I love ebay. I noticed something that I've been doing recently is selling off "collectible" versions of my stuff whenever a newer version appears. Mostly games.

Case in point, Sid Sackson's classic game Acquire (which you should start playing right away). While Acquire has seen a dozen different re-releases since its original 1960 release, the without-a-doubt nicest one is the luxurious 1999 Avalon Hill edition. At the time, I had the old 1962 edition. It was perfectly playable but just didn't have the shiny colorful panache of the new one. Thankfully they were going for premium prices on ebay, so I sold my original one on ebay for about $40 and bought the new one for $25, pocketing the difference and getting a better game.

Although the tables have apparently turned. It appears that the 1999 version is no longer in print, so that edition is now fetching a higher premium on ebay than the 1960's version. There's currently a shrinkwrapped one going for $50. I recommend you grab one while you've got a chance here. It's a terrific game, and if you're not playing it you're missing out.

The same thing is now happening with Robo Rally. Avalon Hill just released a new edition of the game, so the original 1995 edition is going for a premium price. Thankfully I had one, so out it goes, and it looks like it'll be going for at least $20 more than you'd pay for the new one.

What's weird, though, is that it looks like the new one is a better game (unlike the new Acquire, which was just the original game with fancier bits). The original RoboRally was fun, but it was written by the guy who made Magic: The Gathering, and it suffers from the same flaws as that game -- the rules are so open-ended and dependent on timing that it requires as much errata as actual rules. Looking at the descriptions, it appears that the rules have been greatly tightened and clarified, so it's a BETTER GAME!

I guess that's what separates me from collectors. I'd rather have a more useful product than one that makes me nostalgic. I've only got a couple of things that would be considered truly "collectible" (namely a 1907 25-volume set of the complete works of Mark Twain and a 1907 12-volume Dresden edition of the complete works of Robert Ingersoll), but the only reason I've got those around is because there's never been a reprint that's as good. Twain gets little 7-volume "complete stories" editions from time to time, and Ingersoll's got recent editions of his more popular stuff, but the only way to get a real complete collection is to go back a hundred years.

And yes, I'm reading 'em. Remember, all I does is reads.