[Consim-l] Games Plus Auction

[John Best]

Pat Collins wrote about the games that were auctioned off at Games Plus (in 
Mt Prospect, IL, I think?)

I was at the fall Games Plus auction this Friday.  As always, a lot of fun. 
Most games got decent prices, a number of Gamers stuff (TCS, SCS) went in 
the mid 20s.

Below are some of the "big prices"  that were obtained.

Fall of France  126

War in Europe  170

Hubes Pocket 76

Op Schmidt 32

Omaha  51

Third World War 102

5 ASL 215 (retail 230)  I guess it went so high since it had Code of 
Bushido.

Twilights last Gleaming 22

Regards, Pat

It's interesting to see how the results of a local auction seem to track the 
national/international prices on ebay.  For example, I don't know if the 
Hube's Pocket was punched or not, but I have never seen a copy go for less 
than $75 on ebay, and usually it's closer to $100.  Similarly, that Third 
World War game (and I'm not sure if Pat was referring to that series by GDW, 
and whether the price was for the whole four-game set or what), but in any 
case the GDW games usually go for a lot.  I think you could figure on paying 
$100 for the whole set of four (probably at least $100).  So the local 
prices seem to mimic the national prices.  My second point is more like a 
question:  Why are some of these old games going for relatively big bucks, 
but others not nearly so much?  For example, I don't think anybody needs to 
pay more than $15 or so for most copies of S&T games that are 20 years old. 
The point I'm trying to make here is that there are certain games that seem 
to be sought after, or collectable or something.  Like for example, if you 
are looking for a copy of the La Bataille game, Quatre Bras, you don't have 
to spend an arm and leg; you can get a nice copy for $25-30 or thereabout. 
But if you want Ligny, I don't think you're going to touch one for under $50 
(or at least, I haven't been able to).  I know that Ligny is a bigger game, 
but still, the price difference seems out of proportion to just the physical 
size of the game.  And the price point doesn't necessarily depend totally on 
the quality of the game, or its rarity (although I think these variables are 
certainly factors).  I think there are people on this list who track auction 
prices more closely than I do and maybe they have some ideas as to what's 
driving the price differential on some games.  I'd be interested in hearing 
their thoughts.  Thanks for reading.
John Best
currently playing:  Battles for the Ardennes (a quad that's generally 
available for a pretty reasonable price, but then go hunting for one of 
Danny Parker's other Bulge games, Dark December, and get ready to spend big 
bucks.  What gives?)