Crimson Crux

Whatever my friends might tell you, consider me a thrifty person. Most of my freelancing salaries end up in the bank (which then almost always get spent for family/household bills), for I rarely dish out more than 20% of my income on personal ‘luxuries’. If I do splurge, it will be on books, and lots of it.

But of course, there’s always an exception to the rule.

Last Monday, a package literally greeted me at my room/home office’s doorstep. It had arrived from Paizo Publishing in Bellevue, Washington, and inside were about $160 worth of Dungeons & Dragons goodies.

Waste of cash? Well, maybe — but the circumstances were special. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spent a chunk on shipping alone. In fact, this was my first online purchase, discounting several airplane tickets. My Gadzooki article titled End of a Roleplaying Era elaborates on these ’special circumstances’:

Sadly, 2007 will be the last year for [the Dragon and Dungeon publications]. Last April, gaming giant Wizards of the Coast announced that Paizo (erstwhile holder of the magazines’ publishing rights) will cease to publish the pair…

It goes without saying that Dragon and Dungeon’s imminent decease is quite a tragic chapter in my life as a geek. Looks like my mag backlogs will be a thing of the past.

Now, in times of grief, what does one do? Receive shopping therapy. So I dusted off my rarely-used credit cards and ordered ten back issues that are sure to get out of print, soon. (With a limited edition dragon miniature thrown in, to get my pricey shipping’s worth.)

Not to mention that these magazines can only rise in collector’s value as the years go by.

That said, here’s a blow-by-blow photoessay-ish account of my opening of the D&D box:

The box: fairly unassuming from outside, battered and besmirched.

What, I bought a-wad-of-cash-worth of styro and purty white box? Bummer.

The treasure beneath the trash.

Eight back-issues of Dungeon, two of Dragon. The white-background magazine cover is one of the best ever, IMHO (call me minimalist). To its left is the “Mature Content” issue, with a sealed “Book of Vile Darkness” section. I haven’t opened it yet, though I doubt it can be that vile.

Because I was bereft of toys in my childhood. I don’t really play this game, but the D&D miniatures piqued my curiousity. I fear the erosion of my maturity as I expand from aircraft models to fantasy minis. The box above is the War of the Dragon Queen huge booster pack, with eight randomized and pre-painted minis. I got one rare Huge figure.

The eight minis in the booster pack. The Epic Tundra Scout is the rare mini I was talking about.

The limited edition Sorcerer on Black Dragon mini (separate from the booster pack). If I were a bit more crazier, I would’ve bought the Colossal Red Dragon instead.

A final group shot.

With these D&D goodies (and the Manila International Book Fair next month), my leeway for non-necessity purchases has been narrowed…but come the holidays, I know what my next splurge will be.