I have a Third Printing Brown Box signed by both Gary Gygax and Dave
Arneson. Gary signed it at GenCon in 2003 and Dave signed it at GenCon in 2004. (IIRC). They signed the box and all the booklets seperately (including the reference sheets.) Any idea of the value? Or did I decrease the value getting it signed? Just wondering as I don't intend to sell it.
I also have a First Print Greyhawk signed by both. Any ideas on that as well?

that said though, some DON'T like these kinda things signed and believe it decreases the value.

its all dependant on who/who doesnt want it.

Al

slbyron wrote:I have a Third Printing Brown Box signed by both Gary Gygax and Dave
Arneson. Gary signed it at GenCon in 2003 and Dave signed it at GenCon in 2004. (IIRC). They signed the box and all the booklets seperately (including the reference sheets.) Any idea of the value? Or did I decrease the value getting it signed? Just wondering as I don't intend to sell it.
I also have a First Print Greyhawk signed by both. Any ideas on that as well?

Can you imagine having hall-of-fame NFL stars sign their valuable rookie cards, that WERE (before the signing) worth hundreds of dollars? The signature immediatly makes the card grade much lower. There has been debate over that sort of thing in the sports card collecting hobby for many years and I suspect in Comic book collecting as well. While a game worn jersy autographed with proof (Certified) can increase the value of that jersey by ten times or more.

IMO:  Niether the woodie 3rd print box set or the First Print Greyhawk are likely to go down in value with the autographs. I think Gary's Autograph in the next few months and perhaps for the rest of recorded time will be highly collectbale. But keep this in mind. He was known to be very approachable by folks asking him to autograph things, so it is not as if a GG autograph is rare. By the same token I also do not think those autographs will INCREASE the overall value of those items either. For me, the signatures are almost a non-factor as to collectablity and value on RARE collectables, though I would prefer they were not there at all.

As a collector, if I had a nice (or minty) First print of anything I would not want to have the author (or anyone else) sign it. Not that I do not like having them sign stuff for me, I would rather that signature be on a nice copy of a second or later print. I prefer that all of my First print collectors grade items to be clean, crisp, minty, and free of any writing at all. I do not always get what I want, but many times I do in that regard.

As an aside: I NEVER place my own name or initials on ANY of my D&D Stuff. Everyone who sees my stuff know its mine and my valuable collectors items never leave the house anyway. The other common stuff can easily be replaced and the common items aint worth fighting a friend over and I dont play RPG's with strangers, so whats the point of defacing your stuff?

In the end though, whether autographs make items more or less valuable, is for the CURRENT owner to decide.

The words in this post are my opinions and as such are worth nuttin.....
But then free advice is often worth every cent spent.

serleran wrote:Sentimental value = increase.

Market value = mixed; could increase (some people collect signed items) or it could decrease (damaged item)

Personally, if I had something that was autographed (which I do have some things), I wouldn't care what they were worth, because they are worth more than I could get, or want -- like my OD&D books signed by Gary, in his house, after we'd played a game together. Memories like that aren't for sale.

Well stated.
And the author of this thread stated as much himself.
He will likely never sell either the woodie or the Greyhawk, he was just wondering what they are worth.

Deadlord39 wrote:Signatures tend to devaluate, at least amongst collectors, and those are the ones who would buy it.

I agree with this statement, I personally hate signitures.  Why not have a signed document to go with the item and not mess up the collectable.

killjoy32 wrote:
but then i guess if the person isnt selling it, it doesnt matter wither way though?

:)

Yes you are correct about that :)