TSR Why I still love the Real TSR

[Warpiglet-7]

OMG Yes! Those ads. It's hard to explain to people that grew up with the internet .. but the world was truly more mysterious back then. And it wasn't the big ads ... it was the small ads, for the games and products that you didn't see in stores ... sure, most of them undoubtedly sucked ... but those ads conjured the idea of these incredible games, just out of reach.

There is no way to duplicate the sense of wonder at unearthing, seeing glimpses of and being in contact with a gaming product pre internet days…guided by little ads and often black and white pics!

We used to play a lot of Buck Rogers battle for the 25th century boardgame. This let to axis and Allies, the hunt for Shogun and conquest of the Empire….

All hard to find, few pictures…but TSR started it for us.

And the mystery! Seeing ads in comic books or elsewhere really whetted the appetite like a website never will. The delayed gratification and anticipation!

Side note I had too secret and marvel superheroes and much later actually (newer edition) gamma world…

 

[Sacrosanct]

There is no way to duplicate the sense of wonder at unearthing, seeing glimpses of and being in contact with a gaming product pre internet days…guided by little ads and often black and white pics!

Before the internet, I would literally spend hours going over this. And I'd probably break it out almost every day. Especially if I ordered something. 6-8 weeks for delivery baby!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Before the internet, I would literally spend hours going over this. And I'd probably break it out almost every day. Especially if I ordered something. 6-8 weeks for delivery baby!

Gotta admit, all the "supply chain disruptions" made me feel like it was the 80s again!

 

[MGibster]

So when it comes to TSR, we don't think of the corporate entity, or the various foibles, the way some of its employees and contractors were mistreated, or the internal fights.

One of little things that upsets me about nuTSR is that they frequently come to mind when I think of the OG TSR. As you said, TSR had its faults, but they don't deserve to be associated with nuTSR, and in way, nuTSR has tainted my memories by their erroneous association.

I have a lot of good memories associated with TSR. In particular, I loved most of the products they were putting out between 1989-1996. The golden age of campaign settings might not have been great from a fiscal point of view, but as a player and a DM I loved it. And who can forget 1983's Ravenloft? Forty years later and it's still my favorite adventure of all time. (I once adapted it for classic Deadlands. You haven't played Ravenloft until you meet Strahd wearing a cowboy hat clutches his chest when you shoot him declaring, "Ah, you got me, par'dner!" in a cheesey generic European accent.)

 

[GuyBoy]

The Christmas of 1977, when I got the White Boxed Set!
No present has ever come close to that magic.

 

[Delazar]

so yesterday I mention Planescape and DiTerlizzi in this thread, and today I find out DiTerlizzi is back for the new edition of Planescape?!

time to get my corduroy jacket out of the closet!

 

[MGibster]

I tend to think of TSR in terms of D&D, but I simply can't forgive myself for not singing the praises of Marvel Super Heros Heroic Role Playing Game TSR first published in 1984 with new material being published until around 1993 or so. I haven't played the game in over thirty years now, but I have yet to find a super hero role playing game I enjoyed as much as I did TSR's Marvel.

I'm feeling positively ancient knowing more years have passed between the time I stopped playing MSH today than passed between the year Spider-Man was created and when I started playing MSH.

 

[Sacrosanct]

so yesterday I mention Planescape and DiTerlizzi in this thread, and today I find out DiTerlizzi is back for the new edition of Planescape?!

time to get my corduroy jacket out of the closet!

His art still is pretty...This is his recent image for this project

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I tend to think of TSR in terms of D&D, but I simply can't forgive myself for not singing the praises of Marvel Super Heros Heroic Role Playing Game TSR first published in 1984 with new material being published until around 1993 or so. I haven't played the game in over thirty years now, but I have yet to find a super hero role playing game I enjoyed as much as I did TSR's Marvel.

I'm feeling positively ancient knowing more years have passed between the time I stopped playing MSH today than passed between the year Spider-Man was created and when I started playing MSH.

I have to agree here.

With the caveat that I don't play a lot of superhero games, I am still shocked at the ways in which TSR's Marvel game in the mid-80s remains my standard for excellence in that genre.

 

[Longspeak]

I've discussed elsewhere how my dad bought the blue box for a friend's 12th, and how that started thing off.

But for my 13th birthday, my mom took me to the toy shop. I browsed and browsed, and finally saw Gamma World. My first RPG.

Years later, I may play other things. I many like other games and other styles of play more. But the memories of those early steps, my fighter in the dungeon, my friend's mutant navigating the strange post apocalyptic future. Those still bring a smile to my face,