It is Saturday and raining.
The grandkids are not here, and the wife left to go to her nieces college Graduation cerimnoy and a luncheon afterwards.
I was lucky enough to be excused from those festivities...

However, I got bored...... so.

As a long time Fantasy RPG collector I wanted to post some thoughts for others to consider and perhaps get a chuckle from.

For instance: Chasing a copy of PofVQ, is honestly not something I could realistically consider these days.
Especially recently.
Not to say that the thing has NOT been on my collectors mind for as long as I can remember... but.
But not anymore, a few years ago I did bid on a few of them at times, though I was never able to get one.
This was of course before all the talk of possible Fakes got my attention, even though the information has been around for at least a couple of decades….  
I am slow on the uptake.
Are they real, or fakes?
Hell, I have no clue.
But I aint spending my $300 when that question is there.

Considering the amount of money it takes to get one; and at the same time, not truly KNOWING that the thing is even a true copy?
I could get so many other items that have no hint of not being an original item.
Things that are (beyond reasonable doubt) originals.

For instance (If I had the money for a second/third/pre-pub(?!?) print possibly fake PotVQ) I could instead buy a True First Print PHB.......
As long as it was not some famous TSR employees personal copy, or a pre-pub work up, or somesuch.
And those come up for auction on E-Bay enough to make that a very realistic goal.
Although (At least right now) they seem to be far more scarce than the Ultra Rare Possibly Fake PotVQ Modules that are now selling for around $300 per copy.
And it seems there are at least two of those at auction on E-Bay all the time these days.

I have long ago conceded the ultra rare territory to others better equipped (with Knowledge and funding both) to roam there than I am.
There are so many other collectors eager to snap those up.
There is certainly no shortage of them from what I have seen.
The copies, and the folks who are willing to buy them.

As for having the biggest collection?

Sure, I would love to have a WALL... (Who wouldn't?!)
Or better yet, an entire house JUST for my huge gaming collection with a BIG room set up for playing games in when my friends come over.
Or perhaps a Shipping Container set up like a Museum to honor RPGs, or a huge warehouse filled to the brim with dozens of copies of every game ever published.
(OK, perhaps several warehouses then).
And I am without doubt a bit envious and astounded at collections like those.
Truly impressive.

But is it only about the size of a collection, or the Ultra Rares that take up the best most visible spots in the collections show place, or gallery?

I once had something like 12, or 14 OD&D White Box Sets.
At the time I thought I needed them all.
I also had multiple copies of other uncommon items too.
Such as two copies (or more) of all the R and RPGA series modules a few of them were even SWed, several copies of Dragon Issue 1... Etc....
Heck, I think I had two copies (At least) of every common TSR Module ever made.
Except for the Dragonlance Modules (Never had any use for those) and I still had a few of them (From large lot purchases).

Now; Except for two White Box Sets (One 5th and one OCE) almost all of that stuff is long gone and has been for years.
These days, I can place all of my rare and ultra rare stuff on one Shelf.
Not an entire bookshelf, just one shelf and in fact that's where they all are.

I have a room set up just for playing games in though and many other collectors don't, so in that I am very lucky and I know it.
Oddly enough it is in fact a game room and this house was built with that being the named purpose of that room.
It is upstairs and there is nothing else upstairs in this house except for that one room (other than the attic).
Only my grandkids come over to play there and it is VERY low tech, yet it is good enough for us.

And the game room also serves as the Video Media room, set up with a 32" Screen (115 pound) TV and a slim model PS2 and a whole shelf filled with games for it.
The Games are ones that the grandkids like (with a few I like too).

Even so, I have recently begun to feel once again that my collection (Small as it is now) needs weeding out and I have been doing that for a few weeks now.
As most know, I have been selling Duplicates of some items and copies of other things that I honestly do not have a use for.
Like a SWed Copy of a Module (B3) written in the French Language.
First off, it's in SW, and second I cannot even read French.
(I had to search the Acaeum foreign list to even know it was French)
Why did I even buy it?
Likely because a former employee of TSR from the good old days had owned it... (Tim Jiardini in this case)
Sometimes I buy things on impulse....
I have placed my copy of White Bear and Red Moon up for auction too.
A hard thing for me to do, as I always wanted to play that game and never have, and mine is easily the nicest copy I have ever seen.
I may sell my First Print copy of Empire of the Petal Throne as well.
Don't know yet, the box is not even near minty and so would not demand the kind of money it should, even though the contents are all there and Mint.

In any case; I will likely continue selling extra stuff and items I have little or no use for a bit longer.
The grandkids are getting older and have never had a use for Ultra rare stuff I like and don't even know what it is anyway, and most likely never will.
Plus I would rather use that money to get stuff THEY like and will play with.
It is their time now (IMO) though I hope to help them get going, and perhaps to some extent guide and to some extent direct them along the way (for a while at least).

Even so, my own RPG collection will ebb and flow in size as disposable money comes and goes.
I am quite sure that I will ever again have a collection even close to rivaling what I had some years ago.
And that collection was never as impressive as the WALL, and nothing like some of the other amazing collections I have seen posted here either.
And somehow I am relatively content with my small RPG collection as it is.

If you actually read all this, then you must be even more bored than I was today.  

I guess I will go to the poker site and loose some play money for a while.

Nat the Beggar wrote:Like a SWed Copy of a Module (B3) written in the French Language.
First off, it's in SW, and second I cannot even read French.
(I had to search the Acaeum foreign list to even know it was French)
Why did I even buy it?

   

Have you thought about keeping scans of all your collection and just getting rid of it all. After all, it's just the image of the book and the information within that we really use. We can get that nostalgic tactile feel from a good set of hardback manuals and some nice cheap original modules. All the rest is just superfuous eye candy, and you can do it all with PDFs.

benjoshua wrote:It sounds like you are growing up and growing old.  Good for you and for those around you.  I think you'll find, or have found, that relationships are what matter most anyway.  

Yes, I am growing older, but not growing up.....
My wife will swear to that fact in fact she sometimes swears AT me because of it.
And my relationships with the grandkids is about the most important thing there is to me.
Period.

. wrote:    

Have you thought about keeping scans of all your collection and just getting rid of it all. After all, it's just the image of the book and the information within that we really use. We can get that nostalgic tactile feel from a good set of hardback manuals and some nice cheap original modules. All the rest is just superfuous eye candy, and you can do it all with PDFs.

Actually, I have been doing that to some extent.

As far as what I want to keep:
I do wish to keep my Second Print OD&D Woodie (NM Condition) if for no other reason than to hand down to Colton.
I also have a Second Edition Chainmail (NM condition).
First Print copies of all 5 of the Supplements (Greyhawk is truly Pristine, and all the others are Mint).
A SWed Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (I have a soft spot for that one)
Perhaps the SWed Orange B3 too, though if I got a rediculous offer, it would go and though I woud mss it, I can always go read the PDF of it (From TSR) anytime.
I have a few other things I will keep too.
Dont plan to sell the two White Box Sets I have left and I still have a decent copy of Dragon Issue One along with scatterings of other early issues (I plan to list those).
Would like to find a nice Fourth Print White Box Set too (Yeah I know; get in line).....

I recently obtained some PDFs from a friend and though there were not all that many of them (three CDs) they have more information than I could possibly ever use.

One was almost nothing but D20-DCC PDFs.
And another was just ONE book from DCC 35, and I cannot even open that one (RAR file..... dont have anything that will open it).

And I am making scans (or pictures) of the covers (at least) of all the items I am selling these days too, mostly for the E-Bay listings, but also as a reminder of what I had, and I make copies of those listing to help me recall to whom I sold the items to.

I have recently purchased basic books and game modules of several Fantasy RPGs and some others I have had for years and years.

First and Second Edition D&D- Recently bought extra copies of the Core Rules Books to give to Colton.

3.5 D&D (mostly for the grandkids, I fear that I might be too old and set in my ways to ever get it)
I cannot seem to get past the Half Red Dragon fire breathing Lawful Good Paladin....
Nor the Elitie Goblins that can do 35 plus points of damage per round either......

An almost complete set of 3.x DCC modules and box sets. (missing only the rare Convention Modules/Box Set) plus another almost full set of the common ones modules for the kids to take home later on....

Several D20 splat books, most of which I will re-sell after reading.

Lejendary Adventures-It is EGGs Stuff... nuff said.

Castles and Crusades-I have nearly everything that has been published (to date) for C&C.
Still looking for a couple of Town of Yggsburgh books though.
I really like this game for the ease of use for the young ones.

RuneQuest-Not so much for the grandkids as for me here and I dont have much ... One later print Box set of the Core rules and perhaps half a dozen various supplemental box sets and a few adventure modules.

Powers and Perils- Not much at all, looks too complicated for me, much less the kids.

Tekumel- I started with a First Print Box Set of Empire of the Petal Throne and I have collected a few more items over the years since then.

Thieves World (Just started and dont even have the Basic Box Set yet, just a few very common cheap booklets).
I like the few things I have now and want to pursue this more in the near future.

A few easy to use Fantasy Board Games.
Dungeon
Tower of the Wizard King
Wizards Quest
Looking for a cheap but complete Fantasy Forest.... a play copy

I have a few other odds and ends, though not a lot.
Mostly; I just want the young ones to have a good selection and to be able to make their own choices as to what they have fun with.

Stephen....
I agree with all that you said.
Since making my large sell off a few years ago, I stopped even looking on E-Bay for about 3 years.
Bought almost NOTHING, and I didnt even come here much for that time period.
Since then I got back into it and have had some fun chasing various things.
Like the C&C and DCC (3.x) almost complete collections.

And yes, it occasionally does rain here, and today its been doing it all day long.

"...low level RPG collector"

Nat the Beggar wrote:As far as what I want to keep:
I do wish to keep my Second Print OD&D Woodie (NM Condition) if for no other reason than to hand down to Colton.
I also have a Second Edition Chainmail (NM condition).
First Print copies of all 5 of the Supplements (Greyhawk is truly Pristine, and all the others are Mint).
A SWed Ruins of Castle Greyhawk (I have a soft spot for that one)
Perhaps the SWed Orange B3 too, though if I got a rediculous offer, it would go and though I woud mss it, I can always go read the PDF of it (From TSR) anytime.
I have a few other things I will keep too.
Dont plan to sell the two White Box Sets I have left and I still have a decent copy of Dragon Issue One along with scatterings of other early issues (I plan to list those).
Would like to find a nice Fourth Print White Box Set too (Yeah I know; get in line).....

I think I'm missing something in the thread topic.

Know where you're coming from in the general reflective tone of your first post, though. Not a bad thing, that.

Nat the Beggar wrote:For instance (If I had the money for a second print possiblefake PotVQ) I could instead buy a True First Print PHB.......
As long as it was not some famous TSR employees personal copy, or a pre-pub work up, or somesuch.
And those come up for auction on E-Bay enough to make that a very realistic goal.
Although (At least right now) they seem to be far more scarce than the Ultra Rare Possibly Fake PotVQ Modules that are now selling for around $300 per copy.
And it seems there are at least two of those at auction on E-Bay all the time these days.

I sincerely hope not!
Besides, you haven't asked around, if you were serious. (Heck, could probably even throw in a black folder if the rarer releases weren't sufficiently "above suspicion" for you).

Nat the Beggar wrote:I have nearly everything that has been published (to date) for C&C.
Still looking for a couple of Town of Yggsburgh books though.
I really like this game for the ease of use for the young ones.

I have just done something unspeakable to my Yggsburgh hardback in order to PDF it.    Let's just say it's now 'loose leaf'.  

Nat the Beggar wrote:Yeah, I can see some folks doing that honestly.
Though they are OOP already, they are still common enough to get for around $20-25 on E-Bay.

I would not do it though.

Only way to successfully get a decent quality PDF from a hardback I'm affraid. Unless you have access to TLGs server. If you can get the original printer images, you could get a great PDF. Wouldn't surprise me if there weren't 'inhouse' PDFs of a lot of things anyways, for reference and developement. But for me as a regular guy in the street, the only way to get a top notch PDF is to get the craft knife out and start cutting that little sucker appart. Besides, I've got a dozen others just like it on the shelf. Overstock.

serleran wrote:
It would me, since I have access to those things. I believe the pdfs are made for printing only. New printings get new layouts, and hence, new pdfs for those.

At least, I think that is how it is done at TLG... other companies probably do it differently.

Do the PDFs get distributed to office staff/writers to help co-ordinate written materials, or do you all use hardcopies?
Still, wouldn't mind getting the PDFs. In the meantime, I'll cut up my hardcopies.

serleran wrote:
It would me, since I have access to those things. I believe the pdfs are made for printing only. New printings get new layouts, and hence, new pdfs for those.

At least, I think that is how it is done at TLG... other companies probably do it differently.

Im a content collector but Ive only had problems when I tried doing pdfs. It was the DCC #35 Gaz set and according to the pdf site it turned out the file they had was a mess and they took it down. My incredible lack of computer tech know-how has kept me away from them.

Anyway, all I care about is content. Shrinkwrap does not last long around me and while I like to get things in good condition complete and readable are my main concerns.  But I also like treasure hunting and there I have been lucky over the years. Many of the rares have passed through my hands and honestly having games worth several hundred (and now thousands of dollars) just makes me nervous so Ive always been glad to pass them on (and glad for the money too).

When I see something like THE WALL its mostly dollar signs to me. It woulld exist in my dream mansion only as long is it took to sell off for the most part (such as every duplicate set). Even if I didnt need the money I just wouldnt want multiple copies of the same item, and shrinkwrap would be like getting a comic sealed in one of those plastic cases you can never open. I never want to own a comic too expensive to read or a game too expensive to play, but Im glad that some people do. Things like THE WALL are certainly nice to look at and dream.

JasonZavoda wrote:I never want to own a comic too expensive to read or a game too expensive to play, but Im glad that some people do.

QFT

I think I would be too worried about spilling/smudging/etc to ever open some of these things.  For me it would sap all the fun right out of having it knowing that all it would take is a curious cat or a clumsy moment to ruin it.