Must-Haves - How Many? • Collecting General • The Acaeum

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Must-Haves - How Many?
	Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2

Author

copycat
Sage Collector

Posts: 2736
Joined: May 31, 2007
Last Visit: Jul 09, 2026

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:20 am

We've had a thread on the size of collections, but not one one how many items are still on your "must-have" lists. For me, if I could have everything on the "I have to have" list, it would increase my collection by 50% - that puts it at almost 500 items, some of which are just different printings of certain, specific, things (like OD&D woodgrains.) Now, of course I get stuff not on the "must-have" because most of what I do have on that list is stuff I have to fight you guys to get (there really are a lot of "rares") or is just beyond the price I want to pay, so I don't. Anyway, I was wondering the depth of the "need," and thought I'd ask. I bet a lot of you have small lists, likely because you've been doing this a long time, or are only interesting in very specific things... me, I'm a wildman. I want it all.

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

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 8079
Joined: Jun 23, 2003
Last Visit: Jun 24, 2026
Location: DFW TX

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:18 am

serleran wrote:We've had a thread on the size of collections, but not one one how many items are still on your "must-have" lists. For me, if I could have everything on the "I have to have" list, it would increase my collection by 50% - that puts it at almost 500 items, some of which are just different printings of certain, specific, things (like OD&D woodgrains.) Now, of course I get stuff not on the "must-have" because most of what I do have on that list is stuff I have to fight you guys to get (there really are a lot of "rares") or is just beyond the price I want to pay, so I don't. Anyway, I was wondering the depth of the "need," and thought I'd ask. I bet a lot of you have small lists, likely because you've been doing this a long time, or are only interesting in very specific things... me, I'm a wildman. I want it all.

I'm probably on the opposite end of the spectrum...I can't think of anything I really must have. There are a couple of things I would like to have if I run across them cheap enough, but nothing I'd go to the mat for just to fill a hole. I've got pretty much everything I ever wanted, and then some. At this point if I can't use it in gameplay, or resell it, not interested.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
Co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con
NTRPGCON

beasterbrook
Sage Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 2483
Joined: Nov 06, 2002
Last Visit: Jul 24, 2026
Location: Queensland, Australia

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:21 am

The must have list is pretty small for me.. Australian RPG stuff! That is prob the only thing on my want list that I would go silly over...

.. as noted there are lots of items I would "like" to have, but generally they are only "worth" a certain amount to me at this particular time and I won't spend more than that... there will usually be another along.. what moves these items up the lists is when it seems to be less and less of them around... but still I don't think most of them will move into the "Must Have" list..

Brette:)

Being healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Theleb
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 1254
Joined: Jan 01, 2003
Last Visit: Jun 13, 2026

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:35 am

The only must-have on my list is Chinese language D&D. I've pretty much got everything else I want and consider my collection complete enough for me.

killjoy32
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 8283
Joined: Jan 21, 2005
Last Visit: Jun 26, 2025
Location: Wallasey, Merseyside, UK

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:12 am

i dont really have a "must have" list. i tend to choose things at random.

though i have to say, getting my hands on fanzines is always a must and i really really really want a beholder # 1 still.

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

guerret
Prolific Collector

Posts: 671
Joined: Dec 17, 2005
Last Visit: Feb 13, 2019
Location: Italy

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:05 am

A lot. But if you really want my "must must must have" stuff, it is the full set of Forgotten Realms stuff. Which I happen to have almost completed.

Alexander
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 1293
Joined: Nov 24, 2002
Last Visit: Mar 27, 2026
Location: Brescia, Italy

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:06 am

I must have:

Troll magazine with that famous Gary Gygax interview

I Signori del Caos (Italian fantasy RPG) very first edition

The rumoured but never seen Kata Kumbas (another Italian fantasy RPG but better in my eyes that SDC) supplements

Missing issues of Model Retailer

Missing issues of Pergioco (great, great Italian magazines abiut games and of course folded since more than 20 years

)

And most important of everything:

Game Merchandising magazine!

Johnson
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1296
Joined: Nov 06, 2002
Last Visit: Jun 23, 2026
Location: Essex, UK

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:12 am

Hi,

I've got a list of around 25 "wants" but I long ago came to the conclusion that they would come along sooner or later. I'm patient

Cheers,
Malc

Kingofpain89
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 4756
Joined: Oct 31, 2004
Last Visit: May 02, 2025
Location: Caddo Mills, TX

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:31 am

Haven't really thought to count 'em all. There are a good couple hundred "would like to haves" but my list of "must haves" is probably less than 20 or 30 items at this point. They include a handful of MERP items, a few TSR miniature rule books, a few Judges Guild modules, an impossible to find Traveller adventure, and two very expensive D&D modules.

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
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1324
Joined: May 28, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 27, 2011
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:41 am

Must haves? Not that many.

Wants? Ah... Now that is a big list.

"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."

Avurax
Prolific Collector

Posts: 153
Joined: May 28, 2006
Last Visit: Jul 15, 2021

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:50 am

My must haves list is probably about 20-30 items. As I slowly go through my collection to catalog condition, I add a few items I own to the list that are incomplete or badly rogered.

There are a few items I would love to own but wouldn't include on a must haves list because of the price. So barring a $10 Lost Tamoachan at Good Will, I doubt I'll will ever own a pre-pub.

Like g026r, my Wish List is significantly longer. :wink:

Gnat the Beggar
Grandstanding Collector
JG Valuation Board
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 5029
Joined: Oct 11, 2004
Last Visit: Jan 16, 2017
Location: Texas

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:13 am

Want list:
Strategic Review No. 2
DCC Modules and Box Sets.
Tunnels and Trolls Solo's from Flying Buffalo Games.
Complete set of Regular Modules for T&T.
A lot of the stuff from Judges Guild (Selectively that is, I do not want all of the hundredds of items they put out)

The unlikely wish list, but still possible:
The Strategic Previews
All the regular R and RPGA series modules (Not the prepubs, See below).
TSR 1st Edition Mono Aussie Modules (I have the Giants Series).

Now for the fantasy wish list:
Chainmail First Edition.
The pre pub modules.
First Print/Edition Woodie.

"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

Last edited by Gnat the Beggar on Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:47 am, edited 5 times in total.

aia
Long-Winded Collector
Valuation Board
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3906
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Last Visit: Aug 05, 2026
Location: Italy

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:24 am

at the moment i have one only must: complete the pscape stuff and i need one only book!

(close to the goal!!!)

then, looking to what alessandro wrote:

Alexander1968 wrote:I must have:

Troll magazine with that famous Gary Gygax interview

I Signori del Caos (Italian fantasy RPG) very first edition

The rumoured but never seen Kata Kumbas (another Italian fantasy RPG but better in my eyes that SDC) supplements

Missing issues of Model Retailer

Missing issues of Pergioco (great, great Italian magazines abiut games and of course folded since more than 20 years )

And most important of everything:

Game Merchandising magazine!

i would better understand what are the "rumored" supplements (plural, more than 1?)... i live in the same town oof the publisher and i could investigate a little bit (i am extremely curious...)

ciaooo

Blackmoor
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3601
Joined: Dec 20, 2003
Last Visit: Jan 13, 2026
Location: Canada

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:43 am

Not much left really. Mostly non-TSR stuff like 1st Dwaren Glory. In order to get the stuff I really want the biggest must have would be that Lofenloc lost interest in collecting and left his non-tsr collection to me

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

sauromatian
Sage Collector

Posts: 2554
Joined: Jul 25, 2007
Last Visit: Jan 06, 2024
Location: Far Harad, Texas

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:06 am

The core of my current want list is:

dungeon masters index
geomorphs: caves & caverns
tractics
illithiad
white dwarf 5 [the cover has one of the very few decent girlie pics to be found in GW product]
starstone
necromican
book of demons

jg runequest shield
nomad gods
wyrms footnotes 1-10
panzer pranks
credo

g026r
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1324
Joined: May 28, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 27, 2011
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:13 am

So having dug out my eBay searches, I'd say my "Must Have" list (the ones that I get emailed on) are:

The Bats of Mercille (Ars Magica)
Avalon Hill's Heroes V2 #3
Bunnies & Burrows
GURPS The Prisoner
Adios A-Mi-Go (A Deadlands/Call of Cthulhu crossover)
Gods of Chaos, Gods of Law, & Old Hrolmar (All Stormbringer monographs)
Hawkmoon (The 2nd edition monograph)
Panzer Pranks
Lordly Domains & Land of Giants (Both Pendragon)
Ringworld

For some of them, it's not that they don't show up often enough, it's just that I'm a cheap bastard at times.

"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."

aia
Long-Winded Collector
Valuation Board
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3906
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Last Visit: Aug 05, 2026
Location: Italy

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:34 am

sauromatian wrote:The core of my current want list is:

dungeon masters index
geomorphs: caves & caverns
tractics
illithiad
white dwarf 5 [the cover has one of the very few decent girlie pics to be found in GW product]
starstone
necromican
book of demons

jg runequest shield
nomad gods
wyrms footnotes 1-10
panzer pranks
credo

wait wait wait!!!

first: i could have a geos set1 available for trade/sale (if you're seriously interested just pm me)

second: i sent al a jg shield a couple of weeks ago... i might still have it... i would reccomend to get in touch with him!

ciaooo

NetRodent
Prolific Collector

Posts: 658
Joined: Sep 14, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 05, 2026
Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:14 pm

My *D&D collection is almost complete. A lot of it isn't collectible condition so I'll be upgrading as I find items in NM condition. I've also never been particularly interested in having a copy of each printing of an item.

I'm actively looking for:

- Various boxed set mini-reprints by 21st Century Game and the DMG
- Foreign language editions of D&D BECMI
- Figher's Player Pack & Wizard's Player Pack
- First Quest cassette (I'll trade one of my LPs for one)
- 10th Anniversary Collectors Set
- Understanding D&D

I'm also starting to expand into CoC.

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
--H.L. Mencken

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2