GenCon Auction 2009 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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GenCon Auction 2009
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Mars
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:16 am

I noticed that the GenCon Auction 2009 spreadsheet has been posted - downloadable from here:

http://livegameauctions.com/cons/GenConIndy_2009.jsp

While there were a few interesting rares, in general it looks like a bit of a disappointing spread of things (at least for the things that I collect). It doesn't look like there were any Wee Warriors items this year and very few rarer small press items. Even on the D20 scene it doesn't look like there were many of the collectible D20 items we have pointed out, no collectible boxed sets, no Castle Zagyg items, and only 1 Necromancer Games book.

As far as good buys go, it looks like there was a lot of Privateer Press items (although I don't know much about them). And if you were looking to pick up some RPG magazines or early wargame magazines then you could have scored big:

Over a dozne International Wargamer magazines sold for $5 each, some Panzerfausts for $5-$8, Spartan #5 for $5, a complete run of Challenge Magazines for $3 each, and 9 or 10 Game Merchandising magazines for $1 each.

Some interesting fanzines looked to have passed through:

The Labyrinth Vol 1 #1 Jan - Feb 1977 and The Labyrinth Vol 1 #2 March - April 1977 reported as "An extremely rare Canadian D & D fan based support magazine from 1977.". Looks like these sold for $1 each.

El Conquistador Vol 1, Iss 12 and El Conquistador Vol 2, Iss 2 which have adventures by Gygax, D&D articles, etc sold for $58 each. I think BadMike has mentioned this before so its good to see a couple more issues exist.

The only real small press item that caught my eye was Tarot Quest by Tri Tac that sold for $40.

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about item #5057933 Greyhawk Adventures Dice Bag which sold for $1?

grodog
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:51 am

Mars wrote:El Conquistador Vol 1, Iss 12 and El Conquistador Vol 2, Iss 2 which have adventures by Gygax, D&D articles, etc sold for $58 each. I think BadMike has mentioned this before so its good to see a couple more issues exist.

I wasn't aware that other issues of El Conqistador contained further articles! Any details on what, or were the later ones simple reprints??

Mars wrote:I was wondering if anyone knew anything about item #5057933 Greyhawk Adventures Dice Bag which sold for $1?

Hmmmm. I'm not aware of any GH dice bags, but they could have been TSR Gold or AG promos, perhaps??

Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
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Sir Kill Alot
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:58 am

Outdoor geomorphs going for $300 was a nice surprise...anyone have an idea on its condition?

Mars
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:01 am

grodog wrote:I wasn't aware that other issues of El Conqistador contained further articles! Any details on what, or were the later ones simple reprints??

I can't help you much there aside from what is listed in the GenCon auction excel file:

El Conquistador Vol 1, Iss 12 - "D&D adventure by Gygax, PBM by Gygax, D&D advert, "
El Conquistador Vol 2, Iss 2 - D&D adventure by Gygax, D&D article by Gygax, D&D advert, D&D Article by Jim Dapkus, GEN CON VIII advert & sked, "

You just need to track down bidder #7541 for more info.

Mars
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:07 am

Sir Kill Alot wrote:Outdoor geomorphs going for $300 was a nice surprise...anyone have an idea on its condition?

There is a description posted in column W. That copy was in shrink.

Blackmoor
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:41 am

Sir Kill Alot wrote:Outdoor geomorphs going for $300 was a nice surprise...anyone have an idea on its condition?

It was MINT, SHRINK and real beauty

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

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:28 pm

I actually slobbered on the case they kept it in. No worries, I cleaned up. Slobbering on the case is actually a yearly event for me.

Stratochamp just shakes his head at me.

Martin

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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:03 pm

Mars wrote:
I can't help you much there aside from what is listed in the GenCon auction excel file:

El Conquistador Vol 1, Iss 12 - "D&D adventure by Gygax, PBM by Gygax, D&D advert, "
El Conquistador Vol 2, Iss 2 - D&D adventure by Gygax, D&D article by Gygax, D&D advert, D&D Article by Jim Dapkus, GEN CON VIII advert & sked, "

You just need to track down bidder #7541 for more info.

There were a LOT of issues of Conquistador published...when I bought the infamous "Black Reservoir" copy, it was with a pile of a dozen others. However, none of the others in the pile had anything else of interest....I checked (and these were sold long ago).
The Conquistador I saw sold at the 2008 Gencon auction also had a reprint of the "Black Reservoir" article...which leads me to believe the editor was probably recycling material. El Conquistador was mostly a Diplomacy-oriented publication that ran very sporadic articles about other games.

Mike B.

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grodog
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:32 pm

I just remembered that the story was in two parts, so it's possible that the two issues are part 1 and part 2 of the BR story, I suppose.

Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
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Mars
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:45 am

From what I've gathered, El Conquistador was mainly a Diplomacy fanzine but branched out into general gaming towards the end. One other fanzine references up to issue #15 of El Conquistador so there may be more gaming stuff in later issues as well.

It interesting too that Len Lakofka was a regular in Diplomacy World fanzine too.

ExTSR
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 11:50 am

fwiw, I attribute this year's deficiency of 'supers' to the global financial situation over the last year.

I didn't bring any knockout items because I figured it to be a good year for buyers, rather than sellers.

However, it appears (at the moment) that the economy is swinging back, and next year should be better for 'supers'.

Frank

Sir Kill Alot
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Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:24 pm

Mars wrote:There is a description posted in column W. That copy was in shrink.

Thanks, I didn't pan over far enough.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:13 am

Fould what I think is a pretty recent book, 40 years of Gen Con, a smallish coffee table book with a white cover, doccumenting the history of D&D and GenCon. Was this book a flop? I'd never heard of it until I found in in my local Games store, and there doesn't seem to be an auction history of it on eBay. I have seen a picture of it on sale at a convention stand though.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

Bracton
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:48 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:Fould what I think is a pretty recent book, 40 years of Gen Con, a smallish coffee table book with a white cover, doccumenting the history of D&D and GenCon. Was this book a flop? I'd never heard of it until I found in in my local Games store, and there doesn't seem to be an auction history of it on eBay. I have seen a picture of it on sale at a convention stand though.

They had tables of them at GenCon in 2007 (the 40th anniversary, natch). Not a bad book, especially for those of us who tend to romanticize the Milwaukee and Parkside days. I've seen them on eBay occasionally, but don't have any idea what they would go for now.

"Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus."

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:49 am

mbassoc2003 wrote:Fould what I think is a pretty recent book, 40 years of Gen Con, a smallish coffee table book with a white cover, doccumenting the history of D&D and GenCon. Was this book a flop? I'd never heard of it until I found in in my local Games store, and there doesn't seem to be an auction history of it on eBay. I have seen a picture of it on sale at a convention stand though.

I've seen it on Ebay numerous times over the last couple of years. Pretty sure it wasnt a flop. IIRC they sold out of their stock at the '07 Gen Con. I used to see it at several local game stores but not so much anymore.

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

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 11:51 am

Bracton wrote:I've seen them on eBay occasionally, but don't have any idea what they would go for now.

Cover price ($29.99) or less I would expect. Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other similar sites still have them available.

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

TheMilford
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:15 pm

http://www.ccgarmory.com/40yeofgencon.html

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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:30 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:Fould what I think is a pretty recent book, 40 years of Gen Con, a smallish coffee table book with a white cover, doccumenting the history of D&D and GenCon. Was this book a flop?

It premiered at Gen Con 2007 as a Gen Con Gift Shop exclusive (and unlike the rest of their Gift Shop merchandise, could be pre-ordered during Gen Con registration and picked up at the Will Call window).

I don't think it sold very well. On Sunday of Gen Con 2007, they marked it down to "buy one, get one free." I think the book was also being sold at the 2008 Gift Shop, but not the 2009 Gift Shop.

It is a nice book, though. My copy is on a shelf next to the "30 years of D&D" book, which I think also didn't sell very well. (I paid $5 for a remaindered copy of that.) Kids today just aren't into the history of gaming, I guess.

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