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Behold! A mega chart of AD&D 1st and 2nd ed monster products sales!
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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8706395" data-attributes="member: 7026594"><p>Yes. From reading <em>Game Wizards</em> and <em>Slaying the Dragon</em>, it appears clear that the James Dallas Egbert controversy, which started the scare over D&D, was initially a giant sales driver, due to the publicity. Even once the Fundies started preaching against it, that often was a bit of a sales driver. IIRC there's a story about a preacher raising $1000 to buy & burn D&D books, and Tim Kask helping make sure that the local gaming store got a double-size shipment to serve the market. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>The satanic panic no doubt had SOME negative impact; being dropped from the JC Penney and Sears catalogues in '84 definitely wouldn't help. But the books were still getting big national mass market distribution in book stores and some toy stores for years after that. </p><p></p><p>I think the folks who've suggested that it was market saturation are much more on target, and Slaying the Dragon supports that theory. D&D was a fad for a few years and enjoyed a massive sales period from '79 to '83, but TSR execs thought the lines would just keep going up and spent like drunken sailors, rather than consolidating their victories and being cautious.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm almost certain that it did. Note that Ben's charts are missing 1977 and 1978 data (he specifically notes that on his FB post). </p><p></p><p>The first two years the original MM was out, in which every OD&D player who wanted a single-volume, clean and organized monster book would have been buying it, aren't included in these figures.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 8706395, member: 7026594"] Yes. From reading [I]Game Wizards[/I] and [I]Slaying the Dragon[/I], it appears clear that the James Dallas Egbert controversy, which started the scare over D&D, was initially a giant sales driver, due to the publicity. Even once the Fundies started preaching against it, that often was a bit of a sales driver. IIRC there's a story about a preacher raising $1000 to buy & burn D&D books, and Tim Kask helping make sure that the local gaming store got a double-size shipment to serve the market. :D The satanic panic no doubt had SOME negative impact; being dropped from the JC Penney and Sears catalogues in '84 definitely wouldn't help. But the books were still getting big national mass market distribution in book stores and some toy stores for years after that. I think the folks who've suggested that it was market saturation are much more on target, and Slaying the Dragon supports that theory. D&D was a fad for a few years and enjoyed a massive sales period from '79 to '83, but TSR execs thought the lines would just keep going up and spent like drunken sailors, rather than consolidating their victories and being cautious. I'm almost certain that it did. Note that Ben's charts are missing 1977 and 1978 data (he specifically notes that on his FB post). The first two years the original MM was out, in which every OD&D player who wanted a single-volume, clean and organized monster book would have been buying it, aren't included in these figures. [/QUOTE]
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Behold! A mega chart of AD&D 1st and 2nd ed monster products sales!
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