starship design sequence was flawed in the early prints.

Your scarcities:

Book 6: Scouts
Book 7: Merchant Prince
Book 8: Robots
The Spinward Marches Campaign
Referee's Gaming Kit - DGP
Vilani & Vargr: The Coreward Reaches - DGP
Starship Operator's Manual, Vol. 1 - DGP
The Traveller Adventure
Alien Module 3: Vargr
Alien Module 6: Solomani
World Builder's Handbook - DGP

Of those, I have the Starship Operator's Manual and the World Builder's Handbook, but I am missing the rest.  I've decided to primarily focus on Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller more than Traveller: The New Era and T4.  T20 doesn't exist for me, and T5 right now is only three playtest documents.

For myself, the items that are of interest to me from your list are Books 7 and 8, The Spinward Marches Campaign, and The Traveller Adventure.

For some of the others you've listed, while they are from Digest Group Publications, they're not all that valuable as they were printed as alternatives to some material already present in Classic Traveller.  I'm referring to Grand Census and Grand Survey, as that material was a duplication of Atlas of the Imperium.  In short, if it's DGP and MegaTraveller, you've got a home run in pretty much any case.  If it's DGP and Classic Traveller, you're SOL, though they're not without some value.

But I cannot stress it enough.  Condition is of importance here if you want to maximize the amount of money you want to get.  On the flip side of the coin, I collect these things because I want to read them.  Not because I expect them to appreciate in value.  I wouldn't want to pay $50-$60 for The Spinward Marches Campaign or The Traveller Adventure in beat-up condition.



  


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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:00 pm 
 

cavscout761 wrote:Traveller,
As you seem to be the resident expert on these...

That seems to be putting it mildly!

btw, thanks for the other hints & tips, in passing.
Very much appreciated from my non-expert viewpoint! :D

  


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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:19 pm 
 

Traveller, your help is REALLY invaluable!
My two book 5's have the revisions so they are ok.
My Spinward Marches is probably the worst of the bunch; the cover is noticably worn (lots of white areas and the spine and corners are fairly bad) and for some reason I cannot fathom, I put colored markings around the borders of the center map (dumb! I know) but the pull out, black map is perfect.
My referees gaming kit I would say is mint. (I am still new to this so I would not expect anyone to take my word for it plus I have read you guys lamenting sellers who overgrade their stuff and don't want to be accused of that ever) It has no markings, the corners are sharp and it has no bends.
My Traveller Adventure is tricky for me to judge. There is not one single mark on any page inside, no dog ears, no highlights, nothing. In fact, while looking through it just now, the spine still crinkles if I try to open the pages all the way. It's the cover that has me wondering. It's still perfectly readable, attached and everything, but there are some noteable imperfections on it. No fading, but definately not mint or near mint. I would say pretty darn good but that isn't an option is it?  :?
As for 6,7,&8, they all are perfect inside; no markings at all, no dog ears, nothing. But the covers are all a little white from being hauled around. 8 is really pretty good.
But I take it that COACC, 101 Vehicles and Fighting Ships are not very collectable, even though they are megatraveller and not the other two (which I have never even heard of).
I have the ability to scan or take a digital picture (I am trying to find out how to send the valuation board two scans they need here [D-2 2nd ed and World of Greyhawk gazetteer 4th]) but they still haven't got back to me yet, so I do not yet know how to post them here. If you would like, I would be happy to include them for you, if for no other reason than to get a professionals opinion on how to correctly grade a product. I would send it here or anywhere else you would like, just tell me how.
Again, your help has really been above and beyond the call, and I thank you .


Scouts out!

  

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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:59 pm 
 

Ok, before I go any further, I need to make something completely clear here.  I personally do not believe in using comic book grading standards for gaming material.  Comic books, especially golden and silver age, were done on very cheap paper that turned brittle easily, which is why you tend to find in the grading a ton of commentary regarding brittleness of pages.

A better option would be to use book grading guidelines, like these here.  For pricing, while I give a percentage of Very Fine value, here's a quick reference.

Very Fine 100%
Fine 80%
Near Fine 65%
Very Good 50%
Good 35%
Fair 20%
Poor 10%

cavscout761, by all means send me pictures via PM, rather than cluttering up the board with them.  For right now, I will grade these solely on the description you give.  The grading is subject to change depending on what the pictures reveal, but you'll get a fairly good idea of what grade your items are in.

The Spinward Marches Campaign, as you have noted, has a noticeably worn cover, with a bad spine.  Also you have colored the borders of the map in the center of the book.  Without the markings on the map, the book would grade no better than Fair according to the guidelines above due to damage to the spine, corners, and cover rubbing.  However, the markings on the map reduce the condition even further, dropping the grade to Poor.  I probably would grade it as Poor/Fair and note the markings as the prime reason for the poor designation.  ebay is not an accurate descriptor of pricing because so many people bid simply to get the book.  Reality would place the book at no more than 15% (midpoint of the two grades) of its Very Fine (top grade) value.  $10-$15 would be a reasonable price.

(I'm not the picky type when it comes to a reading copy, which is what this book essentially is.)

The Referee's Gaming Kit would be Very Fine (the highest grade in which books go).  As long as the pages are still white, this one would net you a pretty penny.

The Traveller Adventure.  You've noted cover condition, spine condition, and page condition.  I would grade this one, based on your description, as probably Very Good, with a reasonable price being about half the top value, roughly $25-$30.

A pervasive problem with the LBB's is the most obvious fact: they're black.  Black covers are very easily damaged, and it's very easy to tell when a cover has been damaged.  This is something you note with the books.  These are generally "average" quality copies, with Books 6 and 7 grading Good.  Book 8 might grade Very Good as you note that it seems to have less damage than the other two books.  Pricewise, the two books in Good would be about 35% of their Very Fine price, and Book 8 would be about 50% of Very Fine.

The MegaTraveller supplements that Game Designers' Workshop produced for the most part just aren't that valuable.  That doesn't necessarily mean they're not collectible, but most people already have these, especially Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium.  If you were to sell those, I probably would recommend putting them on ebay as a lot.

Now, in order to be able to send the Valuation Board your scans, you need to have a website to link them from.  Your ISP generally gives you a small amount of space, between 10 and 100MB for your own purposes.  Upload the pictures to the website using the tools your ISP provides you, and then use the following coding in your post:

Code:
[img]http://yourwebsite/picture.jpg[/img]


When you post the message, the message board software interprets the IMG code in your post and pulls the image off the website and displays it here.  Note that you CANNOT use Geocities or its kin to do this as they don't allow remote loading, which is what you're doing.

And I'm glad I'm able to help.



  


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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:13 pm 
 

Traveller wrote:Ok, before I go any further, I need to make something completely clear here. I personally do not believe in using comic book grading standards for gaming material.


Amen, brother — well-spoken. Not to mention that nothing sucked the fun out of comics the way the Overstreet guide did. They're comics, for God's sake, not mutual funds ...

Sorry. Don't want to take you too far off-topic. Please resume the original Traveller discussion ... I'll sit in the back and be quiet, I promise. :wink:

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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:15 pm 
 

Thanks again Traveller.
I don't have a web site of my own and have no idea how to create one. I will try and send you one via PM and see if it works.
[/quote]


Scouts out!

  
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