I think my collection of Palladium books comes to at least 50lb.
My tally of the current 5e books and modules comes to about 15lb. Though I do not have them all yet. Another 4lb for the core three AD&D books. probably 10 more for the various expansion hardbacks.

Books are deceptively weighty, especially the hardbacks. It can add up gradually.

Then theres those darn heavy Planescape boxes!

I'd think my collection of Dragon magazines I had to get rid of had to be at least 100 pounds but probably closer to 150 or more.  It adds up fast when you start talking shipping.

Yeah. I think each weighs about 1/3 a pound. So 300 of them could be creeping to the 100lb range right there.

Quote from: rpgresearch;860847Do you have measures in place to protect what you have left preventing that happening again?

Other than never living in that place ever again?  (It was a rooming house.)  There are no measures one can take without knowing that they exist.  And if they do, you're not going to live there (if possible) or take measures to get them out before you even move in.  Because quite frankly, both mice and bed bugs are bigger menaces to people (in more important ways) than damaging books.

Quote from: rpgresearch;860846Thanks very much for the suggestions. I thought it would be taken as the starter for friendly (maybe bemused) dialog, and my own incredulity at what it all added up to over the decades, not the beginning of a pissing match.
I (mistakenly) approached it with a more friendly conversation style that I'm used to on my own email lists. Of course, the folks on those friendly and polite lists, we've known each other for decades, so such misunderstandings are rare. My apologies for not thinking first to address the unknown audience members more appropriately.
Happy Gaming!

And thanks for taking the critique as constructive. Welcome to the site.

You should hop over to rpggeek.com and ask the question.  They semi regularly have shelvie threads which mighty make you feel right at home.  

Personally I've never weighed my collection or measured for length but it's in the 1000+ item range so you're not alone in the large collection of stuff group.  

If you're bringing all that around I'm sure it's nice for some if the newer people to the hobby so see so many options available.

Quote from: Bunch;860940You should hop over to rpggeek.com and ask the question.  They semi regularly have shelvie threads which mighty make you feel right at home.  

I will have to check that out, thanks for the recommendation.

Quote from: Bunch;860940Personally I've never weighed my collection or measured for length but it's in the 1000+ item range so you're not alone in the large collection of stuff group.  

I hadn't done so either, it was only with planning the design on the trailer that it became a concern. Fortunately it will work out.

Quote from: Bunch;860940If you're bringing all that around I'm sure it's nice for some if the newer people to the hobby so see so many options available.

That is one of many reasons. Since part of the purpose of the trailer is to spread providing RPG sessions from just the greater Spokane area to the greater Northwest USA, and then throughout the North American Continent.  Having all those games handy for a wide variety of groups with many diverse interests, makes it easier to help people new to the idea of RPG to connect with as many people as possible from many different interests, by having so many different settings, game system styles, etc.

Also, when doing advocacy work, for example the many run-ins with some very vocal religious groups and individuals, showing the broad variety beyond just D&D (Their primary target), is helpful in educating them. It doesn't always work, but it has been more successful than not in undoing the ignorance and inculcated stigma.

And finally, it just saves my back from having to haul different sets to/from house/location/trailer, if it can all just be in the trailer ready to access.

It is also a fun walk down memory lane for any veteran games, to see so many out of print books (though I USE them, I don't have them for collection value). :-)

Happy Gaming!

Quote from: Bunch;860940You should hop over to rpggeek.com and ask the question.  They semi regularly have shelvie threads which mighty make you feel right at home.  

BGG and the great wall-o-games some people have. At least half the people at RPGG dont even know what an RPG is. So all bets are off on any tally.

Quote from: rpgresearch;860648This was posted out of incredulity, and wishing to share and discuss the challenges of such collections, not braggadocio.

I needed to figure out how much added weight my RPG library would be for the Wheelchair Friendly RPG Trailer - http://rpgtrailer.com

Not counting my Tolkien Books Collection, or my Recreation Therapy and Research Psychology shelves, just my RPG books weigh a whopping 1,400 pounds! - http://spokanerpg.com/archives/images/game-rooms/hawkes-game-room-1/dsc-1819.jpg/view

Fortunately, even after fuel, water, etc, that still leaves more than 1,000 pounds cargo capacity for the 22' trailer.

Should be enough for the LARP gear, and the computers running the computer-based RPG sessions.
Phew!

So the shelves in the bookcases in the photo are interior capacity 27.5" wide, and each segment weighed on a scale was about 67 to 74 lbs, so I rounded it to 70 lbs even.

If placed horizontally end to end (internal diameter), that is 550” = 45.83... FEET of RPG books!

So, that had me wondering, not counting tables, chairs, miniatures, statues, broadcast set and equipment, just the RPG rulebooks, modules, etc. what is your collection like?
 

Updated: A Response to those regarding PDFs and RPG:

I have tried several times to use the ebook options in tabletop RPG.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                             
Most of the systems I enjoy running the most are either out of print and/or never legally made available on PDF.                                              
                                                                                                                                                             
If the group wants to make characters from scratch, rather than use pre-mades, then typically need 4-5 simultaneous copies of the player related books/pdfs/tablets/devices to speed up that process. For one-shots pre-generated characters are fine, but for long campaigns, players usually want to make their own charcters from scratch.                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                             
while I have many tablets, laptops, and desktops, left over from my computer science days, I have not budgeted for 5 tablets for players to use, instead having to rely on the mish-mash of what I have and the players own.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                             
Since I run games at remote locations, such as rehabilitation centers, hospitals, schools, game stores, rural areas, my offices, etc., I have to pack up a large portion of my library for each group, haul it down, un-pack, then the inverse for each session. In addition to regular games, I run free game sessions for many special needs populations including Autism, Deaf, at-risk youth, brain injury, etc.                
                                                                                                                                                             
It will be a very nice thing about when the trailer is built, I will no longer have to haul them around separately, they will all be right there at our fingertips.  http://gofundme.com/rpgtrailer                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                             
My back will be very grateful when the trailer is finally built. :-) 　                                                                                      

The trailer, after gas, water, etc. has around 2,500 lb cargo capacity, and my SUV that will be pulling it has a 10,000 lb towing capacity, so it will work out very nicely.

While I have been a strong advocate for eBooks since the 1990s (heck, I was CTO of an ebook company), for RPG I have found that players having tech devices far too often takes people out of the game too much.

I had started years ago transitioning (where I could) to ebooks for RPG, but after running somewhat controlled experiments between groups I allowed to have tech out, those that I partially allowed, and those I didn't allow at all, the assessment scores were much higher (Better) for those that I banned tech, than those that were allowed.

Since then, for some groups I have had to ban people taking out their smart phones until breaks, because it is too easy, especially for younger generations, to get sucked into them when it isn't their turn, and they get too distracted from the game.

Generally not exactly an overt ban, but consequences in-game for not paying attention when their turn comes around and they don't know what's going on completely (even though they think they do), so some get the message, really young ones need it spelled out for them.  

Using recreation therapy related tools, the assessment scores are both observational (my observations and assistants') and self-reported satisfaction, immersion, "flow", fun, retention, and other areas.

There is a dramatic difference between the "unplugged" groups, and the plugged or partially plugged groups. Since then I have been insisting the players go with the "unplugged" option for the tabletop RPG sessions (obviously not the case for the computer-based RPG sessions).

Something to keep in mind, since most people don't perform such assessments/experiments, you may not realize just how much technology devices at the tabletop RPG game session impact game play quality and satisfaction.

Happy Gaming!
-Hawke Robinson

http://rpgrsearch.com

Photo of the game room contents that would be moved to the trailer:
http://spokanerpg.com/archives/images/game-rooms/hawkes-game-room-1/dsc-1819.jpg/view

I'm one of those PDF guys. If I wasn't, my collection, was it in print, would almost rival yours. Well, almost being a keyword here, I can only count the sub-folders. Most of them have more than one book, since I group them by systems. My estimate is that I've got over 666 books:D!
(Well, I couldn't probably afford all of it in print, even if I had the space, but you get what I mean).

In physical form, I've got 2 books in English, and 4 in Bulgarian. Most of them only remained because of the art, when I suddenly needed to reduce my share of the space, due to moving to a smaller home:). The ones in Bulgarian actually remained because they're bearing signatures by at least one author, but that's besides the point.

Thing is, I had to learn working with digital books. Which I found to be easy enough. Most of my books aren't on a mobile, they're on a laptop. During a session, I usually let everyone check them on it, while I'm helping someone with more complicated rules questions using my tablet.
My tablet is, however, the only tablet allowed at the table. I don't have a rule against mobiles, but if any player gets distracted, I tend to ask that the offending device be put away for the duration of the session.

Overall, it's doable. For you, I'd recommend one of these projectors, or something similar.
Connect it to the computer, and you can reduce your load by at least a quarter metric ton - just how many books have you got that can't be found on drivethru?
The additional advantage is that you could actually have more than one person reading from the same book;).
Or, if you prefer, lug them around until you get the trailer. But if you ask me, you should at least consider going partly digital!

My collection covers 60+ feet of linear shelf space. Some of that is old school boxed sets though, they tend to weigh less. So I figure I'm around the 1500 pound mark. I don't need to move them around however.

I use to hoard and buy compulsively, purge when wife induced, and re-hoard again. I probably have half of what I used to have and right now it fills half of the loft so whatever it weighs, I hope the beams can stand it. As to what I actually use? Probably 1%. What I read? maybe 3-4%

Yeah, I need to purge again. If someone asked me "Why do you have all those RPGs?" I'd have to answer "I don't know" because time to use and enjoy them these days is at a premium. That's life *shrug*

I do remember trekking to school with my bag full of 1e Hardbacks everyday, plus whatever of BECMi had been published and a few more games. Use to struggle fitting in a couple of notepads for school work, but there was always room for dice and pens. Don't think that weighed 1400lbs but it won't have done my back any good

Quote from: APN;861493I use to hoard and buy compulsively, purge when wife induced, and re-hoard again. I probably have half of what I used to have and right now it fills half of the loft so whatever it weighs, I hope the beams can stand it. As to what I actually use? Probably 1%. What I read? maybe 3-4%

Yeah, I need to purge again. If someone asked me "Why do you have all those RPGs?" I'd have to answer "I don't know" because time to use and enjoy them these days is at a premium. That's life *shrug*

I do remember trekking to school with my bag full of 1e Hardbacks everyday, plus whatever of BECMi had been published and a few more games. Use to struggle fitting in a couple of notepads for school work, but there was always room for dice and pens. Don't think that weighed 1400lbs but it won't have done my back any good

Heh heh, my ex-wife used to give me grief about all the RPG stuff (mostly kept in boxed then, since we moved a lot), especially since I was so busy with my technology career working 80+ hours per week, I rarely had time to use it, and she kept trying to get me to toss them. But I kept assuring there would be a time when I could enjoy the fruits of my labors "Some day". And those days are now! :-D

Since always bought material specifically in response to players' requests, or specific campaign ideas for the players, better than 80% have been read through thoroughly (most of the rest at least read through to some degree), and most of those actually used at least once (some many, many times).

The other 20% is mostly more recently, new game systems/settings (at least new to me), such as Dresden Files, or Rifts, or Shadowrun, because so many people in this town kept saying "oh, we really want to play [this] game!" And I intend to use them sooner or later, but just haven't yet put a group together to do so (as player or GM), or still ramping up my background knowledge, for example reading the Dresden Files books, to be more competent in presenting the setting.

Since I'm now making it a career to use RPGs for education and therapy, it makes total sense to have and keep the huge collection now. And heck, it is all a tax-deductible write-off as a recreation therapist now too! :-)

How many others had a parent (or other adult) say, when we were young gamers, "If you would just put half the time you put into gaming, into something useful, you'd be able to do so much more with your life!" ?

It is nice that all these years later that not only did I get all the benefits from RPG that lead to becoming an executive (leadership, cooperative problem solving, conflict resolution, etc.), but now directly, through being able to help use it for others' benefit.

It does feel more than a little vindicating as I stop and think about that.

Others' experiences along those lines?

Happy Gaming!

I have at least 40% more than that.

Quote from: TheHistorian;861875I have at least 40% more than that.

What do you do as far as use, care, feeding, storage, transport, with it all?

One nice thing about RPGs is that the books tend to be just about the same size and stack or shelve well. You get some oddities. But in general unlike board games which are all over the size scale, RPG books have maintained some basic dimensions.

My 5e D&D book is about the same dimensions as my AD&D one. The PHB is a little thicker. But otherwise close to the same.