I was a 1e AD&D player for the first half of the 1980s. I've loved the game and have great memories from it. In the last six months or so I've begun collecting the first edition books and modules from Drive-Thru RPG and am amused that UA-cam decided to recommend your video today. Thanks!
@@kevinbirge2130 Some content has copyright issues concerning it, and other material, like the excellent Japanese version of the Rules Cyclopedia, were never available in English.
I got that Dungeon of Dread book as well! I recently picked up both adventures of the Desert Nomads series, Night's Dark Terror, and Drums on Fire Mountain! I love POD.
Very nice!!! Takes me back to a better time. One of my favourites was the Desert of Desolation series. Will be ordering that. Thanks for the great video.
Thanks for the review! :D I was hesitant to back a kickstarter project (Lowlife 2090) because the only option is print on demand and I haven't held any books made that way. Your review not only helped me decide to back it but also made me want a few of those old school modules! xD I love the old art styles and feel but like you said Ebay isn't always your best bet!
Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. Look pretty good and useful for filling in a collection. I spotted one small typo...they left off the capital I on I1 Dwellers in the forbidden city.
These actually look pretty awesome! Any idea about import fees? I have been looking to buy some of these oldschool RPG books, but they are generally pretty expensive due to import fees. Print on demand would be amazing (although many of the books I want are not available as print on demand unfortunately).
What bugs me though is that they still left in the OCR errors introduced in the Premium books, from when they were first printed. Simply, utterly ridiculous! WotC Please correct that!
I found more than a few errors in B1-9 In Search of Adventure. I found it amusing that the errors made it past the editor. Not so much irritating. Just made me smirk.
i've never understood why they won't take a few hours to retype each of these and just fix up the art assets in photoshop. it wouldn't even cost that much... but i guess that would be a niche of a niche of a market lol
WotC provides the pdfs. I think initially they were just seeing if the products would sell. The titles coming out now are much improved from those released back a few years ago.
The fact that they are copies is obvious, assuming you have seen an original before. In regards to the modules, the covers are bound to the contents, usually with glue but I have one or two that were stapled. Where the original books may have had a full bleed (usually decorative print to the edge of the page) the reprints have a border of white. But on the very last page, which is blank, there is a print batch number.
I actually have a followup question on this. I've decided to start building a collection through Ebay, and I just realized this is a thing. Is there a visual stamp or anything on the books that identify them as POD? I feel confident I could identify a reprint in person, but I'm worried about the pictures via ebay. Thank you!
There is a seller on ebay that is selling print on demand D&D products for 3 or 4 times what they cost. I suggest reading the description thoroughly. As for a stamp, yes there is a print batch number on the last page of the book (which is otherwise blank).
Thx for the video. Could you guys help me understand how POD works ? I wanna have clear expectations. I’ve had the idea that it is someone from the Drivethru RPG team that takes the order and then home makes the book and I assume that’s not the case but wanna hear it from you. Is the quality comparable to the originals? Thx again.
These books are professionally printed using scans provided by drivethrurpg. The scans are, for the most part, excellent. I have seen a few that could have been scanned better or where better copies could have been found to take scans from. The paper stock is heavier than the originals and the binding appears to me that it will last much longer as well. Overall I am not disappointed. Having bought several originals off of ebay for prices averaging $30 each only to find the seller overlooked some writing on the pages and/or staple rust, I'd say the print on demand option is far more to my liking. Thank you for watching. I hope this helps!
I cannot get over how white the paper is considering the paper used the original modules was pretty crap! Just order the G1-3, D1-2, D3, Q1 modules to Australia fine, got a group that just hit D2!
I heard yes. AJ Picket is in New Zealand and I seem to recall him mentioning that he got a few 5e monster supplements from them. It may take a few months and shipping may cost a bit. Best thing to do is punch in your address when you order and see what happens.
I'm aware. But as they ship that far, they may ship to Europe. I recently heard they may send the pdfs to printers more local to your area. Don't quote me on that though.
I was a 1e AD&D player for the first half of the 1980s. I've loved the game and have great memories from it.
In the last six months or so I've begun collecting the first edition books and modules from Drive-Thru RPG and am amused that UA-cam decided to recommend your video today.
Thanks!
That's good to hear. UA-cam never recommends my videos ;)
It is a great service for us old school D&D players who are getting back into the hobby
Wow, that is excellent quality!
I wish they'd release the entire D & D back catalog on POD.
That would be very detrimental to my wallet...
All of the books and modules should be available all the time. There is no reason not to have the option.
@@DnDnBeer Hahhahah True enough
@@kevinbirge2130 Some content has copyright issues concerning it, and other material, like the excellent Japanese version of the Rules Cyclopedia, were never available in English.
I believe there are copyright issues with some of the modules because production and distribution got kinda weird back in the day.
I got that Dungeon of Dread book as well! I recently picked up both adventures of the Desert Nomads series, Night's Dark Terror, and Drums on Fire Mountain! I love POD.
Very nice!!! Takes me back to a better time. One of my favourites was the Desert of Desolation series. Will be ordering that. Thanks for the great video.
Thanks for the review! :D
I was hesitant to back a kickstarter project (Lowlife 2090) because the only option is print on demand and I haven't held any books made that way.
Your review not only helped me decide to back it but also made me want a few of those old school modules! xD
I love the old art styles and feel but like you said Ebay isn't always your best bet!
They currently have the Temple of Elemental Evil print on demand. I just got my copy last week.
Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. Look pretty good and useful for filling in a collection. I spotted one small typo...they left off the capital I on I1 Dwellers in the forbidden city.
See, now Dwellers of the Forbidden City isn't available now for POD. I really want that one!
If a title has an issue DTRPG usually takes it down until the issue is fixed. I believe it's the publisher that makes that call. In this case WotC.
These actually look pretty awesome! Any idea about import fees? I have been looking to buy some of these oldschool RPG books, but they are generally pretty expensive due to import fees. Print on demand would be amazing (although many of the books I want are not available as print on demand unfortunately).
They use 3rd party printers. I'd assume they'd contract a printer closer to where you are.
Nice work, excellent video
What bugs me though is that they still left in the OCR errors introduced in the Premium books, from when they were first printed. Simply, utterly ridiculous! WotC Please correct that!
I found more than a few errors in B1-9 In Search of Adventure. I found it amusing that the errors made it past the editor. Not so much irritating. Just made me smirk.
i've never understood why they won't take a few hours to retype each of these and just fix up the art assets in photoshop. it wouldn't even cost that much... but i guess that would be a niche of a niche of a market lol
WotC provides the pdfs. I think initially they were just seeing if the products would sell. The titles coming out now are much improved from those released back a few years ago.
@@DnDnBeer i was thinking about buying some finally so this is encouraging
Are they marked to show they are copies to avoid people ripping you off?
The fact that they are copies is obvious, assuming you have seen an original before. In regards to the modules, the covers are bound to the contents, usually with glue but I have one or two that were stapled. Where the original books may have had a full bleed (usually decorative print to the edge of the page) the reprints have a border of white. But on the very last page, which is blank, there is a print batch number.
I actually have a followup question on this. I've decided to start building a collection through Ebay, and I just realized this is a thing. Is there a visual stamp or anything on the books that identify them as POD? I feel confident I could identify a reprint in person, but I'm worried about the pictures via ebay. Thank you!
There is a seller on ebay that is selling print on demand D&D products for 3 or 4 times what they cost. I suggest reading the description thoroughly.
As for a stamp, yes there is a print batch number on the last page of the book (which is otherwise blank).
Thx for the video. Could you guys help me understand how POD works ? I wanna have clear expectations. I’ve had the idea that it is someone from the Drivethru RPG team that takes the order and then home makes the book and I assume that’s not the case but wanna hear it from you. Is the quality comparable to the originals? Thx again.
These books are professionally printed using scans provided by drivethrurpg. The scans are, for the most part, excellent. I have seen a few that could have been scanned better or where better copies could have been found to take scans from. The paper stock is heavier than the originals and the binding appears to me that it will last much longer as well. Overall I am not disappointed. Having bought several originals off of ebay for prices averaging $30 each only to find the seller overlooked some writing on the pages and/or staple rust, I'd say the print on demand option is far more to my liking. Thank you for watching. I hope this helps!
I cannot get over how white the paper is considering the paper used the original modules was pretty crap!
Just order the G1-3, D1-2, D3, Q1 modules to Australia fine, got a group that just hit D2!
Do drivethrurpg ship world wide??
Unknown. They should be able to answer that. Contact Us link at the bottom of their site.
Do you know if they ship out to Europe or the UK?
I heard yes. AJ Picket is in New Zealand and I seem to recall him mentioning that he got a few 5e monster supplements from them. It may take a few months and shipping may cost a bit. Best thing to do is punch in your address when you order and see what happens.
New Zealand isn't in Europe so it doesn't really answer my question, but I assume that if they ship there that they ship internationally
I'm aware. But as they ship that far, they may ship to Europe. I recently heard they may send the pdfs to printers more local to your area. Don't quote me on that though.
Well if they do get localised printers to do it, then that's quite good service
Less silent page flipping and more reviewing, please. It took over 4 minutes for you to mention what you felt about the general worth of the PoD. :/
But you got there in the end. Thanks for watching at least 4 minutes of it. ;)