A Surprise BOOK HAUL

[@benja6902]

Skyrealms of Jorune reminds me of the boardgame Cloudspire.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Another one I’ll have to look up!

[@epone3488]

I love Talislanta one of my favorite rpgs of all time (indeed I got the new version from Gameforund this year). I love the odd off brand stuff; Jorune, Tekumel, Dragon Warriors etc anything that is a bit left of center

[@GrammaticusBooks]

That’s great that Talislanta got a reboot!

[@benja6902]

I've never heard of Talislanta, but if Jack Vance likes it, it must be cool! And without elves.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I do think Vance’s Dying Earth series was an inspiration for it.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Talislanta! Excellent haul! Now you are all set for a great game of Talislanta with….uh….🙄

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Exactly!

[@JCMills55]

Always love your vids. You might not hear it enough but we really do appreciate what you do.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thank you JC, it’s much appreciated!

[@secretfirebooks7894]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Obscure, non-dnd RPGs always have the coolest art!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks SFB!

[@matthewconstantine5015]

Holy crap! Talislanta and Skyrealms of Jorune?! Both great settings. The system for Jorune wasn't very good, but the setting was great. I've still got a lot of stuff for both games chillin' on my book shelves. Always good for some inspiration. The art in Skyrealms of Jorune is still some of the best I've seen. Great stuff. And I think the guys who made Jorune were only teenagers or maybe college age when they did it.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

The art in both RPGs definitely caught my eye!

[@benja6902]

Doctor Doom just became the new Sorcerer Supreme in the current Blood Hunt event.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I’ll have to track that one down.

[@empyreanvole]

The Wizards Talislanta books were pre TSr by a long ways (1999 pretty much), but its Jonathan Tweet. They used to be kind of a cool company.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I did see Tweets name on a lot of the product. And it does look cool!

[@StevenEverett7]

Congratulations on your fine haul Grammaticus! Looks like some real quality items.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

It was a fun and unexpected find!

[@DDB168]

That's a great haul and some great artwork. Ralph Macchio ! Surely not THE (Karate Kid) Ralph Macchio ?

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I'm sure not but it did give me a chuckle!

[@johnwalsh4857]

yah remember reading the old Dragon mags from the 80s and Talislanta and Sky Realms of Jorune were much advertised.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

They were completely new to me. But a surprising and welcome find!

[@PeculiarNotions]

That's a pretty wild haul with some cool Talislanta swag. That Doctors Strange and Doom graphic novel is pretty good too.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I was happy with what I hurriedly picked out PN! And I still have a little bit of monopoly money left over.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@GrammaticusBooks Checked blue book on the Genesis. You got good pricing from that guy, and didn't get ripped off. Original, old style gaming consoles are stupidly expensive. That's because the old games are the best. 🤩🤩👍

[@johnwalsh4857]

wow love conan the bucanner bought my copy from a Los Angeles book store back in 84. the Frazetta cover is classic.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

It’s a classic Frazetta cover that I couldn’t walk past!

[@johnwalsh4857]

@@GrammaticusBooks if you are a Frazetta fan visit the Frank Frazetta museum in East Stroudsburg PA near NYC, took a 2 hour bus from Manhattan Port Authority and a 10 minute uber ride to get to the musuem but its much worth it. love it.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

That is an awesome haul. My collection of older TTRPG books is starting to grow. The only thing that astounds me more than the insane prices on cheap Warhammer novels is that people are willing to pay them. I really enjoy the books but I am all digital now with the Black Library stuff. I have a copy of Horus Rising, a few really rare 40k omnibus collections, and some Warhammer Fantasy novels. Now I only pick up physical copies if they are dirt cheap.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

The WH40K phenomenon amazes me. I will say, if you can find it; The Art of the Horus Heresy is excellent. And one of my favorite books is The Gothic and the Eldritch, a collection of Jes Goodwin art. The prices on ebay for Gothic have actually come down a bit as well.

[@JosephReadsBooks]

@@GrammaticusBooks I love 40k art. I will definitely keep an eye out for those.

[@davejohnston5925]

Looks like a good haul, btw, That SAGA, there are collectors for those old computers.... SAGA, Atari, Commadore-64... big bucks

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I was astounded at the amount he offered. Now the game cartidges were still in the box with the original instructions. Which apparently adds to the value.

[@paulbigbee]

Absolutely love it when you break out your vintage RPG tastes. I'm hoping to fill out my scant collection of Skyrealms of Jorune. The sub-genre of space fantasy is alive and thriving with HBO's _Scavengers Reign_ , Luka Rejec's _Ultraviolet Grasslands_ RPG, and Watt's _Cloud Empress_ , among many others. I'd also recommend Free League's _The One Ring_ , if only for the art and their love of Tolkien's lore (the _Moria_ supplement was just released). Thanks as always G!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks for checking out the video Paul! And I'm guessing you're a Traveller fan then ?

[@paulbigbee]

@@GrammaticusBooks Massive _Traveller_ fan. It was the second RPG I learned as a kid (so much for that trip to Yosemite), and I’m playing in a campaign right now.

[@MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn]

That Talislanta stuff is pretty cool! I expect to see some campaign videos in the near future. 😉 Good one, Ben!

[@GrammaticusBooks]

If I had anyone willing to play Talislanta I'd be all over that! These days I'm lucky if I can drag my kids (now grown) into a boardgame of scrabble.

[@MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn]

I hear that! Same issue here 👈

[@smilerwithagun]

Cool haul! The Talislanta and Jorune settings always intrigued me but I've never encountered the books in the wild. That Tamerlin character sounds like Volo from the Forgotten Realms. He's also a wizard that moonlights as a travel guide writer. I hardly ever get to roleplay anymore but RPG sourcebooks are still fun to read. Triumph and Torment is highly acclaimed, I need to read it sometime. Recently Doc Doom took over the Sorceror Supreme mantle from Doc Strange. Let's see how long that lasts! :) Still not sure how I feel about RDJ returning to the MCU as Doc Doom. Seems like a desperate move from Disney... What else are you reading for GarbAugust?

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Garbaugust ~ Bored of the Rings along with some Lin Carter. Carter's always good for some fun trash! And I hear you on RDJ. He's a great actor who put his stamp on Tony Stark. But I'm not sure he's the right person to play Doom.

[@smilerwithagun]

​I think I might read National Lampoon's Doon... :)​@@GrammaticusBooks

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

This is an awesome haul, Grammaticus! It's great that you were able to get so much credit for the gaming system. Glad you could find so many things that you wanted in return.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks Pat! It was an unexpected surprise!

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

@@GrammaticusBooks I’ve bought very early Atari sets twice for my nephew. I wonder if he still has them and what they’d be worth. I’m pretty sure he does have one. 😳

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@BookChatWithPat8668 Doesn't seem like it...but the games might be worth a lot, particularly if still boxed.😛

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

@@User_Un_Friendly I know nothing about these things, but I remember buying multiple gaming systems for him in the 1980’s, starting as far back as Atari and then moving forward. 😊

[@davidk6269]

Thank you for another fun book haul video! The Frazetta painting on the cover of Conan the Buccaneer is one of my all-time favorite Frazetta paintings--that painting captivated me from the first moment I saw it in the 1980's. I've read quite a few WH40k novels, and I totally agree that the physical quality of the books has been dismal for years. I also totally agree that Dan Abnett is by far the best, most consistent author for the franchise. Some of the very old school WH40k novels are quite good. Gordon Rennie's "Execution Hour" and "Shadow Point" are absolutely wonderful--have you read them?

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Thanks David. And I only have a few of the novels (sadly). The first four books of the Horus Heresy (excellent). And a handful of others. And they're so dang hard to get a hold of without paying an arm and a leg!

[@paulbigbee]

Aaron Dembski-Bowden's books are really excellent as well, right up there with Abnett's works. While I'm glad he stepped away to take care of himself and his family, I definitely miss his authorial voice in the 40K universe.

[@davidk6269]

@@paulbigbee ABD is indeed very good. I have enjoyed many of his novels. But IMHO he is not as consistently good as Abnett. It's of course subjective.

[@johnwalsh4857]

yah still have the original GW warhammer fantasy and 40K novels. much better quality books, also I highly recommend the Jack Yeovil(Kim Newman) novels esp. Drachenfels in my opinion one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I’ll have to try and run that one down John.

[@lsgreger2645]

Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR in 1997. Then in 1999 Hasbro announced they bought WOTC. WOTC let the licensing of Talislanta go after acquiring TSR and other companies published it even into the mid 2000s. According to Wikipedia, there was a successful crowdsourcing campaigns in 2018 and 2023 to publish more Talisanta books.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Great info Greger. And that's good to hear it's still alive and kicking today in at least some type of a format.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

Great haul. As a teen I bought the DnD Monster Manual just to read the descriptions...I was never successful in joining a game. 😢. Nobody played it, and no good dungeon masters. But I loved that stuff. Thankfully I got into computer gaming instead. Still love the old BG franchise, not BG3. 😶. The writing was just so much better. 🤓. And I've always loved the artwork of Dr. Strange, even though I never got into collecting comics. Too expensive, even back then. 😳😂🤣

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Computer gaming has been a revolution for RPGs as well User. May want to look into joining an online RPG game. Lots of opportunities.

[@User_Un_Friendly]

@@GrammaticusBooks Nah. I love the computer games. I've got Fallout series (all of them, except of course 76) Skyrim and my beloved Fable 2. Never missed them. 🐶🫡

[@sleeperyjeemtoybox]

Got the hardcover version of the DoctorS DoctorD sitting, slightly better cover art with frontal Strange and Doom in an almost crucified pose, more symbolising the story than the action orientated softy.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Dang Sleepy! That sounds awesome! I'll have to look up that cover.

[@parazatico9030]

Frank Frazetta revised the cover painting for 'The Buccaneer' into a version known as 'The Destroyer' where instead of choking his foe, Conan is belabouring him with an axe. I have most of the material for Talislanta, but I don't have that map (gnashing of teeth). The Talislanta setting is reminiscent of ('reminiscent of', not 'lifted from') the fantasy works of Jack Vance, and was a commendable attempt to get away from the all-pervading influence of Tolkien, and to some extent Moorcock, on the RPG's of the time. I agree entirely with you about the wonderful artwork, much of which was by Patricia Breeding-Black.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

I’m guessing they were going for a Dying Earth type of setting? And I can see a feminine touch in the art that gives it a nice feel!

[@parazatico9030]

@@GrammaticusBooks I actually just did a search for P.D. Breeding Black, and was very sorry to discover that she passed away in 2023 at the age of 72. It was her beautiful art that attracted me to the Talislanta material in the first place, may she rest in peace.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

@@parazatico9030 Sorry to hear that. She was very talented.

[@parazatico9030]

@@GrammaticusBooks She certainly was. I also meant to say that you're right, Talislanta is very reminiscent of The Dying Earth books.

[@srpyle]

I ran an epic Talislanta campaign in undergrad, 1990 - 1992.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

How were the rules? Did it play well as compared to DnD?

[@srpyle]

@@GrammaticusBooks Yes. It’s a rugged system that I think still stands up to modern games.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

@@srpyle Rugged as in rough? Or rugged as in robust?

[@srpyle]

​@@GrammaticusBooks Robust. There's not a lot of moving parts to "break" in this game. It's relative simplicity makes it something you can come back to in spite of more modern TTRP innovations. If I wanted to play it again, I would use my copy of 2nd (which you also have), or the awesome "big blue book" version of 4th edition from Shooting Iron Press. That one is incredible. 400 pages. Sewn binding. I regret losing my copy.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

@@srpyle That's good to know. Thanks Srpyle!