Why a Warhammer 40,000 Book Just Sold for $3,150 on eBay

A Warhammer 40,000 book just sold on eBay for an eye-watering $3,150 — leaving fans stunned.

A signed and numbered limited edition of Dan Abnett’s Warhammer 40,000 novel, Hive, went for the huge sum on the auction site on Sunday after over 50 bids pushed up the eventual sale price to an astronomical level.

But why would a Warhammer 40,000 book command such a fee in the first place? There’s a unique backstory to this particular version of Hive, which released in standard formats in May.

Games Workshop, which owns and operates the hugely popular grimdark far future setting primarily for tabletop wargames, had announced a limited run of signed and numbered premium editions of Hive for sale only in Warhammer stores. This sparked an uproar within the community, with some saying it was unfair of Games Workshop to release this coveted limited edition in Warhammer stores only when not all fans have a store within reaching distance. In response, Games Workshop caved to the FOMO pressure, canceling the release of the limited edition and launching a non-limited, print-on-demand version without the signature online instead.

Some thought that Games Workshop had destroyed these limited editions of Hive out of fear they would end up going for huge sums on auction sites. Well, that’s exactly what happened, with what is thought to be the only copy made available to buy publicly since the drama back in May.

Photos of the book show it to be number 12 of 2,000. “This would be a very awesome copy to have for any Warhammer collector, unique and one of a kind maybe no others out there, all the original were canceled and the new print will not have author signed or limited in quantity,” reads the description. "Let the best Black Library enthusiast win this auction, and take ownership of a piece of Warhammer Black Library history." The listing worked, with a confirmed sale of $3,150 on Sunday, August 9.

It’s unclear how this copy of Hive escaped containment, but the bidding shows the huge interest from fans in this particular version of Hive. That’s perhaps not a surprise, given the FOMO pressure from hobbyists sparked a rare rapid U-turn from Games Workshop itself. Still, fans can’t quite believe how much it’s gone for. The sale was called “absurdity,” “insanity,” and “next level delusional,” on a Black Library subreddit thread full of scorn for the winning bidder.

“Paying so much more than what the POD will cost in a few months just for a signed and numbered page that was glued in... bonkers,” another added. “I can take a flight to England to Dan Abnett's next public appearance and have mine signed and it would still be less than half the price this person just paid,” another fan said. “Hey Dan, can you write 69/420 on mine besides signature?” another joked.

Details

The sale sparks a number of questions. How did this copy come into the possession of the seller? (We’ve asked.) Did it originate from a Warhammer store or elsewhere? Were store managers told to destroy their copies as fans believe, or were they kept in a warehouse somewhere, gathering dust? Are there other copies out in the wild?

What we do know is this version of Hive is now one of the most expensive Warhammer 40,000 books of all time — perhaps even the most expensive ever (who knows what goes on with private sales?).

There is huge interest in all things Warhammer 40,000 right now — and this interest extends far beyond the confines of the tabletop game. A significant portion of the Warhammer 40,000 community is primarily interested in the stories that underpin its universe. Stories like Hive, which delves deep into the ground level response of the rank and file humans of a sprawling hive world to... certain things that happen to it that are really not very good for anyone, give fans a closer look at the Warhammer 40,000 universe away from the galaxy-shaking exploits of the Space Marines. But then there are blockbuster video games such as Space Marine 2, Amazon animated anthologies, and of course the upcoming Henry Cavill cinematic universe to contend with. In short, if there ever was a time for a Warhammer 40,000 book to sell for thousands of dollars, it’s now.

Speaking of Dan Abnett, fans are still waiting for the celebrated Black Library author to finish his beloved Bequin trilogy. He’s indicated that Pandaemonium won’t be released until Games Workshop itself catches up lore wise. Fingers crossed that happens sooner rather than later.

We’ve got plenty more on the world of Warhammer 40,000, including first details on Henry Cavill’s Amazon TV series, our best theory for who Cavill will play in the show, and the announcement of the new Deathwatch animated series.

Image credit: eBay.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].