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Last Updated: 2004-05-22 2004-10-31

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2004-10-31

Wow. It's been a while since I've bought anything. I'm pretty sure that's the reason there's no activity here. (And not because I've simply been too busy, which is what leaps to mind otherwise...)

On Oct 27th I broke my "collection silence" and ordered a bunch of items from one seller on ebay:

Then yesterday I went to American Eagles, and picked up a few things:

I have some cash at the moment, so there will probably be a few other purchases made...

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2004-05-22

This past Monday, 5/17, the copy of Annililik Run arrived, and then the next day the copy of T20's Gateway to Destiny sourcebook arrived:

Anyway, for now I have no outstanding orders, nor anything particularly that I'm seeking...

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2004-05-09

It's Mother's Day. Awww....

Ahem. Well, I just won Annililik Run, the one outstanding item for my T4 collection. It's only been two years I've been looking...sheesh. And I got it for only $2! (plus $2.50 for S&H). Still, 'twas under $5, which was my goal. In fact, with recent activity on this adventure module, it had seemed I would have to fork over $10 or more for it. I was appalled. This is why I'm so "extra" happy. Having skimmed through it at a game store a few years back, to me it's possibly the best (and only) part of T4 really worth having...

Oh yeah: the other stuff mentioned below has arrived.

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2004-04-20

All I can say is "wow!" The shipment from stiggybaby.com -- the 13 GURPS books -- arrived today. Really quite fast for Media Rate. The books themselves are totally pristine and NEW. Glossy, shiny, wonderful...

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2004-04-14

More busy-ness:

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2004-04-09

The FASA deckplans arrived this past Monday, and then two days later the Space Master "League of Merchants" module appeared.

I recently went through one of my copies of Azhanti High Lightning. It is simply amazing. It's supposed to be a 60,000 displacement ton "frontier cruiser." Consider it a battleship or aircraft carrier in terms of size and complexity. And in the boxed game, they have deckplans! 15 or 16 sheets which can be used to represent all of the decks on any of the three "flavors" of the vessel imagined to exist.

Well, the five sets of FASA deckplans aren't near the quality, nor depict a vessel anywhere close to that size and complexity. But wow, they're so cool. Especially the King Richard luxury liner set, which is for a 5000-dton vessel. 21 11" x 17" sheets. Amazing!

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2004-04-04

Just won a shrinkwrapped copy of the 1st Edition version of Fading Suns' Noble Armada Starship Miniatures game. Been after this for a while.

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2004-03-28

It's been a busy week:

I will, of course, report back when League of Merchants and the deckplans all show up.

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2004-Mar-16

This past weekend I concluded the negotiaions for a "swap" with a dedicated fellow collector of Things Traveller: I will send him a copy of my photocopy of FASA's High Passage #1 (it's incredibly rare and I don't own a real one), and he will send me a copy of DGP's Travellers' Digest #5 (that he just won on Ebay, having paid $85 (!!!) for it...egads).

Yeah, I'm a little ashamed. My rationalization is that both are absurdly hard-to-find. I do plan on obtaining real copies of both, although I put significantly higher value on the TD#5...

One cool thing is that no money changed hands -- well, only at the post office.

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2004-Mar-10

Ah, to have fallen so low so quickly.

I have already made yet another purchase. _This_ past weekend we stopped by the most excellent Magus Books on the Ave. They have had some MT and TNE stuff for a while, and, well, I succumbed. And I did so even after a self-imposed 24-hour waiting period:

...for $20 total. I dunno, maybe not the smartest, but I have such a weak spot for MegaTraveller. And I didn't want to open my shrinkwrapped copies of BL, so this worked out well. And now I'm out of cash for a while (^_^) saving for other, non-gaming things.

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2004-Mar-01

I think I've done pretty well. I lasted not one month, but two, even! Amazing. And yes, I passed my Aikido black belt exam, down in SF, in late January. Woot!

On Saturday, Feb 27th, Maureen and I -- and Miriam, of course -- went to Broadway for Maureen's first trip there since Miriam was born. Wow. We went to Half-price Books. And lo, indeed, inevitably, I found some things. Okay, sure, I had firm resolve, and didn't buy that night. But my resolve wavered -- or maybe I concluded the prices were a good thing, after all (rationalization, anyone?) and purchased the following:

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2004-Jan-01

Well, here it is, New Year's Day. And I'm updating these pages (the last three entries all came from right now *cough*). During the holiday trip to Corvallis I splurged a bit (been saving all December for this!):

And now, well, I need to place a "moratorium" on all things Gaming for the month of January; I need to focus on the final preparatory steps for my black belt test in Aikido, scheduled for the end of January! Wish me luck!

(Hopefully this won't be challenged by the unfortunate-for-them, fortunate-for-consumers announcement by Hasbro/WOTC that they will be closing their retails stores within the first 60 days of 2004...)

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2003-11-17

So I succumbed to the lure of the Northgate WOTC (Wizards of the Coast) store, and purchased a couple items from their "70% off" area: "Orbital Decay," an adventure module from the Powered-by-GURPS Transhuman Space line, and a shrinkwrapped copy of "Nasty, Brutish, and Short," the Orc sourcebook for Harn. Cool!

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2003-11-13

The four items from the "silly" run from Oct 19th arrived, actually, last Friday. There was a wee medical emergency in the interim, which delayed my updating this page. So, indeed...only one MegaTraveller-era Travellers' Digest (#17) to go, and now I'm at half-complete on my FGU Daredevils collection, and I have Gryphon Issue #1. Woohoo!

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2003-10-24

Today the Aftermath boxed set arrived. Wow, it's old: 1981. One corner of the lid was split, but everything else indeed was in VG shape. And my goodness the seller's packaging was unbelievable! All in all, I greatly enjoyed reading through this game. Indeed, it deserves its notorious reputation for infamous realism...

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2003-10-19

Well, so today ended the silly run of bidding on Ebay. To be honest, one reason I kept it up was because the seller has a policy about shipping and handling that penalizes single items, especially ones as small as one magazine: a flat fee of $4.48 or so, which translates to 2 or 3 pounds, Priority Shipping. Sure, it arrives fast, but ouch. So I kept on bidding because the flip side of his policy is that's all he'll charge for multiple items. So I got four things: Travellers' Digest #15 (now only missing #17 from the MegaTraveller-era), Gryphon Magazine Issue #1, FGU's Wild West Adventure RPG's "Trouble on Widow's Peak" adventure module, and rather excellently, three two adventure modules for one of FGU's other games, Daredevils: Black Claws and Deadly Coins.

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2003-Oct-12

Gosh. Today was stupid -- but cool. I won a copy of FGU's Aftermath RPG. I've been after it for _years_ and I got it for only $11. Sure, S&H is going to run me $8 (yikes!) but part of this is because the seller is Canadian, and we're crossing "national postal jurisdictions" (my just-coined term). We'll see just how good it is when it arrives...

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2003-Oct-11

And so, this day started a short, possibly stupid run of bidding on Ebay. Today I won Travellers' Digest #15, and the seller had #10, and #17, plus a bunch of other stuff. We'll see how this goes.

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2003-Oct-09

GURPS Traveller: Starships arrived today. Wow. Wow wow wow. It's really quite a piece of work. Most excellent. The cross-section of a 500,000 displacement ton battleship, even if it's still a "bird's eye" view, is incredibly cool. I spent an hour or so lingering over it (the book)...

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2003-09-25

The magazines from Florida arrived yesterday, and I browsed through them this morning. They're in VG to Excellent shape, one and all, and as great as expected.

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2003-Sep-16

The fool strikes again! This time while on travellerrpg.com's Citizens of the Imperium BBS, I found this guy in Florida selling Traveller's Digest issues (13, 14, 16), as well as Voyages magazine (Nos. 7-13) -- for _great_ low prices. Scrumptious!

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2003-Sept-02

Boy, I need to get back to work (the office, that is). (I've been on Parental Leave since early August...yup, with my firstborn, a beautiful, most perfect daughter!)

As if I'll have time to game! (^_^)

Ahem. That all said, I found a "pre-order" listing on Ebay for the "to-be-released-in-September-2003" GURPS Traveller Starships book (according to SJGames' site), and well, succumbed. The seller rounded down a bit on S&H -- that's always nice. Well, I'll report back here when it actually arrives...

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2003-08-31

The other day I finally got around to opening up and reading the ICE Spacemaster adventures I'd found -- and I really liked a lot of the history/sourcebook material I found. So today I dropped in at the FLGS and picked the used copies of First Edition Tech Law and Future Law they'd had ($2 each!). On a whim, I also picked up a "corporation" sourcebook for their Cyberspace line.

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2003-08-19

Well, I succumbed to the lure of some adventures published in another system: Iron Crown Enterprise's (ICE) Spacemaster RPG. At my FLGS I found quite a number of consecutive adventures for a really good price, so I have essentially added Yet Another RPG to my list of targets-to-collect.

Please see the Miscellaneous Game page for the items in question.

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2003-07-29

The five issues of Travellers' Digest arrived yesterday afternoon. They are indeed in Excellent condition. Clearly, while they've been in someone's closet or basement -- the staples are quite rusty and the pages have that incipient musty smell -- they're firm and white and a pleasure to read!

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2003-07-23

JTAS#21 arrived today. As promised, it's in VG condition, and was a pleasure to peruse last night.

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2003-07-17

More indulgence: I've arranged two additional transactions:

  1. Five issues of Travellers' Digest: 11, 14, 19, 20, and 21
  2. JTAS#21 -- the one non-low number issue I lack (I don't have #1 or #4)

As usual, I'm pretty excited. About a year ago I tried to buy TD19 and JTAS21, and the seller took my money and ran. So hopefully this time both will work out!

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2003-07-15

So...I've been a little indulgent. First of all, yesterday (7/14), my copy of Humaniti arrived. It's brand new, and I actually like it quite a bit.

Then, well, on Sunday 7/13 I did some FLGS-hopping (that is, I went to most of the local area gaming stores), and ended up finding four Alternity titles for only $3 each: Alien Compendium I, Alien Compendium II, Dataware, and the Gamma World (Alternity) sourcebook. Cool!

Oh yeah: I also found a _shrinkwrapped_ copy of the MegaTraveller adventure, Assignment: Vigilante -- Extremely cool!

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2003-07-10

Yesterday I won an auction on Ebay for Steve Jackson Games' newly released GURPS Traveller Humaniti sourcebook. It should arrive in a few days.

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2003-05-17

Went bookstore hopping today, and found a great old boxed RPG in really rather good shape! 'Tis Fantasy Games Unlimited's (FGU) Daredevils RPG -- set in the 1930s. It's basically their pass at India Jones, etc. And what's more, inside the box was the 3rd adventure: Supernatural Tales. All for $7.95 plus tax.

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2003-04-17

Dropped by my FLGS today, and picked up two supplements for Alternity that I've had my eye on for quite some time -- and cheaply, to boot (under half price, that is). This would be the Arms & Equipment Guide, and Starships.

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2003-02-19

Yesterday, the first day after the non-postal delivery day, President's Day, the highly anticipated "seven plus" package arrived! (This is in reference to the Feb 7th entry.) My CT, GameLords, and BITS collections are essentially complete! And yes, this is it for a while (^_^)

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2003-02-08

Very cool -- just received Seldon's Volume 3 (a "one-off" purchase made before the last couple entries below). Been looking for that for a long time. Got a new copy from this guy who sells a lot on Ebay. Now I'm missing just three adventures (Probe NGC 8436, Alien Base, and Casino Galactica), and one accessory (The Outworlds). Slowly but surely...

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2003-02-07

I am very happy to report that I have concluded the communications -- and paid -- for some additional items from the same couple who sold me the SGS deckplans. And they're giving me a great deal on several titles -- and these titles essentially let me "wrap up" two important-to-me categories: the Classic Traveller section, and the BITS Titles. Including the elusive Atlas of the Imperium -- psyched!

That said, this needs to be the last activity for a while, to let the "bank" recover! (^_^)

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2003-Jan-26

The SGS Deckplans (1015-1021) arrived on Saturday. They're in great shape.

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2003-Jan-16

Well, I failed to resist the siren allure of Ebay. Yesterday I won a few GURPS Traveller items: Planetary Survey #1: Kamsii, Planetary Survey #2: Denuli, and Deckplan #3: Empress Marava. Cool. Well, except that it distracted me from keeping my money "free" to bid on one of the _two_ copies of Atlas of the Imperium. Oh well. I need to be mindful of what my goals are...

Wow. Well, I also have been in conversation with some nice folks from the Traveller Mailing List (TML). They are selling some of their old collection, and I am buying from them the Seeker Gaming Systems MegaSets I and II (deckplans). Cool!

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2003-Jan-08

Well, that lovely package of stuff from the Traveller Trader arrived yesterday. What really great stuff! I'm psyched. Really useful. And in great shape, to boot! Gotta love good deckplans and good "background" info...

So, the question now is: how long can I wait until I get 101 Corporations, and/or Delta3 is Down! adventure...?

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2002-Dec-30

Woohoo! That Christmas cash was burning a hole in my pocket, truly. I am happy to report that I just paid for an order with the Traveller Trader for the following hard-to-find items:

(Okay, some are hard-to-find, some are hard-fought over, and some I just got a good price on!)

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2002-12-05

Wow. Extremely cool. The Traveller boxed set just arrived, and boy -- is it in great shape. The box is VG to Excellent, while the contents are complete and Near Mint. Wow wow wow.

Interestingly, it seems to be a translation of the Traveller Book -- except that it's in "LBB" format -- except that it's 8.5 x 11 inch format (which is itself weird because Japan uses metric; e.g., A4 size...). Its publication date is 1984, so it's definitely still Classic. But all the art is Traveller Book -- and none is Starter Traveller (that I can tell).

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2002-11-20

I just wrapped up a transaction to get one of the Traveller boxed sets -- in Japanese! I have Azhanti High Lightning in Japanese already, but have been trying to figure out how I'd expand my Japanese collection... And now I have an acquaintance in Japan (Fukuoka) who's going to help keep an eye on OOP materials for sale there. Very cool. What he's sending is either Starter Traveller or Deluxe Traveller (more or less), translated by Hiroshi Yasuda (Japanese name order: Yasuda Hiroshi), and adapted/marketed by Hobby Japan (you'll need a Japanese-capable browser). If you have not browsed other portions of my site, know that I speak/read/write Japanese...

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2002-11-14

I just uploaded some massive updates to the West Marches Adventure Log -- and I broke that file into two (actually three): one per year. Please check it/them out (you will need password if you're not a West Marches player; email me): Adventure Log 2002.

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2002-10-30

Woohoo! My pre-ordered copy of T20 -- d20 Traveller Handbook finally arrived -- yesterday, but didn't find it where UPS had left it until this morning (^_^)! (I just have 2-3 more weeks of my Damn Class, and then I'll be (more or less) free to get working on a campaign...)

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2002-Jun-05

Psyched! Received the copy of GDW's Alien Module Number 4: Zhodani I won in a recent auction -- it's one of the rarer, more fought over ones. With its arrival, I'm missing only one Classic Traveller item: the elusive "Atlas of the Imperium." See my Traveller Collection.

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2002-May-31

Ah, it's been good to play D&D again...I'm taking a programming class by distance learning format, and boy, it's been a slog. Just took a "vacation," though, and played a couple really good games. See the West Marches Adventure Log for details (write me for the password).

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2002-Mar-17

Well, okay, nothing much to report. I've continued my Ebay/collection efforts, really getting my Traveller collection into good shape. (And other games, too.) I should just admit that I'm not playing/running any Traveller, though. (If I _were_ though, I'd be using MegaTraveller rules...

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2002-Jan-08

Well, last revision I added schedule information (password required; please email me if you want access) for my local gaming group, and uploaded a useful spreadsheet for Traveller 4th Edition Task Probabilities (okay, "useful" needs to be qualified: For a brief while earlier in 2001 when I was getting back into Traveller, I was giving T4 a try. However, I soon gave up on it, and have happily returned to MegaTraveller + house rules). This time I've expanded the coverage of my Gaming Collection; it should be pretty much all online now. Now to start working on my game session logs...

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2002-Jan-05

Converted from Frame code to "regular" pages. Re-arranged Gaming collection pages, so there are now seven pages: [AD&D | Links | Miscellaneous | Periodicals | Space Opera | Traveller | What's New?].

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2001-Dec-08

Major overhaul: added many pages, established style sheet. Uploaded the Traveller 4th Edition Task Probabilities spreadsheet (Excel); go to the Traveller collection.

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2001-Jul-17

Added Gaming index/landing page; it had the following text:

All I have up now are pages that detail my Game Collection; what game systems I play and collect as a hobby. Perhaps if I get really motivated I'll start posting essays, rants, and material I've written up for games of my own.

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