Someone I know is after those issues in good condition. How much would it cost them, and does anybody have those issues available?

Mars prices appear to be for Mint Copies.
And for the first 6 issues those prices his list seems realistic.

I think it would be fairly easy to find later issues in good condition (7-30 for sure) at lower prices and perhaps all Dragon issues.
I have seen nice copies of Dragon Issue One for around $250 and not that long ago either.

I am Admittedly a bit out of touch with Dragon Magazine pricing, but I would not pay that much for them even if they were near mint.

You definitely can find better deals than the prices listed.  I have bought all these issues in the last 8 years and haven't paid that much for them.  It all depends on how resourceful/lucky you are.

I bought a complete set of Strategic Review and Dragon #1-6 all in excellent (NM) condition for $100 as a bundle off of abebooks.com.  Most of the other issues in the 7-30 range I picked up from a local bookstore that got a bunch in for $3 each.  A few were purchased from the Pandemonium con in Toronto at auction for $10-$20.  And the last two, I ended up buying from Ebay for $15 and $22.

So definitely deals are out there for you to find - all depends on your timeline and patience levels.  Generally for Dragons over issue #50 I won't pay more than $1 and I now have almost a complete set (just missing a few in the 300s).

faro wrote:@Mark: That's called rubbing it in (for the third time, I think ). Would be doing pretty well at $1,000 all-in (to buy) but doubt I'd choose to go with eBay (to sell), as a "first choice".

Every chance I get  I'll post some pictures of a better fun find next week (I think its my best one so far - just waiting for it to arrive).

Just pointing out that there are lots of avenues other than Ebay to find stuff but a lot depends on how much time you spend searching (to beat out other bargain hunters), etc.  I have been amazed at what I have found locally or relatively locally.

faro wrote:Heh, heh... that would depend rather on where you live.
FLGSs close rather more quickly when they sell their copies of Inverness and Tamo at a few bucks each?

I haven't found a deal at an FLGS yet!  All of my "fun finds" have been at used bookstores, as FLGS owners/patrons tend to know what this stuff is worth.

deimos3428 wrote:as FLGS owners/patrons tend to know what this stuff is worth.

The Toronto FLGS owners don't have much of a clue on what their items are worth either.  They just see that one D&D module such as B10 or X11 sell for $50+ so they mark up everything.  That's why they are trying to sell B2 and X1 for $50 as well.  Its cheaper to buy from Ebay and pay shipping than from those shops.  Most shops aside from HairyT and now defunct Grey Region don't have much idea on pricing (and a bunch of them sell on Ebay too).

faro wrote:(Guys, you don't know how lucky you are if you even have a decent second-hand bookstore within a 100-150 mile radius these days...).

They aren't so great anymore

faro wrote:Do "Mint" copies actually exist?

From what I've seen, 95-98% of sales of the early Dragons have very visible signs of reading and the majority of the rest probably have "faults", too.
By comparison, the likes of Strategic Review #3 does actually exist in Mint condition since I still have a "block" of those; but I've seen no such NOS and exceptionally few "well kept" very early Dragons.

@Mark: That's called rubbing it in (for the third time, I think ). Would be doing pretty well at $1,000 all-in (to buy) but doubt I'd choose to go with eBay (to sell), as a "first choice".

I have never seen a mint copy of Dragon #1. Because (OMG) people actually read them...  

And if anyone is buying Dragon #1's at $350.00, I'll happily sell you mine.

[quote="faro"]
Do "Mint" copies actually exist?

To me Mint means there could be no other superior copy. There could be other copies that could be it's equal, but none better. My next big project is going to be to go through my collection item by item and grade each one. I'm certain many of my early dragons are in near-mint, I don't know if any could qualify as mint. we'll see...

stratochamp wrote:To me Mint means there could be no other superior copy. There could be other copies that could be it's equal, but none better. My next big project is going to be to go through my collection item by item and grade each one. I'm certain many of my early dragons are in near-mint, I don't know if any could qualify as mint. we'll see...

Sounds like an interesting survey from that p.o.v., Bill. I certainly hadn't noticed many higher grade copies in the past and rather less hyping in sales of those that were (which is a good thing as well, perhaps, from other points of view )
Let's see if I can line up some markers, but pretty sure those early Dragons are generally a long way shy of the numbers of VF+ copies seen for other material due to the method of distribution, general reading (*yay* for that) and relatively short shelf-life.

(Hmm... minty SW'd R3, anyone? Had forgotten I had that... )