Buying the same thing all over again?

[Finarvyn]

I don't intend to be a collector, but I find myself buying some of the same books multiple times in different editions.

For example, I have the tan-colored ACE Lankhmar series from the 1980's in regular paperback. I also have been really wanting to find them in hardback, but I've also been drooling over the new trade paperback re-issues. (Part of the reasoning is that I have bad vision and hardback/trade size tends to have larger font, which is easier to read.)

But it doesn't end there. I own the Amber books in hardback but also have my old paperback copies and can't bear to part with them.

I have Elric in hardback and trade paperback, but still have my old paperbacks with the awesome covers from the 1970's.

I have John Carter in hardback and paperback with cool covers.

I kept my Howard/DeCamp/Carter Conan books, even though they are not pure Howard and I have the "real thing" in the new trade paper sized books.

The list goes on.

Not just fiction, either. I have backup "reading copies" of many of my favorite RPG books so that I don't have to risk damaging the originals.

Dang it. Maybe I am a collector. Or a pack rat. Or a dragon, hoarding my loot.

Am I the only one who does this?

[Morandir]

I've bought the same book/s more than once, but I get rid of the older copy - typically by giving it to a friend. I've done this several times with ERB's Barsoom stories. First, I bought "A Princess of Mars" by itself. Later, I picked up the first three stories in a paperback omnibus. Then, I found a nifty illustrated hardcover edition of the first three books. I only own the hardcover now; the other two have been given away. I've also done this with HP Lovecraft, getting rid of various volumes after I picked up a one-volume complete collection.

The one exception is LotR. I have a really nice leather-bound single volume edition, but I can't bear to part with my old paperback box set - even though the cover of FotR is held together with packing tape after my dog chewed it up. That series was my introduction to fantasy, and serves as a fond memory of that dog (a childhood pet, now gone).

[foxroe]

You are not alone.

Not that it's been costing me much in money or space, but I've been printing up copies of OD&D and S&W:WB like it's going out of style. And for no particular reason other than to have several copies secreted in various locations for ready access.

I also have several overlapping HPL collections on various bookshelves throughout the house.

[geoffrey]

May 7, 2011 9:14:47 GMT -6 foxroe said:

I also have several overlapping HPL collections on various bookshelves throughout the house.

You and me both. I'm trying to sell some of my H. P. Lovecraft books.

[Finarvyn]

I also have "backup" copies of Lord of the Rings, Elric, Chronicles of Amber, and some R.E. Howard stories at my parents' house and in-laws house so I can read when I visit. I used to take a big "toybag" backpack when we went on holiday and now I can carry less because I have those stashed there already.

[chicagowiz]

I'm doing the exact opposite - paring down to the essentials that I need. That's why I've got a big "Bartertown" list going on in my blog. I think I've decided that having several of the same thing, or something that I don't look at/use in the past 6 months (or with books, having referred to in the past 2 to 3 years) needs to go. Is that weird?

[Morandir]

I don't think so. I'm currently doing the same thing. I got rid of probably 200 or so books in the last few months, because I knew I'd never use them again. I'm also paring down my RPG collection, getting rid of all the 3.x and 4e junk that I never used.