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Post by nathant on Aug 5, 2015 19:15:44 GMT
I was curious to see what others thought of the collector's editions and the quality of the bonus adventures. From what I understand, the collector's edition of Flight From the Dark is completely different, while the others are the same with a few minor revisions and bonus adventures at the end.
While I certainly plan on purchasing copies of all the books I don't have yet (21+) as they are released by Mantikore/Verlag as well as upgrading all my US editions of the Grandmaster series that I haven't already, I was curious to know whether others thought it was worth the cash to purchase the collector's editions just to get the bonus adventures.
So what do people think, how does the quality of the bonus adventures compare to the original stories?
Right now I am leaning towards not upgrading the ones I already have and purchasing a Kindle copy of "Flight From the Dark." Some of these books are crazy expensive to purchase on Ebay!
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Post by kieran on Aug 6, 2015 12:22:57 GMT
I only own Flight from the Dark collector's edition. I'll start buying them again when they get to the books I don't have yet (Buccanneers of Shadaki on). From what I've heard, most of the mini adventures aren't up to much.
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Post by 50crowns on Aug 6, 2015 15:54:36 GMT
I really like the collector's editions and have managed to collect all the available ones (1-21). I have to admit that I didn't discover Lone Wolf until last year and the collector's editions were my first contact with the game book format (other than the CYOA books of my youth). The novelty hit me first and then I was pretty impressed with the overall high quality of the binding, artwork and writing of the Mongoose editions. Later, while collecting, I found that this had not always been the case - and it took some time to find editions that were error free and had the correct bindings or size (early editions had some logic path issues, were bound with squared bindings or cam in a slightly smaller book size). I love them on my bookshelf and I actually have only played through #1 and the mini-adventures in the flesh - choosing to play the Seventh Sense computer versions for the Lone Wolf series. As for the mini-adventures, the writing quality is uneven, but several are linked to each other (the Dire series) or to the events of the book that it's paired with. Speaking for myself, there is a Lone Wolf collector's completionist aspect to having all of the mini-adventures as well as having something that goes beyond the original stories - a cool new chapter or spin side by side with the classic Joe Dever version. I had started collecting the paperback originals, but found it too frustrating given trying to match quality (and the correct versions - Red Fox was what I was trying to get as I felt they had the best cover art - there is what feels like a lot of inaccurate postings from book vendors not knowing what they have) that I quickly gave up. Which brings me to the down side of the collecting - the cost was probably more than what makes sense - especially when weeding through the subpar print editions. I used Amazon and Ebay mostly (both in the US and UK), found several pristine editions collecting dust in game stores (a rare find), and scoured the internet book market daily for missing editions (even sites in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Germany and France - with rare success). Inexplicably, there are several volumes that are rare (notably 2-5, 14, 15 & 16) while others are sold somewhere near list price or up to double list. For sure, the thrill of the hunt makes my collection worth more to me than what I actually paid - but the day I nabbed #15 for list price was like Charlie finding a golden ticket. Not surprisingly, in my hunt I ended up with duplicates (and even triplicates) of some books, which I have since sold off so that I simply have a second set of 1-13 (stopping again because 14-16 are so hard to find). I go back and forth about possibly selling these off as a package deal (hate to break it up) or holding on to it for my kids (which will probably not appreciate them). I will say that since it was such a pain in the ass and expensive to collect both sets, I probably wouldn't sell these extras for less than $1000 - or at least try to. Of course if MV re-issues 1-17, then both of my collections would likely be reduced somewhat in value - but I don't see that happening in the near future.
Just goes to show that value is a subjective thing. For some Lone Wolf fans, just having a utilitarian classic paperback is where its at or just having access to the Seventh Sense makes the most sense. For me, it's worth having the Collector's Editions and these extra mini-adventures - both for coolness (to me) and collector value.
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Post by nathant on Aug 6, 2015 20:55:45 GMT
Thank you for your responses. I like the idea of leaving the whole collection to your kids, even though yes, they would most likely not really be interested! Yes, I can certainly understand wanting to get all the collector's editions for the completist aspect of it, but the cost is prohibitive. If I could find them list price I could justify it but I draw the line at about $30 US per book. I have not tried the Seventh Sense versions but that is very cool that they are available. I suppose I am old school though and would rather have an actual physical copy in front of me whenever possible. I am assuming the bonus adventures are not included in the Seventh Sense versions due to copyright restrictions. Hopefully, Mantikore/Verlag will get around to re-releasing them all some day.
On a related note, what are your thoughts of the Collector's Edition #1 versus the original. From what I can tell by poking around in these forums the reactions seem to be mixed. As far as the bonus adventures go, yeah they kind of sound like glorified fan fiction to me, but I am guessing that Joe Dever must have had some oversight to make sure they didn't conflict with anything in his world. Are there any of the bonus adventures in particular that you would rate as essential?
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Post by 50crowns on Aug 7, 2015 2:48:14 GMT
Yeah, no mini-adventures yet in Seventh Sense - probably not likely. None of them are essential, but they do add a little extra flavor to the events of the Lone Wolf game books - or at least provide a down to earth perspective from someone not wielding a magic sword. Also, if you like the idea of adventuring in the world of Magnamund rpg-style, then you can may want to check out either the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Game or the Lone Wolf RPG that each had limited runs with Mongoose. There are several rulebooks and source books for each game out there (9 for the former and 4 for the latter) plus several free pdf offerings from the Signs and Portents Magazine archive (free adventures, citie and town maps, character classes, etc). Interesting stuff if you have an rpg interest or just want to expand your knowledge of Lone Wolf's world. I guess I should mention that there's also the Grey Star game book series and the Lone Wolf novels (I don't know much about them as that's where I decided to draw the line). As for which version of Flight From the Dark is best - IMHO I like the new one - only because it's longer!  |
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Post by kieran on Aug 7, 2015 11:56:10 GMT
I wasn't a huge fan of the new Flight from the Dark. I always liked the simplicity of the original and how Lone Wolf was a nobody who survived the massacre by dumb luck. Plus nostalgia counts for a lot!
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Post by Aarontu on Aug 24, 2015 16:12:29 GMT
I really enjoyed the CE of Flight from the Dark. Joe Dever's writing has really improved since he wrote the original, and the CE has so much more detail. The writing style is on more of an adult level than the original books, as well. All of the locations you visit, like the Monastary, Alema Bridge, Malis Mound, Fogwood, and Holmgard are much more fleshed out and detailed, as well. There is a bit of retconning, and the addition of some things just to make it more interesting, rather than make more sense, but overall, I thought it was excellent and highly enjoyed it. Also, at 550 sections, it's so much longer.
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Post by Wise Eagle on Aug 25, 2015 21:15:32 GMT
CE were fairly low print runs due to cost which is related to the binding. Getting all of them without ordering them directly would be difficult, even more difficult than getting Red Fox book 22+.
For Mongoose editions it is important to know the print run, especially for the first 4 books in the first print run, there are big quality problems. For anyone who has both editions it is easy to see which run it is for the first 4 books. It is easier to get 3 and 8, because there were duplicate batches printed for these books, and the difference is a missing section in book 3 (main adventure), and a few missing sections of the mini in book 8. Check the inside of the books to find out if you have a book with the missing section(s) or not, if you purchased it.
When it comes to bonus adventure, they overall tend to improve with later numbers. The one in the Kai adventures (book 2 to 5) are short and simple. From book 6 the adventure length and complexity is increased quite a bit. (Exception of the mini in book 9 which is shorter and easier.)
My inclination of the bonus adventures are that overall the quality improves, the later in the series it is. There are a few exceptions to this, but generally later book means longer and more well written mini-adventure.
For instance I really like the mini in book 20. It has a very good challenge level and is well structured and well written too.
For book 10 and 21 Lone Wolf is the main character in the mini-adventure.
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Post by kylinee on Oct 1, 2015 1:41:36 GMT
So I got 20 and 21 from Mongoose back in 2014, but I never saw 22 or 23. I see that 22 and 23 are available from Mantikore, and there is a link for 29, but what about 24-28? Are those available? Did i miss buying them from Mantikore since they don't seem to be in the store? I'm so confused.  |
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Post by Black Cat on Oct 1, 2015 3:22:22 GMT
So I got 20 and 21 from Mongoose back in 2014, but I never saw 22 or 23. I see that 22 and 23 are available from Mantikore, and there is a link for 29, but what about 24-28? Are those available? Did i miss buying them from Mantikore since they don't seem to be in the store? I'm so confused. Simple: Mantikore will republished all the books, from 18 to 28. Right now, book 22 just came out as of September 30. The rest will follow, with book 23 coming sometime next year (you can't pre-order it for now, but it will come). As for books 29-32, since they are brand new books, they will be released before Mantikore gets to republish all the other books. Book 29 is supposed to get out in December, with 30 and 31 in 2016, and 32 in 2017. Republication of book 28 will come after book 32 is released. |
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Post by Nym90 on Dec 24, 2015 22:04:51 GMT
Do the Kindle versions of books two and on include the Bonus Adventures?
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Post by greg on Dec 30, 2015 17:45:52 GMT
Regarding the binding of the early CEs, Mongoose were experimenting with printing and binding their own books. Their offices were full of machines to do this. It was less than successful with many of the RPG books having warped covers and pages falling out (I have several of them).
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Post by Nym90 on Jan 5, 2016 21:09:59 GMT
Do the Kindle versions of books two and on include the Bonus Adventures? In case anyone else was interested in the answer to this question, I learned from scouring other threads here that no, they are not included. This is unfortunate. Perhaps the availability of these bonus adventures can be increased via a digital download for purchase in the future. |
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