DUNGEONS, DRAGONS AND STRANGER THINGS

I enjoyed watching this old TV ad above for TSR's Dungeon's and Dragons from 1983. I never got into this whole thing unfortunately as I reckon I would have enjoyed the social fantasy vibe.

Were you a TSR fan?

Did you like the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon or the film with Jeremy Irons?

Watching the TV ad reminded me of the now famous opening of Netflix's own homage to TSR Eighties childhoods, Stranger Things. Here the young heroes enjoy a frenetic game of dungeons and dragons that either causes or reflects what happens next with the Demogorgon.

Have you seen Stranger Things? All episodes?

Was the Demogorgon a real TSR figure?

ALPHA STAR AND DRAGON STRIKE DOWN AT THE BOOT SALE

After spending an hour cleaning up after the dog's dodgy butt I managed to get out to the local Car Boot Sale.

Just one vintage toy stall today and a smattering of bits among the rest.

I took a shine to an old TSR game called Dragon Strike. 

It had a VHS video in it so I knew it was at least 20 years old. 

I know very little about TSR board games but used to buy sword and sorcery toys and games years ago when I was a full time Ebayer and toy stall holder. It all sold well back then so it was nice to see this one now. It was £4 so I passed. I'm very fussy nowadays. Maybe unwise?

Turns out having checked the game's Wikipedia page that its from 1993 and was a sort of training game for proper Dungeons and Dragons.

Another toy I saw, which at first looked old, but on closer inspection looked new, was called World Peacekeepers Power Team, a cheapo action figure series. The one I saw was a single figure carded and imported by Peterkin. Here's a bunch pictured online. They're available on Amazon! Future collectables?

I also saw a miniature plastic Big Trak for £2. They must be modern re-issues. I thought of repainting it in Project SWORD colours but realised that it would just go in the loft and fade into oblivion.

I did, however, spend a princely 50p on an old friend, the Fisher Price Adventure People X-Ray Alpha Star Alien Astronaut. This was loose, the usual way you find them. I once found a batch of carded non-astronaut X-Ray men and women and they did really well on my old toy stand.

So here's old X-Ray Alpha [picture found on Ebay]

I liked the Adventure people line as a collector and toy dealer. It was fun to handle and always a blast finding it. The feel of the vehicles reminds of Playmobil vehicles. Well constructed and well designed plastic craft. Very appealing to look at.

Alpha joins Mork from last week's sale in my box of future men.

Do you like the Adventure People?

What old toys have you found?

I never Got to Play Dungeons and Dragons

Its another snow day for me. Been sent home from work as parts of West and South Yorkshire are gridlocked due to overnight snowfalls. Abandoned cars, skidding buses, complete chaos on any higher ground.

So I'm back home with Doods the Moonbase Mutt, who is very happy to see me I must say. We can go for walkies later and I can tackle taking two large parcels to the post office earlier than I thought I would.

Sadly one parcel contains PINO, who I recently featured in a photo-story and short vid. He is being posted to his new owner. After a decade's sleep in my loft, I hope he gets to grow up this time.

I shall also enjoy my final half day with Netflix. Having watched Stranger Things 2 and Deadpool this week I have gone for something completely different, Straight Outta Compton.

Not sure what to say about Deadpool. It was sort of a Ryan Reynolds show. I'm not keen on comedy and super heroes mixing together but that's just me. It's way down on my list when it comes to watching Super Hero movies a second time. What did you think?

Stranger Things 2 is the second series of the Netflix original. I enjoyed series 1 a lot and it reminded me of an expanded version of Spielberg's Super 8 movie. Series 2 is pretty much the same, delving deeper and deeper into the mysterious goings on in the small American town circa 1981.

For me the most successful parts of it were those showing the young American group of High School friends enjoying time together. This was especially so early on when they were in the basement of the house playing Dungeons and Dragons and discussing the fabulously named Demagorgon.

Sadly, the whole Dungeons and Dragons phenomenon passed me by in the late Seventies, when TSR's material first surfaced in the UK. Looking back I can't really explain it except to say that maybe I was just too old. I was 17 in 1977 and 20 by the close of the decade. I was just doing other things and not stranger things! Were you part of the D&D craze readers?

I certainly knew about Dungeons and Dragons as I remember buying a really early copy of White Dwarf, one of the first few with the monochrome covers before the mag went glossy. 

I had that mag for years alongside mags from my other great passions at the time, hippydom and heavy rock. I still have some of my old hippy mags like Undercurrents but that old White Dwarf has wandered. Wish I still had it.

I even ordered some small metal orcs by post in the late Seventies. I may still have them somewhere. Whether these were Dungeons and Dragons I don't know. Orcs would have interested me because of their connection to Lord of the Rings, which I was secretly reading in my top drawer whilst at work on my first paid job as an insurance clerk!

I adored Lord of the Rings and my flat was full of posters and woodblocks based on it around 1978. I reckon I still have the colour map poster of Middle Earth but the Gandalf woodblock has left for the Grey Havens years ago. 

Besides LOTR I also 'collected' any books similar to it like The Worm Orobouros, Dragonworld and Dragon Song by Anne McAffrey. I'm pleased to say I still have these books.

I wonder if the inventors of Dungeons and Dragons were influenced by Lord of the Rings? I do love the illustrations of those early TSR books and pamphlets. Its a quaint shakey style of drawing and colouring all of its own, rather like Tolkein's drawings in Letters to Father Christmas.

Stranger Things is a wonderful homage to that entire Dungeons and Dragons phenomenon and a thumbs-up to geekyness everywhere!

Is the game still popular and is old TSR merchandise collectable?