Acquiring Out of Print Games

The games came in a few days later. The box was small. Too small. When I opened the box, there was zero padding, and the shipping box was barely big enough to hold the items I purchased. In this case, no harm, no foul. Nothing was damaged. I did contact the seller, and they claimed it cost them $44 to ship the box, but I checked on my end and I could have shipped the same box using the same method for under $25. I suspect they went to a packaging place and paid through the nose, but whatever. I had already agreed to the $50 shipping, I was just disappointed in the quality of care.

Then I opened the box. Shadows Over Camelot has pieces strewn everywhere, some in baggies, some not. No game insert. That had not been disclosed in the listing. Fury of Dracula was the same – no insert. Bang! The Dice Game was also insert-less. The only game that I would consider complete was Love Letter Premium which had everything in perfect shape.

Here’s the thing – even without inserts, all of the games were 110% complete. Don’t you love it when athletes talk about giving 110%? Makes no sense. But in this case, it was actually true. The copy of Shadows Over Camelot came with 45 swords! It’s only supposed to come with 16. I don’t know where the extras came from, because Merlin’s Company does not add any swords.

The other games looked like they had never been played. The cards looked like they had never been shuffled. So despite the lack of insert, and the condition of “used” games, I am pleased — in some cases very pleased — to add them to my collection.

I started looking for Merlin’s Company over a year ago. By being patient, thorough (looking more than one place), and eBay savvy (setting up a search list with notifications) I was finally able to pick up a copy of the game for a reasonable price. In fact, I would say I got a bargain. How do I come to that conclusion? The retail cost for all of the games + expansions is almost $200. Even at a discount online retailer cost the total is over $160. With my eBay Bucks discount I paid about $135 for three OOP / HTF games, one of which I really, really wanted.

So that’s how my search ends. What about you? Do you have a story about the one that got away, or even better, the one that didn’t? Tell me about it in the comments below. I love to hear good hunting stories.