games for wizards

Hobbit in the park

2010-09-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

I bought this hobbit game off a guy who contacted me through my craigslist posting. I love it. The girls and I have had a great time playing this game all morning. I love that the art work and the game is fun to play. I am going to have to read the hobbit again.

Finding the Hobbit

2010-09-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

This was a great package to open today. This hobbit game is designed around the artwork from the Rankin Bass TV special version of the Hobbit. Even though this isn't the best game to play I love it because of the artwork which I remember from childhood. Now I have to get DVD versions of this animated hobbit and the Rankin Bass Return of the King for my kids to watch. Sadly this is the age where they instantly associate a story with whatever movie version has just come out.

Now that that I have most of the newer harry potter/ Narnia games I am starting to focus more on the Lord of the rings. I am going to try to find most of the Hobbit games before I move on to the true Lord of the Rings. The most important thing when buying older games is that they are 100% complete. I will pick a game from thrift store or garage sale if they are very little money, but not on Ebay or Craigslist. Another Hobbit game was listed, but the ring was missing. The seller put in the ad that any ring would work. For playing that would be true, but for collecting forget about it. Few games have any value if a part or two is missing. The dice can usually be replaced, but when I buy a vintage game I rarely even buy a game without original dice.

New books from my Past

2010-07-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

I had a set of books just like this as a kid. This was probably a pivotal possession in my life. I hated to read until I read these books. I can remember day dreaming constantly about finding the secret door to Narnia. That is why the same reason I enjoy Harry Potter now because I know that there are kids day dreaming about turning 11. Lord of the Rings is a much better story overall, but when I was I kid it always felt like Narnia was right around the corner. I love the art work and wish there was a game that used this art work.

I almost feel bad

2010-07-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

I almost feel bad sometimes when I buy games on Ebay because most of the time the people I am buying them from are either losing money or not making much. This Milton Bradley The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe game is no exception. The sale price was .99 cents and they charged ten dollars for shipping. I think people list items like this thinking that the low price will make them stand out from the other twenty that aren't selling, but it doesn't work. So, I paid Eleven dollars and when the box came the shipping label listed the cost as nine dollars. That leaves the seller two dollars of which Paypal and Ebay took one. They made a buck. Doesn't even seem worth their time, but I always appreciate it when sellers honor these deals. Once and a while they won't send it and never answer your Email because it's not worth their time to pack it up. Some sellers make a couple of extra bucks by shipping games Media Mail or what's often called book rate. This usually makes them a few extra dollars and this is common among the sellers who move lots of different kinds of items. I am happy I got the game I wanted at a price I had been waiting for.

Playing the Duel

2010-07-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

The first new game I have picked up for quite some time is lots of fun for the kids. Even my five year old can play with a little bit of help and rule modification. The duel is the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog. Such a classic moment from lord of the rings. For years I always imagined the Balrog looking like the creature on the cover of the classic AD&D hardback dungeon masters guide until I was twelve or thirteen. That image was replace by watching the animated Lord of the Rings movie over and over with Clash of the Titans as a double feature at the dollar theater.

Prince Caspian: Quest for the Throne

2010-02-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

My kids have finally taken in interest in the Chronicles of Narnia. Both are too young to read and neither showed any interested in the movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but for some reason they both seem to love Prince Caspian. Knowing how into this they have been lately I couldn't pass up a good deal on the Prince Caspian: Quest for the Thrown on Ebay. This is a game I know my kids will be happy to see.

My game for GameCrafter

2010-02-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

I spent a the vast part of today cleaning the house, so while engaged in this mindless enterprise I tried to think of ideas for games to make. If nothing else I hope that knowing the option is their will motivate me to get some poster board and card stock and poster board and try to make a couple some games. My kids would love making their own games, but I don't think they would like to play the game I want to make. I figure I will slap down my idea on here so I wont forget because my memory is terrible.

Martial Law or Race for Power.... I can't come up with a name I like yet, but the idea would be that the game board is of a capital city with all the major infrastructure areas marked. Airport, Military Base, Police station, City hall, post office, fire department, Harbor, etc. their would be four different characters you could start as Police Chief, Politician, Military, Activist, possibly more. Maybe Revolutionary, Tycoon, and the like. Each would have certain resources to start and a goal to win the game maybe hold the Capital building for a certian number of turns. Each area of infrastructure they control would provide them with resources each turn. Some would have a cost, some would generate income. The idea would be to eliminate your players resources while building up your own for an attempt at control. Building a balanced game where every player had a real chance of winning would be the hardest part. I haven't worked on making a game in years. I don't expect I would ever sell the game, but it will be fun to make.

Playing Hogwarts House Cup Challege

2010-02-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

Played House Cup Challenge with my kids today. The game is fairly easy to play and both my kids enjoyed the game even though i had to read all the cards for the five year old. I feel the game could use two things. One more spaces to move through. The fairly large board is only divided into twenty or so spaces. I feel the game spaces could have been smaller to allow for more detailed spaces. It is about half castle spaces and half spaces on the grounds. It doesn't seem to give much incentive to move around much.

The main thing the game is missing is character options. It comes with four character cards and cardboard pieces. I would rather see the game come with character cards for more of the kids. At least a few like Draco, Cho, Cedric, etc. For instance both my kids are girls and both wanted to play Hermione. I took the cards and scanned them so I can make character cards for kids from other houses. I think it odd that the house cup in the story is battled over by kids from different houses, but in this game the Gryiffindor kids compete against each other. I will make cards for other kids and come up with a more active system of them to mess with each other as they try to win the house cup.

A great site in Beta: The Game Crafter

2010-02-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

I had planned to write about playing Hogwarts House Cup Challenge with my kids tonight, but I came across a great new website for aspiring game designers. The site is called The Game Crafter and it allows you to design, publish and sell your own board game. I think most people who really love games have at least tried to make their own game at some time and I know I have made a few when I was younger. I will be honest and admit that mine were not great, but I can remember playing a game that my friend's father and uncle had made together.

The game was simple. Using a few simple rules as you could build your space ship and develop a simple character then explore the galaxy. You land on a planet you draw a card for that planet that tells you what you encounter, what you have to do, and what you can lose or gain. The planets that had the most danger offered the greatest possible reward, safer planets offered cargo that could be delivered easily, but the rewards were minimal. There were a couple possible strategies that a player could take. Build the massive cargo a hauler and become a better merchant, Light and fast for a smuggler, build the destroyer and fight your way through the galaxy. Of all the games we ever played this is one of the games I remember the most. Playing Planet Fall is one of my favorite gaming memories.

I know that some great games will come through this site. The only challenge will be deciding which ones to try out. Hopefully, they will come up with some sort of crowd sourcing/ social networking input that gives shoppers an idea of the playability of these games.

good day at the garage sale

2010-01-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

Great score at a garage sale today. I got this copy of Isaac Asimov's Robots VCR game sealed in plastic for a dollar. When I find games still sealed I always want to keep them, but then I want to play them. Opening them ruins the value so it seems a shame to open it, but then whats the point if I can't play it. So this game will end up on the auction block.

New Ebay listing

2010-01-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

I was quite happy that someone bought my copy of TSR's Broadway game on ebay last week. I wasn't sure anyone would buy it. I listed two Avalon Hill games this week: The stock market Game and GOLD the international investment game. Both are in great shape on the inside and look as if they have barely been played, but I don't know if they will sell. All of the non military Avalon hill games are not as popular as the games like Squad Leader.

I also picked up a copy of the hogwarts house cup for a decent price. I have been trying to get it for less than thirty bucks forever, but everyone was listing them way to high.

Back to my hobbies

2010-01-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Kids, school, holidays have all kept my from my games, but now I see a little down time where I can get back into it. I have listed some auctions on Ebay to put a few bucks in pay pal so I can buy games again. This is the first one I have listed on Ebay along with few non-game related items. I bought some more through craigslist and thrift shops, but I am going to send a list to Troll & Toad to see if they will buy them because they are on their list. T & T is the big game seller on Ebay. They have games I drool over like a big dork. Sad, but true. They have a list on board game geek of all the games they are interested in buying, but this is my first time contacting them. You can find their list here:

http://www.trollandtoad.com/buyingview.php?buylistid=3&associateid=44_22

pay per post claim tag

2010-01-14T18:17:00.000-08:00

Buy a monkey a bucket of chicken and have a barrel of fun with it

Finally, luck at the thirft store

2009-10-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas provided something on almost every trip round the thrift stores either games to keep or games to sell. Rarely do I get a chance to go to a thrift store anymore and if I do I rarely find anything.

A few days ago, I picked up eight games each for a $1.50. I bought three avalon hill games, a couple of traditionaly board games including 10-4 Goodbuddy the CB radio game, and a Mayfair game Robert Lynn Aspins Thieves World Sanctuary Board game. All the games are complete, I checked them at the store before I buy them I always do even in the stores that tell you not to. In vegas I would keep a small knife in my pocket to cut through the packing tape they always use to seal the games.

The last game is the one I am really interested in. I remeber playing the Sanctuary supplement for D&D, but had never seen this one before.

Been a while-- trying to support my game habit

2009-08-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

More than a month since I found any games I wanted, until I found this Narnia game at a local garage sale for two dollars. This is one of the games that was produced by David S. Cook publishers in the Eighties. Kinda of a cheesy game simple roll and move that was easy for my four and seven year old kids to play together.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Trivia Game

2009-07-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Being the huge dork that I am when any of the Harry Potter movies are on TV I have a time not watching. Even though I have the same movie on DVD I will not put it on. All the build up to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has lead to the HP movies being on alot. Lately I have found that I sit with one of my trivia games late at night watching reading questions to see if I know the answer.

I can't wait to see the next movie, but I know it will be in some ways a disapointment. Anyone who is a fan of the books knows how long they get to be and everything non-story line essential has to be left out. The Order has to jump so quickly from scene to scene to include the full story that alot of the fun little details have to be left out. Only a little bit left to wait and I can barely stand it.

Narnia Lion, Witch and Wardrobe game from Neca Games

2009-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

This is my latest game that I have come across. The games is The chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Game; The epic battle between good and evil. The game it self is ok to play with kids and easy to understand. It is cheaply produced using folding cardstock graphic pieces with little black stands to keep the together that fall off all the time.
The game somewhat follows the story line and young fans might enjoy this game, but it is not something you will be playing for years to come. The game is listed for sale on Amazon.com for $39.98 definintly not worth the price. I paid less than ten dollars for the game on Ebay and the seller paid more than that just for shipping. I would recomend savign your money and buying the newer Prince Caspian game.

Harry Potter Triwizard Maze Game

2009-06-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is my latest ebay buy The Harry Potter Triwizard Maze Game based on the end part of the Chamber of Secrets. The seller listed it for 2.50 with six bucks for shipping. I was the only bid so the price was around 8.50. When the game arrived the postage sticker listed the price as around twelve dollars and fifty cents. If you also count the listing fee, final value fee, and paypal fee the seller lost about six bucks selling me this game. For the most part this has been my experience with ebay. Mostly honest buyers and sellers who are easy to deal with.
The game is easy to play enjoyable for both my seven year old and four your old. This is your basic step and repeat board game, which I know some serious gamers don't like, but you can't play serious games with a kid who can't even read yet.
The game is for two-four players and follows the four Triwizard champions through the maze to find the cup at the end the player chooses one of four cup tiles. Three of the possible choices are headstone tiles, and the player doesn't win until the actual cup tile is found. Through out the game the players encounter obstacles and gain resources to help them through. The game is fun and fairly quick maybe an hour if you are ready to play and don't have to explain any rules.

Lord of the rings Two Towers Board Game

2009-05-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Played the game with my two daughters this morning. The game is fun if you are a fan of the story, but as for a game by itself it doesn't hold up. We simply played to finish the game without really worrying about moving the ring back and forth on the little guage. Each player rolls and then adds the speed to the dice roll, but you have to stop at each ring anyway so there is little point to rolling a fourteen when you will only move a few spaces anyway.
Now I am waiting for the Triwizard maze game that I bought on Ebay about a week ago.

Lord of the Rings:Two Towers Board Game by Roseart

2009-05-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

I got a new game in the mail today that I bought on Ebay. To be honest I thought the seller would flake on me because I the auction price was one penny plus about seven bucks for shiping. The seller I bought the Hogwarts game from has gone awol on me and won't answer messages and so far no game. I had to open a paypal dispute and I am sure I will get my money back. Too bad I would rather have the game. I am sure I will find one for a better price in the end anyway. Today an auction closed and I bought a copy of the Harry Potter Triwizard Maze Game plus some books for 2.50 plus about six for shipping.

The Two Towers game was in perfect condition and almost completely unpunched. Your supposed to have the Fellowship of the Ring Game, but I don't so we will see how this works. After a I had all the pieces put together and bagged up I read the set up stuff and put together the towers and the board. The intend way is that as you play you put out pieces of the games board. I can see right now that I am sure we will simply put the whole board together and play towers and all. The towers will not last long if they get taken apart and put together a whole bunch of times. The tabs will tear off from being bent and unbent fairly quickly and of course they don't fit in the box assembled.

Playing with my seven year old and four year old I will have to figure out a good way to simplfy the rules to make the game fun. They could barely wait. Neither of them could keep hands out of the pieces.

Amazon, Ebay, Board Game Geek three options for game buying

2009-05-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

So far I have found that are really only three options for buying games on-line. Ebay, Amazon and Board Game Geek all have ads for new and used games for sale. All have different pro's and con's.

I generally used Ebay for my on-line buying and all of my selling. I have used Ebay for five or six years now and have had very few problems. Almost always the buyer's pay quickly and the sellers ship out pretty quick. The hardest part of buying on Ebay is being home when an auction ends. I never bid on anything until it is just about to sell, I mean minutes, seconds even. Sometimes I worry that if I set a price that I am willing to go to the seller will use a separate account to bid and drive up the price figuring that once you have bid you probably want it enough to bid a little more. This also why I list my auctions Sunday early evening is possible. The best advice for buying games or anything else on ebay is to spend more time searching and less time bidding. Check related auctions that might include the item you want with lot of a few items. These can be a great way to get items that are not properly categorized or keyword tagged. For a while it was easy to buy items that had been misspelled, because they would not come up under normal searches. Ebay has partially fixed this problem.

Amazon has large amounts of duplicate items and can be a great place to find newer items, but rarely has the hard to find stuff. Buying on amazon you must check the shipping very carefully. I belive there are a lot of amazon seller's who only make money on the over priced shipping. You may find that you thought you had a good buy until you saw the shiping charge. I would use Amazon only to buy something I wasn't really willing to wait for a better deal on Ebay. The nice thing about amazon is that if you want something it is usually there for months. Listing is free to sellers so it doesn't matter if a bunch of over priced items that are not going to sell sit there forever. Once you have purchased something however amazon has way better customer service than for a disgruntled buyer than ebay does. Amazon sort of looks at it as if ever seller is part of them, and they will get on you if you sell and a buyer is not happy.

Board Game Geek is the newest place I have started looking to buy games. The upside is that you can find people selling really hard to find stuff and they give really good descriptions of what condition it is in. The downside is that most of these people are into games and will know what a game is worth. The seller I look for is the ebay seller who is selling a game because they happened to pull it out of attic with bunch of ceramic kittens that they also have listed. That is were the best deals are waiting.

Two new finds D-Day and War at Sea

2009-05-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Finding two games at a garage sale in East Texas is nearly a miracle. But I am always on the fence as what to do with games like these. Both War at Sea and D-Day are decent avalon hill games, but I doubt I will ever play them very much if it all. The condition is not good enough that they would sell for much if at all. I have been selling games on ebay to pay for the games I keep and the gas I use driving around looking for them. Mostly I buy games for two or three dollars apiece, so when I find a game like Railbaron and sell it for seventy bucks the money covers the games I want to keep. If I never sold a game the pile would definetly be unmanagable.

I decided to limit my collection when I found myself sorting through piles of games and not being able to find enough places in the house to store them. The hardest part of looking is not buying the games I know I probaby can't sell, but don't really want. Outside of LOTR, HP and CON games there is a few I would love to have but I know I won't find sitting on a thrift store self cause that is just how life is. Someday I would love to have a full set of Talisman and Cosmic Encounters, but I will probably have to fork over the cash. Something I am not good at. A couple of days ago a copy of 2nd edition Talisman with one expansion went for twenty bucks, a fantastic price for such a popular game. I would bet the seller was very disapointed to only get twenty, I know I have seen just the game alone go for forty or fifty.

I have a few of these games that I know I won't play, but are hard to sell. Any game unpunched
game will sell at some point. Even if it's not a real desireable game some one will buy any unpunched unplayed game. These two both have problems with the box. One has torn corners and both have dented tops. I always try to take my games and make them as organized as possible when I check the contents. I buy little plastic ziplocks for a packing supply place on line called U-Line. I get a big variety so that I have just the right size for chits, cards, dice, tokens, etc. Sometimes I even cut just the right size strips of cardboard and make an interior support which will fix the indent in the box of left stcked under light pressure long enough.

Great lord of the rings games for sale now on ebay

2009-05-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Collecting Harry Potter and Narnia games should be much easier than collecting games based on lord of the rings. The Harry Potter games are obviously much newer and there are a lot less games based on the Chronicles of Narnia. My theory is that the main Narnia characters are children and as such have a more limited apeal. My intention is to collect both HP and Narnia before trying to do the the Lord of the Rings games. This is partly because I like to feel as if I can actually finish something and partly because LOTR will cost a chunk of change to get the best games.
This War Of the Rings by SPI games is one I played often as a kid. It plays great as all SPI games do and is one of the most popular LOTR games.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140178347276

Iron Crown Enterprises was more of a roleplaying game company and produced tons of books and modules for there LOTR roleplaying series.
Big in the mid-eighties when this game was produced I.C.E. is still around continuing to make games focusing on roleplaying. There website has many great games for sale and some fun contests for map making and writing.http://www.ironcrown.com/index.php?page=contests/crypt
Although SPI collectors are much more fantical, this game plays much like the spi game using a hex based map and combining a card system with a strategy game though I only played it once or twice. This would be a great first buy.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270382525968

If I could buy one game today as a collector it would be this one. This is the first time I have seen it during my many hours of searching for LOTR games. War of the Ring: The Game Of Middle Earth by Fantasy Games Unlimited. According to the seller the gameplay is based on the game Diplomacy. The Reason That I would be so interested in this game is because of the great art work. It reminds me of the Ralph Bakshi animated Lord Of the Rings movie that we went to see about fifty times at a dollar theater as a double feature with Clash Of the Titans.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220399037233

This Milton Bradley game uses the artwork from the Ralph Bakshi film. MB being such large company there a probably more of these than all of the others combined, but it is also one of the best games for people like me who want games they could play with a younger child. My kids wont be old enough to understand an SPI game for years, but hopefully it wont be long before we can play this around the dinner table on a saturday night, before they have decided dad is to big a dork to hang out with.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270383871439

Harry Potter Rescue at Hogwarts Mattel game

2009-05-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

I just bought a copy of Harry Potter Rescue at Hogwarts on Ebay. There are a few listed and they always seem to be twenty to twenty five dollars. Being as I am interested in collecting as cheaply as possible I used the make best offer feature on Ebay. The price was twenty four dollars. I really didn't think that they would accept my offer of 10 bucks, but I was happy when they counter offered with 11.50. 54% off the orignal price. I always try to haggle, when buying at garage sales, flea markets, whatever. There is nothing to lose by putting the price you want to pay on the table you might get what you want.

Buying at thrift stores you can only haggle once and a while, but I always go on the sale days. Most of the games I have bought and sold have come from thrift stores in Las Vegas, mostly bought on sale. It may not be much money but buying games for 50 to 75% off the thrift store price means they are usually two or three dollars. THe best advice I can give is to encourage the employees to include your itme in a sale if there is anyway possible. For instance, is the sale is fifty percent off electronics and a game has any kind of electric component point that out and ask them to include it.

It seems there are two types of people who sell on Ebay. Ones like me who will list an item for a price I think it will sell for that week and those who list over and over again until they find that one person who is willing ot pay more than most to get it right now. I try to buy from the ones who sell for a good price just to get some cash right now. When buying on Ebay a little patience and effort can really pay off. I have had two of the exact same item same condition in my watch list and one will sell for three times the other one. Sometimes, the game is listed in the wrong catagory. Other times I has the wrong keywords or description. Before buying anything watch a few of them come and go so you know how much to pay.

I can't belive they can't give me a List

2009-04-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

One of my first collecting goals is the list. Trying to establish what I need, what I don't have, what is out there waiting for me to find. So my first step was to write an E-mail to University Games. They made a lot of the early Harry Potter games, so I wanted to start with them. Besides Mattell is a much larger company and I figured getting an actual human response from Mattell would be more difficult. I was right about one not getting an answer from Mattell, but I thought if I got a response they could give me a list. This is what I got.

"Thank you for contacting University Games. Unfortunately we don't have a complete list of all of our Harry Potter games that were produced, since they have been discontinued.Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.Thank you for your interest in University Games!"

Seriously, I mean it's not like I am asking them to dig through dusty archives that have been molding in a damp basement for ninety years. I'm pretty sure most of these games were produced after the year 2000. It should all be on a computer. Click,click boom, there's the list, but it is not to be. I wrote back, but with a different question. I like intruding on people's work day. Sometimes really big corporations, or even better the goverment, has people who's job it is to deal with people like me. It's fun to see if you can get them to help you.

Destination Hogwarts, I'm on board

2009-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for games. Most of my searching comes from either thrift shops in the Las Vegas area or on Ebay. Today I came across a game online thatI don't know how to get. It's called Destination Hogwarts and is made for the UK market by RTL games. The game started as a game about being a cab driver and was made by a woman who went on the TV show Dragon's Den. They blew her off and wouldn't give her the investment money she was looking for. Seemed like the reasonable thing to do. This is exactly the kind of game I am looking for; games made for the UK or Australia. Sometimes they are never released here in the US.

So far I haven't found a way to order it because the website says they only ship inside the UK and Ebay doesn't have any listed. There has to be a way to get the game. So far there are three HP games that I know of, but don't have: Halls Of Hogwarts, Rescue at Hogwarts and Destination Hogwarts. This is a link to the site selling this game. I have written them an email asking if there is way to get the game in the US. http://www.destinationgame.com/?go=shop

This game is listed at 24.99 pounds, which I think is about 38 dollars. The Shipping however is listed at 3.99, but overseas could be pricey if they will even do it.

Just watched The Harry Potter trailer

2009-04-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the movie trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on the Warner Brothers website. I am excited all over again. Every time one of the movies comes out, I end up reading the books again. I always expect Harry, Ron and Hermione to look like they are old enough to have a finished their master's degree rather than like high school students, but so far it's not too bad.

The farther along in the story the movies get, the harder it is to translate from the book to the big screen. The last three books are long. Enjoyable, but long. It goes from an intimate story about three kids to armies and a war. So the movie of Order goes so quickly from scene to scene that is doesn't have enough time to tell the story well. Half-Blood will barely have time to cover half the book, but I still can't wait.

Originally, the WB site said the movie would be out on my birthday, July 17. Now the site says that it will come out on July 15th, which is St. Swithin's day. I know that if it rains for forty days and forty nights, I will watch Harry Potter every night.

Listed And Looking

2009-04-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

I listed two game auctions this week and one has already been bid on.

I remember, when I was a teenager, the How to Host a Murder games had started becoming popular. I think these games were a transition for gamers who felt like they had to do something more grown-up than playing D&D or Call Of Cuthulu (which is a totally awesome game). We played a few, but the ones listed I bought at thrift stores.

Looking at SPI's Revolt in the East made me wish my kids were old enough to play. I loved playing the hex based strategy games when I was a kid, but I think those games were doomed by computer games. Now you can play Civilization and a whole heap of other strategy games on-line. I know that when we got into computers a lot of the face-to-face gaming disappeared. But I will say, from seeing the bidding on Ebay, I guess a lot of gamers are older now and looking back to what we played as kids. Feeling nostalgic.

I must admit I miss it. Living down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere is not conducive to having friends just drop by for a six-hour game of Talisman.

Dork of the Rings

2009-04-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

I am a huge dork. Seriously.

If there was a Dungeons and Dragons Merit badge (which there should be), I would have a whole pile of them.

When I was a kid, I loved to play games: board games, strategy games, and of course, roleplaying games. I think this may have partly come from how much I loved the C.S. Lewis Narnia books when I was in junior high. Oh man, did I want to stumble across the secret door to Narnia. This, I believe, led to playing all of the "let's-pretend-we're-wizards-and-knights" games.

Time passed and many years later I did eventually stop playing D&D. I managed to get jobs, get married and actually have a somewhat normal life. I hadn't thought much about gaming and fantasy books until I read the first Harry Potter book. I quickly read the other two or three that were out at the time, and waited for the rest to be published. I love those books because they remind me of when I (and I hate to admit it) secretly believed that, somewhere in the world, you could actually find the secret passage to Narnia. Little by little this revived my interest in games.
After checking a few thrift stores in Las Vegas, I found that some good games could be had for a pittance on the shabby shelves of my local Goodwill. After checking Ebay, I found that some of the same games could be sold for a tidy profit. This has led to periods where I look for games obsessively.

I buy all kinds of games, but I am really only interested in collecting a few kinds of games. My collector's goal is a complete set of Harry Potter, Narnia, and of course Lord of the Rings board games. I know I will never have time to play endless hours of D&D again, but as my kids get older I may be able to sluff off some of my uberdorkness on them by playing War of the Rings or Mystery at Hogwarts together.

Mostly I intend to write about collecting games, thrift store shopping, and my love for the aforementioned stories.

photos

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Photos

privacy

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Privacy Policy for http://gamesforwizards.blogspot.com/

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contact

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The Best way to contact me is to email me at THEBIGCHAMBERS@YAHOO.COM

disclosure policy

2009-03-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

This policy is valid from 04 February 2010

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I work on this blog because it is fun and I learn am learning things from it. I am writing it because I love games and I am huge Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Narnia fan. For questions about this blog, please contact bigchambers@gmail.com.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions, barter for service, because I am more than happy to sell my soul for a pack of chicklets.

This blog makes a vague attempt at abiding by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. If I somehow how upset anyone they are more than welcome to go suck eggs. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest but would if I could make a buck on it because then I could buy more games to pile up and hoard until the apocalypse when I can sit around in my dug out trench eating stockpiled MRE's keeping watch over the road to my homestead with a pistol grip AK playing "War of the Rings" while I wait for society to rebuild itself and reopen the Pizza Hut.

This disclosure policy has been modified from the one I got at the link below.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org