Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 12,871 |
| Number of Items Sold | 8,976 |
| Value of Items Sold | $126,789.95 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 3,220 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 5,756 |
| Amount Raised for Charity (Stars Youth Foundation) | $11,878.80 |
| Amount Raised for Charity (Gygax Memorial) | $15,383.34 |
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 16,753 |
| Number of Items Sold | 11,699 |
| Value of Items Sold | $138,071.25 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 5,909 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 5,789 |
| Amount Raised for Charity (Books on Wheels) | $13,077.59 |
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 13,173 |
| Number of Items Sold | 9,542 |
| Value of Items Sold | $124,908.52 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 5,146 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 4,396 |
| Amount Raised for Charity (Pajama Program) | $11,904.67 |
| Amount Raised for Gygax Memorial | $9,128.00 |
We hit a record number of items in the auction this year with 13,173 items. The more numerically capable of you may be wondering how that is a record considering that last year we had 13,255 items in the auction. The answer is simple! Last year’s count included the charity items, this year’s count does not. We started a new procedure to make the charity auction a bit easier on us. We devoted a cash register to this section. All charity items had to be paid for immediately and at the end of the segment we ran the tape to get the total raised for charity – much simpler than creating an auction tag for each charity item.
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 13,255 |
| Number of Items Sold | 8,956 |
| Value of Items Sold | $119,973.70 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 4,691 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 4,265 |
| Amount Raised for Charity | $10,036 |
We had another year where we hit a record number of items for the auction – 13,255 (11,776 was the previous record set last year). Even though the coupon in last year’s book was good for this year for a free bidder card, NO ONE used a coupon! We had 857 participants this year (down from the record of 996 last year).
This page allows you to explore the items we sold, when we sold them, and for how much.
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 11,776 |
| Number of Items Sold | 8,004 |
| Value of Items Sold | $129,528.70 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 4,149 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 3,855 |
| Amount Raised for Charity | $17,398.00 |
We had another year where we hit a record number of participants (buyers and sellers) for the auction (996) and items (11,776), in part thanks to the coupon we included in the registration booklet for a free bidder card.
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 11,122 |
| Number of Items Sold | 8,847 |
| Value of Items Sold | $127,562 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Consignment Store) | 4,971 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Consignment Store | 3,872 |
| Amount Raised for Charity | $9,802.25 |
Another Gen Con has come and gone and we’ve had a banner year. We had a record number of participants (buyers and sellers) for the auction (939). This page allows you to explore the items we sold, when we sold them, and for how much.
For the first time ever we tried to sell a CAR!! This was no ordinary car, but a SPAWN detailed car, complete with hydralics for bouncing the car around. The car is included in the item statistics even though the sale was never completed (the buyer backed out). The highest price item in the auction was a “Brown-Box D&D” that went for $2,400. A 2nd printing Brown box also went for $950.
Here’s some quick statistics :
| Number of Items in the Auction | 11,283 |
| Number of Items Sold | 8,039 |
| Value of Items Sold | $117,644 |
| Number of Items Auctioned (non-Auction Store) | 3,842 |
| Number of Items Sold from the Auction Store | 4,197 |
Another Gen Con has come and gone and we’ve had a banner year. We had a record number of items entered into the auction, and a record number of items pre-registered for the convention.
This page allows you to explore the items we sold, when we sold them, and for how much.
The highest price item in the auction was an original “AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide” pre-publication manuscript that had been hand-edited by Gary Gygax. We also had a couple of brown-box D&D sets, one that sold for $1950, the other sold for a “mere” $1150
Our second year in Indianapolis validated the successful transition of the Gen Con game convention and auction from Milwaukee to our new facilities in the heart of Indiana. Auction setup was made easy as we were again located in the Capitol Ballroom of the Westin Hotel. The wonderful convention services staff of the Westin were quick to serve all of the event’s requirements. The percentage of items pre-registered online was up significantly from 2003, making onsite data entry less tedious. The success of this and of our Advanced Partial Payouts™ system make the Gen Con game auction the premiere live game auction in the entire hobby.
Here are some of the statistics from this year’s auction:
Here are the top selling items from this year’s auction:
Special thanks go out to Jane Zoet for coordinating personnel, housing, food and drinks, and a million bits of minutia over hundreds of hours to make the auction the smooth and successful event that we all love.
Finally, from the entire auction staff, a big thank you to all the participants, regulars and newbies. Without your support the auction would not be the featured traditional Gen Con event that has captured hearts and imagination for decades.
Yes, that’s right…$95,000.00!
That was the winning bid at the Gen Con So Cal Game Convention auction for an original shipping case (10 sealed display boxes) of the first Magic: The Gathering expansion: Arabian Nights.
A constant stream of visitors to the auction ogled the fantastic display in the showcase. Members of the auction staff were (unsuccessfully) prodded to reveal details regarding this amazing consignment. Did it belong to Peter Adkison, the owner of Gen Con and former CEO of Wizards of the Coast? How could a full case have survived the ten years of collectors’ euphoria and playing this first ever (and very limited) printing of Magic? How many serious bidders were there and what were the prices being discussed? Is it true that Saddam Hussein was caught by triangulation of his cellular telephone as he was bidding on the case?
On Saturday night shortly after 9:30pm, after an amazing and poignant introduction of the consignment by Peter Adkison himself (in full costume!), the auction for the case of Arabian Nights “bricks” commenced. There were several proxy bidders who requested that their bids be removed because they wanted to bid in person. The proxy sign was in place onstage for one bidder who was not present. And there was a telephone bidder communicating with an auction staff member.
Lead auctioneer Frank Mentzer began the bidding at a mere $1,000, for which everyone in the room raised their bid cards. Then it got serious. Frank set the bid increments higher as the auction progressed. By the time the bidding reached $70,000, Frank had to admit that he had never seen numbers this high in all the years he has been auctioneering.
The proxy bidder sign onstage dropped after $90,000. The next increment brought the high bid to $95,000. There was a pregnant pause as confirmation was made with the telephone bidder. Yes! That bidder was still in! Once…twice…fair warning…SOLD! The room erupted in cheers!
Teri’s note: I was taking video on my digital camera and got the entire bidding sequence. When Frank shouted “SOLD!”, I turned the camera to pan the room and get a shot of the auction staff member talking to the telephone bidder. My camera ran out of memory right then. I turned my head back to the stage to see Frank’s head down on the table; he was clearly overwhelmed (and I wish I could’ve gotten that photo)! And I later overheard someone say that Peter (sitting in the audience) had turned white with shock!
So indeed, the one absolute that got answered that night was $95,000.00 was paid by a telephone bidder for the extremely rare full case. Scrye magazine, a leading price guide for collectible card games, listed the value in their January 2004 issue as ranging from $67,500.00 to $87,500.00 based on the per-“sealed display” price.
Teri’s note: The next day, we ran into Peter as the convention was winding down. He was still overwhelmed by the previous night’s events, and let us in on a little tidbit. The $95,000 bid was more than what he paid for the entire Arabian Nights print run!
Here are some of the other top prices paid for items in the auction:
With the success of the auction and the great venue chosen by Gen Con LLC, we are certain that next year’s auction will be even bigger and better.
The Gen Con auction staff wishes to thank everyone who attended and made successful the inaugural auction at Gen Con So Cal this year. Special thanks go to Peter Adkison and the entire Gen Con LLC staff for their continued active support for the best game convention auctions anywhere.
The 2003 Gen Con Game Auction was a success in Indianapolis!
Excitement was in the air as the auction staff arrived to host the first-ever Gen Con game auction at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis. To say that the new facilities are “large” for Gen Con at the Indiana Convention Center would be an understatement. The convention center is huge, beautiful, and conveniently linked to eight different hotels by way of skywalks.
Several of the outlying hotels hosted events, and the Auction itself was placed in the Capitol Ballroom in the Westin. Again, the Westin is just across the street from the convention center and easily accessible by way of the 2nd floor skywalk.
We were extremely pleased to see many former Milwaukee regulars and Origins auction customers at the first Indy auction.
Here are some of the numbers generated:
The top valued items sold:
The auction was smooth as silk thanks to our 40 regular staff members who worked long and hard to ensure a well-run event. Based on this first auction in Indianapolis, we are all looking forward to a long and successful run for the future in this city.
We thank all of our loyal customers for participating in the auction and continuing to make it a highlight event at the Gen Con gaming convention!
