non-D&D TSR: idea germinations

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:42 pm

I've been collecting a fair amount of non-D&D TSR stuff over the past 18 months or so, and think it's time to start considering a new subweb.

I envision the content to break down along the following lines:

Boxed and unboxed RPGs (Tekumel, MA, GW, TS, GB, SF, MSH, etc.)
Boxed board/war games (Tractics, Dungeon!, Divine Right, Snit's Revenge, etc.)
Non-boxed board/wargames (Bio One!, Tricolor, Warriors of Mars, Star Probe, War of the Wizards, etc.; Chainmail is the obvious exception here, since it's already covered on the main site)

For each listing, I think the following template's a good start for contents break down, which would be done both with text and images:

Box
Board (whether a true board or a plastic-coated paper like Dungeon!, Lankhmar, William the Conqueror, etc.)
Rules
Counters (number of sheets, number of counters per sheet, position of counters per sheet perhaps, counters broken down by color/type/etc.)
Cards (broken down by type/number, sheets, etc. as above)
Components (dice, chits, minis, and other stuff used in play not covered above already)
Inserts (ads for Dragon, RPGA memberships, survey response cards, etc.)
Text about the game

I think each variant/printing should have an entry like the above. So, for example, the Fourth Dimension listings would be very similar, although the board entries would differ. These could also be broken down within the text description and/or within the template by adding printing details.

Links out to boardgamegeek.com, rules databases/scans, and external resources (fan sites for example) are probably in order as well, and would appear last in a listing, likely not in the main game template above: instead, they'd be the final part of an article, along the lines of "For additional reading on GAME X see these other fine web sites" or somesuch.

I'm not in a position to begin serious work on this yet, but as I continue to collate and organize material for my auctions, I'll take pictures, and refine this idea further.

In the meanwhile, if anyone has suggestions/critiques on anything above, please chime in Very Happy

Posts: 943 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:17 pm

Sounds great as it would fill a huge gap. I would suggest starting with earlier material, especially the stuff more closely related to D&D or early RPGs (Dungeon!, Petal Throne, Gamma World, Boot Hill, etc) as opposed to later boardgames and RPGs ( Hunt for the Red October game or Marvel Super Heroes RPG). I mean, it'll great to have it all there eventually, but it might be easier to start in the beginning and work forward. You could compartmentalize the work by choosing a cut-off end-date, say 1980, and just work on stuff available before that date. Once it's up and running, you could set a new date and work on a new section.

Were you considering including non-gaming material, such as TSR catalogs?

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:05 pm

zhowar wrote:

You could compartmentalize the work by choosing a cut-off end-date, say 1980, and just work on stuff available before that date. Once it's up and running, you could set a new date and work on a new section.

I had given some thought to that, figuring that perhaps up through 1979 would be good, so that I could include Divine Right in the first batch.

zhowar wrote:

Were you considering including non-gaming material, such as TSR catalogs?

Actually, no Very Happy

In my mind at least, that would be an Ephemera subweb which would include all of the TSR kitsch, various promotional materials (perhaps including GenCon, perhaps not if we could convince Randy Porter or Frank or some such someone to do an entire GenCon subweb on his own), catalogs, belt buckles, chess sets, ad infinitum.

Plus, I don't have much of that stuff, so I can't realistically even consider including it Wink

Posts: 5905 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:10 pm

Allan, I think its an excellent idea. Smile

I'd be happy to help with any info you might need on items, with printing info &/or pictures, if I can. Smile

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 11:07 pm

Thanks Brian. I'll see about starting to compile lists, and then posting them for others to fill in the blanks. Telling printings apart may be trickier, though. We'll see: Dungeon! and Fourth Dimension both have obvious printing differences, as does Battle of Five Armies (but I don't own that one at all). Others I'm just not so sure on. It'll be fun, regardless Very Happy

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:44 pm

Who has a TSR stocklist in MS Excel or in a database format that's actually complete?

Posts: 1210 · Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:43 am

zhowar wrote:

You could compartmentalize the work by choosing a cut-off end-date, say 1980, and just work on stuff available before that date.

why don't you choose as a limit the adoption of the TSR angle logo? ...in this case all the stuff could be split between "early logos" (GK, lizardman and wizard) and "modern logos" (angled, golden, silver anniv.)...

ah, unfortunaltey i have no lists complete to send you! Embarassed

Posts: 107 · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:21 am

Is this something you guys are still thinking about doing? I'm still new to the boards and came here to post a topic about this but I see you guys have already considered it. I am interested in helping out anyway I can.

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:06 pm

Still on my to-do list, I've just been so busy with work that I haven't had a chance to do anything on it.

I will, however, be spending some time over the next 6 weeks getting sorted and organized, so hopefully I'll be able to start the outlines for a non-D&D TSR list, too.

Back to an old Q: anyone have a TSR stocklist in Excel?

Posts: 597 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:41 am

In the Library section, there's a downloadable version of the Stocklist in Word format. I haven't tried, but I imagine it could be imported to Excel without too much trouble.

Foul

Posts: 2616 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:50 am

FoulFoot wrote:

... but I imagine it could be imported to Excel without too much trouble.

Oh, yeah; piece of cake. One easy method: Copy from Word, then Paste Special (Plain Text) into Excel. You'll end up with a very long document with two columns, but it will be ready for immediate use after some minor clean-up.

Posts: 680 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:29 pm

The following excel document might be a bit more comprehensive in some respects:

Collectibles List

It includes non-TSR items too.

Posts: 107 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:17 pm

Wow!

Posts: 1291 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:33 pm

wow indeed!