Where could you buy games?

[Trav]

I've been doing some research on the RPG industry as of late.  I realized that my age wouldn't let me accurately answer this question.  Before the internet was around, where could you buy RPG's?  Were gaming stores the only option?  Did people order them out of magazines?  Were they carried in chain book stores?  Thanks for the help.

[quozl]

I'm 30.  First, an old-fart correction (is 30 really old?): the internet is pretty old, it's just the world-wide-web that's new.  For example, I learned a lot about RPGs on the internet in 1991, a few years before the web existed.  But to answer your questions:

There were gaming stores, mail order, and magazine ads.  Some bookstores (like Waldenbooks) had a D&D section.  When White Wolf's Vampire got popular, it went into the D&D section with the other D&D books.  I think that's pretty much it.

[jrients]

Howdy Trav.  I got started in this hobby in the early 80's.  Back then you could purchase TSR products (Dungeons & Dragon et al.) at K-Mart, Toys R Us, Kay-Bee Toys, many book stores, even the occasional hardware store.  Many game companies did direct mail order of their products.  Then there was Adventureland, a great little game store in Bloomington IL.  Sadly, its now a shadow of its former glory.  I also bought a lot of mail order stuff from a company called Wargames West.  They had a huge newsprint catalog.

[Valamir]

At one point you could buy D&D in toy isles at department stores.
Waldenbooks has long stocked (and as far as I know continues to) AD&D.
There were several gaming catalogs, the biggest of which was probably Wargames West which quarterly or so would mail out a 1/4 inch think staple bound catalog printed on newsprint that contained pretty much every non Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers game known to man.  ALOT of my stuff came from there in the late 80s early 90s.  I believe they have now gone the way of the dodo, but I'll always have fond memories of reading and rereading for hours that catalog and circling the games I absolutely had to have on the basis of classified ad sized blurb and a grainy cover shot.

Alot of game purchases were made at conventions.  For years one of the biggest (and now sadly greatly shrunken) attractions at Origins was the game Auction where used titles were traded between avid collectors.

Many games of the day (obviously true of the wargames but also many RPGs) came boxed and catalogs would almost always be included in the box.  I have dozens of old Avalon Hill catalogs that were a good dozen+ pages long.

Mailing lists were another way games got sold.  Companies like Omega Games and Avalanche still send out periodic mailers touting new releases to people that they know are regular buyers.

[quozl]

Howdy Trav.  I got started in this hobby in the early 80's.  Back then you could purchase TSR products (Dungeons & Dragon et al.) at K-Mart, Toys R Us, Kay-Bee Toys, many book stores, even the occasional hardware store.

Oh yes, I forgot about D&D in regular stores.  I wasn't much of a D&D fan.  Does anyone know what time period regular stores stopped carrying D&D?  I remember Toys R Us and Kay-Bee clearing out everything but don't remember when it was.

[Mike Holmes]

Don't forget your local hobby stores. I bought mostly at the kinds of stores that sold model trains, rockets, plasic models, kites, etc.

I think the chain toystores stopped stocking in the early eighties as soon as they became the slightest bit controversial. No way Toys-R-Us, and KB were going to stock anything that was less than completely wholesome. Like toy M-16s...

Mike

[Trav]

I think once in my life I saw a copy of Mystara at a KB.

I know that when I first got into gaming I bought my stuff from Walden's and a local gaming store.  

 Hey guys I appreciate your help.

[Roy]

Does anyone know what time period regular stores stopped carrying D&D? I remember Toys R Us and Kay-Bee clearing out everything but don't remember when it was.

I believe it was around '83, if I remember correctly.  I'm 30 too, so my mind is slipping a bit, quozl. :-)

Roy

[jrients]

Does anyone know what time period regular stores stopped carrying D&D? I remember Toys R Us and Kay-Bee clearing out everything but don't remember when it was.

I believe it was around '83, if I remember correctly.  I'm 30 too, so my mind is slipping a bit, quozl.

'82-'83 sounds about right.  The department and toy stores carried the Erol Otus covered Basic/Expert combo, but I don't think they carried the later Elmore covered Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortal sets.

[Ziriel]

Oddly enough I've noticed that Barnes & Noble has a rather healthy RPG section in my town.  This should be no suprise to those of you who realize that they are owned by the same corp as Waldenbooks, but I felt it worth noting.

Oh yes, and '83 iz indeed correct.  Although I was a wee tyke (6) and don't recal too well on my own my father has mentioned it before.

[Jeffrey Miller]

Howdy Trav.  I got started in this hobby in the early 80's.  Back then you could purchase TSR products (Dungeons & Dragon et al.) at K-Mart, Toys R Us, Kay-Bee Toys, many book stores, even the occasional hardware store..../quote]

I bought my blue box (Expert Dungeons & Dragons) set at Sears.

A Kay-Bee near my home about 5 or 6 years ago had a metric boat-load of 2nd edition boxed sets (dragonlance, forgotten realms, that desert setting..) for $1 each.

Ah, those were the days..  stupid internet.  Kids these days with their "1-click ordering" and "paypal payments" ...they don't know how good they have it...

-jeffrey "grumpy at 28" miller-

[Gordon C. Landis]

In the real early days (70's) . . .

You subscribed to Avalon Hill's The General magazine, and/or SPI's Strategy & Tactics.  You ordered interesting games out the mag.  Sometimes, you got catalogs from guys like Lou Zocchi or The Citadel, and ordered from them.

Occasionally, your local hobby store carried some of this stuff, but catalog/magazine ordering always had a better variety.  If you wanted a "store experience," you hopped on the train and went to The Complete Strategist in NYC.

At least, that's how I remember it.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

I remember ordering from Wargames West - the best damn RPG catalog around - before they (a) became a distributor-only outlet and (b) went broke.

[Jason L Blair]

Dude, Wargames West...

Before I was into gaming, my brother (who introduced me to the hobby) used to buy Marvel Superheroes books and assorted fantasy (mostly Ral Partha) miniatures at a place called Green's Bike & Hobby. I remember him buying Kara-Tur and a Monster Manual at Toys R Us. And he used to get his Wargames West catalogs in the mail. I remember seeing Nephilim in that catalog and just needing to have it.

Ah, good times.

[Clay]

One much-desired item from Wargames West in my youth was a little science fiction game called Sternverian.  They were based on a series of pretty decent pulp science fiction novels that I read, and I desperately wanted it. Lacking money at the time the game was still in print, all I could do was dream.

Anybody out there ever play it?  Have a used copy they wouldn't mind trading?