Book Prices...

[Mallus]

Some of the stuff in the 1e PHB is fantastic.

The operative word in this sentence is 'some'.

 

[Mistwell]

I thought $20 was expensive back in 1979, I still do.

I think how much that $20 is valued depends on how much a person values the work they did to earn that $20.

People still work 5 hours to take $20 home. Maybe 6 hours, depending on taxes, medical, etc...

So to take a $40 book home they may have had to work 12 hours or more to afford it.

So I still think it costs a lot, even at $20.

That little is called minimum wage, and there are apparently a lot of people making that little in the US.

In 2009 minimum wage will eventually be $7.25/hr (it's already $8/hr where I live). And if you make minimum wage, you pay no Fed taxes. So, your numbers are off. You are talking about around 3 hours of work for $20.

 

[Storminator]

Originally Posted by Treebore
That little is called minimum wage, and there are apparently a lot of people making that little in the US.

Yup. About a million people.

PS

 

[Crazy Jerome]

For perception of cost, I think the "threshold" is more important than the inflation. As others have said, it matters what you can afford (or think you can afford). Circa 1980, when I got the 1st ed. AD&D PHB, MM, and DMG as gifts, you could get them from the Sears catalog for $10 ($12 for DMG). For my parents, living within 10 miles of work, $10 was a month of gasoline, even driving an old gas guzzler. I didn't play Runequest or other things that interested me--because I could afford one gaming system.

I don't remember what I paid for the 1st ed. Fantasy Hero in 1986, but it was equally hefty for the time, and I didn't blink, despite being in college, and having to live off what I made in the summer. A threshold got crossed. I couldn't just buy every book in the store, but if I really wanted a game, I could get it. I do remember that I bought a computer game for $55, that was pushing it as bad as that $12 for the DMG was earlier.

The clearest example of perception of value that I have lived, however, has been with food. I lived in Connecticut for two years in the early 90's. This was a shock for someone from the South. My wife and I enjoy eating out. In Connecticut, due to no tax on food, but high cost of living for everyone preparing the food, there was a huge jump in what we were paying before we moved, for essentially the same quality of preparation and service. But in Connecticut, you got a lot more food. It simply wasn't economical to sell what we considered a "normal" portion. (Big portions have long since become nationwide, but at the time it was a shock.) As $/unit of equivalent food, CT and AL were roughly equal. If you wanted lots of food, CT was superior. If you wanted less, AL was superior. (If you wanted good BBQ, there was no comparison ... but I digress. )

If you could make the three core 4E gaming books, with half of the most popular/important content in each, and sell it for half price, you'd sell them like hot-cakes, and a lot of lower income people wouldn't have their threshold passed. Unfortunately, such books would need to be a lot more than half price to be profitable.

 

[Tewligan]

I IIRC (and admittedly my recollection is sketchy), I paid $12 for most of the books, with the DMG being an exception at $15. Most modules were priced around $5-6 at the time.

These were 1982 prices.

Those are the prices I remember as well.

 

[Treebore]

In 2009 minimum wage will eventually be $7.25/hr (it's already $8/hr where I live). And if you make minimum wage, you pay no Fed taxes. So, your numbers are off. You are talking about around 3 hours of work for $20.

Nope, my numbers are not off. My numbers are based on what the government has minimum wage set at and how many people they say earn only minimum wage. Your minimum wage is very possibly set by your state, there are a number of states that set a minimum wage higher than what the federal government does, and those states data are what is used to disprove the argument that a higher wage would cost jobs and loss of business. Data from states with higher minimum wages show lower unemployment and faster growth of small business when compared to states that follow the federal governments minimum wage.

Plus everyone pays sales tax, property tax, and they still pay into social security tax. So my numbers are not exact, but they are close, or at least better be because I got them from a US government website.

So my numbers are good for the years I mentioned, 1979, 2005, and 2007.

 

[Treebore]

Yup. About a million people.

PS

According to the US government its closer to 10 million people. I use Google and look up my facts as I type them.

 

[Monkey Boy]

They were much more expensive. You paid more, in raw dollars, for fewer pages and poorer art.

One thing to consider is that they were printed in the U.S.A. and not shipped in from China. I imagine this would have a significant impact on price.

*Edit - I have a faulty memory. They are printed in the U.S.A.

Saying poorer art is subjective. I really like the style of the 1e Trampier and Sutherland art. A lot of 4e art doesn't do it for me. Especially the recycled pieces. I take your point that the artists used for 1e would have cost a lot less than the art budget for 4e.

 

[JeffB]

I don't remember my 1e books costing that much.

IIRC (and admittedly my recollection is sketchy), I paid $12 for most of the books, with the DMG being an exception at $15. Most modules were priced around $5-6 at the time.

These were 1982 prices.

Walt C

Yup- and the basic and later boxed sets, as well as games like GAmma World. Dawn Patrol, Top Secret, Boot Hill, Gangbusters, etc were $12.00 . I think I bought my OCE (white box) for around $10 and supps 1-3 for $6 each in the late 70s.

 

[Center-of-All]

What makes you think the 4E books were shipped in from China? I vaguely recall Rouse stating they were printed in the USA.