TSR NuTSR Declares Bankruptcy

NuTSR, owned by Justin LaNasa, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which will liquidate the company's assets.

NuTSR's gross revenue so far for 2023 is $621.93 according to the documents filed in North Carolina. This is balanced against total liabilities of just over $384,000.

The company made the news over the last couple of years, emerging in 2020 when then-owners Justin LaNasa and Stephen Dinehart registered the defunct TSR trademarks and launched the new venture with the involvement of Ernie Gygax, one of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax's sons. Over the following months, NuTSR generated controversy after controversy, attempted to sue D&D publishers Wizards of the Coast via a crowdfunding effort, and in March 2022 eventually found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from them.

TSR - The Full & Glorious History of NuTSR

Because the Saga of TSR3 has been ongoing for a while, with many landmarks, I thought I'd do a quick timeline for those who haven't had the time (or, frankly, inclination) to keep up with the whole palaver. As multiple entities refer to themselves as TSR, I will use the nomenclature (1), (2)...

www.enworld.org

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As a consequence of the bankruptcy petition the current lawsuit between WotC and NuTSR is on hold, postponed until March 2024. NuTSR's website is still active.

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[DLIMedia]

no $621.93, as in six hundred and 21 dollars, 93 cents.

My Kickstarter that I actually considered a comparative failure to my others made more than that.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

My Kickstarter that I actually considered a comparative failure to my others made more than that.

I've found more than that in retirement accounts I forgot I had from jobs I had for about fifteen minutes.

 

[Dioltach]

I've paid more to put my cats in a cat hotel while I was on holiday.

I've won more as a randomly selected "Congratulations, you're the tenth caller!"

 

[Willie the Duck]

Isn't that hiding assets that should be part of the bankruptcy? Isn't that illegal?

It depends. This has all the hallmarks of a Texas Two-Step (own two companies, give one company all the benefits, saddle the other with all the debt, have the later fail or declare bankruptcy). Exactly how legal (and immune to clawback actions) any of it is is incredibly jurisdiction-dependent. Large corporations* have been able to help cultivate laws which favor them being able to do this. Small company-conglomerates like LaNasa's business impire less so, but still they have advantages individuals rarely have in this regard. If this were a simple bankruptcy, I honestly would expect he'd get away with this method of sheltering assets and erasing debts. Once you factor in the lawsuit, however, I kinda expect they'll be able to go after anything he owns under any corporate framework**.
*and institutions in the non- not-for-profit sectors, such as hospital chains and archdiocese.
**especially given how carelessly he has been with keeping the entities separate.

I've found more than that in retirement accounts I forgot I had from jobs I had for about fifteen minutes.

That's the part of this that intrigues me. The numbers are so small. Mind you, the ~$400,000 total LaNasa (claims) he invested in this business is a decent chunk of change for me*, but once you recognize that we're talking about an individual with multiple businesses and 1/2 dozen+ employees, it starts feeling very down to earth. Even moreso once we're talking about someone trying to go toe-to-toe with a corporation whose latest venture grossed 202 million and that's considered disappointing. I mean, I knew it was 'mouse taking on lion,' but not at this level. I don't know, I guess I was expecting with all the talk about people inquiring about their early orders not being fulfilled and such that they were at least actually moving product, and the numbers be more like maybe $80,000 income, simply not enough to support the 3-6 people I assumed were working full-time on the endeavor (to say nothing of the legal costs, etc.).
*Depending, I guess, on whether it's a loss for failed business venture, price of a house, income over a given time period, or how much retirement savings I should have in at my age.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Remember, many things that are legal if you're a billionaire aren't if you're not.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Remember, many things that are legal if you're a billionaire aren't if you're not.

Counterpoint: the only thing separating Today-Me from Billionaire-Me is a few liberals and their drag queen story hours! I'm practically a billionaire now!*

* Disclaimer: I am not now, and will never be, a billionaire. This post is poor satire of a particular viewpoint.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

he's not actively seeking out evil, or turned inherently evil himself... He just doesn't care. How racist a person is is irrelevant to his ability to DM for them.

It would be extremely hard to accidentally keep running into sexists, racists and homophobes.

Statistically speaking, it's much more likely that he does care, but counts on people giving him the benefit of the doubt over and over again.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In light of the bankruptcy filing, Justin of NuTSR is now going to all his products and rebranding them under his other company, "OSR Games, LLC".

The OSR movement keeps actively purging themselves of bad actors, only for them to actively seek the movement out and slap the "OSR" branding on themselves.

 

[Deset Gled]

It's really just a formality, but the suit of NuTSR v WotC is officially on hold:

 

[Umbran]

Counterpoint: the only thing separating Today-Me from Billionaire-Me is a few liberals and their drag queen story hours! I'm practically a billionaire now!*

* Disclaimer: I am not now, and will never be, a billionaire. This post is poor satire of a particular viewpoint.

Mod Note:
This post is a poor satire of a political viewpoint. That's a problem. Please don't go there. Thanks.