Titan: The Monster Slugathon

Hail fellow Grognards! Ready for another installment of this D&D blog? It's GO TIME!
As I've shared here over the past couple of years...I've been building a David A. Trampier collection...hard to find posters, original art...last week I really took the plunge and added the very rare,but extremely influential & popular, TITAN board game! 
This game was designed by TRAMP & his friend  Jason B. McAllister. They formed the Gorgonstar Co. and put the game out themselves in 1980. Avalon Hill bought the rights and published their own version for the next 20 odd years...leaving the 1980 board game a hard to find collectors item.
Here's a look at the condition of the box & the game contents...

Art on all 4 edges of the box...The Dragon & Behemoth 

Bottom of the box showing some coloring due to age.

And inside...

The rules to the game, "The LAW of TITAN". Very neat pamphlet with the TRAMP minotaur drawing...the original of which sold for over 2K this summer on Ebay!

Everything included & in pristine shape...the game pieces are "unpunched"...as in this game has never actually been played/used.

A warning from the creators...

Not to worry, I won't be playing this copy of the game, nor spraying any "clear-coat" on it to preserve the pieces! 

A nice "tip of the hat" from Tramp & Jason to their friends & brother!

The game board...which is a poster. Slightly different than the Avalon Hill version. You can see how the back of it has become discolored with age.

I can hear you asking..."What did you pay?" You already know...it was a lot of cabbage! I just knew that any real collection of TRAMP's work needed this piece of history. I read somewhere on the interwebs that only 500 or so of this version were sold by Gorgonstar...I really don't know the validity of that number...I just know that with the art...the box, the game pieces & the board designed by TRAMP...that I needed it for my collection. 

I teased this on some FB groups...a Gorgonstar Publications business card that was included with the game!

And...for comparison...here's the TITAN box next to the transparency used in the silk screening of the box covers!

I'll continue to keep my eyes open for more TRAMP collectibles...if any surface. He's my absolute favorite D&D/Fantasy artist.

'Till next time...Up the irons & roll for initiative!

Excelsior! 

A Friend Indeed: The 3 AD&D Books Gifted to Me

Greetings again on a cool Autumn day...the kind that was perfect for D&D back in the early '80s! The smell of cut grass mingled with burning leaves...brings back vivid memories of riding my bike to a friend's house for weekend D&D sessions!
Well...those friends gave up RPG's long ago. One, in particular, gave me a great gift when he did...3 of his AD&D books! Hell of a gift...I've held on to them for 30+ years...check 'em out!

He took care of his books...you can see the wear on them...they were well used "back in the day"! The "Deities & Demigods" is still in fine shape. Which version I hear you ask? Bet you already know...

Yessir! This is the early 1980 edition with the Cthulhu & Melnibone mythos! Yeah...damn fine gift!

Easy to see that he didn't read the description of Elric before he colored the pic! Kinda robust looking for an albino! I'm impressed to this day with hsi coloring ability at that young age! 
I even recognize some of the beings he let me color!

And then the "Fiend Folio"

Now this one is kinda embarrassing...it's not my friend's! I had borrowed his books to use at a convention...it wasn't until months later that I discovered that someone had mistakenly (I hope) walked off with the wrong copy! This book is in very fine/Mint condition!And this copy doesn't have many colored pages...and its in colored pencil to boot! 

These were all colored by yours truly at a later date...ee

I do particularly like the Skeleton Warrior & Mountain Giant!

And lastly, and quite incidentally, my least favorite of the three...The Monster Manual II

I know...that's borderline heresy! I think it's just the fact that I didn't care for the art in the book like I did in the original Monster Manual. No Dave Trampier always really bothered me...he was the best of the early D&D artist...and his absence here hurt the product...in my humble opinion. This is the most weathered of the 3 books...it did get a LOT of use!

3 great books...all vintage! I still half expect my friend to ask for them back one day! And I'd return them if he did!
For an added bonus...here's a closer look at the maps in the back ground. I created them with Wonderdraft for a campaign I'm working on. 

I just took my flash drive to Office Max and had them copied onto 11X17 card stock!

...hope you've enjoyed looking at these great old books! They bring back great memories for me...and AD&D is the high water mark for me as far as D&D!
'till next time...EXCELSIOR!  

As Good as the Real Thing? DrivethruRPG reprints

Just a quick entry...I bought 2 reprints of Classic TSR modules from DrivethruRPG.
"U3The Final Enemy" & "The Temple of Elemental Evil".
I've never owned either of these 2...never adventured in them. Thought I'd add them to my collection. Always very happy with the quality of the product from DTRPG.
But....wait for it

 Included, for no extra charge (not even mentioned), is the 5e adventure module "The Lost Laboratory of Kwalish"! 
Now...I know some who would have returned this immediately...angered that they did get exactly what they ordered. I, on the other hand, look at it as a bonus! Maybe a "one of a kind" purchase. Maybe the 5e adventure was added as a mistake?
Either way...I'm keeping it! 
Besides...I'm always happy to cherry pick & gleen ideas from wherever I can for my adventures!

I have U1 & U2...both vintage copies. Just wanted to add the U series to my collection.
I went for TTOEE too. Seems that certain modules are only available for a limited run...I'd seen it in PDF form before....but wanted a physical copy....without paying the insane prices on Ebay or elsewhere!

I never played "The Village of Hommlet"...and the idea of having a "Super Dungeon" is something I'd love to run sometime in the future!
Anywhoo...thought these were 2 very worthwhile purchases...Happy Autumn to you...and EXCELSIOR!