White Dwarf Issues 1-6 Original Print Run

Eugene_Goat

Eugene_Goat

Member
Evening everyone,

First 6 copies of the 1st Edition White Dwarf are in the process of going live on ebay over here:

www.ebay.co.uk

Games Workshop - White Dwarf Issue 1 - Original Print | eBay

<p>A rare collectible issue of Games Workshop’s renowned White Dwarf Magazine series - a first print run of issue 1, published in June/July 1977.</p><br /><p>At nearly 50 years old the issue is in remarkably good condition, with the only notable blemish being that on the rear outer cover (see...
www.ebay.co.uk

Happy to answer any questions/provide additional info if desired. More bits going up in the coming days/weeks.
 
Eric

Eric

Administrator
Must admit I'm curious to see where this auction finishes up - £500 at present (but reserve not met).

For comparisons we have recently sold on ebay: a rather wrinkled copy that has seen better days for £140, a decent 2nd reprint copy which went for £310 and a good condition one that went for £990 which I was surprised went for quite that much. Then we have a "buy it now" on at £1400, which I think as we've all discussed before is a bit crazy. I'd have predicted £300-600 if forced to give an estimate, but that £990 has thrown me a bit!

Still on the plus side it's still £300 less than Eugene's Dragon issue #1 is currently at (last sold copy went for £1295) so I can sit happy and whilst I enjoy a good session of D&D as much as the next nerd at least I'm not trying to complete a collection of Dragon magazines :) Still what a treasure trove of old magazines to have unearthed in such good condition.
 
Eugene_Goat

Eugene_Goat

Member
EricF said:
Must admit I'm curious to see where this auction finishes up - £500 at present (but reserve not met).

For comparisons we have recently sold on ebay: a rather wrinkled copy that has seen better days for £140, a decent 2nd reprint copy which went for £310 and a good condition one that went for £990 which I was surprised went for quite that much. Then we have a "buy it now" on at £1400, which I think as we've all discussed before is a bit crazy. I'd have predicted £300-600 if forced to give an estimate, but that £990 has thrown me a bit!

Still on the plus side it's still £300 less than Eugene's Dragon issue #1 is currently at (last sold copy went for £1295) so I can sit happy and whilst I enjoy a good session of D&D as much as the next nerd at least I'm not trying to complete a collection of Dragon magazines :) Still what a treasure trove of old magazines to have unearthed in such good condition.
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It's truly been a very wild voyage of discovery for me - I'm into geeky stuff, but predominantly modern (N64 onwards) video games, so my points of reference when going through a lot of these boxes is limited to "oh hey, I've played one D&D 5e campaign before" and "My pals at school used to read White Dwarf".

The online communities around both worlds (D&D and Warhammer/GW) have been incredibly helpful and interested to help me ascertain the proper value for things. The pieces which I'm most excited to find value for are the 'Owl and Weasel' zines that predate the White Dwarf emergence. I can't find any listings anywhere - There was one guy that managed to sell one on ebay that I found via wayback machine, and I messaged him to query what he sold it for, but he said the listing appeared to be inaccessible on his account as it was from 2007 or something like that!

To your point about the diamond discoveries amongst the collection - There was one particular item in the previous wave of items that I went through and listed which surpassed all my wildest expectations even as a collector's item: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235658386000
 
ManicMan

ManicMan

Member
Second edition UK D&D? yeah.. that would go for alot (I say Second cause.. If i'm right, they first just imported from the US but then, fairly quickly, got the rights to just print there own copies, thus the GW marking.. Making it the first Print run for the UK and it's... well, you can't really tell (unless they used a sticker) that it's a UK imported one or just the US printed and sold..

but yeah, that's pretty up there for what it is.. collectors market vs fans market ^_^
 
Eric

Eric

Administrator
Gosh, even has the original GW logo! Wow that's an amazing price although I don't have a frame of reference for it really! I guess to some extent the quality of these pieces helps a lot - I mean that copy of D&D is about as immaculate as you can get given the age - maybe it's brought out the bigger wallets? Plenty of successful geeks out there!

I must admit I'm equally curious about Owl & Weasel, since it predates my gaming I don't have any attachment to them and given physically what they are I don't have a desire to buy them at what they are probably worth! (unless you only want a couple of quid an issue!) I suppose to some extent that was true when I decided to collect back to issue 1 of White Dwarf myself - whilst interesting I don't have as much attachment to the early issues than those around when I got into the hobby, but I wanted to complete the collection (well 1-200 at least) so indulged. I think I paid about £60 for my copy of issue 1- at the time I thought that was a mad amount of money for a magazine (copies were going for £50-100).

So I think the bits and pieces I "collect" personally really need to have some attachment to my own life (or family's), probably things I wasn't able to buy as a child, etc. for the most part. I guess you'd probably feel similar with a load of mint N64 cartridges! Has to tickle my nostalgia nerves a bit :)

Still I do find it fascinating to see other people's collections and see what some of these things area apparently worth.
 
Eric

Eric

Administrator
Well for the curious who come across the thread in the future now the first set of auctions have ended we have:
  • WD #1 - £850
  • WD #2 - £395
  • WD #3 - £216
  • WD #4 - £180
  • WD #5 - £157
  • WD #6 - £117
Impressive numbers! The WD #1 is more than I thought it would go for to be honest.
 
ManicMan

ManicMan

Member
yikes.. bring in a nice amount but.. outside people collecting for future investment (booo) I can't see why anyone would pay £850 for WD #1.. sure, I've brought some things for.. well, the sake of them but not really anything like that for that much.. it's probably that advert for Gamma world that did it..
 
Eric

Eric

Administrator
Seemed silly to start a fresh thread given the prior pricing was on this one. Tempting ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356607986402

Issue one, reprint. Finishes up on Tuesday, currently at £30 odd quid. You never know you luck! Quite why I half feel tempted to bid despite having a copy of issue 1 I don't know ... must just be the horder in me that is yet to get this month's credit card bill! They actually have the first few issues up for sale all at reasonable prices so far. Anyone want to place bets on where this one will finish up? I think maybe not too high. Anyone going to bid?
 
Eric

Eric

Administrator
£150 and 3 hours to go (13:45 auction end).

The others are all at reasonable (given how silly some of this stuff sells for these days) prices:
  • Issue 2 - £40 (EDIT - sold for £115)
  • Issue 3 - £25 (EDIT - sold for £150)
  • Issue 4 - £30 (EDIT - sold for £100)
  • Issue 5 - £40 (EDIT - sold for £80)
Always interesting I think to see plain auctions for these as it gives a much better idea of what people are really willing to pay. I think issue #1 may well end up going around £250-300 perhaps. Although maybe someone will have a "bargain" and it'll be more around £200.

EDIT - £420 in the end for #1, so I was out by a good margin!
 
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