Edition Aroma: Which one smells the best?

[Cristian Andreu]

We all know smell is a critical part of nerdom; MTG boosters have some kind of addictive gas that hooks you on the scent so you have to buy more, for example.

This happens with D&D editions, too, each one having its own characteristic smell, from the "this has gone through way too many hands" fragrance of 1e to the squeaky clean bouquet of 4e.

Which edition do you think smells the best?

For me, it's the Spanish print of AD&D 2e (the English one smells slightly different), followed by 4e. The first one has that stuffy, sorta-recycled paper odour that reminds me of the good parts of the 80's, while 4e reminds me of freshly-opened boardgames.

5e, while my favourite edition to play, has my least favourite smell. It confuses me.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

I don't have a favorite, but I do have a least favorite - the orange spine 1E books. I picked them up used and they all smelled awful, so much so that they made me light-headed if I kept them open for too long. I was quite happy to get rid of them in favor of the more recent premium reprints.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Good book smells are something I heartily approve of. I’d go with either the 2e (particularly the “Complete Book of…” splatbooks) or my BECMI boxed sets.

 

[Cristian Andreu]

I don't have a favorite, but I do have a least favorite - the orange spine 1E books. I picked them up used and they all smelled awful, so much so that they made me light-headed if I kept them open for too long. I was quite happy to get rid of them in favor of the more recent premium reprints.

Yeah, the reprints have a much better smell than the originals. My old ones have lost most of their smell, though.

 

[diaglo]

the xeroxed copies which were not made by any modern day printer but were that blue ink we got in elementary school circa 1973 of the handwritten rules via the Castle and Crusaders Society.

high on life. high on gaming

 

[Prince Atom]

the xeroxed copies which were not made by any modern day printer but were that blue ink we got in elementary school circa 1973 of the handwritten rules via the Castle and Crusaders Society.

high on life. high on gaming

Oh man, spirit reproductions. That takes me back.

For me, the 3E core books smell just like a pack of Magic cards, and I'm guessing it's the binding and the ink, maybe the glossy paper itself.

I don't think I've ever huffed my 5E books.

 

[Orius]

Sniffed:

Rulebook from the '91 Black Box Basic set.
PHB, 2e, 11th printing, February 1994.
PHB, 3e, August 2000 printing.

All have faded smells. No distinctive odor from the Basic rulebook. 2e rulebook has a faint acidic scent. 3e book has a faint smell vaguely
reminiscent of TCG cards.

 

[Starfox]

I never owned the old Moldway basic set I was introduced to DnD on. As far as I can remember, it smelled of cheap toilet paper. Which is kind of unfair; it held together for several years of abuse by a pair of 13-year-olds.

My first 1E books were the softcovers Games Workshop printed under license; they smelled of glue. Part of the reason was of course that I had to re-glue the spines. My hardbound 1E books used to smell lovely. Not so much now - I still have a good sense of smell but 30 years have made those books dry out. This was before the orange spines.

2E books smelled kinda funky... Like the old school bags they were transported in. I did bye mine used.

3E books smelled schoolbook. Not nasty, but they gave off an impression of "this is going to be work". 3.5 smelled basically the same, but with less "astrophysics is awesome" and more "Math B is like Math A, but more powerful". Pretty much as the games themselves. It helped that I was in university when 3.0 came out.

4E had an acidic smell that was quite repulsive.

Pathfinder... No discernible smell really. The smaller books smell slightly of waxed covers, which is pretty nice, but also have a chemical ink color that isn't.

I've not really handled 5E that closely.

 

[RedSiegfried]

The first generation of D&D Miniatures smelled the best ... especially when they had been sitting in a hot car for a few hours. Open up that box and smell the plasticky goodness. Mmmm ... plasti-crack. Even my kitties approve of the aroma - plus they have sticky outy parts that are good to chew on, then pick up and hide somewhere.

The new D&D miniatures smell alright too, with a slight hint of fresh paper currency flowing out of my pockets as I pay $16 for four of them.

Used miniatures don't have that same smell, but at least I'm paying 1/2 the price or less of new ones.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

On that note, the smell of Citadel mini paints…

The first generation of D&D Miniatures smelled the best ... especially when they had been sitting in a hot car for a few hours.