More Fine Products


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Title: Guildmaster Copies: Campaign Maps
Type: Maps
Format: 36 17" x 22" maps
Price sold at: $102.00

 

These were Bill Owen's personal laminated copies: one of the founding Judges Guild "guildmasters"
 
# of Maps Map # Map Name
1/1/2 1 City State (of the Invincible Overlord)
1/1/2 2-3 Barbarian Altanis & Valley of the Ancients
2/1/2 4-5 Tarantis & Valon
1/1/2 6 City State of the World Emperor
0/2/2 7-8 Desert Lands & Sea of Five Winds
1/1/2 9-10 Elphand Lands & Lenap
0/2/2 11&14 Ghinor & Ament Tundra
0/2/1 12-13 Isles of the Blest & Ebony Coast
0/2/1 15-16 Isles of the Dawn & Southern Reaches
0/1/0 17-18 Silver Skein Isles & Ghinor Highlands

The 1st number is the number of self colored blue coastlined maps / 2nd number is number of pristine judges maps / 3rd number is number of pristine player maps.

Campaign Maps (All)
 
Campaign Maps (Close Up)
 
Title: Campaign Map Negative
Type: Printer Sheet
Format: 17" x 22" sheet
Price sold at: $66.14

 

This one-of-a-kind item belonged to Bill Owen who handled all of the printing from 1976 - 1978.  He was given this printer's negative of the Campaign Map series because the printer was cleaning out his office.  From Bill Owen: "It still has the red paint on it where the printer painted over the imperfections.  This is not a flaw but the way old all printer's negatives looked.  Now a days most printers output straight to plate.
Along with a (approx.) standard 20% screen, this was "double-burned" into the plate to add the hex grid to 18 different maps (actually 36 because there was a Judges & Players version) over the 4 years that JG produced the series of maps.
It's a bit unusual in that the size of the hexes were smaller than the norm (about 1/2"). Probably not good for playing with lots of 1/2" counters. But we designed them for fantasy role-playing campaigns and our thought was: more hexes, more to explore, more value for the customer!
This negative is slightly larger than the tan, bumpy maps that I have.  This probably was the original negative from which we reduced it further (this one is based on .498" hexes and the campaign maps are .463") because of a paper stock limitation (17x22" and/or the 'gripper').  I received numerous complaints about not using standard 5/8" hex grid and I cannot imagine making the same mistake twice!  So I can't imagine this being for another product that did not see the light of day."

Campaign Map Negatice (Full)
 
Campaign Map Negatice (Close Up)
 
Title: Bill Owen's Judges Shields
Type: Judges Screens
Format:  2 tri-panel screens, single sheet
Price sold at: $158.50

 

From Bill Owen: "The yellow hinged Judges Guild Judges Shield was my greatest contribution to the D&D world (although greatly dwarfed by Bob's contribution but this is my little moment).  When we started JG it never occurred to us to put out primarily D&D stuff but when they just 'gave' us the license to re-work D&D copyrighted material, I dove in with gusto."
From Gary Gygax: "The license arrangement with JG was made by Brian Blume, not me.  He gave them permission to use the TSR copyrighted works you note.  I disapproved of the arrangement, as there was no TSR quality control."
Bill Owen "Back in the mid 70's D&D Monsters and game charts were organized in no discernible fashion and scattered over numerous little booklets.  My amazing idea was to recollect all the monsters into, drum roll, ALPHABETICAL order!  And so armed with a Selectric typewriter I started typing, finding I'd missed some, cut and paste, then before you could say Jack Robinson had one of the cheapest, most popular and useful products we ever produced.  I also added handmade (with Prestype, sticky halftone screens and drafting pens) Men & Monsters Attacking charts plus numerous other useful charts that we retyped with our trademark Letter Gothic or Manifold type balls.
The other unique aspect was the crenellated 'castle wall' aspect of the Portrait/Landscape/Portrait yellow cardboard pieces--all for only $1.98.  (You had to tape it together yourself; we knew you could handle it.)
Later when TSR noticed how many we sold of these things (in our royalty reports to them), they made their own prosaic screen (our calling it a Judges Shield was more lyrical than a Referee Screen) I was completely puzzled by how one side of theirs was just artwork--huh?  The players didn't need the reference charts?!  Oh well, Woody will never learn!
Now anyone can sign a Judges Shield 'Bill Owen' (and my assumption is that this devalues it) but I have also added my own handmade screen and a monster chart still in its impervious sheet protector.  This handmade screen was assembled with bookbinding tape (still supple) and cellophane tape (it has lost any power of attraction) so I cannot vouch for its condition except to say it's UNIQUE KERAP.  And the actual thermofax copies with white out applied."
Thanks to David Witts for the scan of the I-8 Precursor sheet.

Judges Shields (Judges Side)
 
Judges Shields (Players Side)
 
Judges Shields (Monster Chart Sheet)
 
Judges Shields (I-8 Precursor)
 
Title: Treasury of Archaic Names Printing Masters
Type: Research Material and Original Art
Format: Various sheets of paper
Price sold at: $270.00

 

From Bill Owen: "These are the unique original printing masters, original research material, printers instructions, alternate cover, original art that didn't get into the book of Judges Guild's 64-page book, Treasury of Archaic Names that I made when I left the Judges Guild partnership with Bob in 1978.
The instructions to printers (Abbott & Foran for cover with both colors' original pieces of artworks (front & back cover), 1 being charcoal & separation; Stevens Publishing for the interior pages) are herein.  Unfortunately, the wax has seeped through the photo-typesetting and so looks pretty dark--but you can still read it.
Include is a color copy of the original cover and the latest edition's cover.  There's a lot of marginal stuff here (xerox copies; computer printouts to alphabetize with my Apple II) but until it was in print I'd keep everything and then I still didn't throw it out.  There's oddities in here that represent bits of JG history like a later edition of the 5.5x8.5" flier (as of Tegel Manor) that we gave out at Lake Geneva WI in 1976 at my unofficial JG table.  Misc. JG catalogs and bits of art.  Some of it is original art and some are copies.  There's even a form letter I sent to printers etc. announcing the dissolution of our partnership.  There's a lot of stuff here and I can't bear to look at too much of it.
There's misc. blurbs I sent to Bob with ideas for the 2nd Volume (never happened) and suggestions in general like one from May 1979 utilizing my now embarrassing sense of humor but I can only look at this stuff once again only once so I'll leave it in the box.  For example, "People Section, with names in 10's or 20' per profession Don't label characteristic (NO TSR royalty!)"  Some of it was just stuff I did when there and was reminder in case no one was doing it any more.  Plus a redesign of JG's logo (rejected) and a rather catty letter I sent to Bob (on my new company, Game Design's, letterhead) about my opinion of the shrink wrap they started using.
There's a long treatise on when to kill off old products that were underperforming and how to determine that point.  I had forgotten that the vehicle of how I sold my half of the business was to be a consultant to Bob for a period of time and I took that seriously (while returning to the travel business)... even if it really was for the sale of half of the inventory, good will etc.
It all comes in a beat-up cardboard storage sleeve with an alternate title "How to Create Fantasy Characters" and the folder says "Fantasy Name Book".  Proof that when my wife says "Don't you throw away ANYTHING?" that the answer is "No."
But this 10-pound pile of paper represents my separation from Judges Guild and trying to leave Bob with 1 more product (that was generic so not need a TSR royalty payment) so there's a ton of emotion still in it for me... but I must let it go and move it along."

Treasury of Archaic Names (Printing Masters)
 
Title: First Fantasy Campaign "Signatures"
Type: Printer Sheets
Format: 2 22" x 34" sheets
Price sold at: $23.50

 

From Bill Owen: "This is typical of the weird stuff I kept!  It's 2 "signatures" from The First Fantasy Campaign by Dave Arneson... which is printing lingo.
I must have gotten this unique item directly from the printer (I often went to Stevens when they were about to assemble a book because they'd get the pages mixed up) or in a later trip--maybe after I was back in travel and printing Travel Catalogs through them... or Bob gave it to me.  This could be a later edition.
What is a signature?!!?! Let me explain... if you were to print a 32 page book via web offset, you'd layout the pages in a wierd format on larger than 22x34" stock so that when folded several times, it makes into a book AFTER trimming the edges to expose the outer page margins to the sunlight.  This is also when they'd attach the cover with staples... on the bindery machine.
Maybe you can get the idea better from the picture which shows 4 pages... on bottom right is page 1 (actually page i) and next to is page 93... and above them is page 13 & 78... every adjacent page has to add up to 91... in this book's case.  Not shown in the 1st picture is the other 4 pages on this side of the paper: pages 5 & 86 and pages 85 & 6.
The other unusual thing you'll see is the way the edge (that's trimed away) is ragged and has holes in it.  Why did I keep it? Who knows! You hand me something and I put it in a folder!  There is actually a 2nd signature folded in... see 2nd picture.  I guess you could unfold these and put'em into a pair of poster frames and have a unique bit of fantasy gaming history that will be worth at least a +2 on any wall!"

FFC Signature (First Sheet)
 
FFC Signature (Both Sheets)
 
Title: Tegel Manor Map Printers Proof
Type: Map
Format: 16" x 21" map
Price sold at: $79.00

 

From Bill Owen: "This is a unique "proof" copy of one of our most popular installment maps, Tegel Manor.  As such, it was the first copy.  This is the 16x21" photographic proof page that the printers gave us to check before making plates.  The proof was made by placing photo-sensitive paper underneath the negative & exposed to a strong light.  The paper is slightly shiney,  and has a black image on a paper that is of a yelllowish caste.  Also shown is a rough draft of the cover sheet for the store version of the product I drew in ink on a 3x5" little spiral pad."

Tegel Manor Map (Printers Proof)
 
Tegel Manor (Cover Mockup)
 
Title: Judges Guild 1976 Envelope
Type: Envelope
Format: 11" x 15" envelope
Price sold at: $0.00

 

Stiff cardboard envelope created by St. Regis Paper Co.

Judges Guild 1976 Envelope (Part of Front and Back)