Collecting of Big Boxes of old RPGs

I unfortunately live in a tiny apartment and physical copy of a game is a luxury that I can't afford, but i loved them…

Just spottet this one on ebay:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Dungeons-Dra…gAAOSw2FVbROVm

looks like a pretty amazing deal…if you live in the US and/or are interested in the old gold box games.

If you are interested I can post other deals I find here. There is actually tons of cool stuff in the US for amazing prices…which for europeans are then doubled due to shipping.
This for example is 50$ + 35$ shipping to europe. Would still be a good deal for the value I guess. (Might want to check with the seller regarding the content, EOTB 1 should come with a map which might be missing)

As mentioned, if you are interested I can post more stuff now and then if I stumble across it…and don't want to buy it myself

Floppy drive required. Would have to dig around for that one!

Heh, well, it really depends on whether you are actually going to use the floppies. I mean we are not in console-land where you need the original cartridge to play.

I would guess that 2/3 of all games on 3 1/2 floppies are broken by now. That's my personal experience at least. No idea whether 5 1/4 are any better. Apparently they are. Never saw an 5 1/4 usb drive though.

So for me its about the boxes and goodies inside…including the floppies, whether they actually work or not.

Yep, so right there. The maps and books.

And play it via a download from somewhere…

All this talk of floppy disks reminds me of the old piracy ads.



Nice to see nothing changed with the industry as Piracy is still rampant.

"Don't copy that Floppy"

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Nice to see nothing changed with the industry as Piracy is still rampant.

Hey, at least pirates are no longer copying floppies. Industry won that one

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
@purpleblob I have that manual from my original big Icewind Dale box. It's quite beautifully presented and in pristine condition although not ring bound like my very worn BG2 one is.

Odd, mine is ring-bound. I guess yours must have fallen victim to different regional distribution.

Now you've got me thinking of checking my copy.

@Drithius
I think you're probably right about that Drith. I checked the bottom of the box and it says "Made in Thailand". Could have been a money saving thing. It also didn't come with the soundtrack either plus the map is only paper not cloth. Still, it's a chunky box which is preserved well and the contents are all in excellent condition. I got it around 2002 or so. Interestingly, it also has a sticker with the "Interplay hints and tips line" on the back. I must get an original of that soundtrack one day…
@Thrasher. Check if you could! Could potentially confirm a theory here on ring bound manuals.

My US made copy is not ring bound. Wish it were, since it sounds like the glue is starting to fade. It cracks when I open it.

You guys go me curious about the manuals, so I checked mine. My manuals for IWD, IWD II and BG 2 are all ring bound. IWD II and BG 2 are collector's editions though, and I think those were all ring bound manuals. My manuals for BG 1 and PST aren't ring bound, but I'm not sure if either of those games ever had a ring bound version. I'm pretty sure BG didn't because my big box copy is an original release.

My manuals for Fallout 1&2 are also ring bound.

And since you made me dig out that storage container, I had to snap a few extra pics. I apologize in advance for my shitty photography skills.

Strange. The maps in IWD is paper not cloth. It's also not collector's edition.

I wonder if I have a Thai copy impersonating a US product. hmmmmm..

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Strange. The maps in IWD is paper not cloth. It's also not collector's edition.

I wonder if I have a Thai copy impersonating a US product. hmmmmm..

Guess it might just a re-release or maybe even just a release for a different brand.

In the US: Don't they even make different versions for chains like Walmart?

Just go to Tokyo; you can find just about any game that originally came in a big box sitting on the shelf in a big box… was rather amazed myself… though the prices was ridiculously high for a lot of stuff like diablo 1 and total whackem.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Strange. The maps in IWD is paper not cloth. It's also not collector's edition.

I wonder if I have a Thai copy impersonating a US product. hmmmmm..

The map I have for IWD is paper. The map for IWD II (CE) is cloth. I don't think IWD ever had a cloth map unless perhaps it was in the CE, but I don't remember if IWD even had a CE.

By the time the Infinity Engine games were getting released, we weren't usually getting cloth maps in non-CE boxes.

More big box goodness…

I'm pretty sure I have that spiral bound fallout manual somewhere - the brown one. I also have one for one of the bg and maybe iwd. I didn't buy these my sister sent them to me and more early 2000's (3? 4?); when she grew up and stop gaming. Sadly I never grew up.

Originally Posted by JDR13
You guys go me curious about the manuals, so I checked mine. My manuals for IWD, IWD II and BG 2 are all ring bound. IWD II and BG 2 are collector's editions though, and I think those were all ring bound manuals. My manuals for BG 1 and PST aren't ring bound, but I'm not sure if either of those games ever had a ring bound version. I'm pretty sure BG didn't because my big box copy is an original release.

My manuals for Fallout 1&2 are also ring bound.

Strange, my Thief and Thief 2 games came in a plain CD casing, only the name was printed in black and white on a slip of paper…