Sunday, March 6, 2011

Gary Gygax's Cigar Box Up for Auction!

If you've got a few hundred dollars to blow and nothing to spend it on, why not place a bid on one of Gary Gygax's old cigar boxes? An empty cigar box, I should point out.

Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

22 comments:

  1. I think Gary would laugh at the interest, but he'd have no problem taking the money either!

    The buyer will be happy, and so will the seller!

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  2. At least Gary had good taste in cigars...

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  3. People are insane. And looking at this, I wish Gary had done the sales while he was still alive, and could have benefited from them.

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  4. Whoever wins this will, of course, use it to store their lucky dice in.

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  5. Dan, it's going to his wife, which is the whole reason Gary kept things like the Dragonlance and Marvel Superheroes modules, which he neither wrote nor played, which is part of that auction block. Remember, it's not just the creator who benefits, they have a family.

    (And he wouldn't have sold a cigar box he was still actively using--he was gaming up until perhaps a month before his death).

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  6. Mhmm... one of several, but "...set aside by Gary for such a future purpose" (i.e. only ever held cigars).

    > Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

    I'd go for both, given that's already twice the price of http://tinyurl.com/jg-cigars (which actually had /real/ impact on the course of "RPG" history" vs. the above-mentioned cigar box).

    Way too many people in the gaming and general public incapable of seeing the bigger picture beyond Gary.

    Having said that, I'll agree with JRT's "I think Gary would laugh at the interest, but he'd have no problem taking the money either!"

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  7. I keep my dice in a Cigar Box. Of course, I only paid 50 cents for it, at a yard sale. :)

    I could see someone (not me) paying that much if Gary had actually autographed it. Or, if it actually had some of his dice. Having a d20 that used to be Gary's, would be cool.

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  8. It's not just this stuff. I read elsewhere people have paid this kind of money all the time, like one d20 or something like that from Rob Kuntz's original campaign fetched over $200 or something like that. This kind of stuff isn't new.

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  10. @JRT; nah... /all/ Rob's dice together went for much less than that, IIRC. Used by Gary as well, of course. *jk*

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  11. I just don't see why people want this stuff. Sure it was Gary's but it is still just a box. To me, this falls in the category of buying Bill Shatner's soiled depends or Elvis's last bowel movement.

    Ol' P.T. keeps getting proved right...

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  12. To be honest I agree with you Josh, I'd rather get products that have some gamer or reader value, but then again, there's a lot of people willing to do this. This kind of thing exists for all celebrities.

    Irbyz, the quote about Kuntz's die comes from this thread.

    http://www.acaeum.com/forum/post-176332.html

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  13. @JRT: dice, plural. I have a pic somewhere on the old external HDD (dead PSU at present)

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  14. "JRT
    > This kind of thing exists for all celebrities.

    *nods*. The field of "RPG" has only one celebrity. Rather sad lack of "education" there, IMO...

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  15. I use cigar boxes to store things. My neighborohood candy store gives them away fro free. I can just take one and think it's Gygax cigar box in the spirit. I bought a $25.00 Craftsman 24 compartment case for scres and nails and store my dice collection in it. I just looove the Chessex speckled sets, and also full sized metal dice.

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  16. They are also selling these:
    http://cgi.ebay.com/Napoletane-Modiano-Card-Game-/310301039270?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483f621aa6

    They were my gift to Gary, I sent him since he told me he loved card games. :(

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  17. @Antonio;

    Ah... sad to see: I wonder if Gary had the opportunity to give that a go.

    No comment regarding the speculative-as-usual "It is likely that Gary picked up this card game while attending ModCon99 in Modena, Italy in 1999. The game bears some attributes of his Empire game from the Gord the Rogue novels" fluff, either. And since that's on the auction, it must be true, eh?

    Good on you for sending Gary that over, anyhow. :)

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  18. I contacted the sellers, and they updated the description.
    I was in contact with Gary, and he expressed the desire for some local products. Those are actually playing cards, not a particular game. The "Scopa" game they refer to is just one game you can play (much like Poker or Bridge with French cards.) I hope he got to at least browse them :(
    I understand the desire of the family to "monetize," especially if Gary's health problems were financially draining, but it's still sad to see so many things go away. I hope they go in good hands.

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  19. Wow, and to think there are a lot of hungry kids in Africa! Ok that was just killjoy, but I would like to get a free cigar or two for consolation if I spend that much for those boxes.

    newport cigarettes

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