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Blast From the Past!
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Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

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

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:23 am

Hey guys;

Cleaning out some old word files that have followed me from computer to computer the last decade, I located a great file containing some of my old "newsletters".

I started online in 1992, and by 1993 was posting lists of stuff for sale or trade on the old AOL marketplace. In 1995, I finally moved to games.rpg.marketplace on Usenet, and was off and running. After a few years I had a pretty steady clientele, as in those days everything was based on trust....you sent someone a check, money order (or cash) and they mailed you your items. No middleman taking a cut! It worked really well if you had a good rep like myself, Jason Zavoda, Sages Guild, Dragonstrove, Hit Pointe, Titan Games (the original) and a few others I can't remember. I got a lot of "repeat" business, especially from overseas customers, as a lot of sellers back then didn't want to bother with customs forms and specialty shipping.

Anyway, I created a mini-mailing list for repeat customers (or just anyone that wanted to be on the list). I mass mailed everyone a little "newsletter" like page or two every month which included my prices (yes, back then everything I had fit on a couple of pages and was easily mailed out!). Content was all sorts of tips, facts, rumors, and prices.

Sadly, I don't have any of the price lists on the computer (I have a few hard copies, I may scan them in if I can find them and if I have the time). I do have a few of the newsletters. Just for fun here are a few so you can see what was up 10+ years ago in the pre-Ebay days of selling used RPGS online. I'll try to add notes as necessary to place the content in perspective, with 12 years of hindsight to work with!

Mike B.

9/14/97

Hey;

Here's the latest price list. Seems like it hasn't been that long, but I've got a bunch of new stuff, mostly common modules but a ton of rulebooks lately.

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

I found our buddy Chris Roseman (aka Estrazo). Seems like he's selling fish on the internet...no, I'm not joking. Weird.
I suppose most of you now know that the official AOL TSR site has been shut down, and all operations are supposed to be moved to the internet site (www.tsrinc.com). Unfortunately, like I predicted they have apparantly had a bit of trouble and haven't got the site running yet. For those of us on AOL, might I recommend the RPG Forum (Keyword: RPG Forum, duh...). TSR has finally given permission to AOL to have boards and folders with content concerning TSR worlds (although how they could have legally prevented this in the long run, I have absolutely no idea...). Most of the same cast of characters is there, including a few of the TSR staff who kept their AOL accounts. There is a Greyhawk board, Realms, board, etc. Anyway, it might keep you satisfied until TSR gets their website boards going...
Having almost gotten through with my first RPG auction in almost two years, now I know why I don't do them more often! I have promised to run one more auction after this one (ugh), and after that if may be another two years...Anyway, hopefully things will be back to (almost) normal and I will be back to devoting most of my time to buying/selling/trading RPGs...
Just aquired the new AD&D module Evil Tide, and it's the best "multi-part" adventure that TSR has put out in quite awhile (The Undermountain Dungeon Crawls don't count, they were pretty much stand alone). Bruce Cordell, the author of last year's exceptional "Firestone Peak" adventure, puts out a generally entertaining sea-going adventure featuring some particularly vicious Sahaughin. I was generally surprised at how much they let Bruce get away with here, it almost reminded me of a old-style Greyhawk module...lots of fun with the sea devils torturing and eating captives alive (ouch!), very low magic/treasure, interesting plot and motivation, and a generally tough adventure. I was very pleased and anticipate the rest of the series (Oct and Dec releases). My only problems were the references to the "Of Ships and Sea" supplement that isn't released yet, and a particularly powerful magic item possessed by the main villian (although it's not intended to fall into the character's hands). Overall, if this is the direction TSR was headed before WOTC took over, I think they've finally got the right idea. Good Stuff!
This month in "What's In the Box" we continue with AD&D modules...Note: At this point I've kind of forgotten what I've done/not done, so I may cover the same ground again. I hope these are helpful for finding out if an item is complete or not when you find it used...

D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth: Two perforated map sheets at back of module
D2 Shrine of the Kuo Toa: Two perforated map sheets at back of module
D1-2 Descent Into the Depths: Four center-bound map sheets
D3 Vault of the Drow (both versions): Four center-bound map sheets
DQ1 The Shattered Statue: Eight center bound map and character sheets
G1-3 Against the Giants: Inner folder with maps...this is often missing!
GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders: Map book is included

NOTE: What's in the Box? was a website I maintained for awhile that listed every TSR item and what should be included with it (maps, handouts, etc). In my knowledge it was the first such site for that purpose on the internet.

TSR had an official AOL site for many years, and as a matter of fact it was the main reason I first hooked up to go online with AOL and not Prodigy or another service. One of the main attractions was the complete text to "Ivid the Undying" which was ONLY available online at the official TSR site. I remember back in the days of a 24.4 modem it took many hours to download the file....all at a cost per hour (which is what AOL and other online services did before standard monthly fees).

Estrazo some might remember was one of the "Big Five" of original used RPG dealers on AOL. He was also from Texas but i never met him and only talked to him online a few times. I remember he always got a lot of complaints because his judgement of condition on items was pretty shaky. I heard he later got divorced and his wife took all his D&D stock in the settlement...yikes!

9/28/97
Hey;

Here's the latest sale list...lots of stuff to go over this month, so we'll get into it...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

Well, welcome to my nightmare. September was a great month, I sold more items to more people than any other month in the last two years (most of it due to the auction I ran). Unfortunately, I am having a huge, huge problem with an issue that hasn't come up but once before in the last two years: Lost shipments. For reasons I'll go into, I've had FOUR shipments go missing in this month, only one of them under $40...Lucky, one shipment has turned up (Return to Sender) and it was my fault, the zip was wrong. This goes into the category of "It Sucks", because my policy has always been to try and replace the lost items or offer credit, so I'm getting screwed this month...
However, after this month's wipeout I'm going to have to make some major changes to my shipping procedure for the near future. The #1 reason I'm having so much trouble with lost or late shipments is the UPS strike. Yes, the waves from this are continuing to be felt. Because of the UPS strike, a few major and many minor companies discontinued business with UPS. Thus, the USPS is getting more business, and more high volume shipments (especially 4th class/book rate). However, the USPS hasn't hired more employees, or improved their shipping procedures, or started working extra days. They are just getting massively overburdend by the extra shipments. Packages and checks that took 3-5 days to reach me, for example, are taking an average of 5-7 days and in some cases longer (again, especially 4th class).
This higher volume also seems to be having an effect on package condition. More than ever I'm noticing packages I receive with noticible damage, and people I've sent items to have reported torn, bent, ripped and dented packages. I'm very lucky to have a local post office that treats packages well (I never have massive damage) and a postman who does not fold, spindle or mutilate anything that comes to my house (if it won't fit in my box, he delivers it to my front porch!) but I understand many others aren't as lucky...apparantly, "Do Not Bend" means something else in USPS language.
The solutions I've come up with are to ship with UPS more, and to insure most or all packages $50 and over. UPS charges very reasonable prices for shipping, and insures for pretty much any amount. Plus, tracking numbers make finding lost packages or getting refunds for lost packages easier. I stopped using UPS about a year ago because they were having problems getting shipments to where they were going (funny how they always turned up when I wanted to get my insurance money, though..) and because I was tired of having to buy boxes. Since the local post office is a block away, and I can use their first class boxes without any expense, I switched to them almost exclusively and until now was not having many problems. However, this appears to no longer be the case. I may start shipping many orders over $50 by UPS until further notice. If you have a problem, please let me know, because if this creates more trouble than it's worth I'll go back to regular mail. When I do ship USPS, I will insure packages over $50 and almost always ship 1st class.
The downside to this, of course, is cost. I will start charging a minimum of $3 on every shipment, and will quote the 1st class rate unless you want it shipped 4th class. I will try to avoid 4th class unless the item is going to be insured. If you want the item shipped 4th class, or if it's over $50, I will ask that you pay for insurance (In most cases it's about two bucks). If you choose not to take insurance, I will consider my duty done and if the package is lost I will not be able to help you. Now, there should be no problems on orders under $50, and I will still accommodate you if there is a problem here with credit or merchandise. However, I can no longer give credit for $170 orders that don't show up...simply put, I'm not a business but a collector/gamer like ya'll, and if I have another month like this one it'll wipe me out! I highly recommend insurance on orders over $50 because of the lousy conditions at this time. Things may change in the future, but for now this seems to be the most logical way to deal with the problems of lost or damaged packages. My youngest brother is foreman at a cigar warehouse, and they are going through the exact same thing there with an increase in lost and damaged packages. Of course, the downside is that getting refunds for lost or damaged packages is a tedious process that usually takes months, but I've found that insured packages mysteriously seem to get preferential treatment...hmmmm....
I will also do my part. Starting Monday, I will begin beefing up my efforts to make packages "Injury Proof". I guess I'm spoiled by the good service I get from my local postal employees, I've heard some real horror stories from you guys about retarded postal workers who don't understand that the first class priority envelope is not meant to by crushed and squeezed into an apartment mailbox (Imagine a Forgotten Realms Atlas in a hard envelope shoved into a mailbox half it's size...it's happened before to a customer!). Hopefully, once things have gotten back to almost normal I won't have to be as meticulous, but for right now I'm going to play it safe. Also, remember that more often now packages, especially 4th class, may be late...I've heard from other dealers/friends of two-three week delays in packages, so if your shipment doesn't reach you in a reasonable amount of time don't panic. Hopefully next month will be a lot better...thanks!

NOTE: Needless to say, I only used UPS for a few months....they lost even more packages than USPS. Over the years, I've always come back to USPS and they have gotten pretty near automatic in delivery success.

10/13/97

Hey;

Well, some interesting items have come into my hands lately...not the usual TSR stuff, but take a look. I'm getting ready for another auction that I'll start next week if everything goes ok. The last one went great, I think everything but two items was sold...the guy I got the items from is happy and is going to contribute the remainder of his gaming collection, so there's some good items up for grabs.

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

Well, it's back to the grind as I started back to work for the first time in four months last week. Immediately, I had to get used to cutting back on my online time and I've been running a slight bit behind on processing orders, although you may not notice any difference. I hope to be able to do this full time maybe starting next year when/if I go back to school. I will also look at setting up a web page depending on the final sales totals for this year...
There's been a lot of talk on the newsgroup lately about setting up a Good/Bad Traders list. I don't have a problem with this, but in practicality it doesn't help too often. Most rip-off artists steal what they can and then get off the internet or switch to another system or newsgroup. The problem with Good Trader's list is they become "buddy" lists for certain traders and the veracity is in doubt. There's no good solution except to ask for references or try to make a small payment before sending $300 to someone you don't know. I have only been ripped off around 4-5 times the last two years from hundreds of sales and trades, so the odds are pretty good you'll get what you paid for...
I've tentatively branched off into another area lately, and it's really done very well so I've expanded on it. This is in the area of Fantasy and RPG books. I've finished off a few customer's want lists rather easily lately, and realized I have a large amount of books to draw on in the D/FW area and can find almost anything within reason in the fantasy/sci-fi/rpg genre. If you're looking for anything in particular, let me know...for right now I'm building up a solid base of books that are widely collected. Foremost is anything written by Gary Gygax (Gord the Rogue books, etc) and most of the authors and titles listed on page 224 of the original Dungeon Masters guide...the authors that Gygax lists as being direct influences on the creation of D&D (Robert E Howard, HP Lovecraft, Sprauge De Camp, Merritt, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, etc). Anyway, if you are interested in anything in particular (even more recent authors such as Kurtz, Feist, the Forgotten Realms novels, etc) let me know and I'll check my sources...I've done very well so far!
I have recently aquired a large run of Challenge Magazines which I am selling for $4 apiece up until the end of the month. This is the GDW house magazine that mostly covered Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Space 1899, Twilight 2000, Star Wars, etc. The run is from the mid #20's to the late #70's...most of the mags are in used shape, but a few are EX/NM.
With the help of my brother (hopefully) I'll be compiling a "What's in the Box?" for the complete Spelljammer, Al Qadim and Oriental Adventures lines to be posted in the next few weeks. I'll then probably start over again, both because I've received a few requests from some who missed a few of the early posts, and because I've noticed I made a few slight mistakes here and there the first time. Basically, this is where I list TSR RPG items and their entire contents (maps, handouts, counters, etc) for those who shop on the net and don't have anyway to know if the used product they received is complete...I've found out a few tidbits that even I didn't know, and I've enjoyed sharing this info. I'll keep you posted on this!

NOTE: "Back to Work" statement was becuase I had been hurt at the job and was on disability for several months due to injury. I always loved those little excursions (not the pain I suffered, obviously) due to being able to work full time on my selling online.

Even 12 years ago we were putting together "Good/Bad Trader" lists!

11/30/97

Happy Holidays!

Here's my latest list of RPG items for sale. If you want to be taken off my mailing list, please let me know. I've had quite a busy November and wasn't able to post a list mid-month, but I've aquired quite a few items since then. Let me know if you need anything!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I had a very busy month and managed to pick-up quite a bit of stuff, some of which hasn't made it in to be catalogued yet. I was busy with many things that will be wrapped up the next few weeks, after which I hope I will be able to concentrate on selling the many items I've gotten ahold of and run two auctions either this month or next. Sneak preview: One auction will be of some very rare, hard to locate gaming items from Wilmark Dynasty and other little know companies. Another will be around 100 various wargames that I picked up cheaply recently...even though I don't usually dabble in war games, the prices were too low and the conditions of the games were too excellent to pass up (most of the games are unpunched). I'm having someone who is knowledgable in this area appraise them for me so I can get a ballpark figure on what they are worth.
Well, my girlfriend and I thank the 30+ individuals on my mailing list that contributed to her survey. There ended up being 70 respondents, not enough to really make a scientific conclusion but more than enough to chart some very interesting trends. Here are the basics of what I found out from you (RPG'ers) and others like you:

[[[Note that the survey had only 70 respondents, and 80% of those were through the internet, so this is definitely a biased study. However, I still thought the results were informative so here they are (summarized):

Average age of respondent: 29 yrs. The vast majority were male.
60% were married, 40% single
On average, respondents had been gaming 15 years
Over 80% preferred to play Fantasy RPGs in general and AD&D in particular
Over 90% of respondents were living in the USA
98% of the respondents thought RPGs had a positive effect on their life
1% of respondents felt they were led into illegal activities because of RPGs
Almost exactly 50% had encountered negative attitudes towards RPGs from friends, family, school, church, etc.
The only negative effects attributed to RPGs from the respondents were missing or being late to work or class because of gaming late or gaming too frequently, drinking too much on game nights, or lessened social interactions due to excessive gaming. These effects were only noted in less than 25% of the respondents.
There was a wide-range of professions noted by the respondents. The most indicated profession was teacher, followed by college/grad student and then what I would characterize as the "Business Professional" category (accountant, computer programmer, technical engineer, etc). There were also doctors, lawyers, pilots, career military, etc. Interestingly only 5% of the respondents were unemployed.]]]

Again thanks for taking the time, I thought the paper turned out great and my girlfriend had a major attitude change about RPG's as a result of reading your interesting responses (Mostly, she was surprised to discover the majority of gamers have real jobs...!) I also coaxed her into rolling up her first D&D character, and she had her first adventuring session (One of my favorites, In Search of the Unknown!) with some gaming buddies. Despite the wisecracks from the guys about "bringing out the hoods and sacrificial animals" she was a good sport and had a great time. Her paper reflected a favorable attitude towards RPG's and she concluded there is little or no concrete evidence linking Satanism and such with RPG's
In a related story, how many of you saw a recent "Dateline" that focused on a man accused of brutally murdering his wife and children, and his connection to RPG's? Nice to know the media still loves to blow things out of proportion, quoting suitably gory tidbits from the "Vampire" RPG handbook during the story. However, they were just following the lead of the inept prosecuters in the case who followed up a very slim lead (the accused murderer played RPGs and was a teacher that sponsored a RPG club) to conclude that several odd clues were the result of the accused murderer "playing a game" with them that involved aspects of Roleplaying, especially the "Vampire: The Masquerade" game. I thought the relationship was pretty far-fetched (a "M" and "V" scrawled on the wall over one of the bodies was thought to stand for "Master Vampire", aka the husband; and the dead wife supposedly had "vampire looking" wounds on her neck from a knife) and so did the jury, who ruled the man innocent based on the prosecution's inability to prove the case even though he was very obviously guilty. I got the feeling that anyone who plays RPG's that ends up dead better hide his or her D&D stuff first or it will somehow be linked to the death...

NOTES: The Wilmark Dynasty stuff was given to me by one of the authors and was sold on commission. I believe I got a pretty good price for them as they were still in the shrink and in pretty nice shape.

I still have a few of the wargames I got when I bought this collection (about 20 or so) stacked in my storage shed...12 years later. Whoops.

The survey I sent out was a short (15 questions?) survey to people on my mailing list (about 30 volunteered to take the survey). I posted it on Usenet and got about another 30 respondents, I believe the last ten were friends and family that played. It was for some project for my wife (then girlfriend) at her colllege.

RPG SALE LIST: 12/14/97

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH AND HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!

Guys;
This is my last update before '98. Lots of stuff to go over before then, so I'm going to send the items for sale list seperately...let's get to it!!!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

Well, here we are two weeks before Christmas and I have about 75% of my holiday shopping to do. I hope many of you have gotten farther than I have...luckily for me my two brothers are also gamers, hmmm, wonder what they are getting for Christmas? (Hint: Whatever I'm overstocked with!!!) :>
Seriously, I have lots of news. First, thanks again to those that participated in my girlfriends' survey last month. Two gaming magazines have shown interest in printing the results, apparently this sort of survey is not taken often among gamers. It was good to get back the answers we hoped for, I was dreading receiving stuff like "I worship Satan because of AD&D!" or "I blame my excessive drinking, drug use and many felonies on gaming". Due to the large interest I may rework the survey and make it a little more input oriented instead of just yes or no answers, and run it again next year. I've also wanted to run a survey for years about favorite RPG adventures and such, the surveys I've seen have been obviously rigged and not very informative (10,000 votes for stuff like Dark Sun, which I still haven't found more than five people playing anywhere around here).
Second, I have made several major buys of collections in the last month. There's a lot of good stuff here, mostly AD&D, D&D, Judge's Guild, MERP and about 100 or so wargames. I'm going to slowly work through it over the next month or so, but if you are looking for anything in particular please let me know...individuals on my mailing list will get first priority. We are talking lots of stuff here, if you want it I may have it...sorry, no H1-H3, R-series, Greyhawk Ruins or White Box D&D sets. However, almost everything else from supermodules, Vecna Lives, Dieties & Demigods w/Cthulhu, and other sought after items are available. First come, first served...
Third, I finally have a "webpage" on AOL up, the address is:

Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Nothing too fancy here, just an updated list of items for sale. I will update it every week and sometimes rotate lists here. Eventually when I get caught up here it will have new items on it as soon as I get them. I hope to soon have links to other pages with lots of other items, and by this time next year or sooner I should have a full-fledged webpage up!
Fourth, with the help of a friend I have recently come across a lot of rare and unusual items. Some of them aren't necessarily valuable, but they are normally difficult to find in some locales. These include items from Midkemia, The Companions, Wilmark Dynasty, Lone Wolf and Greystar gaming novels, and others. Speaking of Wilmark Dynasty, I will be auctioning off a set of six shrinkwrapped supplements in the near future. I also have a personal set (unwrapped) of the same six items, plus one other that went for over $40 in a recent auction I had for a friend (The Burgundy Pit). At this time if you want more info on the collection (titles, condition, what is Wilmark Dynasty, etc) please let me know. I'm tentatively accepting a buyout of $250 for the shrinkwrapped set (6 items) or $275 for the opened (7 items) set...people on the mailing list get first shot as always.
Fifth, until after the holidays almost everything will be sent FIRST CLASS ONLY!!! This is the only way they have any chance of arriving before Christmas, and they seem to get lost less often than 4th class packages. The USPS has been bad enough this year, I'm not taking the chance on any lost packages during the busiest mailing season of the year. I'm trying to stay totally away from UPS during this part of the year, they are an even worse madhouse! I'm also urging you to insure any packages over $50, at least for the next few weeks. I went to the post office today, there were 14 people ahead of me and everyone had from 1 to 10 packages, you can imagine that multiplied by thousands and thousands...
Plug: Check out the new AD&D products, I've liked what I've seen. The Sahaugin trilogy (Evil Tide, Night of the Shark, and the upcoming Sea of Blood) by Bruce Cordell are very good, probably the best related adventures to come out in several years. For you old-style gamers, they have a very "Greyhawk" feel to them (his Gates of Firestorm Peak adventure of last year did also).
BTW, even though I have a ton of stuff to go through, I'm still buying or trading for gaming material. If you have anything you want to get rid of, let me know and I'll send you my "want" list. I also give credit towards items in stock. For my personal collection, I'm presently looking for some of the Arduin adventures (not the supplement books), Griffin Mountain from Chaosium, a couple of Warhammer RPG items and some supplements from The Companions (particularly the Places of Mystery).
Anything else? I don't think so...just remember to have a great holiday season, and thanks for your business in '97!!!

Mike B.

NOTES: Sigh, wish I still found large collections containing Companions, Midkemia and Wilmark Dynasty. IIRC, these were located by a friend of mine in a East Coast bookstore, and totaled about 50 items that I promptly bought off him for resale. Oh, to have those kind of finds again!

I'll be darned if I can remember the two magazines wanting to print the results of my survey. One was a fanzine, the other however was a major publication (Pyramid? White Wolf? Someone like that). Never came to fruition, though.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE 1/3/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Fellow Gamers;

Hope everyone had a great holiday. I have lots of news, so lets get to it...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

This year looks like it will bring a lot of changes around here. First, after renting my current residence for over 7 years the owners have sold the house out from under me. I will have to move by the beginning of February. Besides the usual time, effort and agony of moving imagine the accumulated booty of a dedicated gamer, comic collector, voracious reader and music buff. The idea of hauling around 15,000 comics, 4000 cds, cassettes and records, hundreds of books, and God only knows how many boxes of games is making me dizzy! The next 4-6 weeks will consist of packing everything and moving it to storage or my mother's house. Therefore January will be a slow month...I may not post a list again until I get re-situated in my new place in mid-February, but I will still be here checking my mail and filling orders. Much of my stock will be moved to my girlfriend's apartment (yes, pity her!) and I will try to operate through her location. What I will probably end up doing is having orders shipped to my post office box or my mother's house (which is nearby) until I get set up later this year when my girlfriend and I get married and find a place to live together. My biggest worry is that payment for an order or an order of my own will get lost in the shuffle of address changes. Hopefully the post office box will eliminate this worry as I will soon be having my mail forwarded there.
The new address is as follows...feel free to send payments there if you wish, along with any packages I may be receiving from you:

Many of my items will be in storage but I should be able to carry the bulk of my "sale" items and either set up at my girlfriend's or my mother's to carry on my work. I am going to be particularly careful with overseas customers as many of you pay cash and it takes quite awhile for your payment to reach me. Therefore, if you are overseas and are sending a payment PLEASE send it to the PO box address instead of my old address to assure safe handling. US orders should have no problems. If you have already sent your order, or you are going to send it up until mid-January, I don't anticipate any problems at all with sending it to my current address.
I'm hoping to still run the Wargame auction I had planned for '98, but I'm doubtful it will start before I've moved. Look for this at the end of February now instead of January. I may start the Wilmark Dynasty and other rarities auction sooner, as many of the items are not mine and I have promised the owner I would try and get the money for him as soon as possible. Also, I may have a sale of sorts towards the end of January so I won't have to move as much junk, if so people on my list will be the first to be notified.
The dates this year for Origins and Gen Con have been announced, I'm going to try to attend both shows this year if I'm able. I'm also going to try to work a couple of gaming conventions this year if I'm able, they will probably be local shows here in Texas (maybe Aggiecon?). I'll give out more details as the dates get closer, I would love to meet a few of you in person this year if I'm in your neighborhood...
I've been very interested in starting a website and I have a couple of friends doing some research for me in this regard. I'm not going to try for any big-time graphics or bells and whistles, it will probably be along the lines of Quincey Koziol (Titan Games) and just have lists of the products. Nothing fancy by any means, but hopefully with added exposure I will be able to carry more lines of OOP products, and maybe at some point actually have (gasp) new products for sale.

Mike B.

NOTES: Ah yes, my wife (then girlfriend) LOVED having dozens of boxes completely filling her one bedroom apartment for months and months. WE had little pathways through the boxes that were piled 3 and 4 boxes high.

Never made it to Origins or Gencon (wishful thinking), although I did go to Aggiecon that year (didn't end up working it as I couldn't find anyone to help me set up).

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE 1/19/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow gamers;

I have a bunch of stuff in from a recent trip, along with an updated listing of fantasy novels...

A COUPLE OF THINGS...

First, just to let you know, I became engaged this weekend to my girlfriend of the last three years. We will be getting married this year, and I couldn't be happier. I know she's the right one, because I planned our weekend engagement trip around visits to seven bookstores, and she got as excited as I did when I found some cool gaming stuff. Plus, now that I'm moving she knows what she's getting into...After packing eight 16 gallon containers full of books, she happened to notice that it didn't even put a dent into my collection! If that doesn't scare her off, nothing will...
Speaking of moving, I haven't yet, but my address has been changed and the mail is forwarded. I may end up keeping the PO box, as it's been very efficient so far. Once again, the new address is:

Please send payment here, although if you goof up and send it to the old address the letter will be forwarded. With everything getting packed up in anticipation of the move, I may be a little slower than usual filling orders, but it shouldn't be too bad. I have already had one moving related mistake in an order, hopefully it will be the only one. If you have a problem just let me know and we'll work it out.

NOTES: Still married, although not quite as happy anymore (Kidding! Kidding! Ok, maybe not.. ) Not only our weekend engagement trip to Austin, but our honeymoon was planned with buying game stuff in mind. We did get to go to Seattle/Portland for our honeymoon that May and I did get to hit every game/bookstore in both cities and everywhere in between, so that was a definite win!

"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
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:28 am

Very cool. Haven't had a chance to read though it all yet.

Martin

bombadil
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Last Visit: Feb 12, 2025

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:25 pm

Sweet, Mike. Nice to see you haven't lost your affinity for the written word after all those years!

Let mirth prevail!

mordrin
Prolific Collector

Posts: 432
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Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: Chicagoish

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:56 pm

Good stuff

Estrazo some might remember was one of the "Big Five" of original used RPG dealers on AOL. He was also from Texas but i never met him and only talked to him online a few times. I remember he always got a lot of complaints because his judgement of condition on items was pretty shaky. I heard he later got divorced and his wife took all his D&D stock in the settlement...yikes!

Did you learn from this and get "I keep the D&D" in a prenup?

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
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Posts: 8079
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:08 pm

mordrin wrote:Good stuff

Did you learn from this and get "I keep the D&D" in a prenup?

Are you kidding? If my wife divorced me, one of the main reasons would be to get the D&D out of the house. No way in hell she'd hang onto it!!!

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

Badmike
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:34 pm

More mini-newsletters, dig the prices I sold stuff for in my "Half Off" sale July of '98!!!

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 2/4/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

Some new stuff this update, mostly TSR with a large amount of well-used product and some shrink wrapped items. I'm still moving all this week, apologies for any late shipments!

A COUPLE OF THINGS

Due to a couple of suggestions, very soon I will be sending updates with a "What's New" section where I list only new items, along with selected lists (ala Dragontrove and Titan Games). Some of you have indicated that this is easier to look through than searching for new items tucked away within my entire list.
Gord the Rogue, anyone? It's been brought to my attention that Gary Gygax's series "Gord the Rogue" based in the World of Greyhawk are hard to find for some of you. I have many, many copies of all the novels in the series for either $5 or $7 depending on condition for each book. At this time I also have a couple of complete sets of all seven books if you're interested, first come first served.
Fun Price of the Week: I visited a local used bookstore yesterday that very infrequently has a few used RPG items. There were a couple of hardbacks and the usual smattering of common D&D stuff (X1, B2, etc). However, one item of note was the Dragonlance Adventures hardback on sale for $49.95 (!!!) Of course, this made up for the T1-4 they had for $5 a few months ago....I didn't have the heart to tell them that the prices should have been reversed on the two items!!!
It now looks like a better than 50% chance I will be attending AggieCon in March. AggieCon is March 26th-29th in College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M University. There is a slight chance I may be setting up there to sell games and comics, I'll know more as the time draws closer. If you are planning to attend drop me an email, I'll try and meet you there at some point if you want to see the face behind the computer screen...
I'm still getting things set up for a large (70+) Wargame auction later this year. I'm shooting for April 1st or so, although I may surprise myself and decide to have the thing earlier. The main trouble is counting the hundreds of counters to see if any are missing, it becomes tedious very quickly! There's lots of interesting games here, almost all in Excellent or Near Mint shape. I'll throw in a few RPG goodies also just to keep things interesting when I have the auction.
Are you reading Knights of the Dinner Table in the back of Dragon magazine? Pretty hilarious, huh? Did you know that a KODT comic comes out each month and they're up to around issue #13 or so? It's even better than the Dragon magazine feature because it's longer and has more space to develop some really funny storylines. If you're interested, back issues can be ordered through Kenzer &Company's Web page (http:/members.aol.com/relkin/kenzerco.html). Give it a try, I've dealt with them twice and had no problems, they have reasonable prices and prompt service.
Bits & Pieces: There comes a time in every collector/dealers life where you have accumulated a good stack of gaming accessories missing a thing or two (map, handout, monster sheet, etc) and a few spare or extra maps or inserts that you don't have an accessory for. Count me in...I have quite a selection of items missing a vital component and vice-versa. If you can help me out, I can put together a complete item. What's in it for you? (you're so mercenary!!!). I'll give $5-$8 trade for a map or mapbook I need (or $2.50 cash if you want to go that way) and $3-$4 trade for any other items (monster sheets, handouts, module covers, coverless modules, unpunched counter sheets, etc) that I can use. As a general rule, mapbooks and maps to certain products (FR series, FA series, H series, WGR series, etc) are more coveted. Maps to FR1 or the FR boxed sets, for example, aren't needed. Here's my specific list, although I am looking for items not listed. Note that the map number is usually in the bottom corner and matches the items product number (if you're not sure, email me the number and I'll match it with my list).

Specific Maps needed: B10, FA1, FA2, FR2, FR3, FR5, FR6, FR9, FR13, FRE1, FRE2, FRM1, FRS1, GAZ4, GAZ5, GAZ6, GAZ12, GAZ13, I3-5 supermodule (color maps), I10, WGR4, WGR5, Cormyr, Moonsea, Vilhoun Reach, any Greyhawk or From the Ashes maps or handouts.
Counters (punched or unpunched): B10, H1, X10, Battlesystem Boxed set
Mapbooks (from supermodules): A1-4, GDQ1-7, I3-5, S1-4, T1-4
Handouts: Too many to list, mostly from 1st edition modules

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 3/23/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   Yes, I'm still alive (barely) after my second move in two months. This one will be permanent, however, so everything should get back to normal soon. Apologies to those whose orders shipped late or incomplete the last month or so. Anyway, I have tons of new stuff including many hard to find Battletech items and some interesting odds and ends. I also have a large TSR collection that I haven't catalouged yet, I'll get to it this week (I hope)...

A COUPLE OF THINGS

Thanks to everyone for putting up with me during my latest move. Sorry for the late email replies and late orders. I'll be on vacation this week, and most of it will be filling orders and doing inventory. I will attend Aggiecon in College Station this week (Friday and maybe Saturday) so if you're going let me know, maybe we can meet up somewhere and exchange hellos. I won't be working this convention, but I'll definitely be scouting it out for next year if I like what I see!
I took the plunge and started carrying Battletech items. It helped that the first collection I bought had several very collectible supplements such as House Marik, Star League, Wolf's Dragoons and the very rare BT novel Sword and the Dagger. I've always wanted to expand my inventory into BT items, and this was the perfect chance. Hopefully this year I can start carrying many alternative RP games that I don't have at this time. I like to learn a little bit about the game and research prices before I take that system on, so I've been going about it slowly.
Another area I've been moving into is fantasy novels, not to mention detective and pulp heroes. Sales in this area have been doing very well for me, so I may start including some more mainstream authors and series instead of just collectibles. If you are interested, I'll send you a list of what I have, or better yet send me your want lists and I'll see if I can fill them. A customer was pleasantly surprised when I located all three books of a series he'd been hunting for a couple of years....the same day he asked me about it! I have access to over a dozen used bookstores in the area and can usually locate something within a few weeks if it's not extremely rare.
I'm still looking for loose maps, handouts, module covers, etc from TSR products for parts. I had a few people take me up on my offer last post of credit or cash for module parts. Let me know what you have and I'll tell you if I can use it.
Warning: If you are looking to complete your Greyhawk collection, now's the time. The re-release of World of Greyhawk materials later this year has led to heavy demand and rising prices for OOP items. I've seen From the Ashes box sets start to go into the $60 range in auctions lately, not to mention other hard to find Greyhawk modules going for twice to three times their usual price. Both old-timers who are having their nostalga buttons pushed and newbies who want to know what the fuss is about are shelling out big bucks for these items. Maybe after the new stuff is released the prices will get more realistic, but for now it's a feeding frenzy.
For you Greyhawk fans, some of the best WOG talk is taking place on AOL in the RPG Forum. There you will find a heavily populated area set aside for Greyhawk that includes frequent contributions from Roger Moore (architect of the Greyhawk re-release), Eric Boyd, and other TSR staffers (recently, including Gary Gygax in a flame war...?). Some of our mailing list members are also frequent posters...check it out if you get the chance (Keyword: RPG Forum, and then look for the RPG boards). There is now also a World of Greyhawk fanclub online (unoffical, I believe) at:
http://members.aol.com/WoGFanClub/woghome.html

Mike B.

4/19/98

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 4/19/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;
Long time no see! I'm back a little late with lots of items...I'm still unpacking from my move and getting ready for a May wedding, so I've been a little distracted. I still have much more to catalogue, so if there's something you need not on the list let me know...

A COUPLE OF THINGS

I attended Aggie-Con last month and walked away with a carload of stuff. Only 3-4 dealers of OOP stuff, but they had some great items. One guy had every GURPS supplement ever made, too bad I had already blown all my money by the time I got to him. I got to meet some really nice dealers and made some good deals. I also scanned out the territory and think I may give it a try next year if everything works out right, I want to work conventions but so far the logistics (i.e. Dallas doesn't have squat when it comes to gamings cons so I have to go out of town) have prevented me from hauling my stuff anywhere. We'll see next year...
Kudos to TSR/WOTC, they are running a contest to reprint the four best adventures or set of adventures they have ever printed and they want your vote! Ballots are in this month's Dungeon issues. This is something that was very good to do, WOTC so far have bent over backwards to accomodate it's customers. This is the kind of thing the old TSR never did because they did NOT value customer service very highly in the 90s. Apparantly, WOTC either doesn't care about the cost or they have figured out the obvious, that reprinting popular olders adventures is a idea that could actually MAKE money if they marketed it right. This, coupled with the return of the World of Greyhawk, and the generally superior product being put out lately, have signaled a huge turnaround for a once moribund line. I'm as anxious as anyone to see what they have up their sleeve next, which is a feeling I haven't had for awhile concerning TSR and their products...
Speaking of GURPS, I'm going to start getting into this system very heavily due to high interest (check out the GURPS newsgroup on Usenet!) so expect quite a bit more listed in the future.
Still looking to buy stray maps that I need, as well as any bulk groups of items or entire colllections for sale...

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 5/25/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

Happy Memorial Day, and another "Long time no see". I got back from my wedding and honeymoon this weekend (survived both relatively unscathed) and have lots of new items to sell, so let's get to it...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   First, thanks to all of you who offered congratulations on my marriage. I'm sure I'll be very happy with a wife who doesn't mind the extra bedroom and garage of our house being turned into my personal storage areas for RPG items...
Anyway, we went to the Northwest (Portland and Seattle) for our honeymoon and had a great time. I visited some really cool used book and game stores while I was up there, and got to see the new WOTC headquarters in downtown Seattle. If you're ever in the area please go by and check it out, it's a state of the art gaming facility with lots of interesting things....an arcade room, a computer game room, a large retail room with new and OOP AD&D and other RPG's for sale, lots of gaming tables in the basement, and a really neat gaming table with a computer, video screen, graphed surface with erasable top, places to store miniatures, and other features. (My wife didn't appreciate me trying to figure out how much it would cost to build one of these in our extra bedroom...). It's worth taking a look at if you're ever in the Seattle area. Best of all, it didn't rain the entire time we were in Seattle (miracle of miracles...).
Lots of new stuff coming out from TSR/WOTC lately, I haven't had much of a chance to read anything except for the new Greyhawk release "Return of the Eight". It's the first WOG item released in several years, and old-timer Roger Moore has done a great job. He had to both please the old-line gamers and try to bring newbies in at the same time, and I think he walked this tightrope pretty well. I have a few small quibbles with the product (it should have been for lower level adventurers, I would have liked the maps graphed, it was a little too scripted and too self-referential to earlier WOG products for my taste) but overall it served it's purpose well. I would recommend it and I'm anxious to see the further WOG products to be released this year.
I want to apologize for a few mix-ups in recent orders. Due to the recent move, plus the many preparations of the wedding, a few items were misplaced or shipped incomplete. Hopefully now that everything here has calmed down there won't be any more mishaps like this and I can get back to filling orders without any complications. If you ever have a order short by a module, or something is not in the condition advertised, let me know...it's probably my fault and I will make it up in either credit or cash.
If you were following the recent discussion on the RPG newsgroup about insurance, here's my stand on it: I still feel it's the buyer's responsibility. I will make every effort to replace items lost if it's in my power, or issue credit if it can't be replaced. I will start automatically insuring all packages over $100 (I already pay all postage on these) and this added price will be reflected in shipping prices. I've lowered the cost for insurance to $.50 for each $50 insured. I've had very few packages lost or damaged in three years, so the chances you will need insurance are pretty low. However, it does give you the option of a quick cash refund if I can't find replacement merchandise...

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 6/8/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

Hope the summer has been kind to you so far, no sunburns or heatstroke, and lots of

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   First, something I haven't gotten around to in awhile, a want list. I've found almost all the RPG items I've been looking for the past few years, and I'm down to a select few. As always, I'll pay cash or credit for these, so let me know if you want to deal:

The Companions (Islandia)
Places of Mystery II: Alluring Alcoves
Places of Mystery III: Sylvan Settings
Places of Mystery IV: Highroad
Sacrifices to the Orc Lord (I'm almost certain this doesn't exist, does anyone at all have a copy?)

Judge's Guild: Pegasus Magazine
#1
#2

Polyhedron:
#126    #127    #128    #129    #130    #131    #132    #133    #134    #135    #136    #137

Runequest:
Griffin Mountain

Thanks for looking. As always, I'm buying/trading for many regular RPG items, so let me know what you have...I'm still in the market for "Game Parts" also, particularly any supermodule mapbooks (I'll give $8 credit/$5 cash for these), the maps for Forgotten Realm's products (FRseries, FA1, etc) and the maps for the D&D Gazeteers series. I will give up to $5 trade or $2.50 cash for these maps. I'm even looking for the cardstock ref or Monstrous compendium sheets for such products as Ruins of Myth Drannor, Council of Wyrms, and others (I'll usually give $.50-$1 apiece credit for these if they are in NM condition).
   I really liked the new Greyhawk module "Return of the Eight", and I have to plug another product. After giving "Of Ships and the Sea" a cursory glance, I settled down to read it and found it's the best resourse about both underwater adventuring and naval combat ever released by TSR. All the rules for water based adventures under one cover, it's easy to use, and the illustrations and descriptions are excellent. It even has graphed ships to exact scale for sea battles with miniature figures (you have to photocopy them and blow them up 400x, but I did some last week and they look excellent!). One of the better resources released by TSR this year, good work to Keith Strohm. Another tip of the hat to the recent Sahaughin series released by TSR last year, I finally got time to read the entire trilogy all the way through, and it's a good, tough adventure set in an unfamiliar locale. The Monstrous series adventures have gotten better each year (The Beholder Trilogy, The Sahaughin Trilogy), so I hope the Mind Flayer Trilogy continues this trend.

   Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 6/28/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

Happy July 4th, hope things are a little less ridiculous weather-wise wherever you are (daily temps over 100 degrees here in D/FW the last two weeks). Have a safe holiday...!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   Remember the "What's in the box?" postings I had last year, where I started listing TSR products and what should be in the box? I also listed lots of TSR modules and such and the handouts/pullouts/etc that might be missing also. Well, it may be back soon, at a website I'm going to set up on AOL (anyone should be able to reach it, it's one of those free sites given to all members). I'm going to collect all my old postings, go over them for errors, and put it up for anyone to use as a reference. I've been guilty in the last few months of sending a couple of incomplete items, and I've bought or received in trade more than a few myself lately. Maybe this will help others who don't know what to ask when they buy an item sight unseen over the internet. It's not just random people auctioning stuff either, I've received incomplete items from both Dragontrove and Titan games within the last year. Sometimes it's hard to check out every item completely, I know this for a fact! Anyway, I'll let you know when and where the list will be posted when (if) I get around to it...
I won't make it to Origins or Gen Con (again) this year, my wife and I just couldn't work either into our schedules. I'm planning on some cons (Bubonicon in Albuquerque, NM August 28-30 and San Con in Pasedena, TX July 17-19) that are a little closer to home so I can save some money...Frankly, one of my main reasons to go to a Con is to find some gaming stuff cheap, or find some obscure stuff I don't have. From what I've heard (and experienced) this is often easier at a smaller con anyway, I don't like to bid against dozens of other fans for items I want.
   Check out those comic book conventions, also. The last two I've been to had a single seller of gaming stuff, and both guys had the items marked down to sell. Many are there to get rid of gaming stock they don't want to carry anymore, and since most of the fans are there to buy comics you can often take your pick of the items.
   A TSR item I had low hopes for was the Dungeon Builders Guidebook, but I actually liked the thing. Lots of fun sample tables of underground encounters, random geomorphs for your own use, and even six short mini-adventures in different dugeon locales. It even has some random dungeon creation charts like those in the classic 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide, which was pretty cool...anyone remember using those to whip up an adventure real quick?

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 7/12/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

Hope everyone had a great July 4th. This month is my 3rd Anniversary of buying, selling and trading RPG's on the internet, so in honor of this I'll have a few special bargains for those of you on my mailing list before I let everyone else look at them. Thanks for the business the last three years, although it's been more about collecting and connecting with people than money in my mind. This weeks selection contains a lot of traditional AD&D stuff in honor of the Anniversary Sale.

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   As you read above, it's my 3rd year on the net and my thanks to everyone that's bought, sold or traded with me in that time. I'm having more fun than I ever thought possible, and have accumlated almost everything I've ever desired RPG-wise during that time. It never would have happened without the internet and the various newsgroups...I started on the old AOL Buy/Sell/Trade board in the TSR section selling about 20 items or so, then went to the Usenet groups a few months afterward, and I've been here ever since.
   In honor of the Anniversery, I'm going to try to clean out some stuff that's been sitting around awhile, and offer some deals. First, shipping is FREE for the rest of the month for anything you might desire. I only ask that I receive the payment BEFORE the end of July for this to take place. This is even for out of country orders, if you don't mind surface shipping. Items listed below are on sale at the marked price for mailing list people only. After about a week I may list these on the newsgroups, depending on what is left.
   Just purchased "Return to the Tomb of Horrors" the other day, and Greyhawk fans will be happy to know it's definitely set within that world. I haven't finished it, but I like what I've read so far. The odd thing is the facsimile edition of the original S1 Tomb of Horrors included within the box. I went over the entire module with an original in hand, and there is absolutely no way of telling them apart (even the ISBN numbers are the same). Be wary of dealers selling NM copies of the 1st print S1, I have a feeling these will be popping up in a few years...can anyone out there tell me any difference at all between the two printings?
   I have got the "What's in the Box?" site up and running, with a few sample entries upon it. Now I just have to update it regularly, I'll get items described on it as quick as I can. I may ask for help with some TSR items I no longer own (like the R-series). I need info on handouts, perforated pages or pull-out sections for these that might be missing. I'll have a complete list of what I need soon... I believe this to be the only list on the internet of the complete contents of TSR D&D/AD&D items that are boxed or that may have possible missing sections. Hopefully this will help someone trying to figure out what may be missing from an item they are thinking of buying or have already bought.
{http://members.aol.com/badmikeIII/index.html} Check out this address for the list, bookmark it and come back to it later for updates.
   Here's a list of new items for sale, and a list of sale items. Hope you find something you need, and thanks for three great years!!!

Mike B.

TSR Novels (All) These are only $1 apiece for the month of July.

All Shadows Fled (Forgotten Realms Shadow of the Avatar Trilogy Book #3, Greenwood, 1995)
Crusade (Forgotten Realms Empires Trilogy Book #3, Lowder, 1991)
Dragonwall (Forgotten Realms Empires Trilogy Book #2, Denning, 1990)
Flint the King (Dragonlance Preludes Volume #2, Kirchoff & Niles, 1990)
Hedrick the Theocrat (Dragonlance Villains Vol #5, Ellen Severson, 1994)
Homeland (Dark Elf Trilogy Book #1, R.A. Salvatore, 1990)
Horselords (Forgotten Realms Empires Trilogy Book #1, Cook, 1990)
I, Strahd (Ravenloft, P.N. Elrod, 1995)
Kindred Spirits (Dragonlance Meetings Sextet Vol #1, Anthony & Porath, 1991)
The Legend of Huma (Dragonlance Heroes Vol #1, Richard Knaak, 1988)
Marquesta Kar-Thon (Dragonlance Warriors Vol #3, Daniell & Rabe, 1995)
Mordenheim (Ravenloft, Chet Williamson, 1994)
Red Magic (Harpers Book #3, Jean Rabe, 1991)
Riverwind the Plainsman (Dragonlance Preludes II Vol #1, Thompson & Carter, 1990)
Scholar of Decay (Ravenloft, Tanya Huff, 1995)
Stormlight (The Harpers Book #14, Ed Greenwood, 1996)
Tower of Doom (Ravenloft, Mark Anthony, 1994)

DC Heroes: All items are $1 each during the month of July:

DC HEROES RPG
DC: An Element of Danger    $4 (SW) Firestorm
DC: The Batman Sourcebook    $4 (NM)
DC: Blood Feud    $3 (EX) New Teen Titans
DC: The Doomsday Program    $4 (SW) Brainiac
DC: Dream Machine    $4 (SW) The Joker
DC: Fire and Ice    $3 (EX) The Fearsome Five
DC: Four Horsemen of Apokolips    $4 (SW) Darkseid
DC: H.I.V.E.    $3 (EX) New Teen Titans
DC: King of Crime    $3 (EX) Secret Society of Supervillians
DC: Legion of Superheroes Vol II    $4 (EX) Legion
DC: Lights, Camera, Kobra    $3 (EX) The Outsiders
DC: Mad Rook's Gambit    $4 (SW) Legion of Superheroes
DC: Project: Prometheus    $3 (EX)
DC: Rigged Results    $3 (EX) New Teen Titans
DC: Wheel of Destruction    $3 (EX) Batman
DC: When a Stranger Calls    $3 (EX) Justice League

All these gaming items are HALF the marked price for the month of July:

A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade    $8 (VG), $6 (GD) or $4 (FR)
Bsolo Ghost of Lion Castle    $12 (EX) or $10 (GD) Page separated
C4 To Find a King    $15 (NM), $12 (EX) or $10 (VG)
CA1 Swords of the Undercity $10 (GD)
D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa    $12 (VG) or $10 (GD) Photocopied map
D1-2 Descent into the Depths $12 (VG) or $8 (GD) Heavy wear
DL3 Dragons of Hope $4 (GD)
FR1 Waterdeep and The North    $8 (EX)
G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl $12 (VG) or $6 (FR) Very Worn
HWA3 Nightstorm    $7 (EX)
L2 The Assasin's Knot $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
REF3 The Book of Lairs    $12 (EX) or $10 (GD)
S1 Tomb of Horrors (Green Cover) $11 (GD) or $5 (FR) Heavy wear
WG6 Isle of the Ape $13 (GD)
XL1 Quest for the Heartstone $8 (GD) or $3 (FR) Heavy Wear
Mayfair: Apocalypse (box set)    $15 (NM)
MF: Clockwork Mage    $8 (NM) Lvls 2-5
MF: Dragons    $10 (EX) Dragon Sourcebook
MF: Dwarves    $10 (EX) Dwarf Sourcebook, Lvls 5-10
MF: Elven Banner    $10 (EX) Lvls 2-4
MF: Fez I: The Wizard's Vale    $8 (EX) Lvls 3-7
MF: Fez II: The Contract    $9 (GD) Lvls 3-8
MF: Fez III: The Angry Wizard    $8 (GD) Lvls 1-4
MF: Monsters of Myth and Legend III $10 (SW) Monster sourcebook
MF: Pinnacle    $8 (NM) Lvls 4-5
MF: Sentinels (box set)    $15 (SW)
All the World's Monsters Vol I    $25 (VG) Red cover, 3rd print
All The World's Monsters Vol II    $30 (VG) Lgt blue cover,2nd print
All The World's Monsters Vol II    $25 (VG) Blue cover, 3rd print
All the World's Monsters Vol III    $25 (VG) Yellow Cover, 1st print

"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

Sir Kill Alot
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor
Valuation Board

Posts: 1238
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Last Visit: Jul 20, 2026

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:48 pm

Those were the good ole days... for 1998 anyways

I remember backing up my old mailbox. I bet {and with a lot of luck} I could find some of your mailings. Those and the ones I used to get from the dragons trove.

BTW, back then...You and the dragons trove were the places to shop. I thought Titan Games was expensive and the Sages Guild {which was run by an army guy IIRC} never seemed to update their lists...I can recall exactly what the titan games site used to look like.. not a single graphic to be seen anywhere. That was actually a good thing when trawling on a 33.6 kb modem while connecting with AOHell. Ah, the painfully slow memories.

Glad you are still around Mike.

Theleb
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor

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

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:43 pm

Sir Kill Alot wrote: the Sages Guild {which was run by an army guy IIRC}

Actually Scott of SG was in the National Guard. He was a good guy. Quincey at Titan was a good guy as well. I remember Aaron started selling on his AOL page and thinking he'd never make it trying to challenge Titan, Dragons Trove, etc., but he's overcome them all.
Reading Mike's old news lists is making me feel old... but still an interesting read.

beasterbrook
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Location: Queensland, Australia

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:25 am

1998 doesn't seem that long ago ...

and you know I think those prices are still good

Brette:)

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

Badmike
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Location: DFW TX

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:48 am

Sir Kill Alot wrote:Those were the good ole days... for 1998 anyways

I remember backing up my old mailbox. I bet {and with a lot of luck} I could find some of your mailings. Those and the ones I used to get from the dragons trove.

BTW, back then...You and the dragons trove were the places to shop. I thought Titan Games was expensive and the Sages Guild {which was run by an army guy IIRC} never seemed to update their lists...I can recall exactly what the titan games site used to look like.. not a single graphic to be seen anywhere. That was actually a good thing when trawling on a 33.6 kb modem while connecting with AOHell. Ah, the painfully slow memories.

Glad you are still around Mike.

Shoot, 33.6 was FAST when I started!!! I first started conecting at 22.4 I believe.

It used to be fun to get up early in the morning, wait 5 minutes to connect, and check out the AOL marketplace boards to see if someone had put something up for sale.

The great thing was the trust involved. People would routinely send me $100+ personal checks and money orders. No backups in place, if you got ripped off you were screwed. On people's words I would refund or send duplicates of items they said never arrived. Yet everything seemed to work just great. I'd go back to those days in a second!

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

Badmike
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Posts: 8079
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Last Visit: Jun 24, 2026
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:57 am

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 8/2/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeIII/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

I just bought five collections this month, with three in this week. I still have a ton of Traveller and AD&D to price, but be prepared for a lot of stuff in the next few updates...!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   The "What's in the Box?" site continues to improve (I hope) as I add new items weekly. Check it out periodically if you find yourself in need of knowing what an item contains. Also, thanks to everyone who encouraged me on email about this, I think it's going to be a great resource when finally finished.
As I said above, I recently got bombarded with stuff, getting ahold of five large collections at the end of July. Only three are in now, I'm still pricing stuff but I should be through soon. There's lots of good stuff here, including a large amount of hard to find Traveller stuff, and a bunch of routine items like rulebooks, complete handbooks, and the like. Nothing too esoteric, but you might want to take a look...
I will be out of touch the third weekend in August (August 16th-22nd) as my wife and I vacation to Kansas City. I will probably have one more update the week before as I finish up pricing the last two collections I'm getting in, and I'll try to ship out all outstanding orders by Saturday the 16th. If there's something you need please get your payment in to me sometime in the next two weeks, you have a better chance of getting it in before I leave. Anything arriving only days before the 16th has a good chance of sitting for at least a week or more before it goes out...
I don't know how many of your regularly read the RPG marketplace newsgroup, but the recent spate of posters with multiple daily posts has gotten me annoyed. After intense pressure from the group and a long private email from me, one of the offenders has said he would stop...then, last night I see that another (Darkholder) has posted 10 posts with lists of their product! I would urge everyone NOT to do business with a dealer or individual that multiple posts daily, this is a violation of netiquitte and takes up valuable band width. Buying items from them only incourages the violator. Another pet peeve is the 2-3 item auction, where the seller is only selling a couple of items yet posts daily on bids. It's beginning to be a daily chore to slog through the 50+ useless posts to get to the 5-10 that are actually useful. Anyone else at the end of their rope?
Thanks for looking!

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 8/25/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeIII/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   Just returned from my vacation, my car loaded down with antiques and RPG items. When I got home, I had a couple of collections I'd bought in as well, so here's the first load priced and ready to go!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   As I said, just returned this weekend and I'm still sorting out stuff found on the vacation. The trip to Missouri was great, it's a beautiful state and I can't wait to go back. The wackiest part of the trip had to be the trip back, when the antique kitchen cabinet we'd bought on the way up (the one I'd thought my wife had carefully measured) turned out NOT to fit in the back of the station wagon. Standing in 90+ degree heat in an alley with all your luggage strewn about as you try to shove a square peg into a round hole is not the best way to end a vacation! We finally ended up taking it apart and tying half of it on the top, but it was not a pleasant two hours (although we did laugh about it once we got it safely home!). Of course, not helping the situation was the three or four boxes of gaming items I'd purchased on the trip taking up most of the room in the back!
Probably the best find on the trip was in a tiny little antique store, right on the Tex/Oak border, where I stumbled across a stack of the old Runequest magazine Wyrm's Footnotes for only $.75 each. They had been under a bunch of old wargaming magazines that I almost hadn't looked through! Truly a lucky find.
   I recently came across a list of items that TSR/WOTC are due to reprint in the near future, so I thought I'd share it. Also included is a tentative list of the new products coming out next year. If you are having a hard time finding some of the below stuff, you might wait a few months until it's reprinted:

Fall/Winter '98 Reprints:
Den of Thieves
MC Annual 1
MC Annual 2
Pages from the Mages
Heroes Lorebook
Dark Sun Campaign

Scheduled for 1st Quarter 1999:
The Shattered Circle (module)
TSR Jam (RPGA adventure anthology)
Dungeons of Despair, Best of Dungeon magazine, Vol 1
Wrath of the Minotaur (introductory module)
Eye of the Wyvern (introductory module)
Demihumans of the Realms (FR accessory)
The Accursed Tower (FR module)
The Scarlet Brotherhood (GH accessory)
The Complete Van Richten, Vol 1 (RL accessory)

1st Quarter 1999 reprints:
Gates of Firestorm Peak
The Night Below
FOR2 The Drow of the Underdark
Menzoberranzan FR Box set
Ravenloft MC 1 & 2 combined
Art of the Dragonlance Saga

   At this time, I've caught up on all my orders, so if you are awaiting something it's probably in the mail and will reach you this week. If you have a particular want let me know, I found a lot of hard to find TSR stuff that I will fill from my want lists before I let it go on the web page.

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 9/9/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeIII/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   Still sorting through stuff I bought while on vacation and a couple of collections I recently aquired. This week is heavy on Traveller and TSR boxed sets...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

I recently came across a large run of Conan comics (the old Marvel series) that I'd hate to break up, if anyone here is interested let me know. Fellow Texan Robert E. Howard's hero is one of the cornerstones of fantasy literature and fantasy FPG's, if you play D&D but have never read any of his fiction I urge you to pick up a volume (the original series by REH, not one of the many pastiches by other authors) and discover his influence on early D&D.
I'm going to run an auction this month for a friend who wants to get rid of many older RPG items and wargames. Check it out under the title of "End of the Summer Auction", there are quite a few rarities and oddball items, including a From the Ashes boxed set (unused), GDQ1-7, Dune boxed game, and others.
I recently found a stash of the great RPG resource book Heroic Worlds by Lawrence Schick (ex-TSR staffer, author of S2 White Plume Mountain). Published in 1990, it lists EVERY RPG and supplement published up until then, with pertinent information and descriptions. It is a must for any serious collector or dealer. I have the over-size paperback version available, it's very durable and I personally consult my copy almost every day! I am selling them for $24 in NM condition, I should have enough copies for everyone who wants one...just let me know.
In honor of D&D's 25th anniversary, I'm going to try something fun. For the rest of the year, I'm going to take an unofficial poll on my "What's in the Box?" website (address at the top of the page, or email at badmikeiii@aol.com). On my website I have a list of some of my favorite TSR adventures. When you have the time, how about a list of your five favorite TSR adventures for either D&D or AD&D? At the end of the year, I'll total up the results and include them in my first 1999 mailing. Unlike other polls you may have seen or participated in, I'm only interested in the five greatest ADVENTURES. Thus, items like the Player's Handbook, Complete Book of Necromancers, World of Greyhawk Boxed set, FR10 Old Empires, D&D Basic set, etc are excluded from this poll. No rulebooks, boxed sets (unless they are built around adventures, like Ruins of Undermountain, Night Below, Dragon Mountain, Return to the Tomb of Horrors, etc), supplements like the FR series or GAZ series, or player aids like the DM screen (unless they contain an adventure such as "Terrible Trouble at Tragidore") are eligible. Just the adventure modules, and only the ones published by TSR, Judge's Guild or Mayfair (in other words, "official" D&D or AD&D items). The entire gamit of modules from the first series published in 1978 (S1 and the G-series) to the most recent items of 1998 are eligible. By my count, there are several hundred items eligible, although I bet you can narrow it down to less than half a dozen favorites. Just for fun, if you want to throw in a few of your Worst Ever adventures, after all without the worst we wouldn't know which ones were the best...! It would also be great if you could include a paragraph or so on why these are your favorites, what kind of special memories these adventures evoke, under what circumstances you first gamed/Dm'ed the adventures in question, etc. I might include the best of these descriptions when I publish the final results next year (anonymously, of course!). Give yourself five minutes between now and January to make a list and email it to me at badmikeiii@aolcom. BTW, don't be afraid to tell your friends about this list and have them email their own results (although any obvious ballot box stuffing. i.e. fifty votes for UK1, will be tossed out). I hope to get at least 100 of you to participate, this would be 500 choices and quite enough for a moderate consensus.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 10/12/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeIII/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   Sorry about the month delay between postings, I have a ton of new stuff including a bunch of Traveller and some sought after TSR items...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

Long time no see, sorry for the delay in posting my new list. I had two very, very large orders to get out this month and I wanted to make sure everything went well, and that my lists would be updated correctly. Also, I have been receiving quite a bit of new stuff, about half which made it onto this latest list. I'll try to get the other stuff priced and ready to go by next week or so. It's been a tumultuous year with my move, marriage and other activities taking center stage over selling items on the internet. Hopefully things are slowly getting straightened out.
For those who have been asking, I still haven't gotten my auction off the ground. Another friend wanted me to auction off his stuff also, and trying to combine both collections plus some stuff of my own has caused headaches. I hope to be posting on this auction by next week at the latest, to be truthful I'm tired of staring at this stuff piled on my office table. There's some decent stuff here, including a NM From the Ashes, a excellent condition GDQ1-7, WGS1, and Greyhawk Ruins, not to mention lots of various wargames and some interesting rarities. Everyone on the mailing list will have first shot at bidding and at some of the buyouts on the items...
Many of you may have heard, Avalon Hill games was recently bought out by Hasbro and has ceased publication of games. After what's left in the warehouses is sold, that's it for the forseeable future. If you want some of the classic boxed games, I'd look for them now. Indications are that Hasbro has little or no interest in publishing any of the games except as computer simulations, although the possibility of Hasbro selling the properties off seperately has apparantly been raised. I predict that a lot of the heretofore common Avalon Hill games we have taken for granted (Squad Leader, for one) will start becoming scarce in the next few years as the remaining copies are sold from distributors. Load up now to avoid disappointment later!

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 10/30/98

For a current, weekly listing of products for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeiii/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   Everyone have a scary but safe Halloween...lots of 1st edition and Forgotten Realms stuff this time around.

A COUPLE OF THINGS:
   Hope that everyone has a safe, fun Halloween. For those of you who are too old to go trick or treating, you might try gaming instead. I know a couple who run a "Midnight Special" AD&D adventure yearly on Halloween. Anyone who wants to bring a (doomed) character is invited, and the adventure is set in Ravenloft (where the unfortunate characters have been sucked into!). Lots of mood here, as their garage is decorated to resemble a dungeon, spooky music is played, and the co-Dms are dressed appropriately as a witch and a mage. From what I've heard, they run a modified House of Strahd (2nd edition version of I6 Ravenloft) that takes some bits from S1 Tomb of Horrors and RA1 Feast of Goblyns. Pretty deadly stuff, in the three years they've been doing this 18 adventurers have entered, and only three have exited! Now, as a DM myself, that's MY kind of Halloween fun!!!
Almost had a close encounter of the Lou Zocchi kind. After mistakenly proclaiming him dead (whoops), I learned online that he has sold his business but is still appearing at conventions peddling his many sided dice. I walked into a game store in Houston a couple of weeks ago, and started a conversation with the owner. When I noticed he had some special Zocchi 30 sided dice behind the counter, he informed me that Lou Zocchi himself had left just five minutes before I arrived, he had been in town for a convention and had come by to drop off those dice. And yes, I would have asked him (I still will if I ever meet up with him) what the hell was with those lunatic mail order prices ($100 for a Fiend Folio, etc) and if it's true that the burdgeoning online sales of used RPGs is what made him sell the business.
Well, after delaying and delaying the auction, I should FINALLY be ready to roll on Sunday. Everyone on this list will get a copy of the items before I post them online.
Remember to send me a copy of your five favorite TSR adventures when you get a chance. I still need about 60 more responses...help!

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 03/08/99

For a current, weekly listing of TSR RPGs for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html
For a current listing of non-TSR RPGs for sale check:
Http://members.aol.com/rpgs4sale/index.html
For the "Whats in the Box?" site, a listing of contents in TSR D&D/AD&D items, check out: Http://members.aol.com/badmikeiii/index.html

Fellow Gamers;

   I'm back! After almost five months, here's the latest list of RPG items for sale. Sorry for the long time between posts! If you've bought items from me in the last couple of months, I added you to the list. Let me know if you don't want the mailing and I'll take you off.

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

First, I hope everyone is having a great '99 so far. When you last heard from me it was back at Halloween of '98! Several things have conspired against me in the last few months to prevent a bi-monthly mailing of my list of RPG's for sale. First, the auction I ran online during November was very time consuming, as many of you who have run your own auctions know. Second, in November I had three seperate sales of over 100 items each. Because of the incredible logistics here, this took all my time to coordinate (not to mention my inventory being decimated). I had to redo all my lists after these sales were finished. Third, because of a situation with my wife's car (now happily resolved!) I needed some quick cash, so I auctioned around 100 items on Ebay (the online auction service) to come up with the money. Ebay auctions are also very time consuming, especially when 20 or so items all come due the same day to 20 different people! Fourth, I bought one large and a few smaller collections at the end of December, and I wanted to get these catalogued before the new year (although I didn't finish until the end of January...). Fifth, I have been branching off into the realm of collectible paperbacks, mostly fantasy, detective, sci-fi, pulp heroes, and horror. This has proven very successful and has taken a lot of my time to get going.
Anyway, after playing catch-up for a few months I've finally gotten to where I can start once again emailing out a bi-monthly list of items for sale. Please let me know if you want to be taken off the list, it's no problem.
I few tidbits:
Don't pay an astronomical price for either FOR1 Draconimicon or FOR2 Drow of the Underdark...both are scheduled to be reprinted later this year. TSR/WOTC has gotten very proactive with reprinting a lot of hard to find items. I wouldn't be surprised to see another hard-to-find something like FOR4 Code of the Harpers also get the reprint treatment one of these days.
I will be running another large auction starting either this weekend or next. Lots of hard to find non-TSR items will be included, as well as many hard to find TSR items (mostly Greyhawk). I'll email an initial posting to everyone on this list, it will be the only mailing unless you make a bid on one of the items.
I am still buying or trading for RPG items, I will make on offer on anything you have TSR-related. I also am interested in many non-TSR RPG items. Let me know if you want to get rid of anything. Also, pass along the word to your friends who may want to sell...if someone I buy from mentions that you pointed them to me, I will reward you with a freebie or a credit. If you're interested, or know someone else who is, I can email you my current RPG Want List.
I'm starting to collect metal miniatures, especially Grenadier or Ral Partha figures. I'm particularly interested in monsters of all sorts. I will buy complete sets or individual miniatures, painted or not, as long as they are NOT damaged (missing swords, flattened faces, torn from base, etc) and they are something I can use. I will generally pay $.50 cash or $1 credit per monster, depending on size, condition, type, etc. For generic adventurers I will pay $.25 each or $.50 credit depending on the above factors. Of course, I will be more generous for complete unpainted sets or shrink-wrapped sets, especially of the Grenadier Gold Box series of monsters or figures that came out in the late 70's/early 80's. If you have a digital camera you can send photos of the figures you would like to sell/trade, otherwise a complete description is necessary...if I'm not sure of what you are selling, I'm less likely to buy. I will also take a bulk amount of figures off your hands for a fair price...
I cleaned out my files and purged all previous RPG "Want Lists" stored within. If you have a want list of items, email it to me and I'll give you first notice if I run across anything. Essentially, you'll have first shot at the item before I place it on my lists.
I am planning to attend a number of gaming conventions this year, I don't know if I'll be working any of them. First up is Aggiecon at A&M in College Station, Texas. This is one of the largest sci-fi/gaming conventions in Texas and takes place March 25th-28th. I should be there on Friday and probably most of the day Saturday. Let me know if you'll be there, I'll try to wear some kind of descriptive nametag so I can be readily identifiable, so just come up and say hi if you can make it to the show. I'm also planning to attend conventions in Houston, Austin, Oklahoma City and Kansas City this year, so maybe I'll turn up in your neck of the woods sometime this summer! I'm also going to try to make it to Pulpcon, Necronimicon and Dragon Con if everything works out. Gen Con and Origins are probably out, the logistics for both don't look good right now, but you never know.
The OOP RPG market seems to be booming at the moment, especially for hard to find items. Recently, the ceiling was blown out on the Orange B3 market (the famous "banned" version of Palace of the Silver Princess) with prices of $687 and $525 paid for two copies on Ebay. The highest price until then that I had personally witnessed was about $300 in a newsgroup auction a few years back. I've also noticed Greyhawk items and the limited edition stuff going for higher than normal prices. If you're looking for that rare TSR item, your window of opportunity may have already passed! :> If you haven't found it yet, good hunting...

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 04/19/99

Fellow Gamers;

   Lots of new stuff this week, including some new Alternity items...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   I just got back from AggieCon last week, had a great time although there was a definite dearth of RPG/Wargaming dealers. Only about four dealers had any kind of large set-up of RPG items, and there were very few older or valuable gaming items. I did see a nice copy of Chaosium's Arkham Horror that I passed on, and one dealer had stacks of older Grenadier miniature box sets (no Gold box, unfortunately!). I did find some intersting oddball items, though, which is why I love to go to conventions...you never know what you may dig around and find. I bought quite a few items from the "infamous" Glen-Hill gaming company, which is based in San Antonio. I found both owners to be very nice with quite reasonable prices on their items. From the newsgroup, they seem to have had some trouble with running a recent auction, but I can verify that face-to-face they are stand-up guys...
I've updated the "What's In the Box" site for the first time in quite a long time. I'm going to try to get on a schedule where I add to it weekly, hopefully if I step up the pace I can finish this someday! I'm probably going to need help when it comes to the Spelljammer and Ravenloft items, my copies were bought used and I cannot verify contents for all of these. I might send out an SOS when the time comes to catalogue these.
   I've been trying to pick up and read a few of the newer TSR offerings. I got copies of the Alternity rulebooks and most of the supplements. Visually, it's probably the best thing ever released by TSR/WOTC and if this is a glimpse of the future then bring on AD&D 3rd edition. The interior illustrations are lacking, but the covers, layouts and colors are incredible. The construction is also excellent, the rule books are very sturdy and the supplements seem to hold together well...these are quality products. The game itself is interesting and TSR/WOTC is obviously committed to huge support for this product, considering the large amount of items already released for Alternity. Unfortunately, the prohibitive cost may turn off quite a few curious gamers. The core rulebooks (Alternity rulebook, Gamemaster guide and Stardrive Campaign setting) cost a whopping $90 not including tax. Not to mention you might like the Alien Compendium, Arms & Equipment Guide, some adventures, etc. I've also read through "The Accursed Tower" and "The Shattered Circle", two low-level adventures for AD&D by Bob Salvatore and Bruce Cordell respectively. Begining or low-level modules are IMO hard to make interesting, because unless you are starting gamers "from scratch" most experienced RPG'ers have seen it/done it all. However, in this case I thought both adventures were excellent efforts.
   "The Accursed Tower" is more traditional in scope, pretty much a standard dungeon crawl but with a few twists, including an unusual locale (frozen artic, buried castle & tower). It could have done without the obligatory Drizzt appearance, but he doesn't interfere with the plot and can easily be written out with no reprecussions. The initial setup is ok, the adventure/quest is interesting, the foes are somewhat varied and avoid the typical orc/goblin badguy; and there is a mystery behind the patron that hired the party that may prove fatal if not figured out by an astute group. If Salvatore truly wrote this himself, it's a credible first effort. Nothing special, but worth ten bucks. One of my only complaints with this adventure (and others similar to it) is that it's not too different from something you'd find in Dungeon magazine, and when Dungeon magazine has 3-4 adventures for only $5, half the price of an individual adventure...well, you do the math.
"The Shattered Circle" keeps Cordell's streak of greatness intact. Pretty much anything he's released is an instant classic, and this is no exception. No one else writing AD&D stuff at this time can create a mood like Cordell, and by mood I mean a sense of the real dread and danger a party of adventurers (the gaming group) should feel when risking life and limb to crawl down a god-forsaken hole and discover the unknown. Without giving too much away, the adventure is quite unique in tone, presentation and subject matter, and has some interesting and unusual foes for lower level characters. The goal is more in depth than the usual "Kill some orcs and steal their treasure" and I think most gamers will appreciate this, along with the general creepiness of the setting. This is an excellent adventure for an experienced group that is starting over, as most of the traps, puzzles and monsters can challenge even hardened gamers. My one complaint would be that the suggested levels are too low; IMO a 1st level party would be wiped out fairly quickly without higher level help, and beginning gamers might be overwhelmed with some of the demands put upon them. However, it's still top-notch in every respect. Someone needs to chain Cordell to a desk and have him write up a "Ruins of Undermountain" or "Night Below" type mega-adventure...

Mike B.

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 09/10/99

Fellow Gamers;

   Tons of new stuff, at non-Ebay prices! Includes lot of RPG magazines...

A COUPLE OF THINGS:
   Due to a lot of large international orders, buying a lot of collections, and summer vacations and such I have been hard to catch up with the past few months. I hope to once again start sending out a monthly update of items I've found and let everyone on this list have first shot at buying them. Since I haven't updated my mailing lists in awhile, please let me know if you wish to be removed and I will do so. BTW, my web page address for my TSR RPG items is now case sensitive on the word "Index" due to a computer/AOL meltdown, so capitalize this word when you try to pull up the page.
   Lately I've caught up on a lot of the newer TSR products. I recently purchased and read Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, Return to Keep on the Borderlands, Scarlet Brotherhood and Skullport. I've was impressed with the production values of all four, especially Axe of the Dwarven Lords, although it looks as though if it had come out a few years ago it would have been a boxed set (am I the only one mourning the loss of the boxed set?). Due to better quality control and management there have been few if any stinkers on the TSR/WOTC schedule the last two years. Axe is a long and involved high level dungeon crawl, lots of fun and reminiscent of old-time D&D stuff. Return is a fun little piece of nostalgia, as the old B2 is brought to 2nd edition AD&D. Two caveats, though: although obstensibly set in the World of Greyhawk, its NOT really a WOG module...too many non-canon references. Also, the suggested levels are too low...this is definitely a mid-level adventure. Again, lots of fun, especially if you get the old group together...roll up some of those 3d6 ability characters and give it a go. Scarlet Brotherhood is the best WOG supplement to come out in many a year, IMO. A great reference book, and this should set the standard for all future WOG products. A lot of attention was paid to keeping the Greyhawk canon intact with this supplement, highly recommended for background on any evil organization in your campaign. Skullport is the underground city in Undermountain, but it can be used for any Underdark campaign. It contains tons of references, shops, monsters, evil characters, etc...a complete, evil city to place in your campaign somewhere under the earth! One small complaint is that there is no pull-out, fold-out map of Skullport, instead you must do with the printed map inside the supplement itself. I'm adapting it for my personal campaign and it will easily fit. All in all, I was quite impressed with all four products and I think I can get some use out of them. I'll have to start buying these as they come out instead of waiting!
I also purchased the TSR Silver Anniversary set, and although it's very nice I wouldn't say it's essential for $60. The main reason for collectors to buy this is the 1st edition module L3 Deep Dwarven Delve by Len Lakofka (which is quite a nostalgic dungeon romp but no classic). Otherwise, the facsimiles of B2, S2, G1, G2, G3, I6 and the original D&D blue rulebook are something all serious collectors already have the originals of! The history book of TSR is also very nice, but more than a tad self-serving. If you are someone just getting into D&D, it would be nice to have because you get seven adventures for $60 (even if they are 1st edition) and the nice slipcase. Most collectors, of course, will pay the $60 for this item because it's a "must have", but more "new" material would have been appreciated.
All you Greyhawk fanatics out there may be very pleased in the coming few months, a friend of mine is working on a project developing a city from the World of Greyhawk that EGG once started work on. Working from the original map and lots of input by EGG, this individual is doing a great job putting together a WOG city from almost scratch (and yes, this is sanctioned by WOTC!). I will give more info as I'm allowed to say, as this is very much still in the development stage.
I also have a top secret project going that I have neglected in the last few months, now that things are less hectic around here I will attempt to get my part in it finished. I don't know exactly where my "project" will lead to, as I have found something I don't own the copyright to but would enjoy sharing with all serious D&D gamers and collectors. I have to contact EGG and a few others to see where this will go, but outside of any monetary reward (of which I won't get any!) this item should be shared with all Greyhawk afficiandos and hopefully this will happen by early next year.
The big announcment has been made, and it looks like 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons is a reality. Scheduled for release next summer (undoubtedly at Gen Con 2000) it will be the biggest RPG event of the year. So far the essential rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual) will be released along with a conversion book for 2nd edition. One good thing is that the books will be $20 which makes them affordable (I've always griped that books that introduce the game should be reasonably priced so as to promote the hobby). There appear to be lots of changes, many good and many not so good (In my opinion of course!), and it will be a totally different game. Most of the changes I've seen so far look like house rules everyone had already been using anyway, but a few of the changes (skill system, more of a power gaming style, changes in melee and spells) will completely shake up the game. It should be interesting if nothing else. Interestingly, no new campaign worlds are planned beyond Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk and Dragonlance so WOTC will release a CD Rom of all out of print FR products to fill in the blanks (however these will apparantly not be updated to 3rd edition!). What this means to gamers or collectors is anyone's guess, you collectors out there can only hope that a lot of frustrated gamers decide to dump their 2nd edition collections!

RPG ITEMS FOR SALE: 10/10/99

Fellow Gamers;

   Some new stuff, including lots of Tunnels and Trolls and Alternity items!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

   Please note the "new" address for my webpage! And special thanks to John Horton, who got me thinking along the right lines. A few months ago my link to my webpage was somehow lost, and I had to make the word "Index" case-sensitive to reach the new page, while my old (not updated) page was still floating around in cyberspace. Well, by adding the word "page" I was finally able to delete the old page and update the new page using the "new" name. The new page is no longer case sensitive, and the only edition is the word "page" in the address. Please reset your favorite places or links to this new address, as it will be the permanent one from now on! The case-sensitive address will still be around for awhile until I decide what to do with it, but the correct prices and info will from now on be at

http://members.aol.com/badmike3/page/index.html

   The new Dragon magazine index on CD Rom is finally out, and from friends I've heard it's incredible. It's too soon to say what effect it will have on old Dragon magazine prices, but maybe those of us still looking for those last few issues to complete our collections will be able to pick them up cheaper now...
   Info has been trickling out about 3rd edition D&D. From the latest article in Dragon magazine and other sources, a lot of old house rules seem to have made the switch to "official" D&D. It's interesting to me to note that most players I've talked to feel they are NOT going to switch to official 3rd edition when it comes out, but are going to use the parts of it they like. I feel the same way, I like some of what I've seen (spell bonuses to high Int mages for one example), but a lot of it just isn't the same game I've been playing for the last 20 years (although a lot of what I've seen hearkens back to 1st edition!). The switch from 1st edition to 2nd edition was quite simple for me, but 3rd edition (as is being pointed out) is a COMPLETELY new game. All older modules, rulebooks, supplements, etc will be unusuable with the new system, which will make the new player completely dependent on WOTC new releases for any sort of gaming material. This of course means all new rulebooks, supplements, modules, etc will have to be purchased, and I wonder how many old-style gamers (those of us with 10+ more years of gaming) will be willing to drop big money on a completely new game with the same old name. Probably more than any other time in the last 25 years, D&D will be at a huge crossroads. I'm sure WOTC is hoping older gamers will stick with the game, and also hoping tons of new gamers will be joining due to the publicity of the Dungeons and Dragons movie and 3rd edition release. This would be the best of all possible worlds...the worst, I suppose, would be if older gamers shunned the new system (after all, most of us have enough support material for decades of gaming whether or not WOTC releases anything ever again) and new gamers never went to the trouble of picking up 3rd edition. I think it's a huge gamble on WOTC's part, and it will be an interesting wait until Gen Con 2000.
   For Call of Cthulhu fans, I recently picked up the massive (over 400 pages), ten years in the making, gigantic "Mountains of Madness" campaign book. I'm still working through it (it's going to take a week to digest) but so far it's fascinating stuff. I've seen CoC picking up a lot of interest among gamers lately, I would recommend the system to anyone...it's simply the best horror RPG ever published. CoC has never been a widely played RPG, unfortunately, due mostly to low character life expectancy (your character either goes insane or gets killed horribly in a short amount of time unless you are lucky). It also requires a little more committment from the GM than most game systems, so it's often hard to find either an ongoing campaign or even someone willing to run a one-shot adventure. However, if you get a chance to sit in on an adventure take a shot, as it is likely to be lots of fun. What other RPG can you play where the GM doesn't mind if you have a sawed-off shotgun, dynamite and a tommy gun because it won't help you much?
   It's official, ICE has lost the license to produce Middle Earth role playing items. Due to the LOTR movies being released in the next few years, apparantly the license will be shopped around to see if a higher price can be garnered from another company. It's really too bad, as ICE put out some incredible products over the last 15 years (MERP adventures have some of the best maps of any RPG). It will be interesting to see who ends up with the license, and what type of RPG they produce. If you were putting off buying the latest ICE Middle Earth release, now is the time to get it as most of their recent releases will become quite scare very soon.
   Speaking of which, if there are any recent TSR releases you think you might want and have put off getting, you might pick them up in the next few months. With the release of 3rd edition, all 2nd edition releases will cease and no 2nd edition items (including essential rulebooks and supplements) will ever be released (or so says WOTC). Some recently released products that were formerly easy to find have been slowly disappearing off the market (Ruins of Undermountain and other boxed sets come to mind) and are on their way to commanding collectible-type prices. However, I would not at all be surprised if WOTC began releasing a lot of OOP material on CD Rom in the next few years...the Forgotten Realms Atlas is soon to be released, containing all maps ever published for TSR Forgotten Realms products, and there is a persistent rumour that a compilation CD featuring all FR supplements (the FR series, the FOR series, etc) will be released in the next few years.

"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

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

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

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:08 pm

I think the last few entries (these are the last ones on my old saved file) are the most interesting. Some interesting tidbits:

1. Where on earth was I finding all these collections to buy? Geez! I haven't bougnt a full-fledged colleciton in years. Seems like they used to pop up all the time!

2. The Poll for favorite adventure...I recall I did receive almost 100 responses. T1-4 was the overall winner, I wish I had saved the results.

3. Hasbro buying out Avalon Hill. I was right, a lot of those guys have never been reprinted.

4. Lou Zocchi used to have these ads in the back of Dragon magazine (full page ads) selling stuff like Fiend Folios and T1-4 for $100. These were the first ever prices I had ever seen for most of the older OOP stuff, and Zocchi may have been one of the first to make a living off selling older OOP items for insanely marked up prices.

5. I chronicle my first ever foray into Ebay sales. Back then, a common letter module like N1 or T1 could get you $25-$50. It was a goldmine back then!

6. The prices of Orange B3 for $687 and $525....really! Up until then I hadn't seen a price over $300 for one online, times were starting to change. LOL. Wish I had bought them myself!

7. Initial reactions to the announcement of 3E. I don't know where I got the false info about WOTC releasing all the OOP 2E stuff on CD rom, must have read it somewhere online.

8. First reactions to stuff like CoC's Mountains of Madness (which, yes, fans had waited almost 10 years for from the first time it was announced with all the rest of the "Lovecraft Country" releases; ICE losing the liscense to Middle Earth products (really sad, they were the best), and the thought you better pick up 2E stuff quick before it disappeared (most of it was still available for cover price years later!).

If I can scan in an old price list from 97-98 I will try to do so, lots of fun prices there....

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

Mars
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 6172
Joined: May 03, 2003
Last Visit: Feb 10, 2026
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:22 pm

Yes, Zocchi must have been one of the first to ask high prices for stuff. He also seems to be the first one to manipulate the market such as suggesting Kara Tur boxed set was rare and charging a high price for it.

The Way Back Machine still has a couple of your webpages with pricelist stored for eternity:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Badmike
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

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

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:52 pm

Mars wrote:Yes, Zocchi must have been one of the first to ask high prices for stuff. He also seems to be the first one to manipulate the market such as suggesting Kara Tur boxed set was rare and charging a high price for it.

The Way Back Machine still has a couple of your webpages with pricelist stored for eternity:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://members.aol.com/badmike3/index.html

Thanks Mars! I cut and pasted the one for June of 1999...almost exactly ten years ago!

The Zocchi price lists can still be seen in back issues of Dragon magazine...some pretty insane pricing, even now, and like Mars said a lot of that stuff wasn't even rare to begin with.

GAMES FOR SALE: June 1999
List Updated: 06/19/99

TSR FRP PRODUCTS (D&D OR AD&D)
Items on list change weekly; please ask about any product you do not see here. Prices are based on condition, amount I paid for item, and scarcity. I am a strict grader, so the item is sometimes in better condition than listed. Unless stated otherwise in the description, items in "Good" or better condition are complete in every way. Condition explanations are as follows:
SW: Still shrink-wrapped in original packaging.
NEAR MINT: Opened but never used, all parts complete, not damaged or marked on in any way. Almost perfect.
EXCELLENT: Barely used, no damage, all parts complete. May have very slight wear on cover or outsides, no writing or markings unless they are unobtrusive. Above average condition.
VERY GOOD & GOOD: A typical used item, cover or insides may be slightly worn, may have pencil marks or writing on material, may have some small tears or creases, usually still a complete item with nothing missing. Average condition.
FAIR: Worn or damaged cover and insides, handouts or inserts may be missing (but photocopied---item still complete unless noted). Less than average but still usable.

TSR HARDBACKS OR RULEBOOKS
Al-Qadim: Arabian Adventures $16 (EX)
Al-Qadim: The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook $16 (EX)
Art of Dragon Magazine $20 (EX)
Art of Dragonlance Saga $18 (EX) or $16 (GD)
Battlesystem Miniatures Rules (2nd ed) $18 (EX)
Book of Artifacts (softback) $12 (VG)
D&D Cyclopedia $22 (VG)
DM Guide (1st ed, Efreeti cover) $20 (EX), $18 (EX), $16 (VG) or $15 (GD)
DM Guide (1st ed, Orange spine) $16 (EX) or $12 (GD)
DM Guide (2nd ed, Black cover) $20 (NM) or $18 (EX)
DM's Option: High Level Campaigns (hardback) $18 (NM)
Dragonlance Adventures $15 (EX) or $12 (GD)
Dungeoneer's Survival Guide $7 (VG)
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook (Red book) $15 (SW)
Encyclopedia Magica Vol. I $16 (GD) All magic items A-D
Encyclopedia Magica Vol III $18 (EX) All magic items P-S
Encyclopedia Magica Vol IV $18 (EX) All magic items S-Z plus Index
Fiend Folio $20 (EX), $18 (VG) or $16 (GD)
Forgotten Realms Adventures $20 (VG)
Greyhawk Adventures $18 (EX)
Legends & Lore (1st edition) $20 (EX)
Legends and Lore (2nd edition) $19 (EX)
Manual of the Planes $28 (EX) or $24 (VG)
Monster Manual (1st ed, Blue cover) $18 (EX), $15 (VG), $13 (GD) or $10 (GD) pencil marks inside
Monster Manual (1st ed, Orange spine) $12 (GD)
Monster Manual II $15 (VG) or $12 (GD) Much highlighting
Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol I $16 (EX) or $14 (VG)
Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol II $16 (EX)
Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol III $17 (EX)
Monstrous Manual (2nd edition) $22 (NM) or $20 (VG)
Oriental Adventures $15 (VG) or $14 (GD)
Player's Handbook (1st ed, Idol cover) $16 (VG), $13 (GD) or $12 (GD) pencil marks inside
Player's Handbook (2nd ed, black cover) $22 (NM) or $20 (EX)
Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III $15 (EX)
Tome of Magic (hardback) $17 (EX)
Wilderness Survival Guide $8 (EX)
Wizard's Spell Compendium: Vol I $20 (NM)
Wizard's Spell Compendium: Vol II $20 (NM)

TSR BOXED SETS
Birthright: Boxed set $16 (EX) no War Cards
City System (Waterdeep) $22 (VG)
Dark Sun Campaign Setting (1st print) $12 (VG) complete
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set $20 (VG) Erol Otus cover, B2, dice included or $16 (GD) Erol Otus cover, B2, no dice
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules Set 1 (Red Box) $15 (GD) No dice
Dungeons & Dragons Set 5: Immortals $18 (EX)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1st ed) $16 (EX) or $14 (GD)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (2nd ed) $24 (NM)
The Ivory Triangle (Dark Sun) $12 (SW)
Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure $20 (SW)
Mark of Amber (Mystara) $12 (SW)
Menzoberranzan (boxed set) $26 (EX) Box contents EX, box itself is worn
Spellbound: Thay, Agalarond & Rashemen $20 (EX)
Spelljammer: Legend of Spelljammer $15 (SW)
Tale of the Comet (AD&D Odyssey) $22 (NM)
World of Greyhawk Folio $30 (EX) Complete, outer folder slightly worn
World of Greyhawk (boxed set) $50 (SW)
World of Greyhawk Guide & Glossography $10 (GD) Both books from WOG boxed set, no box or maps

TSR MODULES (1ST ED or BASIC D&D)
BASIC D&D:
AC3 The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina $16 (SW)
AC4 Book of Marvelous Magic $10 (VG) or $8 (GD)
AC5 The Revenge of Rusak $16 (SW)
AC7 Master Player Screen $15 (SW) or $12 (EX) Includes mini-module
AC10 Bestiary of Dragons and Giants $12 (VG) Spell Generator punched, but included
AC11 Book of Wondrous Inventions $15 (VG)
AC1011 Poor Wizard's Almanac & Book of Facts II $12 (EX) Map attached
AD&D2 Player Character Record Sheets $14 (EX) All sheets included
B1 In Search of the Unknown (Mono cover, 1st) $14 (VG)
B1 In Search of the Unknown (Brown cover) $10 (VG) or $8 (GD)
B2 The Keep on the Borderlands $5 (GD) Heavy wear
B3 Palace of the Silver Princess $10 (VG)
B4 The Lost City $14 (EX) or $6 (FR) Photocopied maps
B5 Horror on the Hill $10 (VG) or $8 (GD) Water damaged
B6 The Veiled Society $12 (VG) Highlighting
B7 Rahasia $12 (GD) Photocopied handout
B8 Journey to the Rock $10 (GD) Handouts seperated but included
Bsolo Ghost of Lion Castle $12 (EX)
CM1 Test of the Warlords $9 (EX) or $6 (GD) Photocopied page
CM2 Death's Ride $9 (VG)
CM3 Sabre River $9 (VG)
CM4 Earthshaker! $14 (SW) or $9 (GD) Cover wear
CM7 The Tree of Life $8 (GD) Tape on corners
CM8 The Endless Stair $10 (EX)
CM9 Legacy of Blood $12 (EX)
DA2 Temple of the Frog $24 (SW)
DA3 City of the Gods $22 (SW) or $18 (EX)
DA4 The Duchy of Ten $17 (SW)
D&D Monster & Treasure Assortment (Sets 1-3) $17 (EX) or $15 (VG) regular version
DDA1 Arena of Thyatis $12 (SW)
DDA2 Legions of Thyatis $12 (SW) or $10 (NM)
DDA4 The Dymrak Dread $12 (SW)
GAZ2 The Emirates of Ylaruam $14 (EX)
GAZ4 The Kingdom of Ierendi $12 (EX) Counters unpunched
GAZ11 The Republic of Darokin $13 (VG)
GAZ12 The Golden Khan of Ethengar $13 (VG)
GAZ14 The Atruaghin Clans $16 (SW) or $13 (EX)
IM1 The Immortal Storm $12 (EX)
M1 Into the Maelstrom $8 (EX) or $6 (GD)
M4 Five Coins for a Kingdom $16 (SW)
M5 Talons of Night $16 (SW)
O1 The Gem and the Staff $11 (SW)
O2 Blade of Vengeance $14 (SW)
PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk $10 (EX)
PC3 The Sea People $12 (EX) or $10 (VG)
TM1 The Western Countries Trail Map (D&D) $20 (EX)
TM2 The Eastern Countries Trail Map (D&D) $22 (NM)
X1 The Isle of Dread (1st print, blue cover) $6 (EX), $4 (GD) or $2 (FR) Heavy wear
X2 Castle Amber $12 (EX), $11 (VG) or $10 (GD)
X3 Curse of Xanathon $12 (SW) or $10 (EX)
X4 Master of the Desert Nomads $7 (VG) or $4 (FR) Heavy wear
X6 Quagmire! $10 (EX)
X8 Drums on Fire Mountain $14 (SW) or $12 (EX)
X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord $12 (GD) Heavy wear
X12 Skarda's Mirror $14 (EX)
X13 Crown of Ancient Glory $14 (SW)
XL1 Quest for the Heartstone $16 (SW), $14 (EX) or $10 (GD)
XSolo Lathan's Gold $10 (GD) Cover wear
XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain $10 (VG) Slight pencil
WORLD OF GREYHAWK OR AD&D 1ST EDITION:
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity $8 (GD) Slight stain/pencil marks
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade $8 (VG) or $6 (GD)
A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords $10 (EX), $8 (VG) or $6 (GD) photocopied handouts
C1 Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (Mono cover) $12 (GD) 1st printing
C1 Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (Brown cover) $10 (GD) Heavy wear
C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness (Red cover) $12 (EX), $10 (VG) or $9 (GD)
C4 To Find a King $15 (NM) or $12 (EX)
C5 The Bane of Llywelyn $20 (SW) or $15 (EX)
C6 The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook $17 (SW)
CA1 Swords of the Undercity $12 (EX), $11 (VG), or $10 (GD)
CA2 Lankhmar: Swords of Deceit $12 (EX) or $9 (GD)
CB1 Conan Unchained! $6 (GD)
CB2 Conan Against Darkness! $8 (EX) or $7 (VG)
D1 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth $12 (GD) Handouts seperated but included
D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa $14 (VG)
D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth $16 (EX)
D3 Vault of the Drow (1st print, mono cover) $12 (GD) Handouts loose or $8 (FR) Handouts photocopied
DL: Catacombs: Gnomes-100, Dragons-0 $18 (VG) Solo Quest: Cards unattached but present
DL1 Dragons of Despair $12 (SW)
DL6 Dragons of Ice $10 (SW) or $6 (VG)
DL7 Dragons of Light $12 (SW) or $6 (VG)
DL8 Dragons of War $12 (SW)
DL10 Dragons of Dreams $12 (SW)
DL13 Dragons of Truth $15 (SW)
DL16 World of Krynn $12 (VG)
Dungeon Master's Design Kit $14 (EX)
DQ1 The Shattered Statue $18 (SW) or $16 (EX)
EX1 Dungeonland $11 (GD)
EX2 Land Beyond the Magic Mirror $11 (GD)
G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief $15 (GD) Pencil marks
G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl $16 (VG) or $14 (GD)
G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King $15 (GD) Pencil marks
G1-3 Against the Giants $14 (GD) Highlighting
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City $13 (EX) or $10 (VG)
I3 Pharaoh $10 (VG) or $9 (GD)
I4 Oasis of the White Palm $20 (SW), $10 (EX) or $9 (VG)
I5 Lost Tomb of Martek $12 (VG) or $11 (GD)
I6 Ravenloft $16 (EX) or $14 (VG)
I7 Baltron's Beacon $17 (VG)
I9 Day of Al'Akbar $20 (SW), $15 (NM) or $14 (EX)
I10 Ravenloft II: House on Gryphon Hill $20 (VG) or $18 (GD)
I12 Egg of the Phoenix $55 (EX)
I13 Adventure Pack I $16 (EX)
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill $13 (VG) Handouts seperated or $11 (GD) Worn but complete
L2 The Assasin's Knot $17 (SW), $14 (EX) or $12 (VG)
Lankhmar: City of Adventure ('85) $15 (GD) with mapbook
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God $10 (VG) or $9 (GD) Maps seperated
N2 The Forest Oracle $12 (VG)
N3 Destiny of Kings $15 (VG)
OA1 Swords of the Daimyo $12 (GD)
OA3 Ochimo: The Spirit Warrior $16 (SW), $14 (EX), $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes $18 (VG)
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits $16 (EX), $14 (VG) or $12 (GD)
REF3 The Book of Lairs $16 (NM) or $12 (GD)
REF4 The Book of Lairs II $16 (VG)
Rogues Gallery (1st ed) $12 (VG) three hole punch version or regular version or $10 (GD) three hole punch version
S1 Tomb of Horrors (Pink Cover) $12 (GD)
S1 Tomb of Horrors (Green Cover) $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
S2 White Plume Mountain (Orange Cover) $10 (VG) or $9 (GD)
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth $22 (SW), $16 (NM) or $12 (VG)
T1 Village of Hommlet (Green Cover) $9 (EX) or $6 (GD)
U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh $20 (SW), $14 (EX), $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
U2 Danger at Dunwater $20 (SW), $14 (EX), $12 (VG) or $10 (GD)
U3 The Final Enemy $15 (VG)
UK1 Beyond the Crystal Cave $8 (GD)
UK2 The Sentinel $14 (EX) or $12 (EX) handout removed but included or $11 (VG)
UK3 The Gauntlet $16 (EX) or $14 (VG)
UK4 When A Star Falls $12 (VG)
UK5 Eye of the Serpent $17 (EX)
UK6 All That Glittersâ€¦ $12 (VG) or $6 (FR) water-damaged
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun $17 (EX)
WG6 Isle of the Ape $14 (EX), $12 (VG) or $10 (GD) No large map
WG7 Castle Greyhawk $18 (GD)

TSR MODULES (2ND ED or FORGOTTEN REALMS)
DARK SUN:
Dark Sun: Defilers & Preservers:Wizards of Athas $14 (EX)
DSE1 Dragon's Crown $12 (EX)
DSM1 Black Flames $10 (EX)
DSQ1 Road to Urik $10 (SW)
DSQ3 Asticlian Gambit $14 (SW)
DSR2 Dune Trader $12 (SW)
DSR3 Veiled Alliance $12 (SW)
DSR4 Valley of Dust and Fire $10 (SW)
DSS1 City-State of Tyr $12 (SW)
DRAGONLANCE (2ND ED):
DL: Book of Lairs $20 (SW) or $16 (EX)
DLA1 Dragon Dawn $12 (SW) or $10 (NM)
DLA2 Dragon Knight $10 (SW)
DLA3 Dragon's Rest $10 (SW)
*DLE1 In Search of Dragons $16 (VG)
DLR3 Unsung Heroes $10 (SW)
DLS2 Treelords $6 (GD)
DLS3 Oak Lords $10 (SW)
PG1 Player's Guide to the Dragonlance Campaign $13 (SW)
FORGOTTEN REALMS (1ST & 2ND ED) OR AD&D:
Book of Lairs (Forgotten Realms) $14 (EX)
Castle Sites $12 (NM)
Castle Spulzeer $12 (EX)
Cleric's Challenge II $7 (EX)
College of Wizardry $14 (VG)
The Complete Druid's Handbook $12 (EX)
Country Sites $12 (EX)
The Cult of the Dragon $16 (EX)
DMGR2 The Castle Guide $14 (EX)
Eye of Doom $8 (EX)
Eye of Pain $9 (SW) or $8 (EX)
FA1 Halls of the High King $18 (EX)
FA2 Nightmare Keep $18 (EX) or $16 (VG)
Fighter's Challenge II $7 (EX)
FOR2 Drow of the Underdark $20 (VG)
FOR3 Pirates of the Fallen Stars $14 (EX) or $10 (GD)
FOR5 Elves of Evermeet $14 (NM) or $12 (EX)
FOR6 The Seven Sisters $14 (EX)
FOR8 Pages From the Mages $15 (EX)
FOR10 Warriors and Priests of the Realms $16 (NM)
FR1 Waterdeep and The North $10 (SW) or $8 (EX)
FR2 Moonshae $16 (EX), $12 (GD) or $8 (GD) Photocopied map
FR3 Empires of the Sands (w/errata) $20 (EX)
FR4 The Magister $16 (VG) or $14 (GD) Heavy wear
FR5 The Savage Frontier $18 (EX)
FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards $18 (VG)
FR7 Hall of Heroes $13 (EX) or $11 (VG)
FR11 Dwarves Deep $22 (SW)
FR12 The Horde Campaign $14 (VG)
FR14 The Great Glacier $14 (NM) or $12 (EX)
FR15 Gold and Glory $16 (EX)
FRC1 Ruins of Adventure $18 (VG) Small amount of wear or $10 (GD) Very worn
FRE1 Shadowdale $15 (VG) or $6 (FR) Photocopied map, many markings
FRE2 Tantras $16 (VG) or $6 (FR) Photocopied map, lots of highlighting
FRE3 Waterdeep $12 (GD)
FRM1 Jungles of Chult $25 (EX)
FRQ2 Hordes of Dragonspear $14 (SW), $12 (EX) or $10 (VG)
FRQ3 Doom of Daggerdale $14 (EX) or $12 (VG)
FRS1 The Dalelands (w/errata) $24 (SW) or $22 (EX)
Heroe's Lorebook $18 (NM)
HHQ3 Thief's Challenge $9 (VG)
HHQ4 Clerics Challenge $11 (NM) or $10 (EX)
Jakandor, Island of War $16 (NM)
Labyrinth of Madness (w/errata) $12 (NM)
LC2 Inside Ravens Bluff $16 (EX)
LC3 Nightwatch in the Living City $16 (EX) or $14 (VG)
LC4 Port of Ravens Bluff $14 (EX)
The Magic Encyclopedia (Vol I, '92) $10 (EX)
Marco Volo: Departure $9 (VG) or $8 (GD)
Monstrous Arcana: I, Tyrant $15 (EX)
Monstrous Arcana: The Sea Devils $15 (EX)
MC6 Kara-Tur Appendix $16 (SW)
Moonlight Madness $9 (GD)
OA5 Mad Monkey vs The Dragon Claw $16 (SW)
PHRB3 The Complete Priest's Handbook $12 (NM)
PHBR4 The Complete Wizard's Handbook $12 (NM)
PHRB5 The Complete Psionics Handbook $14 (EX)
PHBR11 The Complete Ranger's Handbook $12 (EX)
REF2 AD&D Character Record Sheets (2nd ed) $9 (EX) No missing pages
REF5 Lords of Darkness $17 (VG) or $15 (GD)
Shaman $13 (EX)
The Silver Key $9 (EX)
Temple Tower & Tomb $17 (EX), $15 (VG) or $14 (GD)
Terrible Trouble at Tragidore $5 (NM) or $3 (EX)
Thief's Challenge II: Beacon Point $8 (SW) or $6 (EX)
Undermountain Dungeon Crawl: Maddgoth's Castle $8 (SW)
Vilhoun Reach $14 (EX)
Wizard's Challenge II $8 (SW) or $6 (EX)
PLANESCAPE:
Planescape: The Factol's Manifesto $14 (EX)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium: Appendix I $15 (EX)
Planescape Monstrous Compendium: Appendix II $15 (NM)
Planescape: Something Wild $10 (SW)
RAVENLOFT:
The Forgotten Terror (Ravenloft) $12 (SW) Sequel to "Castle Spulzeer"
RA1 Feast of Goblyns $24 (SW), $20 (EX) or $16 (GD)
RA2 Ship of Horror $10 (SW), $8 (EX) or $6 (VG)
RM1 Roots of Evil $9.50 (EX)
RM3 Web of Illusion $10 (SW)
RQ2 Thoughts of Darkness $9 (EX)
RR3 Van Richten's Guide to Vampires $12 (VG)
RR4 Islands of Terror $9 (EX)
RR5 Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts $11 (SW)
RR10 Van Richten's Guide to Fiends $8 (EX)
RR12 Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani $8 (EX)
SPELLJAMMER:
CGR1: The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook $16 (NM) Supplement for Spelljammer
MC9 Spelljammer Appendix II $15 (SW)
SJA1 Wildspace $9 (SW) or $7 (GD)
SJA2 Skull and Crossbows $9 (SW) or $8 (EX)
SJA3 Crystal Spheres $9 (SW)
SJA4 Under the Dark Fist $10 (SW)
SJR1 Lost Ships $9 (SW)
SJR3 Dungeon Master's Screen $9 (SW)
SJR4 Practical Planetology $10 (SW)
SJR5 Rock of Bral $12 (SW)
SJR6 Greyspace $10 (SW)
SJR7 Krynnspace $9 (SW)
SJR8 Space Lairs $8 (SW)
SJS1 Goblin's Return $8 (SW)
WORLD OF GREYHAWK:
MC5 Greyhawk Appendix $18 (SW)
The Star Cairns $10 (EX)
WG9 Gargoyle $10 (EX)
WG10 Child's Play $10 (EX)
WG11 Puppets $12 (SW) or $10 (EX)
WGA1 Falcon's Revenge $16 (SW) or $12 (VG) Complete
WGA2 Falconmaster $16 (SW), $13 (EX) or $12 (VG) Complete
WGA3 Flames of the Falcon $16 (SW) or $12 (VG) Complete
WGM1 Border Watch (w/errata) $16 (SW), $15 (EX) or $13 (GD)
WGQ1 Patriots of Ulek $16 (SW), $14 (EX) or $12 (VG)
WGR6 City of Skulls $22 (SW) or $18 (VG)
WGS2 Howl From the North $17 (SW), $16 (NM) or $15 (EX)

"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

Sir Kill Alot
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor
Valuation Board

Posts: 1238
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Last Visit: Jul 20, 2026

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:37 pm

So I found that file I was talking about...It lists pretty much everything I bought from 12/1/98 to 2/16/2001. It is roughly 22 pages in length. Hmmm I wonder where I could post it...if anyone cares. It is interesting to see what the going prices were. Funny how Mike is the first entry in the list. These items were won from his ebay auctions at the time...

TSR Dungeons & Dragons X13 *MINT IN SHRINK*!    43648543    $9.60 11/27 23:32    Ended

TSR Dungeons & Dragons WG6 Greyhawk Isle of Ape    43696616    $12.51 11/28 10:07    Ended

TSR Dungeons & Dragons WG10 *MINT IN SHRINK*!    43701580    $13.50 11/28 10:35    Ended

TSR Dungeons & Dragons WG11 *MINT IN SHRINK*!    43702463    $13.51 11/28 10:40    Ended

Pd. $53.12 on 12/01/98    Mike B.
BadMike3@AOL.com

I just wanted to add that Mike only charged me 4 bucks for shipping...The system did work really well back then.

Last edited by Sir Kill Alot on Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

ashmire13
Long-Winded Collector

Posts: 3549
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Last Visit: May 16, 2026
Location: Wandering aimlessly on the 8th level down...

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:25 am

this is really interesting reading, thanks Mike!

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

brute
Prolific Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 496
Joined: Nov 25, 2006
Last Visit: Jun 22, 2026

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:22 pm

Thanks Mike for that post - a fun read!

dndgeek
Prolific Collector

Posts: 147
Joined: Aug 09, 2005
Last Visit: Apr 08, 2017

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:23 pm

I remember getting these and Aaron's e-mails. Good times.

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