I understand prioritizing.
In this case though, the hobby is not "Play Dungeons and Dragons," but more broadly, "Play Games," so that the expenditure becomes but one possibility in a myriad of opportunities, each of which must be balanced against the other as to priority, value and desirability. Getting sundry reviews helps to clarify the perception of expected value so as to evaluate the order of priorities.
::::SAID IN COMPLETE JEST:::::
"Mayday! Mayday! We've been shot down! Mayday! May---"
**Heavy Gunfire**
Ennnngggrrrrrrrrooooowwwwww.... BOOM!
Ok, ok, ok,
So I misread the situation.
Ok, so it says (on yer profile) that you mostly play with family.
Is that a parents / kids thing? Or is it a you / your two cousins / and your uncle Bob kind of thing?
If it's all adults, i.e., 2 cousins + Bob, you could theoretically just all pitch in, and spread the cost around.
If not, it sounds like you have a conundrum on your hands.
The problem lies in this premise: one man's trash is another man's treasure. How can you trust reviews that you find on here to begin with?
Before anyone calls me crazy, just hear me out:
I'm not saying that there aren't a ton of good, cool, knowledgeable guys on here that can give you the skinny on any rule system you could name.
Of course there are!
But you sound like you want ROI* data, as if a gaming rulebook could truly be held to such an exacting standard.
Everyone who buys the D&D 5E rules gets something different out of it. Even among those who love it, everyone seems to love it for a different reason.
But even if 1,000 people love it for the exact same reason, that still doesn't mean that it's worth 50 dollars.
It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Even rare, collectible, one-of-a-kind items must adhere to this maxim.
I'm not trying to be snarky, or smart-Alec, I'm just saying, the value of the rulebook is subjective. You say you are curious about the book. Ah, the lure of the unknown! A statement like that tells me that the desirability is high, but you're worried about the value gained in comparison.
The problem is, you can't compare desirability (an ephemeral, subjective trait) to value (a concrete, objective trait.) The only caveat to this is for you to invent a "desirability scale" and assign a numeric value to it, but even then, such a scale is arbitrary.
You could develop a survey, and attempt to find correlations between desire and value, but again, you're in arbitrary limbo there, as well.
But I have one last suggestion! I do not intend to criticize your methodology without offering an alternative! Ha ha
Of the games you play, figure out:
Which one you play the most
Which one you play the least
Which one you spend the most on
Which one you spend the least on
These traits are concrete and measurable, and are not abstract in the least. You play Shadowrun 3 times a month, and D&D twice a month. Those are concrete numbers.
Your D&D collection to-date is worth $400.00 (i.e., the retail cost of all your books adds up to this number.) Your Shadowrun collection is worth $850. Again, concrete, measurable numbers.
If it comes to light that you play one game more than another, then THERE is where your focus should lie. If you want to measure the value of a game, then you have to measure that value using real-world statistics that will support your conclusion. So if you play Shadowrun twice as often as D&D, then just make it a fast rule: out of every 100 dollars you allocate toward your hobby, Shadowrun gets 66 dollars, and D&D gets 34. So it will take longer to save up for the D&D book, but that's ok, because you play Shadowrun more to begin with.
Ok, I am going to shut up now
lol
* = Return On Investment