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Cthulhu by Gaslight?


Toadmaster

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I've been tracking down a few of the "other era" Cthulhu supplements and I'm somewhat thwarted by the re-issue of Cthulhu by Gaslight.

What I'm finding range from $65 to $5373 (seriously, there is a seller on Amazon asking that much, and not even including free shipping).

Has this one really become that hard to find? I recall that the later one was considered much improved over the earlier editions. I can find the 2nd ed for $20-30 if there is in fact little difference in content.


What rumors are there on the timeline of a 7th ed version?

 

I am aware the pdf is still available, but I'm something of a luddite when it comes to books. I still prefer they be made from the sacrificial carcass of a tree. 

Edited by Toadmaster
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The old version was alright, but the updated version is very good.

2nd Edition (cover - hooded guy driving cart in front of Big Ben). 140 pages, 1 adventure in the back, lots of Sherlock Holmes.

3rd Edition (cover - a bobby discovers a mi-go in dark alley over dead body). 195 pages, 2 adventures, less Sherlock Holmes

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you. Sorry for my late reply I've been out of town the past 2 weeks.

 

Despite 3rd ed being 55 pages longer it would appear that there is material unique to 2nd ed so some value in getting both versions? Of course assuming you have some interest in Sherlock Holmes.

Knowing the typical above average to very good standard of most CoC material, this is probably a redundant question, but is the Sherlock Holmes material good?  

Edited by Toadmaster
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14 hours ago, Toadmaster said:

Knowing the typical above average to very good standard of most CoC material, this is probably a redundant question, but is the Sherlock Holmes material good?  

It's by Bill Barton, who was a Sherlockian even before he was into Lovecraft and I believe was involved in the Baker Street Irregulars, so at the very least the author was highly knowledgeable and a great fan of the character.

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11 hours ago, Count V said:

Ebay has versions starting at 20$ at the moment. 

Yes, the second edition version is fairly easy to find. It is the third ed that is not so easy.

 

3 hours ago, BigJackBrass said:

It's by Bill Barton, who was a Sherlockian even before he was into Lovecraft and I believe was involved in the Baker Street Irregulars, so at the very least the author was highly knowledgeable and a great fan of the character.

Thanks, that is incentive enough for me.

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I found a copy of 2nd ed for $22 on Friday so I picked it up. Then on a whim I checked Amazon for 3rd (had done so before) and there was a used copy in good condition for only $39, so I grabbed it along with the gaslight equipment guide for $17. There are even copies of that book in the $50 range, which is odd since there are many at reasonable prices.

It's weird the cheapest 3rd ed on Amazon right now is $94, but you can find the first ed gaslight boxed set for $57 which I would think is much less common. Even 1st ed CoC boxed sets are rarely seen asking much more than $100-150, not several hundred +.

Bizarre, is CoC stuff becoming collectable among non RPGers with gobs of money or something?   

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Like any other out-of-print item, prices can vary wildly. One thing I have noticed over the years is an increasing trend to not auction items, but list them with a "buy it now" or fixed price on Ebay. Amazon, not being an auction site, of course just lists items with prices. I have seen numerous items with incredibly high fixed prices on them, both on Ebay and Amazon. I can't definitively state the reasons the buyer has for doing this, at least not beyond that they hope someone will pay that amount of money. While I suppose that very occasionally happens, any buyer with a bit of patience and decent search skills will almost certainly find the item a reasonable price within a fairly short amount of time, especially for things like regular Call of Cthulhu materials published by Chaosium. Gaslight should be easily obtainable for $20-$40 for one in decent shape. Mint in the shrink-wrapped boxed set would be at a much higher premium price, of course.

Looking on Ebay just today: There are similar condition 2nd edition Gaslight books with BIN prices of $75, $50, $30, and $25. There's no real reason for such a price range, but obviously the buyers all hope to sell them. All of the above are being sold by high volume sellers who probably just picked a price they thought was ok, and wouldn't have had or taken the time to really gauge a more accurate average market price.

Hope that Helps,
Rick Meints - Chaosium, Inc.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This makes sense, I think you are right that some sellers follow the put it up on the flag pole and see who salutes method. I've run across this in all variety of items, I was just surprised to find the relatively recent version was so hard to find. As with most things patience worked and I got it for what I feel is a reasonable price.

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  • 2 weeks later...

From 1997 through 2015 Chaosium did decreasingly smaller print runs for many of their supplements, other than the core rulebook and a few steady sellers. Many titles became Print on Demand where Chaosium would buy them one or two cartons at a time from Lightning Source as the warehouse felt it needed them. 

Edited by Rick Meints

Hope that Helps,
Rick Meints - Chaosium, Inc.

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On 9/9/2017 at 4:11 PM, Rick Meints said:

... I have seen numerous items with incredibly high fixed prices on them, both on Ebay and Amazon. I can't definitively state the reasons the buyer has for doing this, at least not beyond that they hope someone will pay that amount of money...

I've seen the suggestion that incredibly-outsized prices (like, an order of magnitude too large) are sometimes a money-laundering scheme; there may not even be any real product ever shipped (possibly a box with some used/cheap novels or the like, to create the physical trail in the event law enforcement says "srsly?")

I have also seen the admission of stupidity, when someone "mea culpa'ed" on forgetting to put in the decimal place, increasing the final price by TWO orders of magnitude...

 

Edited by g33k

C'es ne pas un .sig

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