The best part about a hobby is the fun and joy that it can bring. The worst part is when you are late to the party and missed out on something. That’s when you learn the meaning of horrible acronyms like HTF (Hard To Find) or OOP (Out Of Print). That has been the case for me with Merlin’s Company, the expansion for Shadows Over Camelot. This is the story of my quest.
A brief aside: I have for years visited local resale shops looking for old or out-of-print music CDs. Sometimes I do it because I enjoy the music. Sometimes it’s just to complete a set. Every now and then I end up with a great story to tell. My favorite resale chain is Half Price Books. They carry CDs, DVDs, and — oh yes — board games as well as their namesake item.
Way back in November of 2016 I was shopping at HPB and found a copy of Shadows Over Camelot. It was priced at $25, but I had a 30% off coupon, so I paid only $17.50. Considering the retail price on the game is $59.99 that was a really nice find! The game was in perfect condition. I took it home where it sat on my shelf waiting to be played. It sat longer than I would care to admit. 😳
Recently we have started playing games at lunch at work. Because we frequently have more than 4 players I started going through my games to see which had higher player counts. Shadows Over Camelot supports from 3-7 players so it was perfect. The gaming session was a lot of fun, although we didn’t finish it. Here’s where the issue comes in.
As I mentioned above, sometimes I buy CDs just to complete a set. (I have been working on a Time-Life decade series for, well, probably a decade now. 😆 ) Now that SOC has hit the table a few times, I decided that I needed to add the Merlin’s Company expansion. Which is Out Of Print and Hard To Find. <sigh>