D&D General Help: What to do with physical books?

[dave2008]

Because of recent events I am expediting my move from Ohio to Seattle. And today my partner decided to pack books to give away and move with us. So, what should I give away and what should I take with me? Also, I believe I have digital copies of all my physical books, so I don't exactly need them. However, I definitely prefer to flip through a physical book to pleasure read or look at pictures. Also, what to do with the minis.

EDIT:
I should add that the books and minis will likely have to go into storage for several months, if not longer, until we get our living situation figured out. Also, this may mark the end of my D&D group as we always meet in person and now I will be 2000 miles away. Not sure I will DM again.

This is some, but not all of my collection.

 

[Retreater]

My hierachy:
Books
1) Books with nostalgic, sentimental attachments
2) Core rulebooks for games you actively play
3) Player-facing supplements for games you actively play
4) Core rulebooks for games you're interested in playing
5) And their player-facing supplements
6) Adventures and campaign setting information
7) Other books - with special consideration given to OOP or things you don't have digitally.

Minis
1) Anything you painted that you love (or have other sentimental attachments)
2) What do you use most frequently? (PC minis?)
3) Duplicates (do you have 45 goblins or skeletons? You can probably weed them down to 10)
4) Anything that is easily purchasable again - like if you are using the minis from a cheap D&D Boardgame.

Good luck!

 

[Incenjucar]

1) Welcome to the neighborhood! Make sure to check out Raygun in Capitol Hill and Mox in Ballard.

2) I wouldn't toss anything without at least getting a PDF version of it. Some of the older books actually can sell for quite a bit. Lore- and idea-focused books are more useful than rule-focused books if you don't play old editions, but keep in mind a lot of lore gets copied forward or ends up online.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hey Dave, for miniatures storage when I moved back to San Diego I used a Plano Tackle Box with drawers... I believe this one:

Plano Guide Series Drawer Tackle Box (it was ~$45 iirc): https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/pl...bfABOVPJw3rbTDHJdJzqf8zhXKocZ31AI2LdeiK966kog

 

[Xaos Bob]

My suggestion as a Gen X DM who has given away, sold, and lost plenty of books in my time: Keep it all. If you absolutely can't, keep the books, and frankly, minis are bulky but lightweight, so really, unless your collection is significantly larger than your pictures show, I would just bring them all. You will never regret keeping them.

 

[bedir than]

Keep what you can. Donate the rest to your local libraries.

Then say hello to geek spaces like Logan Brewing, Shane's Cards and Games and the dragon Erasmus in downtown Renton

 

[el-remmen]

Hey Dave, for miniatures storage when I moved back to San Diego I used a Plano Tackle Box with drawers... I believe this one:

Plano Guide Series Drawer Tackle Box (it was ~$45 iirc): https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/pl...bfABOVPJw3rbTDHJdJzqf8zhXKocZ31AI2LdeiK966kog

Not to hijack the thread, but would you mind talking at all about what if anything you used to cushion./hold in place the minis in the tackle box spaces?

 

[Quickleaf]

Not to hijack the thread, but would you mind talking at all about what if anything you used to cushion./hold in place the minis in the tackle box spaces?

I leant it to my nephew, so I can't take a picture, but for those minis I wanted to protect, I used a mix of:

(a) cut out bits of foam that came in my Reaper minis carrying case from the Reaper Bones kickstarter (very similar to that black squishy foam that you used to find in backing lead miniature packages back in the day...pretty sure Games Workshop uses something similar in their cases), and

(b) purple insulating foam sold at Home Depot (often this is sold by the box for 100s of $, but they have cheaper kinds sold by the sheet, sometimes at the end of one of the aisles (depending on the branch), you want the stuff that's slightly soft to the touch (so it won't crumble when cut & can be cut with a box cutter instead of foam hot wire), but won't bend loosey-goosey when held in one hand...as single sheet it should be <$10

 

[J-H]

Please get rid of the box that has the minis in it. It's already crushed and will collapse unless it's top-loaded in your moving truck. Real boxes aren't super expensive at Lowe's/Home Depot/etc. and will survive being stacked 5-6 high much better.
Be sure you pack boxes full to the lid and with no voids in them. This supports all parts of the box and leaves no room for it to collapse inwards or for things to move around and damage other things.

I work for a moving company.

I'd keep the books. They're hard to replace cheaply. If they sit in a box for a year after you get there, and you never care enough to open the box, then you can get rid of them without regret at that time.

 

[dave2008]

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions!

We have 14 boxes of books going to half-price books for donation/resale and about half dozen boxes of books going to Seattle. However, I haven't touched my D&D books or minis yet! I need more time to decide what to do them I think. Thank you again for all of the great ideas.

EDIT:
I should add that the books and minis will likely have to go into storage for several months, if not longer, until we get our living situation figured out. Also, this may mark the end of my D&D group as we always meet in person and now I will be 2000 miles away. Not sure I will DM again.