IMO, the biggies tend to be Erol Otus' Fantasy Art Enterprises, Wilmark Dynasty, early proto-TSR stuff (Guidon Games, Wee Warriors, etc.), and the Role Aids "mono folder" modules, with the second-tier consisting of Balboa, Mikdemia, Little Soldier/Phoenix Games, North Pole Productions, Challenges Int'l, and Northern Sages.  Some of these, though, are often one-hit wonders (Seren Ironhand, Starstone, Lost Abbey of Calthonwey), so it's prices often seem to be driven on from title-basis than a publisher-basis.

mbassoc2003 wrote:And then there was the bottle city level from Castle Greyhawk that showed us what the plus means in '$1000+'.

IMHO, that auction and that auction and that auction alone changed the landscape of bidding for the "Rares".  It seems to me that since that day a majority of the rares which hovered in a very specific range(obviously depending on which item that you are looking at) for years seem to electrify the market.  Since that point, it seems to me that just about every single rare listed in the 4 or 5 category has seen a substantial increase.  Think about all the "new" records for specific items have been since that day. Whether its been the R series modules consistantly going in the $150-$200 range, the 2nd edition chainmail that went for over $800, or the 1st print woody that went for over $4k, everything has been surging. Its almost like when people saw that auction go down, it really cause a lot of people to in effect "take the gloves off there bidding".  

Think about the fact that about 18 months ago Stromber one a first print woody on EBay for $2300 and the s**t basically hit the fan.  Part of that was due to the fact there was some very tense moments when it was thought that it wasn't a complete first print, but OTOH that price at the time was considered pretty outrageous. Now the last few that have gone have been sold for more than $3k.  On top of that, about a year ago(maybe a bit more) Deadlord put up IIRC a mono Ghost Tower of Inverness that had a reserve price of ~$800 that didnt sell because it didn't even meet the reserve price, yet the last several Holy Trinity modules of the have all gone in excess of $1500.

Interesting to say the least.

bclarkie wrote:Its almost like when people saw that auction go down, it really cause a lot of people to in effect "take the gloves off there bidding".  

I, for one, will humbly confess to falling into that category.  Good observations, Brian.  The Kuntz auctions last spring left me reeling for several months.

jpipes wrote:"...Whether its been the R series modules consistantly going in the $150-$200 range..."

Two R series modules sold for under $120 last week, both in what I would deem great condition. Also, I won a super mint condition Dark & Hidden Ways with the cover for $37 which is well under the general price of this rare item, especially in that condition & with the cover. Some prices of the rares seem to be low and/or weak.

Yeah, that Dark & Hidden didn't do so great. But that whole auction set (I had about 70 items) under performed last week. Just a bad week...it happens. I had a more than a few things go low. I won't be ending my auctions on a Friday night again any time soon...I usually try to end them on Thursday or Wednesday...more last minute snipers.

I think the silver anniversary set (in shrink) will eventually climb into that $300 level. Some of white box printings fall in that range. It is odd how there is a gap of "mianstream" published products beyond $100 and then we hit stuff at 1K or more.

bombadil wrote:

bclarkie wrote:Its almost like when people saw that auction go down, it really cause a lot of people to in effect "take the gloves off there bidding".  

I, for one, will humbly confess to falling into that category.  Good observations, Brian.  The Kuntz auctions last spring left me reeling for several months.

I would even point the finger further back, with Paul's David Sutherland auctions.  The Grenadier lizardman went for ~$400 IIRC, and several other uniques sold quite handily.  I think we can pretty much blame Paul and his sellers for this market shift

I stand corrected regarding the R series modules on ebay, after a closer look I noticed they were indeed not so great condition wise... Sorry about that. Funny thing about Dark & Hidden Ways, though. I haven't seen another copy with the cover in as good of condition in a long time. I've seen R series modules come up rather a lot as of late. Not saying they are the same level or anything, though.