Pandevelopment - The Colpleat Alchemist • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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Pandevelopment - The Colpleat Alchemist
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mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:42 am

So, did Wizards of the Coast buy the rights to Bard Games' products? And was The Complete Alchemist WotC's first fantasy RPG product? And is it worth anything? It seems to be the only publication under that press label, and doesn't seem to come up very often. Clearly it's not worth the $50 that muppet in the UK has been trying to sell his for. It's been in his shop for over three years now! I'm only asking on account of me considering trashing my copy for the sake of a decent PDF.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . minestrone soup.

g026r
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:59 am

From what I recall: back when Wizards was first starting out, Stephan Michael Sechi licensed them the rights to a number of former properties originally published by the by-then-defunct Bard Games. (So no, not an outright buy.)

It wasn't their first fantasy RPG product though, because the Compleat Alchemist wasn't the only thing they had licensed from Bard Games' properties. They also got Talisanta, and had already published 5 (I believe) books for it the year prior to Alchemist. (And, if you count The Primal Order as a fantasy RPG, then they had also produced at least that and the first supplement the year prior to Alchemist.)

It was the only publication under that line though. Can't help you on price, but I don't believe it's worth all that much.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:03 am

g026r wrote:From what I recall: back when Wizards was first starting out, Stephan Michael Sechi licensed them the rights to a number of former properties originally published by the by-then-defunct Bard Games. (So no, not an outright buy.)

It wasn't their first fantasy RPG product though, because the Compleat Alchemist wasn't the only thing they had licensed from Bard Games' properties. They also got Talisanta, and had already published 5 (I believe) books for it the year prior to Alchemist. (And, if you count The Primal Order as a fantasy RPG, then they had also produced at least that and the first supplement the year prior to Alchemist.)

It was the only publication under that line though. Can't help you on price, but I don't believe it's worth all that much.

Cheers.
I'll cut the spine off it then.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . minestrone soup.

g026r
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Posts: 1324
Joined: May 28, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 27, 2011
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:08 am

. wrote:Cheers.
I'll cut the spine off it then.

Well, I'd probably wait for somebody else with more knowledge to give a better price opinion before I did that. I'd hate to be wrong and result in your trashing a book that's actually worth something.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

Mars
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:20 am

. wrote:I'll cut the spine off it then.

Ya go for it. Its not a terribly hard to find or valuable book. Again $10 at best type thing.

As part of whatever deal WotC had with Bard Games, they were also responsible for distributing the Atlantis books. I have a couple with "Available exclusively through Wizards of the Coast" stickers placed over the Bard Games name. So my guess is that they bought out the remaining stock as well.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:22 am

Thought as much. The PDF is worth more to me than the book.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . minestrone soup.

g026r
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Posts: 1324
Joined: May 28, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 27, 2011
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:26 am

Mars wrote:I have a couple with "Available exclusively through Wizards of the Coast" stickers placed over the Bard Games name. So my guess is that they bought out the remaining stock as well.

They seemed to do that a lot with RPG lines back then. I know probably about half of my 3rd edition Ars Magica books have a Wizards sticker placed over the White Wolf logo on the back cover.

Out of curiosity: is the sticker on the Atlantis books a silver one with black text?

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

Mars
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:39 am

g026r wrote:Out of curiosity: is the sticker on the Atlantis books a silver one with black text?

Yes, it is the shiny silver one with black letters.

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