Reddit mentions of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Player's Handbook

Basically you need the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. There are also "premium" versions of these books printed in 2012 that include many years worth of errata, and you should try to get those if you can.

The three core books are enough to play, but of course Wizards of the Coast published a very large number of supplements to the game that add more rules, systems, and advice for DM's to use and more options, classes, and spells for players. One of these is the Dungeon Master's Guide II, which includes a large bit of advice for DM's, more magic items, and some new rules and systems, including a detailed system for building towns. It was a fine supplement, but is certainly not essential for running a campaign, and I wouldn't even describe it as the best 4th book for a new dungeon master to buy.

Actually, if you're just starting out DMing, the best 4th book to get would probably be a pre-published adventure, or even a mega-adventure or adventure path. The Sunless Citadel is an excellent adventure for 1st-level PC's, though you should check first whether anyone in your group has played through it before. As for mega-adventures, both The Red Hand of Doom and Age of Worms have excellent reputations, though the latter was published in Dungeon magazine which makes it hard to find a copy.

I'm going to disagree on your point of editions. 3.5 is still massive, even with Pathfinder eating into it. WotC just recently released a new printing of the PHB, DMG, and MM1. There's many out there who still play this and have a trove of these books. I've played in several groups over the past 5 years, and they all played 3.5*. That said, most 3.5 stuff could probably be covered at the same time as Pathfinder.

^(*And I never sought out any specific system when joining. I've actually been itching to try out Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, the new Marvel RPG, and just the other day backed the kickstarter for "OVA: The Anime RPG". Too bad I only have time to be in one group!)

Yeah. Go buy yourself the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786962461/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2NEMPNK3P5YZZ&coliid=I5YGJHRSD02XZ

Got them off Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786962461/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01

Right now they're 32.97 each. Also, why do you think that it's going to be messed up? I guess a store had them early because a guy in my D&D game on Saturday brought in the PHB and it looked fantastic. I didn't look up all the differences but it seemed really nice. Also, I never had 3.5 so it's a good way for me to get them with all the updates.

2E books are treasures--you are smart to hold on to them.

For the 3E and 4E stuff you are planning on getting rid of, best thing is to ask if there is a kid in your extended family who might want the collection.

You could check to see if amazon offers trade-in value for them. Like here https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-3-5-Players-Handbook/dp/0786962461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483034452&sr=1-1&keywords=Player%27s+handbook+3.5

You see they are offering $13 on an Amazon gift card. It is easy, you just put them in a box and send them in in one large trade-in batch. The book will find its way to someone who needs it eventually, because it still has value.

Many don't offer trade-in, like the 3.0 core rules, but that's because the used market is selling them for a couple of bucks. Nothing to do about that, WOTC's plan was to obsolete some books to resell core line, and they did a good job. There are simply too many in the market for the demand, and it isn't going to pick up for those editions. Probably best to just throw them out--it's sad, but you will probably spend more of your time and gas trying to get them somewhere than they will ever be worth. Content yourself with knowing that there are many, many more copies of them out there than will ever be used.

I personally would go wih Amazon trade-in over eBay selling because it is hassle free, but it all depends on how much you value your time. I would also figure most libraries would determine that since there is a newer edition out, and this is outside their core line anyway, they wouldn't be likely to keep it. Amazon trade-in is just a hassle free way of getting it out into the marketplace, increasing supply for those who want them.

But certainly keep your 2E stuff, unless passing it on to someone you know will love it. It connects and is compatible with 20 years of AD&D material across 10 campaign settings, and is the last of the Gygax style old-school RPGs, so it is something that can never be replaced by the new stuff.

>I know how hard it can be to get your hands on these

Not that hard. amazon.com is selling them for under $33 each (retail $50), and they qualify for Prime shipping:

• Player's Handbook
  
• Dungeon Master's Guide
  
• Monster Manual

You seem like you want to prepare. I'm also a person who prepares, so here are things you can do to come feeling like you have:

Email (or text or whatever) the GM and ask what version you're playing.

4th edition, D&D 3.5, Pathfinder or 5th edition are all very likely candidates, and all play different enough you will want to know a bit of the difference. The first night you don't necessarily need to have your own copy of the book, but it will be a lot easier if you do going forward.

If the group is totally new, everyone will be rolling characters. If you meant the group is new to you, and they're already playing, ask what character classes they have already.

You may be happy looking up what 'good' character classes are for that edition are (depends on how competitive you are)

Bring a cheat sheet on it the edition you're playing, a small notebook, 2 mechanical pencils, and a set of polyhedral dice

Cheat sheets:

5th Edition: http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1042

4th Edition: http://kassoon.com/dnd/crib-sheet/

Pathfinder Edition: https://sites.google.com/site/paolospathfinderpage/cheat-sheets

3.5 Edition: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?231897-3-5-Rules-Cheat-Sheets

You really need to look into which version it is to get specific recommendations from /r/rpg that will be at all helpful. Once you do get that answer on what edition you're playing, find 2 easy to play classes by asking here, or looking up "tier lists" on the internet.

If you're really up for it, after finding out what version it is, go buy the players handbook for that version, read it, and watch an hour or two of "Actual play" on the internet for that version.

__

Most of D&D is about 1> Standing in the right place 2> Hitting the baddie with your big stick/magic spell 3> Not falling into traps 4> Getting loot. The game is incredibly oriented on loot and small magical items that give bonuses to attack and defense. So when an item comes up that's appropriate to your character, ask for it! Don't be a hog, but don't make the mistake of not taking enough.

When making your character, there are a lot of okay choices, a couple really really bad ones, and some superlative ones. You're unlikely to figure out the superlative ones without looking them up, but you'll probably be able to avoid the really horrible ones.

If you're worrying about the Roleplaying part, instead of the game playing part, the book "Impro" is excellent at explaining how to play characters well (the chapter on status is worthwhile on life in general)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planar_Handbook.
It was a bit of an updated (updated from 2e) PHB specifically for planescape adventures, it's got expanded races and information on the default dnd cosmology (I think the greyhawk one, I'm not sure).
You can tell them apart from the covers.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK CORE RULEBOOK I v.3.5.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK CORE RULEBOOK I.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK II called Book 2 David Noonan.
This is the reprint with errata.

Yep, they should have basically the same content, as far as I'm aware. It's just that the one with the simpler cover (this one, I mean) is a recent reprint of the 3.5 PHB.

Anyway. Don't forget that you'll also want a Dungeon Master's Guide as well as a Player's Handbook and Monster Manual. (Or, if you're not planning to be the Dungeon Master yourself, you can skip the MM and just get the PHB.)

http://paizo.com/pathfinder

or

http://amzn.com/0786962461