Diving into the Oldhammer Collectors Market

Doing research for the book meant I was sometimes poring over Oldhammer images on eBay and there was much coveting of what I saw!

Note: Links here are not an endorsement of the ebay sellers, just the sources of the images.

Let’s get into it!

So 13 year old me would not have expected that those miniatures, rule books and more I had back ‘87 would, almost 40 years later, be valuable collectors items! Just as 16-year-old me, who would drift away from the hobby somewhat (never fully!) would not relaised to be less calous about where all that stuff might have ended up. (I think I just gave a bunch of it away?!) But now I’d really, really wish I kept and cared for all those miniatures, games and rule books. Alas, most of us who had such items didn't, which is in-part why now there is such a collectors market now.

Not only do plenty of us have a nostalgic hole where our older items once were, but new folk have happily got into the hobby and shown interest in the origins of it. Plus us (ahem!) ‘older folk’ both those new or of a rekindled interest, have disposable income and find ourselves thinking now would be a good time to get that Marneus Calgar mini which missed out on when we were young?!

(Image, Left for EUR 1,100.00 you can have Marneus Calgar, who emerged from art in White Dwarf 97)

However, my trips to eBay to look over classic miniatures and games are more about research, as people helpfully post good images of the items and that means you can examine them, looking for details, dates, text etc. (Though I did end up buying some items, more on that in another post!) So having spent quite a bit of time as part of constructing a detailed timeline of pre-Rogue Trader activity, the Rogue Trader release and up to the early 1990s and 2nd editions release, here’s a few choice finds.

The Most Expensive

This has changed a few times during my searches. But ranking the search from most expensive first is a good way to find the key Old Hammer releases that are currently of interest. Unsurprisingly the top stop is RTB-01, the original 1987 boxed set of plastic Space Marines. While not the first (I’ll come to that!) they were a key releases for many reasons in the 40K Rogue Trader era.

(Image: RTB01 Boxed set on eBay)

This copy, above, is still factory sealed which is why they are asking a whopping £4,728.99. If you are willing to have the box already opened, then you can get something for under 1K.

The Most Key Single Miniature

The key one IMHO is the first ever Space Marine, which is a Bob Naismith sculpt (who does a very cool Pateron) and has the code ‘LE2’ which was released in either 1985 or (probably) 1986. Also unsurprisingly, it sometimes also comes out as the most expensive ‘Rogue Trader’ miniature (depending on when you search!) It will set you back £759.99 but I kinda really want to get one now, because it is a bit of gaming history.

(Image: LE2 from eBay)

The Second Classic

Another classic that will set you back a pretty penny (just under £500!) but I get why people would want them, is the RTB07 Imperial Guard featuring an amazing cover by John Blanche that casts the Guard as a Napoleonic-like force.

(Image: RTB07 on eBay)

The Vehicle

Those early classic vehicles also often pop-up when you’re listing by most expensive. Last search had these 1989 bad-boys as the most expensive vehicles you could buy.

(Image - 2 Land Raider Models from eBay)

Rule Books

So it's not just models that you’ll see listed. Rule books appear too. This is quite a rare one - a completed Warhammer Fantasy Battle 2nd Edition, which is where you really start to see the Warhammer world take shape (as opposed to 1st edition, which is more a rules set and monster list). This bit of gaming history would cost you £150.

(Image: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 2nd Edition eBay)

One of the rarer Rogue Trader titles is 1988’s Warhammer 40,000 Chapter Approved - Book Of The Astronomican (link to eBay). This came out the following year from the launch of 40K Rogue Trader and gave players, who were clamouring for more, a strong fix of new content including the campaign ‘Wolf Time’. Interestingly, this was written originally for Rogue Trader itself, but dropped out for reasons of space and ended up here instead.

(Image: Chapter Approved - Book Of The Astronomican from eBay).

I never got this at the time, so it is definitely one on my ‘want! Want!’ list!

Thanks for reading & what are you hoping to grab?

Note! There is more about this project here. You can comment here or find me on BlueSky.

Also note! This book project is a personal one and not affiliated with any company that, in my day job, I work with or partner with.