Gygax Memorial General Update

[grodog]

Assuming that's the original copy[of Trampier's PHB art]...hmm...I wonder how much that would go for at an auction?

It's definitely the original, IIRC Gary owned that and the MM art at one point, and sold the MM art I think; perhaps it was vice-versa? Large posters of the PHB, MM, and DMG covers were also available in the late 70s, but I think they all had additional text and/or framing sidebars on them, too, which would clearly ID them as posters. Erol Otus' D&DG original is owned by Aaron Leeder @ NobleKnight; Dave Sutherland's DMG original is owned by Paul Stormberg. So, that might leave Gary's PHB as the only "biggie" left that might enter the field (so to speak)....

 

[Steel_Wind]

It's definitely the original, IIRC Gary owned that and the MM art at one point, and sold the MM art I think;

I believe the anecdote was that Sutherland destroyed the original artwork used for the first edition Monster Manual cover shortly before the book went to print. Sutherland was quite angry and embarassed by the quality of the illustration. I don't know if the anecdote was true or not, but I recall that was one of the stories that was circulated a few years back at the time of Sutherland's death.

I knew the DMG cover artwork had been purchased by a collector but I was not aware of where the PHB original cover art was. I'm happy to learn that Gary kept it the whole time. It is, without doubt, the most famous cover artwork in the history of RPGs.

There is no doubt in my mind that the PHB cover art is among the most valuable pieces from Gary's collection. I wonder if now is the right time to sell it, however.

Most of the items to be sold at the auction have value because they were strongly associated with Gary. Some old dice or an old game are merely some old dice or an old game. It is their association with Gary Gygax which makes them valuable.

Not so with the Trampier PHB front cover. That has value which stands apart from a strong association with EGG. Moreover, as it is artwork with a deep nostalgic resonance and is, literally, the most famous cover art work in the history of RPGs, I would expect that the piece would fetch even more at an auction 10 or 20 years from now.

Perhaps Gail Gygax might prefer to hold on to that piece for another day.

 

[BOZ]

There's also a note on his Wikipedia bio about the memorial fund.

 

[JohnRTroy]

Gail Gygax just did a podcast with some updates.

Episode 127 - Gail Gygax | Neverwinter Nights Podcast

 

[benjoshua]

Here's an update on the Gygax Memorial:

http://www.lakegenevanews.net/Artic...on-Gygax-memorial-slowed-but-not-stopped.html

I don't like the design. It looks like too many people provided input and gave the artist too little latitude. Furthermore, once the whole thing is done up in bronze, and you remove the green from the dragon and the blue from Gary's shirt, it might look a little better...or maybe not.

It might be helpful, if we really want to rally and impact some kind of change, to give this memorial a name. Or, even if there's no change, to forever stamp our disdain for how Gayle mangled this originally decent idea. I vote for, "Gary's Busted D&D Memorial." It says what it is.

 

[Mark CMG]

I don't like the design.

I agree. It's too busy. I feel they might have better gone with a simple pedestal with the Gygax bust at the top and a plaque on the front, perhaps stylizing the plaque as an open game book. It probably would have been done my now and would likely have required little to no future maintenance. The proposed design looks overly expensive to create and probably is going to require upkeep fees that would otherwise be unnecessary.

 

[Morrus]

Here's an update on the Gygax Memorial:

http://www.lakegenevanews.net/Articles- ... opped.html

Link's broken.

 

[trancejeremy]

Try

http://www.lakegenevanews.net/Artic...on-Gygax-memorial-slowed-but-not-stopped.html

But yeah, incredibly tacky

 

[benjoshua]

Link's broken.

Thanks! Link fixed.