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!