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Post Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:13 pm 
 

increment wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
dbartman wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:Those particular Strategic Previews were one of a kind.  Even if they weren't, they are about a rare as you can get, with only between 25-50 copies made.

The cover of the first issue of the Strategic Preview says, "This newsletter will be mailed regularly to all subscribers of THE DRAGON and LITTLE WARS, as well as included with most current mail orders. Sporadically, it will be sent to everyone we can think of..." And also that "some issues may be available at 'The Dungeon' in Lake Geneva, WI." From the subscriber lists of those periodicals alone, this would place the number printed in the thousands; a letter I have that Gygax sent in March 1976 suggested that the starting circulation of the Dragon alone "will not be less than 2,000." What reason do we have to think there were only 25-50 of each Strat Preview made at the time?

Totally agreed that they are rare today and that many were certainly discarded. And the controversy about "file copies" will no doubt return with every major auction of interest. At least these weren't made with a photocopier originally.


The 25-50 number was from Frank's recollection:

Newsletters

Perhaps he was mistaken, as the details seem to be contradictory.  Judging from the number that pop up for sale, it does appear that the distributed quantity was nothing like the numbers for the Strategic Review.

I was aware that these were file copies, as was mentioned in my prior commentary, thus the reason that they didn't go for much more.  Perhaps some of the other the copies produced at the time were too?

It was amusing to know that there were two sets of copies, which did nullify the "one of a kind" comment though...

  

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Post Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:35 pm 
 

The Collectors Trove has some great stuff sometimes. A few months back they had some original art from deities and demigods. Wow I wish I had the spending money for that stuff. Those were really one of a kind. But you know artwork for the wall or pay the bills. Just out of my league.


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Post Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 12:54 am 
 

dbartman wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
increment wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:The cover of the first issue of the Strategic Preview says, "This newsletter will be mailed regularly to all subscribers of THE DRAGON and LITTLE WARS, as well as included with most current mail orders. Sporadically, it will be sent to everyone we can think of..." And also that "some issues may be available at 'The Dungeon' in Lake Geneva, WI." From the subscriber lists of those periodicals alone, this would place the number printed in the thousands; a letter I have that Gygax sent in March 1976 suggested that the starting circulation of the Dragon alone "will not be less than 2,000." What reason do we have to think there were only 25-50 of each Strat Preview made at the time?

Totally agreed that they are rare today and that many were certainly discarded. And the controversy about "file copies" will no doubt return with every major auction of interest. At least these weren't made with a photocopier originally.


The 25-50 number was from Frank's recollection:

Newsletters

Perhaps he was mistaken, as the details seem to be contradictory.  Judging from the number that pop up for sale, it does appear that the distributed quantity was nothing like the numbers for the Strategic Review.

I was aware that these were file copies, as was mentioned in my prior commentary, thus the reason that they didn't go for much more.  Perhaps some of the other the copies produced at the time were too?

It was amusing to know that there were two sets of copies, which did nullify the "one of a kind" comment though...


I definitely would not have felt comfortable bidding so high on file copies. I realize how rare the content is but the idea that there's other file copies that are conceivably out there would make me nervous to drop so much money.

  


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Post Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 12:48 pm 
 

The Collector's Trove wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
What you see (and will see) in the Hammack Collection *is* the cream of the crop, all that is left after some 45 years. The same goes for all of my clients.


Futures Bright,

Paul


I should note that I offered to let Paul keep the Brown Box set I sent him and some other things rather than sell them.  He sold everything.

As far as I can tell, he isn't keeping anything back or hiding anything, but instead really works hard and diligently.

stratochamp wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:I think Mike will be tickled pink when he learns that the Illuminati have voted him into the Club.


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Post Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 7:34 pm 
 

Steve Marsh wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
The Collector's Trove wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
What you see (and will see) in the Hammack Collection *is* the cream of the crop, all that is left after some 45 years. The same goes for all of my clients.


Futures Bright,

Paul


I should note that I offered to let Paul keep the Brown Box set I sent him and some other things rather than sell them.  He sold everything.

As far as I can tell, he isn't keeping anything back or hiding anything, but instead really works hard and diligently.

stratochamp wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:I think Mike will be tickled pink when he learns that the Illuminati have voted him into the Club.


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Post Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 9:48 am 
 

Badmike wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
Steve Marsh wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
I should note that I offered to let Paul keep the Brown Box set I sent him and some other things rather than sell them.  He sold everything.

As far as I can tell, he isn't keeping anything back or hiding anything, but instead really works hard and diligently.



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Post Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 1:06 pm 
 

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Post Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:32 am 
 

I can't believe that autographed Orange B3 went for $5,860 bucks! Wows a. I thought I had it at 4763! Oh well. I still have shrink wrapped Orange B3, it's cool that it was signed though, maybe the on,y one in existence.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:51 am 
 

I have has those Strategic previews before, so that is at least 2 copies in existence. I would hazard a guess that Frank misremembers.
How does anyone justify $272 for a shrinked A3? What is special about those two copies?


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Post Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 2:35 am 
 

Deadlord wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:I have has those Strategic previews before, so that is at least 2 copies in existence. I would hazard a guess that Frank misremembers.
How does anyone justify $272 for a shrinked A3? What is special about those two copies?


Christmas?  Fancy advertising?  The Collector's Trove auctions do tend to draw top $$$, even if the items aren't from a D&D celebrity, and those two were from Hammack's collection, as was this one which was posted previously:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


So, those two SW A3s were actually a bargain.

  


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Post Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 12:34 pm 
 

DBartman wrote: I was aware that these were file copies, as was mentioned in my prior commentary, thus the reason that they didn't go for much more.  Perhaps some of the other the copies produced at the time were too?

It was amusing to know that there were two sets of copies, which did nullify the "one of a kind" comment though...[/quote]
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Stratochamp writes:          I'm sorry if I wasn't being clear. I did not get a set of Al Hammack's file copies of the Strategic Preview with Paul's second chance offer. I got a set of the 1978 GenCon AD&D Open set of character sheets. I already have the four Strat Previews. So the "one of a kind" comment about the file copies would still apply.


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Post Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:08 am 
 

Ah, got it.  Thanks for the clarification.  Would love to see those sheets.  Maybe you could bring them with you in a month or so...

  

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Post Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 4:07 pm 
 

dbartman wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
Deadlord wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:I have has those Strategic previews before, so that is at least 2 copies in existence. I would hazard a guess that Frank misremembers.
How does anyone justify $272 for a shrinked A3? What is special about those two copies?


Christmas?  Fancy advertising?  The Collector's Trove auctions do tend to draw top $$$, even if the items aren't from a D&D celebrity, and those two were from Hammack's collection, as was this one which was posted previously:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


So, those two SW A3s were actually a bargain.


I'm surprised the winners of those auctions haven't posted about the extra value on those items. Certainly there must have been something special or not discussed on the auction page that they were aware of

  

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Post Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:27 pm 
 

Perhaps the higher prices are simply the result of somebody having more cash than patience. You get two people like that and high prices are sure to happen.


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Post Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 1:40 pm 
 

misterspock wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
dbartman wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:

Christmas?  Fancy advertising?  The Collector's Trove auctions do tend to draw top $$$, even if the items aren't from a D&D celebrity, and those two were from Hammack's collection, as was this one which was posted previously:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


So, those two SW A3s were actually a bargain.


I'm surprised the winners of those auctions haven't posted about the extra value on those items. Certainly there must have been something special or not discussed on the auction page that they were aware of



I know this is an old thread but this kind of stuff is very odd to me. Even though it is from a known celebrity (if you will) collection I don't get the exorbitant price for a standard module. Is there anything special besides who it came from or that it was a 1st print from a Collector trove auction? He really does pull in some amazing sales. And he certainly doesn't keep the cream of the crop as I watch it get sold all the time, as well BadMike. NKG doesn't even keep it, they just sell it for two arms and a kidney.

I'm pretty sure recently Collector's Trove even started parting with his own personal collection (items in shrink and miniatures). The last round of shrink was amazing. I think one buyer bought everything, I couldn't even squeeze one item out of that lot of auctions.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 3:10 pm 
 

cabala wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
misterspock wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:
I'm surprised the winners of those auctions haven't posted about the extra value on those items. Certainly there must have been something special or not discussed on the auction page that they were aware of



I know this is an old thread but this kind of stuff is very odd to me. Even though it is from a known celebrity (if you will) collection I don't get the exorbitant price for a standard module. Is there anything special besides who it came from or that it was a 1st print from a Collector trove auction? He really does pull in some amazing sales. And he certainly doesn't keep the cream of the crop as I watch it get sold all the time, as well BadMike. NKG doesn't even keep it, they just sell it for two arms and a kidney.

I'm pretty sure recently Collector's Trove even started parting with his own personal collection (items in shrink and miniatures). The last round of shrink was amazing. I think one buyer bought everything, I couldn't even squeeze one item out of that lot of auctions.


All it takes is two people (over)valuing the item to push it through the roof. One good thing about Collector Trove is that he has an excellent reputation, so a buyer can rely on the provenance being rock solid. Like many here, I think this item belongs in the "silly price thread," as it is an otherwise common item, but to each their own.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 4:53 pm 
 

It's too bad whoever the winner is doesn't post about whatever is amazingly special about that shrinkwrapped module. If it's truly one-a-kind or came with something else, you'd think this would be the forum to post about it! :?

cabala wrote in The collectors Trove eBay auction....:I know this is an old thread but this kind of stuff is very odd to me. Even though it is from a known celebrity (if you will) collection I don't get the exorbitant price for a standard module. Is there anything special besides who it came from or that it was a 1st print from a Collector trove auction?


btw, one interesting thing I saw about this auction was that the 2nd highest bidder has 11 bid retractions within the last six months and only 150 feedback. Does that come across peculiar to anyone else?

  
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