Gosh, I have so many geeky possessions, how would I begin to choose? My 1st Edition GURPS boxed set? My complete run of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones comic? My one-of-a-kind Fallout t-shirt that I got for winning the Fallout: Tactics caption contest?
Here’s one item that gets gasps from olde schoole nerdes: My Commodore v-neck sweater. I’ve never found evidence that another exists. It’s black, v-neck, some kind of wool/poly blend in very good shape, and it has the legend “C= Commodore” embroidered over the left breast in white. My guess is that it was one of several worn by booth attendants at some electronics trade show many years ago. These days they would just do t-shirts.
Shut up! If you actually own this, I have a few questions for you…
Are you a slug-like creature?
Do you live on a desert planet?
I have a thermal detonator!!!
My prized geekness is probably my Frank Herbert book collection, consisting of all the Dune books, including the Illustrated Dune, a signed paperback copy of Dune, the first paperback Ace edition of Dune, the original Book Club editions of Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune, almost all of the Galaxy and Analog magazines he was published in (I’m still working on a few) almost a complete collection of all his other sci-fi (excepting Priests of Psi, his Jesus Incident Trilogy, and maybe a few others.) I have an unauthorized release of 21st Century Sub. I also have a copy of Doon, and I have the pocketbook-sized collected edition of the original Dune Comics. Very few of these are in anything but well-loved condition. I collect the words inside, not pretty paper. Someday when I have more money I may concentrate on getting nice copies.
Well, I got Linux books… Star Trek, Buffy, Angel, Eureka & Stargate DVD’s scattered everywhere. And sitting on top of my desk, overlooking it all, is a stuffed Odie I stole from my daughter.
Oh, I forgot a BIG one. My grandfather, who died 20 or so years ago, was a science fiction fan. He has left me his collection of Amazing Stories magazines, which spans something like 1935 - 1990 with no missing issues. As of right now, it’s still in my grandmother’s basement, and I have no idea what I will do with it…
It’s a tough call for me. I’ve got a lot of nerdy obsessions and ranking which peak of which collection is best is really tough. But to go through a few things:
I’ve got Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams complete in its original box. Probably the rarest game I own, though, is either the Magic Knights Rayearth game for the Saturn or Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Dreamcast. As one might guess I’m personally responsible for killing Sega game consoles.
For animation I have a nice one from Card Captor Sakura featuring Sakura in the middle of casting a spell.
For books I have a signed first US edition of The Colour of Magic.
The one that’s the most personal is the first comic book I ever bought for myself, Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. It’s beat to hell but it’s signed by Marv Wolfman and George Perez (ironically when I got it signed by Wolfman Perez was at the same con, but I got it signed by Perez ten years before that).
I’ve nothing Trekky or LotR-ey, but I have action figures of the major Egyptian gods and several PVC and pewter Sandman figurines.
I don’t know if it qualifies as geeky, but I also own a full-sized rusty metal coffin ( picture )that I bought for $5 at an auction. A friend stores it for me under her back porch except for this time of year when by tradition it goes to whichever friend is hosting the Halloween Party that year (where it’s used as an ice chest).
I love his stuff, too, and have a first edition of Dune - which is very hard to correctly identify since the car repair manual producer, Chilton, was the publisher.
I also have first editions of:
Snow Crash (signed)
Ender’s Game
I, Robot (I had the Foundation Trilogy for years, too)
The hardback version of the original novelization of Star Wars, by Alan Dean Foster
My 3rd period Government class stated that my collection of Hawaiian shirts, coupled with the collection of Comic-Con t-shirts for unders wins their vote every time.
To delve deeper into my sci-fi book geekiness, I also have several signed first editions of Iain Banks’ novels, and some limited edition signed copies of some of Tim Powers books. I also have signed first edition copies of a bunch of Sandman comics, including #1.
Hm. There’s probably a big one I’m totally forgetting. In the meantime:
Personally signed copy of “Is Anyone Out There?” by Dr. Frank Drake
“Spock vs Q” CD signed by both Leonard Nimoy and John deLancie (I won it with my knowledge of useless Trek trivia)
Collection of “The Tick” action figures (and board game)
Sinclair ZX-81 computer
Possibly least prized geek possession: Commander Chakotay action figure (doorprize from an Enterprise premiere event). But he is still in the box comfortably atop the bookcase, minding his own business.
