TSR When TSR Passed On Tolkien

Benjamin Riggs recently revealed this tidbit of TSR history -- Lorraine Williams passing on the rights to Tolkien's works in 1992!

"So, in 1992, TSR almost acquired the rights to JRR Tolkien's work. John Rateliff was sent to London to negotiate the deal, missing Gen Con. (Apparently, no TSR employees were allowed to miss Gen Con, but he was for this...) He met Christopher Tolkien at the Harper-Collins offices, where he asked for the rights to make RPGs, merch, and new books set in Middle-Earth. Chris Tolkien said yes to the RPGs, and some merch, but no to the fiction line.

Back in Lake Geneva, Rateliff communicated this to TSR CEO Lorraine Williams. Rateliff said, "Her immortal words were, ‘Not worth our while.’”

She then passed on the whole deal."

Rateliff wrote the book The History of the Hobbit: The Hobbit / Mr. Baggins / Return to Bag-end.

Amazon.com: The History of the Hobbit: The Hobbit / Mr. Baggins / Return to Bag-end: 9780618964406: Rateliff, John D., Tolkien, J. R. R.: Books

Amazon.com: The History of the Hobbit: The Hobbit / Mr. Baggins / Return to Bag-end: 9780618964406: Rateliff, John D., Tolkien, J. R. R.: Books

www.amazon.com

 

[Parmandur]

The idea of 90's TSR novels set in Middle Earth hurts my brain. But that was the real cash cow at that point, so Williams reaction makes sense.

 

[Prakriti]

It looks like a boneheaded move for sure, but without knowing the details of the deal, it's hard to say. The Tolkien Estate might have wanted way more than what the IP was worth.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm having a Shatner moment here.

WILLIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS!

 

[Sacrosanct]

In hindsight, this looks like a really bad idea. Like the (in)famous passing on the Beatles. Or Queen.

But in 1992, it wasn't nearly as huge as we think of now. If you wanted to get your LoTR fix on outside of reading the books, you had to watch the late 70s/early 80s animated films (which were great, IMO) or the Iron Crown RPG. We can thank Peter Jackson for the huge popularity now

 

[Parmandur]

In hindsight, this looks like a really bad idea. Like the (in)famous passing on the Beatles. Or Queen.

But in 1992, it wasn't nearly as huge as we think of now. We can thank Peter Jackson for that.

LotR was already a huge deal in 1992, particularly among TSR's target audience. If they had gotten fiction rights, that could have been transformational: like, no bankruptcy alternate history.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It looks like a boneheaded move for sure, but without knowing the details of the deal, it's hard to say. The Tolkien Estate might have wanted way more than what the IP was worth.

Iron Crown Enterprise has the IP since 1984 when MERP came out. And they had it until 1999. So if Iron Crown could afford it, I'm sure TSR could have.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Same. Imagine R.A. Salvatore writing an Aragorn novel that is mostly intricate descriptions of swordplay and battle.

That being said, imagining going into my FLGS back then and picking up a TSR boxed set for Middle-Earth, a Dwarves of Erebor splatbook, could have been mind-blowing. MERP didn't set the world on fire, but with an easier rules system, who knows what could've been.

The idea of 90's TSR novels set in Middle Earth hurts my brain. But that was the real cash cow at that point, so Williams reaction makes sense.

 

[Sacrosanct]

LotR was already a huge deal in 1992, particularly among TSR's target audience. If they had gotten fiction rights, that could have been transformational: like, no bankruptcy alternate history.

I disagree. MERP was already out there, and hardly anyone played it. Compared to D&D anyway. So it's not like gamers didn't have an RPG option to play in Middle Earth, they just didn't in numbers that came close to D&D

 

[Parmandur]

I disagree. MERP was already out there, and hardly anyone played it. Compared to D&D anyway. So it's not like gamers didn't have an RPG option to play in Middle Earth, they just didn't in numbers that came close to D&D

The RPG side, not so much: I mean if Williams had gotten the rights to do novels in Middle Earth: that's where the real money would have been at. That's why she passed, she couldn't get the important part.