Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Puffy Stickers have a few Suprises !!!

When TSR let LJN start merchandising the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons line, in 1983 we got PUFFY STICKERS !!!! Who doesn't love puffy stickers !?!?!?

 

 

We got a couple of regulars to the toy line, Zarak and Ogre King.

 

Here's where it gets interesting !  Here we have Charmay Good Enchantress and Caruso Good Half Elf. Do we have here a couple of unproduced figures ? Or do we have the precursor to Mercion and Melf/Peralay ?



Of course, there's always Strongheart standing guard !!

I love the feel of puffy stickers !! These are great and I think I had all of these as a kid. Who didn't have piles of stickers on their Trapper Keepers and had them incorporated on their brown paper bag book covers !?!?! I know I had em !!

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Odious Ogre PVC from TSR

Odious Ogre ! What an awe inspiring name !! LJN produced a line of PVC non poseable figures for TSR and in 1982, they produced the Odious Ogre complete with a spellbook treasure. This orange skinned, green haired monster was one of my favorites back in the day. Of course, any monster with treasure was in demand !

The PVC AD&D figures required a bit of imagination. Stuck in a pose, you really have to integrate movement into play instead of articulate it. These PVC figures are a bit rough around the edges as far as detail goes. Honestly, they look hand sculpted, but their play value is certainly is not diminished at all by it. Heck, being made from a big chunk of plastic , they are pretty durable !

The PVC figures pale in comparison to the articulated line but add so much play value to them. A horde of rubber monsters for the adventurers to beat up on, what more could you want ! These figures were also a gateway toy for the WWF Superstars Non Poseable Wrestlers, coincidentally made by LJN !

Dungeons and Dragons Companion Rules Set 3 from TSR

Published in 1984, the "Dungeons and Dragons Companion Rules" is the third set in the series of boxed sets published by TSR as a expansion to the "Red Box" Basic Set of Rules.

 

 

The Player's Companion rulebook covers characters levels 15 - 25. It introduces new weapons, armor and equipment for higher characters. The usual upgrades to spells and abilities are covered, but the characters are now able to build strongholds. The cost, management and purpose are covered inside.

 

The DM Companion book expands on the rules for running higher level campaigns and lays out the guidelines for Feudal Systems, allowing characters to run their domain. They can run Tournaments and have all the worries that homeowners have to deal with ....... 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not gonna show pages of text, but here is some great art from the manuals:

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Players approaching the higher levels in the Basic game play should probably be exploring AD&D by now. I mean, who didn't want to explore those Hardcover books and all the rules ? Myself, I never went further with the Basic rules than Expert before AD&D took my attention, but maybe some of you out there kept on. Either way, these boxed sets are cool looking and great reads. I'm always impressed by the art and thoughtfulness of the books. Exploring these sets is a lot of fun and reading them as an adult is quite a learning experience !

 

Check out my other posts by clicking these links:

 

Red Box Basic Set

 

Blue Box Expert Set

 

LJN Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Bowmarc on a Crusade

Bowmarc the Good Crusader from the LJN Advanced Dungeons and Dragons line may be the best of the lot. The entirety of this line is so spectacular that it really is hard to separate the awesomeness of each individual character from the others !! Bowmarc alone makes a good case for this line of action figures being one of the best ever produced.

 

Bowmarc is the Good Crusader, released in 1984, as part of the Second Series of AD&D figures from LJN. The Battle-Matic Action was being introduced into the line at this time, so Bowmarc was given a hook on his side that holds his sword, but also doubles as his lever to twist his torso. I'm not a fan of any sort of "action" incorporated into figures, but this one doesn't interfere with the playability of the figure and doubles as a sheath so I'll let it go. Lets get to the figure:

 

 Typical of the line, the card art is spectacular and overall the package is a work of art in itself.

 

 

 

Remember opening the card and popping the figure out of the plastic ??

 

 

What a beautiful figure, detail galore on the figure and weapons.

 

 

Look at that shield !! The detail for a figure of that era is just amazing !!

 

 

WOW.

 

 

Bowmarc is equipped with a blue cape, sword, axe and shield.

 

 

The detail on the weapons is second to none !

 

 

I still remember getting Bowmarc. The CVS at the Como Mall seemed to get the coolest frikin toys around. A bit overpriced, but no one was looking for toys at a drugstore, so I found alot of stuff there. Anyway, I remember seeing him for the first time. I think I said something like "HOLY S..T!" under my breath (I was only 11) and ran to the cashier with him !

 

Bowmarc was the first figure from the second series I scored and I just fell in love with him. He's a Crusader ! What more could you want then the goodiest of Good Guys fighting the evil PVC monsters ! I made him out to be a total Galahad type, even Strongheart would would pale in comparison to this guys zeal for destroying evil of all kinds ! Bowmarc was the only figure I would let successfully destroy, with the help of Mercoin, the Evil Lich from the series.

 

These figures were so cool. I remember setting up dungeons for the figures to delve into. Getting a party of figures together and having them clear out the dungeon in search of the treasure. Bowmarc was a powerful figure to have leading the party, then eventually getting into conflict with Zarak, Zorgar or Drex. I guess I "figured" if I couldn't play D&D I could get my fix with the figures.

 

As a side note, I remember KB Toys liquidating these figures at the end of the line, the PVCs and the Monsters. Specifically Tiamat, the Five Headed Dragon. They were all like 1 to 10 bucks. Man, if I would have just convinced some adult to buy em up and stash them........go ahead, look up Tiamat Five headed Dragon on Ebay.......ugh.

I gave WARDUKE a 9.6 as Guest Reviewer at FGS!

I was asked to be a Guest Reviewer of Vintage Toys at Florida Geek Scene and to get my feet wet I went with one of the best figures I could possibly start with: Warduke from the 1983 LJN Advanced Dungeons and Dragons line.

Read my review here: Vintage Review WARDUKE

I gave Warduke a 9.6, but he's a 10 in almost everybody's eyes.

I reviewed him before here: ITS WARDUKE !!!!

and don't forget his saga with the Black Knight of the Dragonriders of the Styx Here:

Part 1: The Black Knight

Part 2: Warduke vs The Black Knight

Part 3: Warduke: A Retrospective

Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set .... Good things come in BLUE boxes

TSR's Dungeon and Dragons Expert Rules Set 2 hit the shelves in 1983 as an Expansion pack to be used in conjunction with the Red Boxed Basic Rules Set 1 I posted about here:< dungeons-and-dragons-red-box-basic > and the subsequent box sets.

 

This is the 1983 revised edition by Frank Mentzer, which is part of the five box set series that tied the rules together to take your character from the Beginner to the Immortal. The Expert Set only contained one book that incorporated the Player's handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide within the same book. Of course it came with a set of 6 basic dice and a crayon to color in the numbers, a staple of gaming back then.

 

The purpose of the Expert Set is to give game rules and expand the play for character levels 4 through 14.

 

For players; higher levels of spells for Wizards and Clerics, expanded tables for higher level saving throws and XP. More weapons are made available, including land and water transports with the rules for operating them. Rules for Wilderness travel and Encumbrance round out the player's guide. In all, the player's guide gives the player the "basic" upgrade for playing at higher levels, but at 18 pages, 11 of which are solely devoted to spells, not much else.

 

The Dungeon Masters guide is a bit more robust. Though only 23 pages, 1 of which is a hexagonal graph, the DM gets useful information about expanding the Role Playing for the characters. Included are rules for different types of combat such as naval combat and bombing. There are detailed Construction rules for building Castles and Strongholds, which is a bit of an undertaking in itself. The guidelines for NPCs are built upon and Research for Magic Items and Spells are brought in. Rules for running a Wilderness Campaign are outlined along with  sample Wilderness and Hometown.13 pages of Monsters are included with the highlights being the Black Pudding, Basilisk, Chimera, Djinni and Efreeti, Elementals, Golems and the dreaded Salamander. 6 pages of Treasures round it out. Obviously that is the reward aspect, bringing in cursed items and magic items including positive attribute weapons and intelligent items! The DM section gives some good info to expand the game play and make better rewards for characters, so it is a bit of useful fun to be added into any campaign.

If your reading this you are probably familiar with the rules so I'm not gonna show pictures of tables and text, but alot of the drawings throughout the Rulebook bring back some memories....



 

To make up for the lack of bulk content in the Rulebook, you did get the Isle of Dread, the first (X1) in the expert series of game modules.

Ahhhhhhhh.....maps. What kid doesn't like pouring over maps and graphs.....

As a bonus, here is the 1980 Expert rulebook by David Cook and Steve Marsh. It contains basically the same information except that the 1981 version expanded upon most of the rules. There are a few exceptions where the rules more robust here but nothing groundbreaking. The cover is cooler though......

My version is second hand and apparently it belonged to Scott B. who liked to color in the pictures. BTW Scott, if you are reading this, you color well and the rulebook is being well taken care of, Thanks !!!!

The Expert Set was the obvious move after the Basic Set was conquered. I remember getting into the Expert Set after "Basic Training", but eventually crossing over to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and those cool hardcover books.

This was the proving ground for many a gamer and is still fun to play to this day. The boxed sets display well and are a cool conversation piece for those gathering of Geeks that happen from time to time.

I noticed a similarity between Dr. Who and Dungeons and Dragons...and a pinball game?

My wife and I recently started Dr.Who and I have to say we are really enjoying it. We are up to "The New Doctor" with David Tennant as The Doctor, and suddenly I had a flashback to my Dungeons and Dragons modules.

Here's the Cyberking from Dr Who......

 



........and here's the cover of EARTHSHAKER!!!!!......

 

.....and here's pinball game!!!!!!

 

 

As we all know the CM4 Earthshaker! module came out in 1985, so its safe to assume that not only did Dungeons and Dragons inspire a pinball game but a Dr Who episode.

 

It just goes to show you that Dungeons and Dragons influences everything!!