We’re in NYC for two days, and I will blog about it in a day or two, but I had a fascinating experience today that I knew Adam would be interested in so this post is just about that.
There’s a store here called The Compleat Strategist that’s been selling RPG and board game products for many decades. I’ve shopped there many times over the two-plus decades I’ve been visiting the city but it was very obvious in recent years the store had seen better days.
So today when I walked in and found it revamped and rearranged and clean it was obvious a change had occurred.
The first thing I noticed was a big glass case containing lots of vintage Games Worshop Warhammer items. Books, games, models: all mint condition and most still shrink wrapped.
I don’t know much about this stuff but I do know how unusual it is to see so much brand new stock of products released over thirty years ago. It was a bit like visiting a museum, especially since it was all clearly labeled as ‘not for sale’.
And then I walked to the back and saw the three larger cases of TSR products! This is just one of them:
Dozens and dozens of Dungeons and Dragons books, as well as other games released by TSR over the years. I’ve got a good D&D collection myself, but not close to what I saw here. Take this for instance:
And many modules, some still sealed:
And obscure TSR games, like these:
Or this (still sealed) board game from 1982:
The manager saw me taking these photos and wandered over. He was younger than the guys I used to see here and I didn’t recognize him. I immediately asked “You bought this store didn’t you?” to which he laughed and confirmed.
We talked about this amazing collection of relics he now owned – some of which he wasn’t very knowledgeable about (I educated him) – and he was quite interested in my gamebook collection so I told him a bit about that.
And then he said out of the blue: “Want to see the basement?” Of course I instantly said yes, and he took me through two doors to a large metal staircase we descended down into a games room they use for events, then through another door into a large room filled with tall shelves stuffed with boxes of game materials collected by the previous owners over decades.
To say I was amazed is an understatement. The above photo shows boxes of Spellfire – the failed D&D card game from thirty years ago. Those boxes in the back? Sealed cases of the same game. He’s got dozens of boxes of each expansion, up to the 7th which almost no stores stocked since the game was already dead:
In the blurry background you can see boxes and boxes of other dead TCGs, including many I’d never heard of. These were stacked three or four shelves high up to ceilings well above my head!
As incredible as this was, we then turned to the D&D material, and he showed me this:
That’s a box of sealed copies of a D&D solo module from 1985. I’d estimate 30 or more, untouched for decades. And this was one of many boxes of sealed modules for TSR games, including D&D, Star Traveler, Top Secret, Gamma World, Indiana Jones, Marvel Super Heroes and probably more.
I took the above photo since I’d never seen a GURPS board game (which is still sealed and would sell for $300+ based on a quick internet search) but there was so much to see in this basement I barely noticed the stack of MSH modules behind and below the board game, or the pile of a couple of dozen Gamma World GM screens to the left.
I’ve read in the past about people stumbling on a cache of ‘new old stock’ in a warehouse somewhere, but it was quite an experience to see it. It’s all for sale too, although since TSR products are very collectible now it’s hardly cheap, and he’ll make a nice profit if he can sell it all. (I purchased a Blizzard Pass module, which I’ll keep sealed.)
There was some advertising material as well, including the above board for the 1976 (I think) edition of TSR’s Dungeon board game. This was heavy and may have been printed on or at least stuck to a wooden back! This is a true grail for a collector somewhere.
I regret not taking more photos, but I was simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of what I was seeing 🙂
He told me they’re slowly going through everything, including 25 long boxes of 1980s comics, many more sealed cases of RPG books and modules, and even “a box of novels signed by Gary Gygax” (!) and continuing to find treasures he didn’t know about when he bought the store. His goal is apparently to open a museum and if he ever does I’d certainly love to visit it!
