Discussion about White Box Values • Page 4 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Discussion about White Box Values
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Katchoo
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:53 am

zdaddyo wrote:I considered the $165 BIN, but I can't stand when people write the name on the cover. Inside is fine. Outside disturbs me just enough...

I've noticed that the last two OCEs have moved back down in price: $138.05 and $127.

Yeah, I saw that auction too and thought about getting it but the box was a bit too ratty and the writing on the covers also turned me off.

~Kat ^_^

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:13 am

I can't wait to see what this hunk of crap goes for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/D-D-Original-1974-C ... dZViewItem

Seller would probably get more for it if he threw the box away. It looks contaminated for chrissakes. And that green discoloration in the corner....I wonder if that is a colony of algae or if someone hid the box in their toilet tank and dropped one of those blue pellets in the water?

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

g026r
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:59 am

I'm going to guess that somebody spilt a bottle of paint, but you know what? I don't want to find out for certain.

Ick.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

copycat
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:20 am

It might be worth buying. You could get that neat meteorite stuff that ate Stephen King.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:27 am

Kingofpain89 wrote:I can't wait to see what this hunk of crap goes for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/D-D-Original-1974-C ... dZViewItem

Seller would probably get more for it if he threw the box away. It looks contaminated for chrissakes. And that green discoloration in the corner....I wonder if that is a colony of algae or if someone hid the box in their toilet tank and dropped one of those blue pellets in the water?

Looks someone used the box bottom to hold the open mini's paint bottle and then nudged the box and spilled the paint to me .....

Had that happen to me before, but I was using a cheap plastic cereal bowl not a D&D box.

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

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Kingofpain89
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:22 am

serleran wrote:It might be worth buying. You could get that neat meteorite stuff that ate Stephen King.

Hahahahaha!!! :lol:

Damn I loved Creepshow. The part where Adrienne Barbeau gets eaten by the toothy ape-monster is a riot.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

Traveller
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:53 pm

For me the value of an OCE isn't in its price, but in what it represents: the beginnings of modern role playing. Since what it represents is to me more valuable than what it's worth, it's not so important to me that my OCE's Men & Magic back cover is damaged, or that the box is dished, torn, and given added support by being laminated with contact paper. Games were meant to be played, and while my OCE no longer is used for playing (its last use in playing being with its original owner), even if I did still use it for playing, its value would never fade, despite the distinct possibility of it being worth nothing in terms of money.

The Gray Book: My homage to E.G.G.

Star Trek: Alpha Quadrant: The game Mongoose failed to make.

gyg
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:07 pm

Rpg rule books used for actual gaming - surely that's just crazy talk! :lol:

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

gyg
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:10 pm

Gotta agree though - My OCE is one of my most cherished items. I know it's nothing special to a collector but to me it kind of epitomises D&D and the stuff I love. I never played OD&D (before my time), and having read it I kind of feel that it was quite unplayable anyway, yet it sets the standard for everything that followed.

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

sauromatian
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:20 am

gyg wrote:it was quite unplayable anyway

It does not present itself well, having nothing beforehand to draw from.

About a decade ago I reorganized it into a xerox packet of essentials, together with Outdoor Survival & Chainmail. I made a character sheet designed to orient players to its bare-bones nature- three classes, D6 damage for all basic weapons, etc.

Because of its simplicity, they barely had to look up any info themselves, instead listening to my verbal instructions during character creation at the start of the campaign.

Insofar as testing the coherence of my re-edit, my experiment failed. But that itself may have been the ultimate lesson. A number of 70s-era players I've spoken to never really picked up the books either, that was mainly the referee's job.

It was debated whether players should be allowed to read the Monster Manual or Dungeon Masters Guide, or even to roll their own dice. The 1977 blue book was the first publication truly written for the everyman adventurer, although its brevity ensured most game mechanics would remain in the DM's hands.

By around the start of the 80s, everyone had the Players Handbook & could participate in D&D's burgeoning complexities. Therefore everyone had to have a similar understanding of the rules.

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:23 am

gyg wrote:Gotta agree though - My OCE is one of my most cherished items. I know it's nothing special to a collector but to me it kind of epitomises D&D and the stuff I love. I never played OD&D (before my time), and having read it I kind of feel that it was quite unplayable anyway, yet it sets the standard for everything that followed.

sauromatian wrote:
It does not present itself well, having nothing beforehand to draw from.

About a decade ago I reorganized it into a xerox packet of essentials, together with Outdoor Survival & Chainmail. I made a character sheet designed to orient players to its bare-bones nature- three classes, D6 damage for all basic weapons, etc.

Because of its simplicity, they barely had to look up any info themselves, instead listening to my verbal instructions during character creation at the start of the campaign.

Insofar as testing the coherence of my re-edit, my experiment failed. But that itself may have been the ultimate lesson. A number of 70s-era players I've spoken to never really picked up the books either, that was mainly the referee's job.

It was debated whether players should be allowed to read the Monster Manual or Dungeon Masters Guide, or even to roll their own dice. The 1977 blue book was the first publication truly written for the everyman adventurer, although its brevity ensured most game mechanics would remain in the DM's hands.

By around the start of the 80s, everyone had the Players Handbook & could participate in D&D's burgeoning complexities. Therefore everyone had to have a similar understanding of the rules.

Yup, what ya'll said.......

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

Traveller
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:25 pm

sauromatian wrote:About a decade ago I reorganized it into a xerox packet of essentials, together with Outdoor Survival & Chainmail. I made a character sheet designed to orient players to its bare-bones nature- three classes, D6 damage for all basic weapons, etc.

Because of its simplicity, they barely had to look up any info themselves, instead listening to my verbal instructions during character creation at the start of the campaign.

Insofar as testing the coherence of my re-edit, my experiment failed. But that itself may have been the ultimate lesson. A number of 70s-era players I've spoken to never really picked up the books either, that was mainly the referee's job.

It was debated whether players should be allowed to read the Monster Manual or Dungeon Masters Guide, or even to roll their own dice. The 1977 blue book was the first publication truly written for the everyman adventurer, although its brevity ensured most game mechanics would remain in the DM's hands.

By around the start of the 80s, everyone had the Players Handbook & could participate in D&D's burgeoning complexities. Therefore everyone had to have a similar understanding of the rules.

I went one step further than this in the last few years, but I also had the advantage of thirty years of rules to work with, instead of just the OD&D rules. I would consider my rendition of the rules (which if anyone wants it, PM your interest) to be a success, but I'm biased as I put it all together.

AD&D? There were some things that made it into the AD&D game that Gary didn't want (weapon speed modifiers and psionics for two), but AD&D also was not Gary's game of choice even though he wrote it. Like everyone out there who had OD&D in their possession, Gary remembered the incredible flexibility of the OD&D game, and he preferred to play it (or Lejendary Adventures) instead of AD&D.

The Gray Book: My homage to E.G.G.

Star Trek: Alpha Quadrant: The game Mongoose failed to make.

Busman
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:38 pm

gyg wrote:Gotta agree though - My OCE is one of my most cherished items. I know it's nothing special to a collector but to me it kind of epitomises D&D and the stuff I love. I never played OD&D (before my time), and having read it I kind of feel that it was quite unplayable anyway, yet it sets the standard for everything that followed.

I've been playing recently on Fin's board (thanks Allan!), as well as really throwing myself back into it, and I have to say I find OD&D to be MORE playable than just about every D&D product since (possible exceptions are BECMI and AD&D).

OD&D as presented in the original 3 books is so flexible and easily playable. I've been prepping all of the original materials so that I might start getting my kids (and my wife!) playing.

I had forgotten how much more approachable and easy to play RPGs were back at the beginning. Literally anyone could have a one page character sheet (or more probably lined notebook paper) and be playing with reasonable confidence inside of 20 minutes.

Think about that. Imagine trying to get someone into 3.5 these days. It would take hours just to get them to make a character.

I had truly forgotten how much FUN just playing games were.

I invite you to come play some OD&D over on Fin's board and give it a shot, I think you'll be surprised at just how wonderful RPGs were in the beginning.

Thunderdave
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:30 am

I wonder if the surge in values has subsided?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160226438814&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006

Appears to be a very average OCE at a very average price...

zdaddyo
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:51 am

The green spot OCE went for about $40. Would have been a great buy for someone just trying to get one on the cheap. Guess who bought it though...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=010

copycat
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:53 am

What's the bet it shows up in a few months as a NM item? I mean, after all, its very easy to Frankenstein a white bottom box.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

g026r
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:54 am

zdaddyo wrote:The green spot OCE went for about $40. Would have been a great buy for someone just trying to get one on the cheap. Guess who bought it though...

** expired/removed eBay auction **

In other words: keep an eye out for an OCE in "VGC" with a stock photo.

What was the seller charging to ship to the UK? Anyone note that? I know he was charging $40 for first class to Canada. I can only imagine that the UK shipping was equally ludicrous.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:45 am

g026r wrote:
In other words: keep an eye out for an OCE in "VGC" with a stock photo.

What was the seller charging to ship to the UK? Anyone note that? I know he was charging $40 for first class to Canada. I can only imagine that the UK shipping was equally ludicrous.

I am sure he asked for M-Bag shipping..............

"Guys, I am starting to think Tegel Manor might be haunted..."
Stated by me as a PC during a run of Tegel Manor DMed by killjoy at NTRPGCon 2010

Charter Member of the ATM

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