machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Oct 24, 2009 5:59:04 GMT -5
I'm glad it was clear. Honestly, I was afraid I was obscuring my own self with the way I was explaining it. And yes, it is. I mean, those in the UK didn't have a nice, full-size T&T rule book for around 15 years or so. Not that the Corgi books were hard to read or that they were formatted badly or anything (as I've noted, I love 'em). But it is odd that the UK printers and distributors kept choosing small-sized books and booklets.
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Post by mahrundl on Oct 24, 2009 17:42:52 GMT -5
It's because the UK is such a small place. They were afraid of running out of space...
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Oct 24, 2009 17:46:26 GMT -5
Couldn't they just have used one of their other territories as a T&T warehouse?
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Post by mahrundl on Oct 25, 2009 14:18:10 GMT -5
Agreed. Plenty of room in my back yard.
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Hogscape
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
It's not the years, it's the mileage.
Posts: 2,126
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Post by Hogscape on Oct 26, 2009 2:45:51 GMT -5
Well, the LLBs were 'Little' Brown Books. Perhpas that's what the UK publisher was aiming for with their little orange book?
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Oct 26, 2009 3:43:26 GMT -5
That's a possibility. These arr-pee-gees were so totally new, and I suppose no one knew the absolute best way to market them. They probably just went with what was natural. Now, that makes sense for the UK 1st. (being 1976), but by the time the orange book came out, most games were of a standard full-size. They could have at least formatted it so that the font wasn't so small. Then again, a number of games in the UK were in smaller format. Dragon Warriors and Maelstrom spring to mind. Maybe it's a UK "thing". *shrug*
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Hogscape
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
It's not the years, it's the mileage.
Posts: 2,126
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Post by Hogscape on Oct 30, 2009 6:05:51 GMT -5
Yes, it was a UK thing back then I think... Half the size, half the cost to produce and 3.75% cheaper to buy... I returned to the UK (from Australia) in 1987 (for a bit) - some of my old RPG buddies had their little orange T&T books and they were blown away by my USA print books and solos.
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Post by jongjungbu on Oct 30, 2009 9:57:27 GMT -5
It's definitely a handier to tote around solo (the little UK version of Sword for Hire I have). BUT, as mentioned, man the print is really tiny. I don't know why they didn't go the route of the Corgi's. I think it's because the Corgi's went through an editor and they basically re-typed it all. While the non-Corgi UK adaptations mentioned here appear (at least for the one I have) to be the exact same print except they resized or scaled it down. Lots of white space too.
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Post by geordieracer on Oct 30, 2009 13:43:52 GMT -5
Prior to '82 probably costs and pricing were the main reason for the size. After the success of the Fighting Fantasy books via the main UK high street outlet - WH Smith, I read that UK publishers also had an eye on getting their products sold alongside the FF stuff - that's how my friends and I found Maelstrom and Dragon Warriors - not in a game shop (and toy shops tended just to stock boxsets).
Later when Virgin started stocking games they arranged them with the front covers facing the customers so the bigger the size the more it stood out. Smaller books got lost in the racks.
Anyone know how they were sold in Japan - were they manga-size ? 'Cause didn't 5e sell better there than in the UK ?
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Oct 30, 2009 20:15:23 GMT -5
From the couple of images I've seen, I'd assume the Japanese rulebook and couple of solos were the usual manga size, but, having never seen one in person, I can't say for certain. Ok. So apparently they are 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches. Always thought they looked like fun, though. RulesA double solo (maybe Sword for Hire and something elseApparently a solo and a GM adventureThe rules are 7th ed., though, I think... but who knows for certain?... I've never seen any earlier than these. These were released in '06.
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Oct 30, 2009 20:20:09 GMT -5
Well, then again, this one is from 1989 and has 423, so, it must be 5th ed. and must be the small manga size for that many pages.
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Post by jongjungbu on Oct 31, 2009 8:41:54 GMT -5
But alas, no photo for that last one you linked. Hmm.
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