http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/35740000

http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/35760000

http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/35750000

I can start my countdown

I love that they used the art from the black boarder versions for the preview. I hope that's the version they use for the reprint.

Those are my favorites (I know I'm alone there).

Not quite, although I often trollishly state that the designers of 2e obviously had never even played the game, I will give you this:

The Monsterous Manual is the best monster book any rpg ever got, period.

It's got just the right blend of numbers and art styles and humor and fluff.  It's a lovely book plain and simple.  Added to that, the art style matches up well.  Silly gets silly art, whimsical gets whimsical art, scary gets scary art, Kobolds get silly, whimsical, scary art.

Sadly, the 2e core rules clean-up is just a little too little and 3e is just a little too much as far as rules alterations go.

I jetisonned Castles and Crusades for the crappy port of the 1e weapon stats just like I jetisonned 2e about ten years earlier.  The crowing fault of 2e is elves with sheaf arrows and composite long bows.  But there's plenty of other things that needed a better revision.

Quote from: Piestrio;620034Those are my favorites (I know I'm alone there).

I actually liked the art of the black reprints better than the original versions.

And no, this is not the best version of D&D to me. Not even by a long, long shot.

I will be buying these. 2e was a fantastic game. I easily have logged more hours with it than any other rpg I've played.

Quote from: Piestrio;620034I love that they used the art from the black boarder versions for the preview. I hope that's the version they use for the reprint.

Ugh.  That just killed it for me.  I hate the black cover versions.  I feel the cover art on the black cover PHB and DMG were just flat out ugly, and the interior presentation was inferior in every way.

I have a feeling it's because they don't have publication rights to all those Elmore, Caldwell, and Parkinson paintings from the original 2e prints anymore, and don't want to bother getting the rights for them.

I'm happy you're getting the cover version and interior presentation you prefer, but I can safely mark these off my wish lists.  At least I didn't need them anyway as I have 2 copies of each of the old books.

Bleah. Talk about false thread-advertising.

I've never seen the interior art of 2e Revised, but the cover art of both versions of 2e is shit.

I won't touch the "best edition" thing is but 2e is my favorite. Unfortunately I don't need these because I have multiple copies of the core books already, and slapping that awful art on them certainly isn't going to convince me.

But it's nice they're doing this. A few years ago I wouldn't have believed it.

for my money it is not the best version of dnd but i logged more hours with adnd 2e than any other edition so i will definitely be picking these up.

I remember this edition. I wouldn't know about best(never got to try it out), but it seemed to have more official supplements, campaign settings, and whatnot than any edition before or since. It was a bit overwhelming really.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;620059I remember this edition. I wouldn't know about best(never got to try it out), but it seemed to have more official supplements, campaign settings, and whatnot than any edition before or since. It was a bit overwhelming really.

opinions vary wildly on whether or not the rules supplements were good or god awful, but adnd 2e did spawn some of the best known and most loved settings of dnd (dark sun, planescape, spelljammer).

Quote from: Gabriel2;620047Ugh.  That just killed it for me.  I hate the black cover versions.  I feel the cover art on the black cover PHB and DMG were just flat out ugly, and the interior presentation was inferior in every way.

I have a feeling it's because they don't have publication rights to all those Elmore, Caldwell, and Parkinson paintings from the original 2e prints anymore, and don't want to bother getting the rights for them.

I'm happy you're getting the cover version and interior presentation you prefer, but I can safely mark these off my wish lists.  At least I didn't need them anyway as I have 2 copies of each of the old books.

I do not actually know what version they will be reprinting, just that the thumbnails for the website are from the black border version.

Quote from: ICFTI;620056for my money it is not the best version of dnd but i logged more hours with adnd 2e than any other edition so i will definitely be picking these up.

Ditto. For me, this will be a nostalgia purchase.
Shame about the art. I didn't care for the revised ed. artwork.

I hope low sales of some of these reprints don't give cause for WOTC to rethink whether reprints are viable before they get to BECMI or the RC. (I've seen D&D Basic listed as a best seller on RPGnow - though clicking on it leads nowhere - so it's on the way  - hopefully).

They really need to clean up the modules and sell 'em in bundles (entire lines) or as a single tome, and get 'em out there too. A new player to the hobby will look at these, read 'em, and wonder what the heck to do with them. Modules will sort that out.

Still, kudos for Wizards for doing this. 2e wasn't my favourite version of D&D, and by the time it came out our group was starting to split up and go their separate ways. It can also be had cheap on ebay (only the 3e books are cheaper) so $50 or whatever these are seems like its aimed at collectors only.

Quote from: Piestrio;620065I do not actually know what version they will be reprinting, just that the thumbnails for the website are from the black border version.

Page count of the PHB indicates that it's indeed the revised (black border) version. Shame. The interior art sucks harder than any other version of D&D.

Red-headed stepchild has birthday party. Nobody comes to visit.

Spoiler

Sorry! Sorry!