I collect mainly Chaosium items and roughly track what they are selling for. The first edition of the game in the big ziplock bag usually goes for around $50. Getting one in unpunched condition isn't that difficult to do. They seem to come up on Ebay about every 3 months or so.
Greg Stafford's personal
RPG collection being sold on Ebay (with many more items to come) has generated higher than usual prices for many of the individual items. Getting him to autograph stuff isn't that hard to do, as he still goes to conventions semi-regularly, and has no qualms about autographing stuff for polite people.
Owning something that Greg has owned seems to matter to some of the bidders, especially for the Gloranthan/Runequest items he has been selling. As usual on Ebay, there is no easy-to-see logic as to why the prices vary widely. Buyer lack of information on the
RPG collectables market is probably a factor, as is buyer convenience and self imposed urgency. Patient buyers will pay far less for the items.
