Building a Collection
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:44 pm
I apologize, in advance, for what is sure to be a lengthy post, so I hope you all stick with me.
I am going to preface this post by saying: I am an old-schooler, I have VERY little desire for anything past 2nd edition. I will not turn this into an edition war, as I want people to play what they enjoy playing, but for me, anything post 2nd edition is an "afterthought," not a necessity.
I have been playing / DMing D&D for the majority of my life, and while I have run my friends through a few Ravenloft modules, I have never actually run a Ravenloft Campaign.
There was just always something dark, and mysterious about the Lands behind the Mists, so I collected what little I could afford, which wasn't very much (being about 10 years old at the time,) even if I knew, somewhere deep inside, that I would never actually play it.
As I grew older, my collection began to grow, and I continued to add to it, but my desires changed. I moved from trying to get the "Top 30 Adventures," then shifted to Planescape for a while, then went after the "true" rares (Chainmail, White Box + Supplements, Dragon#1, etc.)
I recently attended Gencon for the 40th Anniversary of D&D. Maybe it was the lack of 1st, and 2nd that I saw available (let's face it, it's an out of print product that no one is really making money on anymore,) but something jump-started my desire to get moving on my Ravenloft collection.
I have compiled a spreadsheet of Ravenloft products (thank you FoS for that,) and basically sorted everything by date, trying to focus on the oldest stuff first, but I am aware that certain things should probably be bid on first, and that there is an abundance of some materials.
As it stands, I am in possession of the following:
i6 - Ravenloft
i10 - House on Gryphon Hill
Black Box - Realm of Terror (Got lucky at a garage sale - was still in shrink)
Ravenloft Limited Edition Handbook (2031/3000)
Domains of Dread
Castles Forlorn
Nightmare Lands
RA1 - Feast of Goblyns (Missing the cover poster, sadly)
RA2 - Ship of Horrors
RA3 - Touch of Death
RM1 - Roots of Evil
RM4 - House of Strahd
RQ2 - Thoughts of Darkness
RR2 - Book of Crypts
RR4 - Islands of Terror
All Van Richten's Guides except Fiends
Vecna Reborn
Now, for people who know the release dates on these like the back of their hand, you will see that I really am focusing on these by date of release, but maybe I should adjust my strategy a little bit. I really want to get the Grand Conjunction series done, first, though.
So, here come the questions:
1) From a collecting standpoint, which items do you consider to be the absolute rarest gems? The ones I am currently aware of are:
Tarokka Deck
Players Guide to the Living Death
Masque of the Red Death
Bleak House
Requiem: Grim Harvest Boxed Set
Carnival
Gaz V
2) Players Guide to the Living Death - what is this, exactly??? The prices it commands are pretty high, and its only a 32 page book. Now, I have no problem paying a hefty sum for something cool, but there is actually very little researchable material on this (and TRUST me when I say I have looked!!!) I'm assuming it is a tournament module (which a print run would have been incredibly limited on,) but if it isn't even an "official" release, my interest in it will wane, slightly.
3) With an ultimate goal of "wanting it all," and KNOWING that it will take years to get, what would YOU focus on?
4) Is there anything I need to watch out on (from an ebay sale) that will make something "incomplete?" Aka - FoG came with a screen, a sheet, the module itself, maps, and the poster.)
Thanks, in advance, all - it really is appreciated.
~Galladril~
I am going to preface this post by saying: I am an old-schooler, I have VERY little desire for anything past 2nd edition. I will not turn this into an edition war, as I want people to play what they enjoy playing, but for me, anything post 2nd edition is an "afterthought," not a necessity.
I have been playing / DMing D&D for the majority of my life, and while I have run my friends through a few Ravenloft modules, I have never actually run a Ravenloft Campaign.
There was just always something dark, and mysterious about the Lands behind the Mists, so I collected what little I could afford, which wasn't very much (being about 10 years old at the time,) even if I knew, somewhere deep inside, that I would never actually play it.
As I grew older, my collection began to grow, and I continued to add to it, but my desires changed. I moved from trying to get the "Top 30 Adventures," then shifted to Planescape for a while, then went after the "true" rares (Chainmail, White Box + Supplements, Dragon#1, etc.)
I recently attended Gencon for the 40th Anniversary of D&D. Maybe it was the lack of 1st, and 2nd that I saw available (let's face it, it's an out of print product that no one is really making money on anymore,) but something jump-started my desire to get moving on my Ravenloft collection.
I have compiled a spreadsheet of Ravenloft products (thank you FoS for that,) and basically sorted everything by date, trying to focus on the oldest stuff first, but I am aware that certain things should probably be bid on first, and that there is an abundance of some materials.
As it stands, I am in possession of the following:
i6 - Ravenloft
i10 - House on Gryphon Hill
Black Box - Realm of Terror (Got lucky at a garage sale - was still in shrink)
Ravenloft Limited Edition Handbook (2031/3000)
Domains of Dread
Castles Forlorn
Nightmare Lands
RA1 - Feast of Goblyns (Missing the cover poster, sadly)
RA2 - Ship of Horrors
RA3 - Touch of Death
RM1 - Roots of Evil
RM4 - House of Strahd
RQ2 - Thoughts of Darkness
RR2 - Book of Crypts
RR4 - Islands of Terror
All Van Richten's Guides except Fiends
Vecna Reborn
Now, for people who know the release dates on these like the back of their hand, you will see that I really am focusing on these by date of release, but maybe I should adjust my strategy a little bit. I really want to get the Grand Conjunction series done, first, though.
So, here come the questions:
1) From a collecting standpoint, which items do you consider to be the absolute rarest gems? The ones I am currently aware of are:
Tarokka Deck
Players Guide to the Living Death
Masque of the Red Death
Bleak House
Requiem: Grim Harvest Boxed Set
Carnival
Gaz V
2) Players Guide to the Living Death - what is this, exactly??? The prices it commands are pretty high, and its only a 32 page book. Now, I have no problem paying a hefty sum for something cool, but there is actually very little researchable material on this (and TRUST me when I say I have looked!!!) I'm assuming it is a tournament module (which a print run would have been incredibly limited on,) but if it isn't even an "official" release, my interest in it will wane, slightly.
3) With an ultimate goal of "wanting it all," and KNOWING that it will take years to get, what would YOU focus on?
4) Is there anything I need to watch out on (from an ebay sale) that will make something "incomplete?" Aka - FoG came with a screen, a sheet, the module itself, maps, and the poster.)
Thanks, in advance, all - it really is appreciated.
~Galladril~