Book Prices...

[Remathilis]

Even the paladin in hell is pretty mediocre. The devils look goofy to say the least.

The macho man mugger is pretty typical of 1e art. Maybe this is what others mean when they say it evokes a story. Why is he on his tip toes? Who knows.

What I love about the thief image is that his arm, if dropped to his side, would hang below his knees. Stretch-Armstrong the mugger FTW!

 

[Storm Raven]

Is a million a lot? Sure.

In relative terms though, it's about a third of one percent of the population.

 

[Storm Raven]

But oh man, were they bound well.
I have a first printing 1E Core books.

You must have gotten a different run than I did. I still have my first set of 1e AD&D core books, but they are nigh-unusable as the binding wore away. I usually had to replace my core 1e books every two years or so. Maybe it was that I was living in Africa at the time and it was really humid, I don't know.

 

[Storm Raven]

I don't know, according to a 2005 CBO report I came across while looking this inflation stuff up the 1979 minimum wage was worth $7.29 2005 dollars. I would think that means minimum wage hasn't increased that much over the years, but I am too tired right now to be thinking about math.

No it hasn't, but the cost of books in relative terms has not either, and that's the point. Yes, you could buy a 1e PHB in 1979 for something like $10-12, and a 4e PHB now costs more like $30-40, but wages have risen along with the price of the books, so the books, in real terms, aren't any more expensive now than they were then.

 

[Storm Raven]

Even the paladin in hell is pretty mediocre. The devils look goofy to say the least.

And who wears their shield like that?

 

[The Little Raven]

wages have risen along with the price of the books, so the books, in real terms, aren't any more expensive now than they were then.

However, wages have not kept up with the cost of living in most parts of the country (rent/mortgage, food, clothing, utilities), which means that while the books may be an equivalent price, you have less money to actually spend on them because of the increased cost of necessities.

 

[Storm Raven]

However, wages have not kept up with the cost of living in most parts of the country (rent/mortgage, food, clothing, utilities), which means that while the books may be an equivalent price, you have less money to actually spend on them because of the increased cost of necessities.

Actually, that's what the price indicator is designed to evaluate. The 1979 minimum wage in 2008 terms is $729. The actual 2008 minimum wage is $6.55, which is very close. It will go up in 2009 (and we will likely have very little inflation in 2009, and possibly even deflation), so in real terms, for a person making minimum wage in 2008, the books are close to being as expensive as they were then, and in 2009, they will likely be exactly as expensive.

 

[Scribble]

One thing I always wonder is with the inflation calculators and stuff do they take into account new costs added into the cost of living? (By this I mean not just costs going up, but entirely new things that didn't exist before.)

Also I think it's interesting thinking about how now D&D has to compete with other sources of entertainment that people either didn't have, or didn't have to spend money on in the past...

So instead of do I spend money on thing X or gaming books... we now have, hrmmm do I spend money on thing X, thing Y, or gaming books?

Doesn't really mean the books are too expensive or anything, just interesting to me.

 

[Remathilis]

One thing I always wonder is with the inflation calculators and stuff do they take into account new costs added into the cost of living? (By this I mean not just costs going up, but entirely new things that didn't exist before.)

Also I think it's interesting thinking about how now D&D has to compete with other sources of entertainment that people either didn't have, or didn't have to spend money on in the past...

So instead of do I spend money on thing X or gaming books... we now have, hrmmm do I spend money on thing X, thing Y, or gaming books?

Doesn't really mean the books are too expensive or anything, just interesting to me.

There is the key...

In 1979 (the year I was born) my parents didn't pay for cable, internet, cell phones, credit cards, GPS units, D&Di subscriptions, etc.

They had a mortgage, car payment, phone service, and utilities. Not all that PLUS what I just mentioned.

Sure, the minimum wage has risen, but not enough to catch the Cost of Living, mostly due to new expenses and some outrageous increases beyond Rate of Annual Inflation (priced private health insurance or college lately?)

Coupled with the loss of critical manufacturing industries (off-sourced good paying jobs) and the rapid growth in personal debt (easy credit cards to 19 year olds) and college loan inflation (often for more than four years for most highly-skilled degrees), you're finding a new generation that is entering adulthood now worse off than their parents; debt-ridden from college, unable to find good-paying entry level positions, and unable to find financing for larger-scale goods (houses & cars) due to the market collapse.

Bah! Talking Economics on my D&D board. What's this world coming to?

 

[Beginning of the End]

You must have gotten a different run than I did. I still have my first set of 1e AD&D core books, but they are nigh-unusable as the binding wore away. I usually had to replace my core 1e books every two years or so. Maybe it was that I was living in Africa at the time and it was really humid, I don't know.

Are you talking about the original versions or the orange-spined reprints? The original spines are practically indestructible. The orange spines were utterly useless.

Actually, that's what the price indicator is designed to evaluate. The 1979 minimum wage in 2008 terms is $729. The actual 2008 minimum wage is $6.55, which is very close.

That's actually not close at all. It's off by more than 10%. 10% may not sound like a lot, but if I told you that you were getting a 10% pay cut, I'm guessing you'd need to re-assess a few things.

I'll also note that CPI is very specifically not a cost of living measurement.