I've always been torn about where my priorities lie...I mean, if I didn't already have Dynastic Hero, and I could afford it at $575, and I hadn't seen one in a year, and the last one I saw had a BIN of $800, then I'd most likely buy it.
Some of you loyals of the old TZD probably knew this already, but they had an unwritten policy where if you had been a good customer for years, and they knew that you were really going to play these games (and not just turn them on Ebay), and you made them an offer, they would sell you some of the supposedly "sold out" rare games.
But you had to make the first offer. You'd have to call or email and say something like "I cannot find Dynastic Hero anywhere...if you guys had any spare copies, or you knew where I could get one, I'd gladly pay $500 for it."
I had a deal like that in January of 2007. I was looking to get all the rare titles, so I asked them if I could buy a bundle that included:
-Magical Chase
-Cotton
-Beyond Shadowgate
-Terraforming
-Valis II (not particularly rare, but they had it, so I put an offer on it).
I put in an offer (it was probably a lot more than most of you would have thought reasonable) and they accepted.
It was perfectly timed; I used my semiannual bonus at work to pay for the order. They were about the same amount!