Wednesday, September 12, 2007

This takes me back.

Courtesy of a poster at the Acaeum, here are two pages from the 1983 Sears catalog.
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Posted by Jeff Rients at 8:44 AM

16 comments:

  1. donm618739:21 AM

    My first copy of Space Opera was ordered from Montgomery Ward!

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  2. Anonymous9:34 AM

    Wow, I didn't realize how close to mainstream gaming had gotten at the time. D&D, Traveller, and Squad Leader in a Sears catalog?!?!

    Stan

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  3. S. John Ross9:57 AM

    Ah, Space Opera and FASATrek 1st Edition. Double-dose of warm fuzzy :)

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  4. Devin Parker9:59 AM

    Mind you, I don't think I'd necessarily go back, what with all of the coolness that's readily available to us now with the internet and indy games and so on.

    But that takes me back. It was a different time...

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  5. S. John Ross10:05 AM

    I just noticed that the Monster Manual II has a (presumably production mockup) alternate cover from the actual release.

    And that the Traveller starter set includes activities! More than 10! Yay!

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  6. Jeff Rients10:08 AM

    Anybody else play Crossbows & Catapults back in the day? Good, silly fun. They recently revamped the line and I saw a set at the WalMart a couple days ago.

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  7. Devin Parker10:22 AM

    Yep. I remember playing it with my sister. Good times.

    "Activities"?! What, did it include a page to color, a crossword, and a maze?

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  8. Anonymous2:57 PM

    Yes, Crossbows and Catapults was lots of fun. Especially when you doubled up on the rubber bands and "accidentally" shot one at your brother's head instead of his castle.

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  9. Zachary Houghton3:12 PM

    Geez, it was just a different time, wasn't it?

    Looking at that gives me a nice, warm feeling, but also kind of a sad nostalgia.

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  10. Mike Kuciak4:25 PM

    I had a full range of Crossbows and Catapaults stuff. Too much fun.

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  11. S. John Ross8:08 PM

    We had a Crossbows & Catapults set in the back room of the game shop where I worked in the 80s, on the big metal shelf of store-copy boardgames.

    In theory, we could pull any game off the shelf and play it anytime. In practice, we consistently pulled down only a handful, maybe 8 or 9 games on those shelves ever got consistent play (Junta, Talisman, Illuminati, Dune, Rail Baron, Civ, a few others).

    We often pulled down Crossbows & Catapults ... but only when we wanted some quick props for Pat's D&D runs (Pat liked the pieces). I honestly don't remember anyone ever playing the game, and I recall everyone mentioning it at some point "We really should give that a try sometime." "Yeah, we should."

    Just thinking about it makes me want to play Rail Baron right now :)

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  12. Anonymous2:27 AM

    Photoshop and Pagemaker killed good taste in colour choice and cover design for gaming products.

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  13. S. John Ross8:09 AM

    Photoshop and Pagemaker killed good taste in colour choice and cover design for gaming products.

    I think that's true. The root problem, IMO, is people confusing knowledge of the software with knowledge of design, which is a bit like someone thinking "I know how to swing a hammer and saw a saw; I guess that makes me a carpenter!"

    ... although for my own selfish tastes it's of much greater consequence that Photoshop (in particular) not only killed fantasy cartography, it also went on to rape the corpse, skin it, and hang the skin from its head while dancing around the room going "hahahah! glossy textures and obvious digital dropshadows! hahahah!"

    And PageMaker (and its descendants, Quark and InDesign) killed RPG interior typography, which was never in good shape to begin with, so it was like beating up a kid in a wheelchari.

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  14. S. John Ross8:09 AM

    And of course, I killed my own ability to spell. Apparently.

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  15. Anonymous10:24 AM

    I´d field a more differentiated opinion of fantasy cartography, but alas this is not the right place and time.
    My main point though is that real quality maps cost real money, way more than most people would think, even in Real Life publishing.
    So they are either made out of love at a loss, or by non-professionals, or in a short timeframe.
    Interestingly, certain styles have trained the (D&D) customer to only appreciate that certain style.
    And the fine Sir who is master of that style now is flooded in work and his quality and detail has dropped to very low levels.
    It´s really a shame, but the tragedy is even greater in RL mapping...

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  16. S. John Ross1:58 PM

    [...] real quality maps cost real money, way more than most people would think [...]So they are either made out of love at a loss, or by non-professionals, or in a short timeframe.

    That's true (and equally true) of every element in an RPG book. Anyone who may have told you different is just ignorant.

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