Agree with you.
I actually love the game of D&D and I started playing it in the old days when it was still something new and fresh (mid-late 70s).

Before E-Bay I was only occasionally able to find stuff I wanted, and seldom anything older like I wanted.
And gaming was very rare too, as it is so hard to find RPG fans close enough to play table top games.
As far as collecting I had very little and little chance of changing that.

E-Bay and the internet in general, were my downfall as far as collecting goes and the Internet also opened up a whole new avenue to find like minded fans of RPGs.

The thrill of the chase is a large motivator in collecting for me, whether it be finishing off a run of the X Series of TSR Modlues, or starting a collection of an entirely new Fantasy RPG system for me.
The excitment of finding a hidden hitherto unknown or very rare treasure is a huge thrill, but that alone is such a rare occurance as to not be much motivation.
But when it does happen... WOWSERS! What a thrill!


Those three simple sheets were hidden inside a binder in a large lot I recently purchased, along with a few other hidden treasures.
Like this one...



Both of those items are exceedingly rare.

Neither have more than 4 copies known in collecting circles and BOTH were hidden and undeclared inside a binder in that one lot.
Neither of the treasures above could be seen in the few pictures and were not described in the listing.

Not that the listing was filled with crap otherwise... Far from it in fact.
There was a full set of first print TSR AD&D core rules books, an OD&D White Box Set, Monster & Treasure Assortment sets, and a Second Print of Greyhawk, Second Print Blackmoor, First Print Eldritch Wizardry.
Most of them could be clearly seen in the pictures, though for the core rule books and the Supplements there was really no way to tell they were first (or early) prints, since the Core Rules Books were stacked on top of each other in the background of one picture and none of them were described as far as which printings they were (That was a leap of faith on my part).
So there were some truly valuable treasures in that lot that could be seen, so I did pay a lot for the lot.
In fact, based only on what COULD be seen and what WAS described, I probably paid more than that lot was worth, or very close to it.
My instincts normally suck, but at least for that listing it was spot on and working overtime.

I will never see another lot like that one, but what a fun find that one was.

Needless to say, I am hopelessly hooked on this hobby.

I can give you a newcomer's perspective. Even though I played RPG's through the 80's only, I still feel a personal connection to it. It might be utopical (I am convinced that values such as honor and fair-play were instilled in me by AD&D) or delusional (I am also convinced my characters partly shaped who I am), but it is definitely part of me. That's why I started late last year; to *connect* again.

I am already up to a FULL SHELF of stuff   . I swore when I started I would get ONE of each piece that interested me (such as I did with the baseball card and Swiss Army knife collections I have), but I already have three 1st Ed DMGs   . Good God...I am hooked.

Hector.

Gnat the Beggar wrote:Agree with you.

But when it does happen... WOWSERS! What a thrill!

[ Image ]
Those three simple sheets were hidden inside a binder in a large lot I recently purchased, along with a few other hidden treasures.
Like this one...

[ Image ]

Both of those items are exceedingly rare.

Neither have more than 4 copies known in collecting circles and BOTH were hidden and undeclared inside a binder in that one lot.
Neither of the treasures above could be seen in the few pictures and were not described in the listing.
Greyhawk, Second Print Blackmoor, First Print Eldritch Wizardry.
Most of them could be clearly seen in the pictures, though for the core rule books and the Supplements there was really no way to tell they were first (or early) prints, since the Core Rules Books were stacked on top of each other in the background of one picture and none of them were described as far as which printings they were (That was a leap of faith on my part).
So there were some truly valuable treasures in that lot that could be seen, so I did pay a lot for the lot.
In fact, based only on what COULD be seen and what WAS described, I probably paid more than that lot was worth, or very close to it.
My instincts normally suck, but at least for that listing it was spot on and working overtime.

I will never see another lot like that one, but what a fun find that one was.

Needless to say, I am hopelessly hooked on this hobby.

Holy crap!  Greyhawk reference sheets?  I think I would have had a heart attack if I "found" a set of those.

I remember finding a piss poor partial of the goldenrod sheets in a stack of gaming magazines and other stuff at a resale shop near my house when I was younger. Someone just donated all their gaming material, and they stacked it on the shelf with the rest of the magazines, coloring books and comics. Whatamess. I ended up sitting there on the floor and going thru 3 bookshelves of random crap to sort it out, but I walked out of that place with 2 PHBs, 5 modules, the sheets (in terrible condition), and a crap of other random character sheets, ect. Still got all of that stuff in a binder on the shelf. I paid 10 bucks.

I was 19. Top of the world Ma....  

Gnat the Beggar wrote:
Why do you have a few copies?
Of the White version that is...

I know you have a few of the Yellow Prints.

Aha, I see, color matters!

Not just a few copies, I think I'll pile them up here so I can reach something really high in the kitchen......

Mike B.

Gnat the Beggar wrote:
In this case yes, the White copies are First Prints and were ONLY handed out at GenCon 76, and/or mailed to new Judges Guild Subscribers FROM GenCon 76.
The copies remaining from GenCon 76 were Pupled and JG started printing the Yellow versions.

IIRC: Shane wrote that he knows of only 3 copies of the white version.

Just correcting the error

ShaneG.