Entry 23: Secondary Markets... Good or Bad?

To buy or not to buy a used game, that is it the question! 

        Most of my articles I write for this blog is due to an experience that either moved me in a good or bad way. This week the blog is because of a bad experience that I had that I want to discuss and also talk about the good side that still outweighs this one bad one. 

Game Swaps 

        A little background into our experience with secondary markets and gaming; it is because of the quarterly game swap that used to be held before Covid struck and shut everything down that really helped kicked off our love of collecting and playing board games. At the game swap we could purchase new and used games. The used games we could open and inspect them to make sure all the part and pieces were there and that the quality of it was worth the asking (or negotiated) price. This is a great way to buy games because if something doesn’t meet your standard you can pass on it. 

        Oh Boy, do we miss our game swaps. We hope that the organizer will want to start them again soon but we understand if he doesn’t. (side note… he cancelled the last one he scheduled because it was the start of the Covid outbreak and he predicted that it would get really bad; he was right but a handful of people got really nasty towards him for doing what was the right thing to do). 

Local Facebook Groups 

        Another way that we have acquired games is through a local board game buy and sell group. The good is that most of the time prices are negotiable especially if you get a packaged deal of multiple games. Another positive of it is that when meeting the person to pick up the games if you notice something wrong you can always back out of it. The listing typically includes picture of the conditions of the games. In our most recent purchase, it included Teotihuacan and the expansion. The seller was upfront about the damage to the bottom of the expansion box (which was still sealed in shrink wrap) and wanted to make sure that was not a problem. It wasn’t. 

        A bad from this group was that we picked up a handful of games from one seller and was able to get a pretty good price on the bundle. However, the condition of the oldest game was not exactly in the condition mentioned but since Shadows Over Camelot has been long out-of-print and with the discount we got, we decided that we would live with it. 

        Overall using this method is good because as the buyer we have control over what we get.

Yard/Garage/Estate Sales 

        Sometimes if you go to any of these types of sales you can find a good deal on games. We have been able to find a few games that way that struck our fancy but most of the time you will find games that are mass produced such as Sorry! or Monopoly. 

Secondhand Stores 

        As like above, most of the time you will find more of the mass produced games. However, from time to time you can find some of the higher priced and rarer games. Often you will not be able to open the boxes to check if everything is there and the actual condition inside may be unknown but at a small fraction of the price (usually ranging from $1.00 to $10.00) it is often worth taking the chance; if it wasn’t what you thought it would be at least you are only out a few dollars. 

        On the Board Game Geek (BGG) Facebook page, you will often see people posting the lucky finds from secondhand stores. We have been lucky to find a few games that have been great finds. For me, the most memorable was finding a 1st edition of Escape: The Curse of the Jungle by Queen Games for only $2.00. We took it home and opened it up to find that it was unpunched. 

eBay 

        Now to get to the real reason this blog article was written. We most recently had a really bad experience with purchasing a used (again a long OOP game). More to follow in a moment. 

        Most of our eBay game purchases have been really good. We have found some hard to find games, accessories, and expansions, some of which have even travelled from Europe to get to us. The good includes the fact there is some buyer protection in case something goes wrong or the package gets lost. 

        

        Now for the good & bad aspect of buying on eBay. Photos provided by the seller usually will show the condition of the items pretty good as well as more detailed description in the listing. However, pictures do not always tell the proper story about the condition of the item(s). 

        We recently purchased a copy of The Settlers of Zarahelma which has not been in print for many years. We knew that the box condition was well used and torn up but the contents from what the pictures showed were in better condition. The seller had a “buy it now” price and a “make offer” option to the listing. I put in an offer for half of the “buy it now” price which was way below the average price of other listings of the game in similar condition. 

         The seller took it and shipped it right away. Less than a week later we get the game and open it up to find out that the game was in complete disarray. The board in the pictures looked to be in decent shape but when you open it up it almost split apart and the other pieces were in much worse condition than anticipated. No wonder the seller took such a low-ball offer. 

        I apologized to my wife for such a boneheaded move and she told me that sometimes it happens and she gave me permission to purchase another copy that was much more expensive but is an unpunched open box copy. We should be getting it in this week. The poor condition copy is going to be my daughters copy that she can play with while we play the game with the good one. 

To buy or not to buy 

        Sometimes if there is a game that you really want to get, like the out of print 1990s Key to the Kingdom, buying on the secondary market is the only way to go. The prices may be more than expected since they are a “gem” of a find but if you get a copy in good condition, the memories that come back are worth the price (just ask my sister). 

        For games that are newer and are still in print, the secondary market may work best for you if it is a game you want to try out but not at full price. Other games, such a limited editions or Kickstarter versions, you may or may not find new or used copies at prices that may or may not be at original release prices.

        Just remember that through all of this, use caution, trust your instincts, and make sure you will be okay if things might not meet your expectations. Good luck and happy hunting!

Entry 22: Timeline (teaching young and old)

        This week my daughter had grabbed two of her HABA games from of the shelf because it was her “turn” to pick a game to play. We decided that neither of the two she selected she would be ready to learn as of yet, so we grabbed another that we know she likes. As we were helping her play Here Fishy Fishy! and seeing her joy from playing the game correctly, it got me thinking about other games that teach. 

        Now I am not talking about trivia games that benefit you for having excellent “useless” knowledge stuck in your head beforehand; I am talking about games that even if you don’t know something precise, your best guess can still help you win. 

        The website Geek Gear Galore had put out an article in 2019 that discussed what they called the 18 best educational games. They broke it down into 4 categories in which I will pick from each of them games to discuss and then I will conclude with the games I picked that fits into the overall topic. 

Reading, Phonics and Vocabulary 

        For this category two games actually stood out to me more than the others. The first being Boggle Jr. and the second being Tall Tales. The first for younger kids and the second for all the talkers in the family (young and old). 

        Boggle Jr. helps children to learn to spell simple 3 or 4 letter words. You put a card into the holder which covers the spelling and then the child must find the letters on the dice and put them into the tray to spell the word. At the time of this posting, Amazon should have our copy out for delivery so my daughter can play. Non-Parker Brothers versions of the game is called Matching Letter which are the same price as Boggle Jr. 

        Tall Tales is a story telling game in which you draw one of the 24 story cards that has a picture of a scene on it and then draw from a bag of 50 game pieces items to add to your own story. There is no scoring in the game and each story will be based on each person’s own imagination. This game does have a small expansion to it that adds 14 people and four additional story cards. 

Geography 

        Ticket to Ride is the game that made the list and since most people are familiar with the game the only thing I can say is that there is a Ticket to Ride First Journey game that is geared to those a little younger and the various expansions to the main games add more country maps to help people learn more about a country or region. 

Mathematics and Money Management 

        Monopoly made the list which is a game that can be fun for young and old and does the principles of mathematics and money management. Not much more to say about this game since most gamers and non-gamers recognize this game.

        The all the other games that made this category is by a company called Learning Resources and from what I quickly searched about them is that most of their products (more than just games) are geared towards teachers in a school setting covering a lot of school subjects too. 

Strategy & Problem Solving 

        Chess and Catan made the list for this category. Both of these are great games in their own right. Let me explain a bit more for each. 

        Chess is a well-known worldwide game that has been around for centuries. It is a game in which you have a targeted goal (get the King) and various pieces (each type has its own movement) to help you achieve your goal. Chess is a game in which as you get better at it, you can plan moves in advance before executing them as well as anticipating what your opponent may or may not do as well. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, you use your problem solving skills to get out of the jam (unless you are in a checkmate). 

        This is a timeless classic which both young and old can enjoy together. I may not be a chess master, but I do enjoy playing it win or lose. 

        Catan (Settlers of Catan) is a staple game for everyone’s modern board game collection. A game build around an island in which you need to build villages, gain resources, expand, and more. It is a great learning game and as the author of the article pointed out, there are 143 different ways you can get the 10 point needed to win the game. If you don’t know Catan yet, I would highly recommend that you look into it. It is an excellent gateway game into the wonderful world of board games. 

My Picks 

        Take Off! is a long out-of-print (OOP) game in which I had found it at a neat game store in downtown Seattle 20+ years ago. It is a fun geography game in which you fly your airplanes (players decide how many to use) across the globe via specific routes from Hawaii to Hawaii, travelling west. You roll colored dice and decide along which route your plane with go. Information cards and flags are also shown for all the countries of the world. 

        It is a great game that teaches strategy and geography. I wish that the game was still being made with all the changes to the countries of the world but I still have my copy of the game and I will tach my daughter it when she is a little older (with telling her this is how the world look when her daddy was growing up). 

        Timeline is a series of games that can be combined together which you have a certain amount of cards in your hand and in order to win you must place the cards into the proper place in the timeline, if you are wrong in the timeline you take another card. What I like about the game is that is covers various subjects and if you don’t know something, you will get the chance to learn a little about it. 

Do we have to learn?? 

        You know that each time I play a game, I learn something new. Whether it is new rules (or corrected ones), new concepts, or new strategies, I feel that if you don’t pick up on something each time you play you are missing out. 

        I truly believe that after you die the one thing that you take with you into the afterlife is knowledge; that is earth’s truest riches. What you learn down here is taken with you into the heavens. So does that mean heaven has board games??? I sure as heck hope so. I bet you there are games up there being played that those here on earth haven’t even conceptualized yet and are being beta-tested by the great people who once lived here.

....even "Angels" play chess.

Entry 21: Physical vs. Digital Board Games

        This will be a shorter post since we just returned home from being away for the July 4th holiday and also my wife and I got the Covid vaccine this week and are recovering from that, so my energy level is drained. Now to get to the meat of the topic… 

        In this world where, according to one site, nearly 50% of all people have a smartphone which people have access to applications galore. Mobile gaming has taken over app stores which daily new games are available; This includes the digitizing of board games. 

        I admit that I have paid the fees to download some of the games that I really love so that I could play whenever I have some downtime away from home. Digital board games are also found via various programs such as Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator and various websites offer excellent digital versions of games as well (Boardgamearena.com and even DaysofWonder.com). 

        Board games have also made it gaming consoles with titles like the Hasbro Family Fun Pack / Family Game Night series. Sometimes it can be fun to play these if you have the right group with you and want to play games from yester-year. 

        The guys at ThunderGryph Games in their most recent Twitch broadcast had talked about how if the games are done right and does not take away from the beauty and the actual gameplay that they are for having all their games digitized. I do have to say that if all the games from them go to Board Game Arena and plays (meaning how user-friendly it is) like Iwari does on there, I am all for it too. 

        The big question for me, does playing games online take away from physical game playing? When I have a few moments and I want to play with others across the globe, I will log on and play a game or two. I do not count these towards our daily game play because the whole point of playing physical games is the face-to-face human interaction. Do I have a preference between the two? Heck yeah, pull up a chair and set up the board; time to play some cards, tiles, and/or throw some dice. 

        The news agency, Deutsche Welle, reported earlier this year that 2020 revenue from board games and puzzles had increased by 22% and 20% respectively over 2019 for the company Ravensburger. One of the reasons was that people wanted to do a “digital detox” and remove themselves from technology.

        The article also stated that “evergreen” (older games that are still in print) sales increased dramatically as well because older generations were going back to things that are familiar to them. About the younger generations, Hermann Hutter stated that “Previously, children played board games till the age of 12; now more of them are going digital when they're about 8 years old. They come back to board games, though, at around 15.” 

        I was told once that across the street from a local high school there is a café or coffee shop that also has a board game collection in which the students would patronize and sit to play games after school or during their lunch breaks. I am glad to see that the younger generations are enjoying the things that we did in the pre-digital/mass media era. 

        As I have stated numerous times before, one of my biggest enjoyment with playing board games is the social human face-to-face interactions. Being able to “digital detox” for a few hours is quite refreshing.

Entry 20: KS Good campaigns, BAD campaigns

      

        For the most part we have had great successes with the Kickstarter campaigns we have backed. What I would like to do is review briefly some of the things that we have like and some things that we haven’t liked about various campaigns. Mind you that the COVID pandemic did affect ALL aspects of the process which caused delays in manufacturing and shipping but the praises and gripes take into account that. 

Two Praises 

        The biggest praise for 90% of all the campaigns is the open communication and (typically) monthly updates that are provided. ThunderGryph Games is an excellent example for me as to having GREAT communication throughout their campaigns. During Tang Garden with all the delays in production, shipping, etc. etc., I felt that they did a good job with keeping us updated on progress. 

        Yes, sometimes it was a bit slow but I totally understood that this was the company’s biggest and most complex project to date and that the delays were needed in order to bring forth the best product they could. They were not going to settle for fast and cheap in order to get the game released, they settled for a production that would last for 100s of plays. All of this is part of the second praise, quality over quantity.

        Most of the companies, often through stretch goals, plan for component upgrades that will make game components such as cards, player boards, and game pieces higher quality from just the basic production level. One game in particular that just blew me away was MYRACLIA. 

        MYRACLIA had just under 400 backers, reached 5 stretch goals (a sixth was known but not reached plus others unknown to us), and raised just shy of $18K USD. Part of the process of production was delayed and we got the game just a few months after the estimated delivery date because Rudy (the creator and publisher) had spent extra time giving us the last announced stretch goal that we did not make, unique artwork for each tile, and had upgraded some of the other components to make the game higher quality and better designed. These added extras solidified our choice to continue to back his next project which just completed the funding period a few weeks ago. 

 Disaster Avoided 

        I do want to mention something that happened to a game (not naming it) that could have resulted in something drastic and potentially could have put a full stop on the game but the company bounced back to keep the project rolling. 

        Again, it is a small company and because of the COVID crisis they had to cut their staff in half from four to two people. The project was not halted because of this but the next thing that happened to them could have delayed the project by a long time. The artist who was hired to paint all the artwork left an incomplete project but was paid in full so a new artist had to be found to finish the work in the style of the original artist. I wish I could say that this was it but there is something else too. 

        The manufacturing company who they used for a previous project was sending sub-par samples that were full of errors and not meeting the standards for the project and from what it sounded like they did not want to correct their mistakes. At the time of the last update they found a new manufacturer and was signing the production contract. 

        I applaud this company for sticking with the project and doing what they can to keep their dreams and passion for board games alive. 

        I have heard a few stories from other backers that had the unfortunate experience in which the project funds were essentially stolen by the project creators and the backers got nothing. In another instance, the company went bankrupt and aa different company had to pick up the pieces and complete a project. 

Bad Campaigns 

        This section I will discuss two campaigns that have totally made us not want to back the companies again. One of them my wife and I did back the expansion to the game (details coming) and the other one we decided not to back the follow up game and will probably not back or purchase anything else from them. 

        Let’s dive into the game that we did back the expansion and the reasons behind our feelings towards the company. In all, and I do mean all, of the previous Kickstarter campaigns we backed and the campaigns since this one I am talking about, if a person wanted to make a pledge and then double that pledge level to get a second copy of the game the creators had no issues with it and gladly took our money because they wanted to ensure that the game got funded and that stretch goals could be met. 

        We decided that we would like to pick up three copies of the game in order to keep one and gift two to our mothers for mothers day and/or birthday. Fast forward to when the pledge manager opened and we wanted to make sure that we got the three copies of the Kickstarter version (upgraded components from retail). I go to fill out the form and it would only let me add one copy of the game and the additional funds was going to be a “donation.” Umm… NOPE! 

         Nowhere in the campaign page said that you are limited to one copy of the game unless you did the retail store pledge. That got me wondering how many other people had pledged to get additional copies only to be told “thanks for the additional donation.” It took almost a dozen emails back and forth for them to refund me the additional funds that we backed (it almost got to the point where we were going to report them to Kickstarter for the shady practice). 

        Long story short, we got the one copy and pledged for one copy of the expansion even though my mother loves the game and still wants a copy of her own. In the expansion pledge they did say in the shipping section that “each additional copy adds $3 shipping.” We only pledged for one copy because the expansion does what my mom wished the game would have done to begin with. 

        Now for this other campaign. After talking it over with my wife, I backed the campaign for the expansion of a game which also had the pledge level that was for the Deluxe edition of the base game as well. Yes, COVID did cause some issues but we don’t take into account for that because it is not an isolated problem but had global implications. The major issues with this campaign was the lack of regular communication, the “beat around the bush” and/or non-responses to legit questions from backers, and wait for it….. they UNDER PRODUCED the amount that they sold. 

        Not even half the backers got their orders and the rest of us are still waiting for answers and the company is being non-responsive yet again. They have said over and over the past 6 months that the additional copies are coming and will be shipping in a few weeks. Well, those of us who are still waiting from what I have read online in the campaign comments and on various FB pages did NOT back the follow-up 2 player version of the game since we have no product to even see if we like the game play.

        How could a company under produce what people pre-paid for? How did they not look at all the numbers before submitting the quantity to the manufacturer. Here is what I am thinking they are doing….to attempt to “fix” this huge mess, they started the next campaign to pay for the mistake on this one. It is only going to be a “trickle-down effect” to all the future backers of their games. If nothing gets resolved soon with this campaign, I will join the hundreds of others and request our money back. And you better believe that we will never back another project or directly support the creators again. If any of their future games wind up at a thrift store for five dollars or less brand new, I might look into it but until then I will keep my “tea seeping in my own cup.” 

What’s Next? 

        With every Kickstarter project there is a learning curve for the backers. You learn from experience who to back and who to not back in the future based on how you were treated and how good the project turned out. 

        I know of a lot of people that were disappointed in how long Tang Garden took to get our hands on it but with the beauty of the game and the quality of the components the ill feelings subsided and from what I can tell, most (not all) of us are still on Team ThunderGryph and have continued to back the rest of their games. Heck, I am not sure exactly how much my wife and I have spent supporting ThunderGryph Games because we have purchased and given away as gifts a lot of their games. In my family alone we own 4 copies of Tang Garden Kickstarter editions (we own three and my sister now has her own copy). 

        In future posts I am sure I will be discussing more games we got from Kickstarter and what we liked and don’t like about it. The best advice I can give you when it comes to backing any project is to check out previous projects and read the updates to get a sense of how well the backers reacted to them. If it is a new company or a smaller one, trust your gut. I am glad I did with MYRACLIA and I will continue to support Rudy on his projects. 

        Taking a quote from the infamous Red Green… “Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together.”