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Massive Hoard of Old School Gaming Material Looted Locally
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Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:33 am

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:Days of Knights, and they don't have their "vintage" items out on the shelves. They have a bunch of good stuff in storage, but they 1) know what it's worth, and 2) it's more painful than pulling teeth to get them to retrieve it. Nice guys, though, don't get me wrong.

Yes, a number of us have had the pleasure of dealing with Days of Knights on Ebay. Their website had some old stuff with prices but most were overvalued. They also sell the Wilmark Dynasty items.

Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:40 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:I'd be willng to pay $30 for a copy of Gems For Death

Gems for Death is probably worth more but it hasn't had the same influence as Brotherhood of the Bolt. In my experience, Gems For Death is just as rare/rarer than Brotherhood of the Bolt - it was the hardest one for me to find (and is the one a few others I know are missing too). But it never underwent the process of a couple bidders bumping the price to $100+ and the fallout that followed.

TheHistorian
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:03 am

Mars wrote:
Gems for Death is probably worth more but it hasn't had the same influence as Brotherhood of the Bolt. In my experience, Gems For Death is just as rare/rarer than Brotherhood of the Bolt - it was the hardest one for me to find (and is the one a few others I know are missing too). But it never underwent the process of a couple bidders bumping the price to $100+ and the fallout that followed.

Hmm, that's interesting. I was wondering why that one was so much higher.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:15 am

Mars wrote:Yes, a number of us have had the pleasure of dealing with Days of Knights on Ebay. Their website had some old stuff with prices but most were overvalued. They also sell the Wilmark Dynasty items.

When they first opened the website I made a few decent purchases, but now it's pretty much been picked clean of anything priced reasonably. I didn't realize they had an eBay seller account. Is their handle "daysofknights"?

I have a couple of the Wilmark Dynasty adventures (Burgundy Pit and one other the title of which I can't recall at the moment). One of the current owners (and both of the original owners) of DOKs (John Corradin) is the author of much of the WD material.

Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:25 am

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:I have a couple of the Wilmark Dynasty adventures (Burgundy Pit and one other the title of which I can't recall at the moment). One of the current owners (and both of the original owners) of DOKs (John Corradin) is the author of much of the WD material.

Yes, that sounds like their handle on Ebay. They will sign most of the Wilmark items that they sell if you ask. They have been selling these for years now (a few at a time). The earlier prints are hard to find but I'm sure they have boxes and boxes of the later prints they sell. Although generally the products themselves are considered crappy at best.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:49 am

That'd be Robert Jennings then.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:05 am

Mars wrote:
Yes, that sounds like their handle on Ebay. They will sign most of the Wilmark items that they sell if you ask. They have been selling these for years now (a few at a time). The earlier prints are hard to find but I'm sure they have boxes and boxes of the later prints they sell. Although generally the products themselves are considered crappy at best.

John and I are casually acquainted, but I only found out about his involvement with Wilmark Dynasty while chatting with him in the store about a year ago (somehow I missed it in Heroic Worlds). I didn't ask him to sign my Burgundy Pit, as it came in shrinkwrap, but I've since opened it to read it. "Crappy" doesn't even begin to describe the module. "Burgundy" is misspelled (and also correctly spelled) several times on the first page. The maps are freehand, and you can't tell what half of the interior illustrations are supposed to depict. It goes downhill from there.

Last edited by MetaSigma on Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:06 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:That'd be Robert Jennings then.

Who? Lee McCormick was the other "founder" of Wilmark Dynasty, IIRC.

Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:49 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:That'd be Robert Jennings then.

Robert Jennings is the Mass Confusion guy not the Wilmark Guy - a different Ebay seller with lots of old stock.

EDIT: I would say that these are better than the Wilmark items and generally cheaper too.

Last edited by Mars on Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:52 am

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:"Burgundy" is misspelled (and also correctly spelled) several times on the first page. The maps are freehand, and you can't tell what half of the interior illustrations are supposed to depict. It goes downhill from there.

Yep, that's a good sum up. You probably have a red covered version which is a second print so the errors made it through their crack editing team again.

Badmike
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:55 am

One of the great mysteries of collecting will always be why the Wilmark Dynasty stuff commands the prices it does.. Uniformly, they are absolute crap, in both content and appearance. I think it has to do with the fact their have done a good job of marketing it, and the items have intriguing names and descriptions of "adventures" that in no way match the wretchedness of the actual content. But will this stop the next collector from overpaying for a Wilmark Dynasty item? Probably not....!

Mike B.

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Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:08 pm

Badmike wrote:I think it has to do with the fact their have done a good job of marketing it, and the items have intriguing names and descriptions of "adventures" that in no way match the wretchedness of the actual content. But will this stop the next collector from overpaying for a Wilmark Dynasty item? Probably not....!

Mike B.

I think it has to do with their marketing too. They release a few copies every year - in no rush to flood the market but just to keep up new people looking for them. Their prices seem to stick around the $35-$45 for each item.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:25 pm

Mars wrote:
Robert Jennings is the Mass Confusion guy not the Wilmark Guy - a different Ebay seller with lots of old stock.

EDIT: I would say that these are better than the Wilmark items and generally cheaper too.

Oops!
IIRC, someone once said Journey to the Centre of the Circle in the only one worth reading.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

TheHistorian
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 2:48 pm

Mars wrote:
Robert Jennings is the Mass Confusion guy not the Wilmark Guy - a different Ebay seller with lots of old stock.

EDIT: I would say that these are better than the Wilmark items and generally cheaper too.

Years ago, he had a rpg/comics/book store in Worcester, MA called Fabulous Fiction.

It was huge, dirty, and run by the most curmudgeonly anti-customer retailer I've ever met.

I kept my head down and scooped piles of comic goodness out of there (things would sit on the shelves for 15 years at cover price). If I could go back and buy up gaming stuff... oh my.

Anything he's selling is 20+ year old stock. You'll probably get some free dust too.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:54 pm

Mars wrote:Yep, that's a good sum up. You probably have a red covered version which is a second print so the errors made it through their crack editing team again.

Exactly right (2nd print), though I choose to consider the cover color "Burgundy" (it is actually a darker, burgundyish red). What color was the original printing?

Yes, editing... Some of that might have been in order. I hate to badmouth the WD stuff, as John is actually a really great guy. But I guess one thing has nothing to do with the other.

Mars
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:45 pm

No I don't like to bad mouth nonTSR items either. There is lots of crud out there and some gems too but it all adds to support the hobby. I'm sure most of the Wilmark items (and the Mass Confusion ones too) were used as local tourneys etc and they served a purpose in which people had fun with them.

There is a bit of question on condition of the Wilmark items on Ebay sometimes. The Roomscapes one for example is often not described well and shows up with lots of rust on the fasteners, sometimes water damage, and flakey paper. When they are expecting $40 for the item, being clear on the condition is a must.

The original Burgundy Pit has a very pink cover. Here's a link to another hidden page from the Tome of Treasures:

http://tomeoftreasures.com/tot_nontsr/w ... dy_pit.htm

Some of the other items have different prints as well and there is an interview here too:

http://tomeoftreasures.com/tot_nontsr/w ... y_main.htm

Deadlord
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:08 pm

I had a hell of a time getting them to send me decent quality items back when I got mine. Rust, tears, missing staples, etc.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:31 pm

Whale Tagger wrote:I had a hell of a time getting them to send me decent quality items back when I got mine. Rust, tears, missing staples, etc.

That doesn't surprise me too much. I happen to know that most of DOK's older stuff (probably including remaining WD product) is stored in a basement under their current location. Since Newark, DE is basically a fairly moist basin, obviously this is not ideal for storing paper collectibles with metal staples. They also moved from one location on Main St. to another somewhere around 1990 (give or take a year or so, can't recall exactly), so some mayhem might have occurred then. Also, John doesn't do the grading/listing online (at least not on their own website, couldn't say for eBay) himself, so accuracy might suffer due to that. Like any other seller I guess, ya pays your money ya takes your chances.

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