ST1 Up The Garden Path - A question of worth vs value

It's one of the holy grails of D&D collecting - ST1 Up the Garden Path. It is a matter of some debate how many survive, a few have been auctioned over the years and I'm pretty sure that the same ones have come up more than once. Photographs of them are common on t'internet and it's pretty easy to get hold of a "reading copy"(wink wink), if you can be bothered to look.


I did have a copy of this which I got in an auction for a Silver Anniversary box set along with a copy of R1 To the Aid of Falx as freebie extras. It was a bit of a heartstopping moment as I'm sure you can imagine. Sadly my heart restarted again as I quickly realised these were literal copies - presumably done on a colour photocopier at someone's place of work!


I remember seeing one of these advertised for £200 (iirc) in a second hand games flyer about 17 or 18 years ago and thinking that it was daylight robbery - hindsight is, of course, a wonderful thing.


When I first considered this blogpost I was going to do an in-depth comparative review between ST1 and X1 - rarest against the most common, but on reading ST1 I decided not to bother - to sum up just go and buy Isle of Dread and play that, your players will thank you.


The thing that strikes me most about Up the Garden Path is that it is remarkably "English" - it couldn't be more English if it was wearing a bowler hat, eating fish and chips in a queue while complaining about the weather.
The puns and in jokes abound, names and descriptions are often cringeworthy and the overall affect is all a bit self indulgent.

That been said it is reasonably written, has good layout and a very professional overall finish - If it was designed as a one off bit of nonsense it certainly fits the brief. It could be a companion piece to EX1 & 2 from the other side of the pond, though I didn't much like those either.

That's it really, no surprises or spoilers here, just a fan pointing out the obvious to those already in the know. (And if anyone does want to sell one I have £200 ready and waiting!!)

I would be interested in what the going rate for one of these is as the price for rares seems to be shooting up.

A few links for your delectation

A decent blog here.

https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/going-up-the-garden-path/

The Acaeum - you knew this already.

https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/st.html