Right off the bat, I must say the font used on the very first OD&D cover for “Dungeons & Dragons” all caps, beautiful! Worthy of a new kind of game that 50 years on continues to occupy the imaginations of so many creative people!
Like you, I got the second set of covers for the PH and DMG and love both of them. I don't have nostalgia for the first DMG cover, but even back there I remember thinking I was happy to have the newer cover. I'd put the first DMG in Dork at best -- I never liked it. The first player's handbook cover on the other hand really stirred up my imagination and it gets the most nostalgia from me for a cover I never owned. I remember thinking I could draw better than most of what was on the cover of the first Monster Manual as well as, or better than what was actually there. Like you I really like the Otus piece for the DM's log -- it reminds me of narrative art you can find on everything from Greek vases to medieval tapestries in the sense that it doesn't show us a single scene, but a series of scenes with the same characters.
I pretty much agree with the majority of your decisions my only real difference of opinion is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, always thought that image was iconic so I would have it NERD between MM and OA. Great watch! 👍
The back cover of Sutherland's DMG is actually better than the front. Literal hot take (because of the lava)! The Frankie Goes To Hollywood rant was fun. One of my all-time favorite thift store finds was a mint "Frankie Say Relax" bumper sticker from '84. It's currently framed over one of my closets. ;)
@@yeoldegeek71 You might as well add Blondie's classic hit "Dreaming". That's all I could do with trying to purchase all that was out there back in the mid-80s as a pre-teen with $5 dollars in my pocket. 😂
The head of that Astral Dreadnaught creature on the cover of Manual of the Planes is basically lifted from and used in the DOOM video game as the cacodemon. :-)
In defense of the reverse halberding giant: A. He’s in a forest. B. He’s fighting in close and low. C. Creativity! Both aesthetically and physically. If you’ve ever used hand to hand weapons or even sparred much, there are times where you or someone else does something surprising. I can totally see someone grabbing their halberd like this, just like halfswording. Harumph harumph.
I think you need to do the entire wraparound for the covers as the DMG with the city of brass on the back was important. The different covers of the MM, PHB and DMG while having superior technical artwork had much worse binding. That said is the oriental adventures cover is probably my favorite. I do think you need to do the gazeteers for BX as your next video.
The original Monster Manual has an iconic cover, just not a good one. The Troll Lord Games tribute cover is way better than the Monster Manual's cover.
Now this is what I was waiting for. Didn't realize some of these supplements even existed. That 1st DM Screen tho 😂
Right off the bat, I must say the font used on the very first OD&D cover for “Dungeons & Dragons” all caps, beautiful! Worthy of a new kind of game that 50 years on continues to occupy the imaginations of so many creative people!
Can't give this the attention it deserves right now, but I now have something to look forward to after work!
I love the giant cover in the monster manual 2 book. I was with my brother when he bought it new. So I am biased. But your critism is correct.
It’s not bias, it’s a refined sense of taste.
Like you, I got the second set of covers for the PH and DMG and love both of them. I don't have nostalgia for the first DMG cover, but even back there I remember thinking I was happy to have the newer cover. I'd put the first DMG in Dork at best -- I never liked it. The first player's handbook cover on the other hand really stirred up my imagination and it gets the most nostalgia from me for a cover I never owned.
I remember thinking I could draw better than most of what was on the cover of the first Monster Manual as well as, or better than what was actually there.
Like you I really like the Otus piece for the DM's log -- it reminds me of narrative art you can find on everything from Greek vases to medieval tapestries in the sense that it doesn't show us a single scene, but a series of scenes with the same characters.
I pretty much agree with the majority of your decisions my only real difference of opinion is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, always thought that image was iconic so I would have it NERD between MM and OA. Great watch! 👍
The back cover of Sutherland's DMG is actually better than the front. Literal hot take (because of the lava)!
The Frankie Goes To Hollywood rant was fun. One of my all-time favorite thift store finds was a mint "Frankie Say Relax" bumper sticker from '84. It's currently framed over one of my closets. ;)
Two Tribes correctly predicted the D&D vs Pathfinder war too
@@yeoldegeek71 You might as well add Blondie's classic hit "Dreaming". That's all I could do with trying to purchase all that was out there back in the mid-80s as a pre-teen with $5 dollars in my pocket. 😂
The head of that Astral Dreadnaught creature on the cover of Manual of the Planes is basically lifted from and used in the DOOM video game as the cacodemon. :-)
In defense of the reverse halberding giant: A. He’s in a forest. B. He’s fighting in close and low. C. Creativity! Both aesthetically and physically. If you’ve ever used hand to hand weapons or even sparred much, there are times where you or someone else does something surprising. I can totally see someone grabbing their halberd like this, just like halfswording. Harumph harumph.
I think you need to do the entire wraparound for the covers as the DMG with the city of brass on the back was important.
The different covers of the MM, PHB and DMG while having superior technical artwork had much worse binding. That said is the oriental adventures cover is probably my favorite.
I do think you need to do the gazeteers for BX as your next video.
On Greyhawk Adventures there is a dragon (perched) and giant eagle (in flight) in the background.
13:48 I always saw that one as looking like plastic.
Oh, I already know you’re going to do the MM2 wrong! Let’s see what happens. Tables flipping everywhere up in this place. Such a funny category.
Lots of Aardvark!
Elmore or Parkinson would have done a better cover for that Dragonlance hardcover.
The original Monster Manual has an iconic cover, just not a good one. The Troll Lord Games tribute cover is way better than the Monster Manual's cover.
you are rude words
The giant on the MMII cover isn't great and the location of that polearm is terrible. The head of the polearm is on the wrong end of that shaft!