I picked up a MMII (NM quality) on e-bay.  It seems to correspond to a third print, but here's an interesting wrinkle.

The ISBN on the back cover reads "0-88038 031-4"  Usually ISBN's are full, so it should have read "0-88038-031-4"

Any comments?

I hadn't paid attention to MMII printings before, very interesting stuff.  Apparently I have a 1st/2nd printing, not sure.  Are we positive these were never shrinkwrapped, before I crack it open?

These books were not shrinkwrapped.  I don't think I ever saw a shrinkwrapped hardback book.

My Monster Manual II has the TSR block letters, an orange spine and no notations about print editions.

The ISBN code is 0-88038-031-4

Monster Manual II was the best of the "later" AD&D 1st edition hardbacks.  Ah!  The Fomorian Giant!

Mark  

Interesting that you were disappointed, Al!  

So, I grow curious about a pet theory of mine.

Now....here's my question..........

How did you like the Fiend Folio?  (

Thanks guys.  I've suspected my copy was a reshrink for about a year, but its in such pristine shape I hadn't opened it.  Tonight, I renew the war on shrinkwrap.  

But come on, how can you not like the Froghemoth?  

My theory holds.

I suspect that the Fiend Folio was loved by players in the British Isles as much as it repelled players in America.

Even now, with a 2+ decades of perspective, the Fiend Folio still looks bizarre to me.

It is in the oddly British artwork and the gruesomeness of it (even though there was little gore) and just the strangeness of the creatures created by British gamers.  The Fiend Folio felt...evil.

Of course, there are some classics in the mix, all the creations of one guy!  Oh...and the Fog Giant (love it)!

The rest of the book consisted of single-use odditites or a host of monsters that were all variations on the theme:  "This is a low hit dice  monster who garrotes you from behind or steals your magic items."

The Monster Manual II, on the other hand, looks like an old friend.

Many of the monster in Monster Manual II were re-printed from modules.  The Froghemoth was a survivor from Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

Actually, I have used the Tarrasque several times.  Once there was a Tarrasque sealed inside a huge stone in a ruined city.  Another time, the party found a Tarrasque assleep in the underworld, with its young awake around it (like the baby dragons in the movie Dragonslayer).  A third time, I had a Tarrasque get loose in the countryside and it was a feature of the campaign setting:  "Where is the Tarrasque today?"

Actually, the Tarrasque was not tough enough for a single, legendary beast.  It could have been meaner.

Never used a Modron.  I used to think that Modron, by Judges Guild, was about Modrons...but no.

Mark  

killjoy32 wrote:thought the Tarrasque was unique?

hmm maybe i am wrong - makes note to go check later...

Al

Dude!  You English are such rules lawyers!  

If one Tarrasque is cool, then a dozen of them are cooler, and a suped up Tarrasque God is....coolerer.

Mark  

killjoy32 wrote:in MY game, 1 Tarrasque would be more than enough for anything and anyone to cope with.

Except, of course, Chuck Norris.

MShipley88 wrote:My theory holds.

I suspect that the Fiend Folio was loved by players in the British Isles as much as it repelled players in America.

I have a theory that's a sub-set of yours: UK gamers also love humanoid (or goblinoid, etc.) monsters more than any other type.

I haven't actually counted them up or anything, but the FF is full of humanoid types. By stretching the definition to include any "thinking" creature with exactly two arms and two legs, it seems like every third entry in the FF is a humanoid.

For further evidence, I point to the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks — practically all humanoids, all the time.

Over here in 'Merika, we likes our dragons and our oozes and our purple worms, too. Thus, the MMII seems to be more "our style."