Ages and ages ago, I had a decent collection of AD&D first edition books, back before they redesigned the covers. Things change, and at one point decades ago i got rid of a good quantity of my old gaming materials. But now, looking back, I'd like to  reassemble a collection of the 1st Edition books, preferably from before the big (and somewhat ugly) revamp of covers that they did. While I would like books as close to new as possible (without breaking the bank) I don't need the extremely rare 1st editions etc.

I was wondering if collectors here could point me in a good direction to start, or if I am just as well off, searching the sales on Amazon's Marketplace / Abe.com  / Ebay ?

Thanks

Agreed, unsurprisingly! eBay and perhaps just a little bit of patience to get decent copies at a good price, including shipping. It should be possible to pick up more than one book at a time, too, given that they're fairly common; e.g. $10 all-in for the DMG and PHB sold on

** expired/removed eBay auction **

Perhaps not "minty" enough for your own "collecting" purposes, but a good price for better-than-average reading/play copies. Don't get carried away, anyhow: minty, minty copies can still sometimes go for fairly high prices, especially if they've been listed in the "Interesting Items" thread here (a.k.a. "The Acaeum Effect").

I started rebuilding my collection back in 2005, and it was remarkably easy.
At the time I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find an original PHB and MM with "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" centered on the cover.
It turns out it was an unwarranted concern.  Even those, which were replaced with that yellow stripe, are readily available.

I have one set that I keep in really good shape on the shelf, and one set that I thumb through and read.

As others said, patience is the key.

Take care,
Keith

Thanks for all the advice so far! I feel like it isn't so daunting a task now.