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Dragon Magazine Archive... is this what happened?

 
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CorPse
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:18 am    Post subject: Dragon Magazine Archive... is this what happened? Reply with quote

I've run across a copy of the Dragon Magazine Archive, and was very surprised to see that it's become quite the little collectible. I checked out this story on Wikipedia and wondered if any of you know if this is true. It certainly seems plausible enough...

"In 1999 a compilation of the first 250 issues was released in PDF format with a special viewer including an article and keyword search in CD-ROM format. Also included were the 7 issues of The Strategic Review. This compilation is known as the software title Dragon Magazine Archive. Because of a conflict regarding the reprint rights for the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strips printed in Dragon for many years, the Dragon Magazine Archive is out of print and very hard to find."

I'd love to know the scoop from the guys what know...
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Mars
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that bit of info is actually false. Also, although collectible and OOP, I wouldn't call it "very hard to find". A good illustration of the problem with Wiki though.

There were definitely copyright issues with the Dragon Magazine Archive but they were not restricted to Knights of the Dinner Table. I believe the issue with Kenzer was resolved by allowing him to "remake" all of the old school adventures for Hackmaster. I have also heard that there was a class action lawsuit/settlement with the other rights holders for a large sum of money. I think this precedent is also why we haven't seen magazine compilations from other companies.

GW created a White Dwarf compilation but then realized the copyright problems so never released it.
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Rifter
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You'd think they could just omit the pages that had problems. I doubt many (if any) people bought the Dragon archive for KoDT ...


What happened with the White Dwarf compilation is another story. They pulled out all the product placement and advertisements and after that they were left with only 12 pages of material Cool
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rifter wrote:
You'd think they could just omit the pages that had problems. I doubt many (if any) people bought the Dragon archive for KoDT ...


What happened with the White Dwarf compilation is another story. They pulled out all the product placement and advertisements and after that they were left with only 12 pages of material Cool


This gave me quite a nice chuckle, thank you.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mars wrote:
I think that bit of info is actually false. Also, although collectible and OOP, I wouldn't call it "very hard to find". A good illustration of the problem with Wiki though.

There were definitely copyright issues with the Dragon Magazine Archive but they were not restricted to Knights of the Dinner Table... I have also heard that there was a class action lawsuit/settlement with the other rights holders for a large sum of money. I think this precedent is also why we haven't seen magazine compilations from other companies.


It does stand to reason that multiple rights holders would be want to get their money, that's one of the things in the Wiki article that gave me pause. It seemed a bit fanciful that one company, and not several, would turn out to be a problem.

Also, I suppose the "very" hard to find part is debatable. If you're willing to go to Amazon and pay $129 USD on the low end, you can get one. And they pop up on eBay, too, as I can see from the very fine research you guys have done. In fact, the one I've got will probably make it there sooner rather than later.

Thanks again for the info.

cP
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was the collector community upset by the release of the Archive? I know that there are always people that will want the actual object, but is there any sense that having very professionally done digital versions out there has suppressed the value?

Just curious!

cP
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Mars
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the community in general was happy with the Archive. It made a lot of the early issues available to people for a reasonable price.

In terms of how it has effected values, I would guess that it probably hasn't changed the value/collectibility of the high valued/rare items such as Strategic Review or Dragon #1 but maybe has made the common items such as Dragon #50-250 a tougher sell.

If I remember correctly, the copyright issue was not with the advertisers but rather with the independent contributors of articles/fiction/etc. I don't think the original TSR agreement included the rights to change mediums from print to electronic - or possibly to reprint the items after the initial print run. In any case, the number of independent contributors was very large. I think the number that I heard floated around was that this added half a million dollars to the project.

In the case of the White Dwarf compilation, GW created the product but decided not to pay the huge sum of money that it would cost to buy the digital rights from the independent contributors so it was never offered for sale by GW. The magazines do include all of the advertisements (the ads are one of my favourite parts of the magazines - great source for finding old small press RPG stuff). The product was completed and an initial run of DVDs was produced so you can still find them out there from time to time. I believe one UK reseller purchased copies from the source that created the DVDs and while selling them on Ebay, was sent a cease and desist letter from GW.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dang... half a million added to the cost. Ouch.

I think with an original MSRP of $39.99 (at least that's what I saw somewhere) that extra cost would have been a killer. And honestly, I'm surprised that the legal department didn't warn them...

In any case, it is a tremendously cool product. And a great value even at "collectible rates."

I'd love to see the GW Archive sometime. duh Guess I'll have to keep a lookout.
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Mars
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I found that price listed in a couple of places but I don't think it is accurate. I found a couple more reliable places that say the MSRP was $59.99.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mars wrote:
I found that price listed in a couple of places but I don't think it is accurate. I found a couple more reliable places that say the MSRP was $59.99.


I could buy that...

... still I feel like an item w/ so much stuff on it today would run you $99.99 retail. Not really basing that on pesky "facts," just a feeling I've got.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was $100+ up here in Canada because our dollar was pretty low back then. Its also interesting too that like most software, once it was a bit older, ended up in the bargain bin for cheap - I know a few people who decided to pick it up then too.
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eilbacher
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:40 am    Post subject: Selling original Dragon fanzine and Alarms & Excursi Reply with quote

I have some vintage - 1977 and 1978 originals of The Dragon and Alarms & Excursions.

Where is a good place to sell them? I'd prefer some place where D&D fans hang out rather than ebay.

Thanks!
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:58 am    Post subject: Re: Selling original Dragon fanzine and Alarms & Excursi Reply with quote

eilbacher wrote:
I have some vintage - 1977 and 1978 originals of The Dragon and Alarms & Excursions.

Where is a good place to sell them? I'd prefer some place where D&D fans hang out rather than ebay.

Thanks!


There is a marketplace forum here for classifieds type items.

I wouldn't be so quick to discount eBay. All online D&D collectors spend lots of time in those pages.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:33 am    Post subject: Thanks Reply with quote

I'll take a look at ebay - Tnx!
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ebay is a throw of the dice as far as selling goes. It's a buyer's market right now. If you don't need to sell anything I'd wait or ask Aaron at Nobleknight what he would give you. I've done pretty well going that route.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you know roughly what kind of prices you want for the items, I would list them in the various online forums (such as here). Ebay will take a good chunk if you go that route.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

have a list of issues, I know I'm after some of the A&E ..

Brette:)
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