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Share your D&D OA
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Started by exitmusicblue,

245 posts in this topic

KirbyCollector

KirbyCollector

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7/5/2023 at 11:03 AM, comix4fun said:

Sadly, no artwork. I was hoping. 

Considering the heavyweight $$$ collectors *cough Gene* who target D&D OA, I have been buying what I like to call "D&D adjacent" art such as the two SSOC #54 pages I picked up last night from HA which feature Conan battling a "sand lich." Considering Gary Gygax admits he based the description of a lich included in the 1975 D&D Greyhawk supplement on Gardner Fox's 1969 short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer," there is a pretty good chance both were direct influences on the source material for SSOC #54 -- Andrew J. Offutt's 1978 novel Conan and the Sorcerer. It may not be "official" D&D/TSR art, but it's a fun and more affordable way to indulge the D&D nerd in me 😀 

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delekkerste

delekkerste

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On 7/6/2023 at 9:41 AM, KirbyCollector said:

Considering the heavyweight $$$ collectors *cough Gene* who target D&D OA, I have been buying what I like to call "D&D adjacent" art such as the two SSOC #54 pages I picked up last night from HA which feature Conan battling a "sand lich." Considering Gary Gygax admits he based the description of a lich included in the 1975 D&D Greyhawk supplement on Gardner Fox's 1969 short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer," there is a pretty good chance both were direct influences on the source material for SSOC #54 -- Andrew J. Offutt's 1978 novel Conan and the Sorcerer. It may not be "official" D&D/TSR art, but it's a fun and more affordable way to indulge the D&D nerd in me 😀 

I'm more of a middleweight collector these days. :angel: 

Sadly, I have zero D&D OA. Between stuff being thrown out by TSR the rest going down a black hole, there's just not a lot/any art out there that is of the right quality and time period that grabs my interest. I don't have any real interest in vintage pieces I don't remember (would rather buy a nice Conan page in that case), or more modern pieces and commissions that I also don't have any real connection to. I'm happy to just collect the actual games and accessories that I actually saw and/or played with back in the day - more nostalgia for less money that way. :takeit: 

Edited by delekkerste
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Bronty

Bronty

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They weren't hard to find back then.    You could still buy them from the source back then - straight from Caldwell, Elmore, etc.     Really no reason at the time to think they'd become tough to acquire either, as there was a lot of D&D art produced.

At the time, I passed on a good 20 lesser TSR pieces myself that I found just by accident in looking for other things.   If I had actually been looking for them I imagine I would have had the opportunity to pick from hundreds of them.

I think a good chunk of the current demand is just based on the fact they've become valuable due to Matt being willing and able to buy them all.    People see some value due to that, so all of a sudden they want what they can't have.   And, in fairness, they've aged out and are in the sweet spot time period now as well, along with being generally high quality with cool themes.   

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cstojano

cstojano

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On 7/6/2023 at 8:40 PM, -m said:

Back in the early 2000s there was a huge volume of D&D OA dumped on eBay over several months IIRC which included lots of illustrations and several paintings. They ended up going for peanuts. I wish I’d picked up more. :cry:

Ha.com also has some archived sales of grail pieces from the four main artists including the Magister for Easley and Death of Sturm by Elmore. 

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cstojano

cstojano

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On 7/6/2023 at 11:12 PM, Bronty said:

They weren't hard to find back then.    You could still buy them from the source back then - straight from Caldwell, Elmore, etc.     Really no reason at the time to think they'd become tough to acquire either, as there was a lot of D&D art produced.

At the time, I passed on a good 20 lesser TSR pieces myself that I found just by accident in looking for other things.   If I had actually been looking for them I imagine I would have had the opportunity to pick from hundreds of them.

I think a good chunk of the current demand is just based on the fact they've become valuable due to Matt being willing and able to buy them all.    People see some value due to that, so all of a sudden they want what they can't have.   And, in fairness, they've aged out and are in the sweet spot time period now as well, along with being generally high quality with cool themes.   

Yes, folks like me would be happy with just 1 from someone like Elmore. The list of of people like me is pretty long. 

The internet archive will pull up some of Caldwell's old pages from the early 2000s with some of his key art still listed for sale around the 2k range or so.

Edited by cstojano
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DougC

DougC

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I used to have a pretty massive collection of RPG art, it was and still is to a lesser extent pretty cheap compared to comic art. In the final years of Lorraine's management TSR was selling anything not bolted down (and what was bolted down if you could move it). A vault of in house 1E & 2E original art was sold for pennies on the dollar.

Over the years of trimming down my overall collection most of it was sold privately, the rest was auctioned off at Origins and GenCon. The last of it is currently up for auction, only a couple low end D&D pieces but a number of Leif Jones White Wolf art from late 90's early 00's which do not seem to attract a lot of attention.

 

 

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cstojano

cstojano

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On 7/7/2023 at 7:31 AM, DougC said:

I used to have a pretty massive collection of RPG art, it was and still is to a lesser extent pretty cheap compared to comic art. In the final years of Lorraine's management TSR was selling anything not bolted down (and what was bolted down if you could move it). A vault of in house 1E & 2E original art was sold for pennies on the dollar.

Over the years of trimming down my overall collection most of it was sold privately, the rest was auctioned off at Origins and GenCon. The last of it is currently up for auction, only a couple low end D&D pieces but a number of Leif Jones White Wolf art from late 90's early 00's which do not seem to attract a lot of attention.

 

 

A friend sent me the comiclink marketing email about their DnD sale and asked if I thought it was ready to take off. I don't think so. While the 40+ crowd may go gaga for prime 80s fantasy art I think its hitting the demographic turnover issue quite quickly and frankly some things just never took off and its unlikely they ever well. There's a pretty steep drop off too. I was amazed I was able to buy covers for old Grenadier dragons and some Ral Partha mini boxes for relatively cheaply. Just not much interest there. All now sold to the latest whale opening a fantasy museum ;)

Its odd to me that Magic seems to have taken most of the steam in the fantasy genre and the older stuff got passed over a bit. They never had their day in the sun.

The same seems to be the case for games (Bronty?). I would think Atari would be cream of the crop, the original art but also the sealed games. But it seems to be NES that holds that spot. Its like the 80s got passed over somewhat. The same may be the case with fantasy except for the absolute best of the best.

 

Edited by cstojano
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DougC

DougC

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On 7/6/2023 at 11:39 PM, cstojano said:

A friend sent me the comiclink marketing email about their DnD sale and asked if I thought it was ready to take off. I don't think so.

I would think Atari would be cream of the crop, the original art but also the sealed games. But it seems to be NES that holds that spot. Its like the 80s got passed over somewhat. The same may be the case with fantasy except for the absolute best of the best.

 

Comiclink will be continuing their D&D/RPG auctions going forward. The consignment director who handles my account confirmed they believe a dedicated (non-Ebay) game auction space is needed and currently lacking in the market. Personally I think the first couple of these auctions will be mid to underwhelming until enough word gets out to garner continued interest. I will probably off load a number of cheap books to test the waters.

I think Atari doesn't get the love it deserves due to it's own limitations and missing brand identity. Atari doesn't have a recognizable mascot to rally a collective memory from and their games were also in arcades which is how the larger population played them, not to mention the same games where across a number of platforms like CalecoVision or Intellivision. What hurts the brand worse is that it's image and name have been sold multiple times and run into ground.

Atari is fond talking point but Nintendo through marketing sold a generation a collective memory.

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 7/6/2023 at 9:18 PM, cstojano said:

 

The internet archive will pull up some of Caldwell's old pages from the early 2000s with some of his key art still listed for sale around the 2k range or so.

Some great Caldwell Dragon Magazine covers sold in the mid-2000's through a fantasy convention site if I am remembering correctly. 

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 7/7/2023 at 1:41 AM, DougC said:

Comiclink will be continuing their D&D/RPG auctions going forward. The consignment director who handles my account confirmed they believe a dedicated (non-Ebay) game auction space is needed and currently lacking in the market. Personally I think the first couple of these auctions will be mid to underwhelming until enough word gets out to garner continued interest. 

 

They could use a curator or auction coordinator/consultant who's a fan and collector of these games. 

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 7/6/2023 at 8:14 PM, batman_fan said:

There are some other oddballs on the boards that buy old TSR stuff.  These people should be shamed and scorned.

DnD.jpg

Ostracized and Burned at the Stake!!!

TSRWallNovember2022.thumb.jpg.e41be70b110b47d591208dbfa46e5698.jpg

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 7/7/2023 at 10:14 AM, batman_fan said:

How is the 1st issue of the Dragon?  I was never a big reader of the magazine other than loving the Finieous strips

It's the first bit of refinement from the "Strategic Review" articles/pamphlets that preceded it. It's dramatically more polished than those articles were from a design and layout standpoint but it like cave drawings compared to where the magazine would be by issue 20-25. 
I bought the early issues for the artwork and the bonus game modules, characters, and equipment, so that first year of dragon is some of my favorite stuff until you get to the Erol Otus covers later on. 

 

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comix4fun

comix4fun

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On 7/7/2023 at 10:26 AM, KirbyCollector said:

LOL first thing I thought of was The 40 Year Old Virgin

Damn. I wish.....
I wouldn't have had those college tuitions to cover. 
MOAR D&D instead!!

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