An oft-quoted allusion to a piece by the late Charles Burbee, one of the funniest men ever to write for the microcosm. He collected ragtime player piano rolls and reported, in his fanzine, having run into someone who collected player pianos. When Burb asked how many he had, the man said he owned 50. Burb quoted himself as replying, "Fifty player pianos? That's not too many."
After Terry Carr and Ron Ellik republished the piece in The Incompleat Burbee, an anthology of Burbee's writings, it crept into repeated fannish usage – and, for a while, it was difficult to mention any number larger than three without someone else popping up to say That's Not Too Many.
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