Tolkien Boardgames

Here we will give you what we think the rarity of each game is based on a number of 1 to 10. There are some criterias  the games have to fulfill to determine if they are rare or common.

Ebay auction -Many Lord of the Rings games show up on ebay and a good indication of how rare an item is how often it shows up on ebay.

Boardgame Geek owners -boardgamegeek is seen my many boardgamers and many post what games they own on the site. This can give us an rough estimate of how many people own a certain game.

Personal thoughts on each game -David and I have been collecting for many years and have some first hand experiences from knowing people, etc that we can give a rough estimate on the rarity of many of these games.

Newsgroup -the newsgroups such as rec.board.marketplace is a great place to find many games for sale and especially the older archived ones are a great place to see how often a certain game was available for sale back then.

Availability on some game stores -their are many sources to buy some of these games and I will use an indication that if these game stores do not have a certain game, it may be much hard to find.

NOTE: We are not factoring in condition in the game rarity. Condition can definitely jump a game from a rarity of 5 to a 8 or 9. For instance a Conquest of the Ring is rated a 6. If you have a Conquest of the Ring that is in shrinkwrap, that is pretty rare. We are factoring the rarity of the games in general, not condition wise.

Grading numbers and what it means

1-5 fairly common, can find it on ebay at least once a week
6-8 uncommon to scarce. Will be able to find it on ebay at least a few times a year
9-10 very rare. Rarely available on ebay and if so at least once every year or even less.

We will start in chronological order:

Conquest of the Ring
Rarity -8, 10 if shrinkwrapped. Now I would like to see that!
Mike thoughts -this game is uncommon. Shows up sometimes but not very frequently. As of 9/22/05 have only seen 1 conquest of the ring and that was bought by a Italian collector Simone. Hopefully someone on ebay will list one soon because I need a copy! Getting scarce.
David -

Quest of the Magic Ring
Rarity -10 for 1st edition, 6 for 2nd edition, 10 if shrinkwrapped, never seen one shrinked though...
Mikes thoughts -this game is uncommon. You will see a few copies every month. Sometimes none for a few months but then a bunch show up all at once. The 1st edition is very rare. In the 3-4 years of searching on ebay and looking at numerous QOTMR auctions, I have only seen one.
David -

Battle of Helms Deep
Rarity -6, 8 for unpunched. Not 9 or 10 because I have seen many unpunched copies for sale before.
Mikes thoughts -you'll find this for sale on ebay a few times throughout the year. Not incredibly hard to find for an old game.

Siege of Minas Tirith
Rarity -6, 8 for unpunched. Not 9 or 10 because I have seen many unpunched copies for sale before. 
Mikes thoughts -you'll find this for sale on ebay a few times throughout the year. Not incredibly hard to find for an old game.

Siege of Barad-Dur
Rarity -10
Mikes thoughts -I have not seen a ebay listing of this game, nor do I know of anyone except for David who owns this game. The earlier Jagdpanthers supposedly have a very small print run.

Battle of Five Armies (LORE)
Rarity -10
Mikes thoughts -I've only seen one LORE BO5A sold on ebay and I think David was the one who won it. You will usually see a TSR or ICE BO5A for sale.

Two Towers
Rarity -10  
Mikes thoughts -saw only one for sale on ebay about 3-4 years back and also heard of one at Gencon auction many many years ago. Very obscure and hard to find. Prestigiacomo reports that a Two Towers was for sale on ebay 6 months ago but after three days the seller pulled the auction.

Battle of Five Armies (TSR)
Rarity -8-9 for both baggy and boxed versions, 10 for box version if shrinkwrapped and 10 for unpunched baggy version.
Mikes thoughts -This game shows up at least a few times a year on ebay, pretty scarce and hard to find game.

The Living Ring Game
Rarity 10 for both 1st and 2nd editions
Mikes thoughts -a copy of this game was sold at Gencon 2004 for only $50! If I was their, I would have tried to win this game! Very obscure, if anyone owns this game, please provide us with more information! NOTE: At Gencon 2005 another copy sold for $140. Trying to get Rob to scan me a picture! Rob, if you are reading this page, get me a scan!

Ringbearer
Rarity -8.5-9, 10 for 1st edition
Mikes thoughts -a ringbearer shows up at least 4-5 times a year on ebay. Sometimes a few will show up on ebay all at once and then none for many months. I have not seen a 1st edition for sale. Pretty scarce game.

War of the Ring (SPI)
Rarity -7 for the trilogy edition, 5/5.5 for all other editions. 9-10 for shrinkwrapped copies, a 10 for trilogy edition in shrink.
Mikes thoughts -SPI WOTR is not very hard to find. A search on ebay at any one time will yield about 4-5 for sale. Game is easy to find but because their is a huge demand, the price of it is inflated. The trilogy edition (3 games all combined) seems a bit scarcer than all the other editions.

Sauron (SPI)
Rarity -7 for folio, 8 for boxed version
Mikes thoughts -apparently there are two versions. Sauron came in a boxed form and a folio form. The boxed version seems rarer.

Gondor (SPI)
Rarity 7 for folio, 8 for boxed version
Mike's thoughts -apparently there are two versions. Gondor came in a boxed form and a folio form. The boxed version seems rarer.

The Hobbit Game (American Publishing)
Rarity -8, 10 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -I don't see this game very often on ebay. Maybe a few copies of it a year. I was able to get a two shrinkwrapped copies of this game from the inventor of this game as well as a letter of authenticity. A gem in my collection!

Dragons -An Adventure into Middle Earth
Rarity -10 for both versions
Mikes thoughts -I have seen two so far, one of each version. Their was a version like Davids that was punched and I believe incomplete. Lately, a version like mine was on ebay and it fetched 304.99. It was unpunched and was in excellent condition; however, I do not think it was complete. The auction stated that it had a bunch of uncut counters and a poster/gameboard. No mention of 2 rule sheets. Was able to get in contact with Lofenloc and he verified that the game was incomplete.  The game is very obscure and I can not find much information about this game from the newsgroups, etc.

Wizards and Warfare
Rarity 10 for 1st edition, 6/7 for other editions
Mikes thoughts -the artwork of the 1st edition is just great. Take a look on our site. I've seen only one first edition for sale on ebay. The other editions sometimes come up for sale on ebay about a couple times a year.

Middle Earth Wargame Rules (SELWG)
Rarity -9
Mikes thoughts -hard to find and occasionally shows up on ebay. I've seen 4 copies for sale on ebay now. Had to lower rarity a bit since it is showing up on ebay occasionally.

War of the Ring (FGU)
Rarity -9-10 for baggy and boxed version, easily a 10 for both versions if unpunched or even shrinked (boxed)!
Mikes thoughts -rare game and does not show up on ebay often. However last year about 4+ were listed on ebay and now its pretty quiet. I know of some collectors who have this game. As of 9/22/05, this game has not shown up on ebay for sale and I need a copy!!

The Hobbit (Milton Bradley)
Rarity -7.5, 10 if shrinkwrapped!
Mikes thoughts -you will see this game for sale on ebay a few times during the year. A little scarce and many times when you do find a copy, it is incomplete missing a few pieces.

There and Back Again
Rarity -9, 10 if unpunched
Mikes thoughts -rare game and does not show up on ebay often. Only seen about 3 for sale on ebay. I know of some collectors who have this game.

Battle of the Ring
Rarity -10 for both the magazine version and separate version)
Mikes thoughts -rare game and it fetches high prices on ebay because it came with Wargamer #1 which is sought after by many wargamers. Their is another version by 3W and that one is just as rare.

Lord of the Rings Recall game (MB)
Rarity -7
Mikes thoughts -a bit scarce. Shows up sometimes but usually incomplete.

Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (MB)
Rarity -6, 9 if shrinkwrapped. Saw a shrinked copy sell for about 90-100 about two years ago.
Mikes thoughts -you'll find it on ebay quite often. Shows up more often than MB The Hobbit or MB Lotr Recall.

Fellowship Games Riddle of the Ring
Rarity -10 for 1982 version, 9 for other versions, 10 for all versions still shrinwkrapped.
Mikes thoughts -I had a tough time finding information about this unlicensed game. It is very obscure and not many people know of it or have heard of it. I have heard that this game was sold at Gencon 1983 by the makers and a few hundred copies were sold. Despite that, I have only seen 2 for sale on ebay.  At Gencon 2004 a copy of this game sold for $325 and it was a good condition and was a 1983 version. The 1982 version seems to be far rarer than the 1983 version.

The Lonely Mountain (ICE)
Rarity -7, 8 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -The Lonely Mountain and Battle of Five Armies are the harder to find of the ICE games. You'll find it occasionally on ebay, but the other 3 ICE games you'll see on ebay more often.

Fellowship of the Ring (ICE)
Rarity -6, 7 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -you'll find it often on ebay

Battle of Five Armies (ICE)
Rarity -7, 9 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -One of the harder to find ICE games. Hard to find still in shrinkwrap, why did I sell my shrinkwrapped copy? Now I can't find one....wait maybe I will contact a former ICE employee that I know of  :-)

Middle Earth (GW)
Rarity -6, 8 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -I see it on ebay quite frequently. I'll have to get a copy soon to see what this game is like. Usually in tattered condition on ebay or missing pieces. Hard to find a blemish free or shrinkwrapped copy.

Riddle of the Ring (ICE)
Rarity -6, 9 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -you'll find it often on ebay though since its sought after, prices can jump up pretty high. A shrinkwrapped copy is hard to find.

Ringgeister
Rarity -6
Mikes thoughts -seen it occasionally on ebay. Prestigiacomo a regular at our site reports that this games sells for 20-30 in Germany. I haven't seen a shrinkwrapped copy though I am sure their may be plenty hidden away in some gamers closet.

The Hobbit (ICE)
Rarity -5, 6 if shrinkwrapped
Mikes thoughts -most common to find ICE game. You can find this on ebay often.