Xaxaxe wrote:The seller's comments here actually aren't hyperbole; I've never seen one either.

The holy grail for CE fans

*Sigh* ... too close to Christmas, too many other things going on, and the asking price is a little high-ish, I think. But it is a beautiful thing to behold.

I have to say . . . I have no idea what Cosmic Encounter is . . . never heard of it.  

Beyondthebreach wrote:
I have to say . . . I have no idea what Cosmic Encounter is . . . never heard of it.  

You never heard of it???  

aia wrote:errr...ehmmm... look at that, pls:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


...do i miss smtg??? why is the price so high? is it really worth?

Apparently it is.  He got five bids!



Mark  

MShipley88 wrote:
Apparently it is.  He got five bids!

Mark  

I sold a copy this summer....at $25 after ONE person bid on it.  It's like Deadlord says, there's always another, and in this case it's not that particularly rare.  I just wish some of these dumbasses would get as excited about some of the items I put up for auction....!

Mike B.

Xaxaxe wrote:CE was/is a board/card game that is fairly quick to play, features variable player powers, and has a limited role-playing aspect (and, interestingly, I've never met an RPGer who didn't like to play).

Cosmic Encounter is the game that breaks its own rules (wasn't that the official tag-line for the game?).  Each player has Race Cards and other cards that modify combat and general gameplay.  IIRC, one Race Card said that you could cheat as long as no other player caught you.

Different manufacturers made different versions of CE.  I was told that the last version was more of a basic set that didn't include a lot of the special cards (Kickers, Flares, etc.).

Are you sure that CE is still in print?  I think it recently went OOP or at least back into dormancy.

grodog wrote:Like some early products, I'd always been interested in the ads of the games, but never picked them up; CE was one of those for me.  Do you have any good pointers for folks who may want to get started to play CE vs. collect every set (he says naively)?

For just straight play, the Avalon Hill version will definitely be the lightest on your wallet; it is readily available from a number of sources. The downside to the AH version: no expansions or other support from AH, and the components can be a pain in the ass.

For some extra coin, I'd personally recommend getting an edition from Eon. They aren't that rare (they are on eBay all the time) and they've got a "classic" feel to them, including art from old-school artists such as Dean Morrissey.

JohnGaunt wrote:Cosmic Encounter is the game that breaks its own rules (wasn't that the official tag-line for the game?).

"The game that breaks its own rules!" was the slogan for the Mayfair Games version. This is a highly collectible version, BTW, often fetching north of $200 on eBay.

JohnGaunt wrote:IIRC, one Race Card said that you could cheat as long as no other player caught you.

Ah, the famous (infamous?) Filch Wild Flare.

JohnGaunt wrote:I think it recently went OOP or at least back into dormancy.

The boardgame rights have reverted back to Eon, the original publisher (and the same folks who are currently supporting the game through CE Online). I have a very reliable source who says that a new version of the game will be out by Christmas of 2007.

+++++

Okay, sorry for the rambling CE discourse; let's see if I can get back on track here. Any interested collectors are invited to visit this page, which gives a nice breakdown of the complete history of the game:

Cosmic Encounter history page

Aha! You refer, perhaps, to this:



Spending more money on CE



That is known as the "deep box" version, and was one of the few variations that I was missing. Frankly, I probably overpaid a little bit (especially that pricey-ass shipping ).



For a complete Eon version with a halfway sturdy box, I'd say $35 to $50 is fairly typical. Check your boxes carefully; they are often thrashed.



Nice spot, though. I'm on a CE tear right now; who needs Christmas money?

Yeah, I could have worded that better. I meant pricey just in general (especially for someone who buys almost always from U.S. sellers), not necessarily that I think the seller is gouging me. I've ordered from them before, so I knew it wasn't going to be free.

That's not a bad-looking set. Still, it's similar to a lot of the mid-range D&D items we discuss on these threads: is the price unreasonable? No. But could you do $10 or $15 better by waiting for the next one? Quite possibly.

You could do worse, though, too. If you're interested and looking to treat yourself this Xmas ... hell with it, I say go for it.

(I just bought some CE stuff from that seller, too; let's hope he's as solid as the feedback seems to indicate).