Owning multiple copies of RPG books

[Treebore]

I own multiple copies of several RPG's, but this is because my family games, wife and 3 children. So the ones we tend to play a lot we own multiple copies of. Plus I own 3 copies of a lot of RPG materieals because I had the money to spare at the time and I fully expect my 3 kids to be life long gamers, so bought these items for them to inherit down the road.

So I own multiple copies of a lot, actually. The ones I own the most copies of are:

Castles and Crusades Players Handbook, 17 copies. At least one copy of each printing, with as many as 5 of one printing (second printing).

Castles and Crusades Monsters and Treasures, 5 copies.

3.5 D&D Players handbook, 3 copies, and one of 3.0.

Legend of the 5 Rings 3E core rule book, 4 copies.

Legend of the 5 Rings 4E core book, 2 copies.

Mongoose Traveller Core rule book, 2 copies.

Classic Traveller, 3 copies.

Mega Traveller, 3 copies.

Star Wars Saga, 2 copies.

Arduin, 1 copy of each version, except the newest.

Plus lots more, especially modules/boxed sets, of which I often have 3 copies.

Edit: Now that I have more time...

3 HC copies of Aces and Eights, 1 soft cover.

Twilight 2013, 2 copies. Plus PDF.

2E D&D Players Handbook, 5 copies, 2 originals, 3 of the newer printings.
2E D&D DMG, 3 copies.
2E HC Monster Manual, 3 copies. 2 copies of several of the smaller soft cover "addendums".

1E AD&D PH, 3 copies.
1E AD&D DMG, 2 copies.
Unearthed Arcana, 2 copies
Fiend Folio 2 copies


Part of the reason I have not bought multiple copies in the last year or so are because of PDF's. Now I usually get/buy the PDF along with the rule books, like in the case of Mongoose, they are part of the "Bits and Mortar" program, so I will buy the book at the game store and get the PDF for free. So when something comes into play that having more than one copy at the table will help with, I just print out booklets of the needed tables, rules, etc...

 

[was]

I usually never buy more than 1 copy of any book. The exceptions is my 2nd ed. phb which is falling apart. I found a copy in good condition for $5 at a garage sale and couldn't pass it up.

 

[RedTonic]

I've accidentally acquired multiples, but aside from getting some .pdfs of my hard copy books, I've never done it intentionally. I have 3 3.x PHBs, 2 3e DMGs, 2 Unearthed Arcanas, and 2 Complete Mages. Woops! One of the 3e DMGs was a mix-up at a tabletop game I used to attend, but we could never figure out who had wound up with my 3.5e DMG in exchange.

 

[Crothian]

I have a couple copies of most of the 1e D&D books.

I have about 6 copies of the old Rules Cyclopedia.

I have anywhere from 2-7 copies of most of the Changeling the Dreaming book and 2-3 copies of each of the Changeling the Lost. Of those I have signed and unsigned copies and when I was buying the CtD book I got many lots on Ebay that included duplicates of books I already had.

I have 5 copies of the old Thieves World Box set and 4 complete collections of everything Thieves World Green Ronin put out. I love Thieves World.

I used to have a lot more duplicates but I've traded them or gave them away.

 

[Treebore]

I have a couple copies of most of the 1e D&D books.

I have about 6 copies of the old Rules Cyclopedia.

I have anywhere from 2-7 copies of most of the Changeling the Dreaming book and 2-3 copies of each of the Changeling the Lost. Of those I have signed and unsigned copies and when I was buying the CtD book I got many lots on Ebay that included duplicates of books I already had.

I have 5 copies of the old Thieves World Box set and 4 complete collections of everything Thieves World Green Ronin put out. I love Thieves World.

I used to have a lot more duplicates but I've traded them or gave them away.

Yeah, when GR put that whole set on sale inside that slip case for, what was it, $10? I bought a couple myself.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I have multiple copies of a few things... Mostly Player's Handbooks of various editions of D&D, but also the core book for RIFTS, Palladium Fantasy 2nd ed., GURPS 4e, Dark Conspiracy, Shadowrun 2e... And a couple of other ones, that I can't recall at the moment.

 

[karlindel]

I currently have extra copies of:
D&D 3.5 PHB
Fading Suns 1e Core Rulebook (only 1 copy of the Revised Edition)
Shadowrun 3e Core Rulebook

I used to have more copies of several D&D books (including two more 3.5 PHBs from when I used to GM it regularly), but I sold most of my spares off awhile back. The remaining spare books are still around because one of the copies is in poor condition, so the one in that condition wouldn't sell for enough to be worth the effort, and I want to keep the one that's in good condition.

I also purchased an extra copy of the Limited Edition Far West kickstarter, as I expect I will enjoy it and want to make sure I will have one that remains in good condition and the other that I will use to run the game.

I will sometimes purchase extra copies of a core rulebook if I end up running the game often enough that the extra copies would be useful. I don't have a second copy of the D&D 4e PHB mainly because many of my 4e players used the character builder, and so I didn't need them.

 

[kitsune9]

I own two sets of the 4e Core Rules (one I bought, and one that was given to me by a friend), and a Chinese language version of the Core Rules. I don't think I have duplicates in others; however, if I was able to really collect, yes, I would buy more than one copy.

 

[M.L. Martin]

I own multiple copies of several key Ravenloft products, but all the secondary copies (and several of the prime copies ) were purchased secondhand and cheap. They include:

Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set (picked up an incomplete 1st printing for a few dollars to combine with my second printing)

Van Richten's Guide to Vampires (purchased a second copy cheap because my first was looking worn)

MC10 Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix (picked the second one up because it was a variant I'd never seen--blue ink instead of red.)

Feast of Goblyns (bought cheap because it was a slight textual variation)

Domains of Dread (picked up a second copy for $3 this summer as a travel copy)

Ravenloft 3rd Edition (bought the Limited Edition first, then a used copy of the regular edition a few years later)

I also own two copies of the Dragonlance: Fifth Age boxed set (the two different printings), two copies of Heroes of Steel and two of A Saga Companion (the latter two were cheap, and at the time, I wasn't sure if I could locate my DL5A material again).

 

[Chris Knapp]

I own a few duplicates:
* MWP's Dragonlance Towers of High Sorcery (bought one, found one for $15 at my FLGS)
* The original AD&D Deities & Demi-Gods (bought one edition with the legal deities, then found an original with the illegal deities.)
* And somehow I would up with 3 copies of AD&D D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth.

Embarrassingly, I also own a few duplicate PDF's. Forgot to rename a file after purchase and wound up purchasing the same one again a few months later. Doh!