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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 2902960" data-attributes="member: 16574">Hasbro produces retro "nostalgia" editions of a bunch of their classic boardgames (Monopoly, Risk, Clue, Stratego, etc.) with board art, pieces, rules, etc. that are facsimiles of editions from the 30s-60s that are sold right alongside the standard/new editions of the games. I really doubt they have any worry that somebody buying a facsimile 1930s edition of Monopoly is splintering the market for the game, and in fact I'd imagine a lot of people buy both -- the retro edition as a curiosity and "collector's item" (even though it's not a real collector's item, just a facsimile of one), and the standard edition to actually play with the kids. I can think of no good reason why they couldn't do the same thing with D&D, either the original edition from 1974 (which seems to be the most in-demand as a collectable -- even late-printing copies are regularly going for $100+ on ebay nowadays) or the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh edition of 1981 (which seems to generate the most fan-nostalgia, presumably because it was the 'current' edition at the height of the game's mainstream popularity). Heck, they could include both -- all 3 booklets from the 1974 set plus the 1981 Basic and Expert rulebooks combined don't have the page count of even the 3.5E PHB and could easily fit into a 2" 'bookcase game' sized box with perhaps a pamphlet on the early history of the game and some 'retro' dice and character sheets.  People who played D&D briefly back in the 80s and gave it up and got rid of their books might see this on the shelf at Target or Barnes & Noble and feel a little nostalgic and decide to pick it up (yeah, they could probably get 'real' copies of the books cheaper on ebay, but 1) that's a hassle, and 2) you never know what kind of coffee&pizza-stained, pen-marked, loose-paged monstrosity you might end up with). People who started playing later and have heard about but never seen the early editions of the game might get curious and pick it up. People still playing the old editions who want new rulebooks to play with so as to not damage their vintage copies might pick it up (I fall into this category -- yeah, I've already got the 1974 set and the 1981 rulebooks, but I'd be in the market for new copies, so long as they were reasonable facsimiles of the originals and didn't cost an arm and a leg).Honestly, given the fact that Hasbro already sells retro editions of many of their other 'classic' games, it seems like a no-brainer to do the same with D&D.</blockquote>

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