Wizards Of The Coast Archives

50 years of Dungeons and Dragons with the Royal Mail Stamp Collection in Review

Fans of Dungeons and Dragons can find something to appreciate with this release of commerative stamps celebrating a milestone of this game’s history!

Dungeons and Dragons Royal Mail Stamps — **Orders can be made by ordering from the Royal Mail’s online shop.**

The Royal Mail (UK) Postal Service have fourteen stamps celebrating 50 years of Dungeons and Dragons! Although this release is for the die-hard collector, what’s offered looks beautiful to behold, and not even this strange alchemic beast can say no to it!

Although I was hard pressed to decide on first day covers or the other offerings, I stuck to the basics. Although some of the art is old (from 4th edition), that’s why I was hesitant at first to order, but now that I have a set in my hands, there’s no regrets. There’s framed art, full sheets and a lot more. The art is from Wayne Reynolds, and anyone who’ve played various games long enough will recognise what is old and what is new from this set!

Here, the monsters featured are the Red Dragon, Owlbear, Vecna, Gelatinous Cube, Mind Flayer, Mimic, Displacer Beast and Beholder. Also, exposing these creatures with a ultraviolet beam of light will reveal a surprise!

Continue reading “50 years of Dungeons and Dragons with the Royal Mail Stamp Collection in Review”

Remembering the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon 40 Years Later, and a Full Review of the Action Figure Release

The 80s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon is beloved by many, and it’s about time there’s toys for it! But are they worth the price?

Available to purchase on Hasbro Pulse

It’s tough to say if Hasbro release of the action figures for the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon was produced out of full respect for its anniversary or to say thank you for the fish. This series debuted Sept 17th, 1983 and back then, it was credited to TSR Inc. as the proprietary owners. Eventually, that company was sold to Wizards of the Coast in 1999, which in turn would later become part of this mega toy manufacturer’s family.

Just how well either company markets material that isn’t part of the game is worth researching. Here, instead of releasing these figures closer to the day of, they have been out since April 2023 with very little advertisement. I never saw anything on network television or in the pop culture online magazines I read. I knew of this product only because of industry news. As a result, the likelihood to see further products is very slim.

Continue reading “Remembering the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon 40 Years Later, and a Full Review of the Action Figure Release”

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, A Modern Family Comedy than All Out Fantasy

In the long run, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is more about celebrating the game’s 50th anniversary one year early.

Spoiler Alert

Thankfully, the adaptation of the granddaddy of all role-playing games to cinema lives up to most expectations. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d like Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves because of the trailers. It had more of a Marvel movie vibe than anything else.

The full presentation should have dialled the laughs down, and made the fantasy setting feel a bit more mediaeval. Thankfully, the horror elements are done right. The undead are real, and they are waiting to conquer the Forgotten Realms. The armies of Szass Tam are the evil dead and living beings are needed to make new ones. And when Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) crosses paths with them, the trouble only gets worse.

Continue reading “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, A Modern Family Comedy than All Out Fantasy”

A Quick Look on Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Second Trailer and Merchandise Updates

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves has a second trailer! Although it adds one new tease on what’s already known, it’s the humour that’s the highlight here!

How many classic monsters can viewers recognize in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves second trailer? There’s one add to the list of what’s already known and overall, serves up nothing really news to what’s known which I wrote about some months ago.

Here, we are finally told about the tale: after Edgin the Bard (Chris Pine) and his merry team consisting of Holga the Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Xenk the Paladin (Regé-Jean Page), Simon the Sorcerer (Justice Smith), Doric the Druid (Sophia Lillis) and Forge the Rogue (Hugh Grant), realise they worked for the wrong side, they have to do right. To do good according to the thieves way of living is a must, and it’s good to see some story reveal tie in to the film’s title.

After they accomplished one theft, they have another planned to correct their mistake. But things get hairier when the Red Wizards cometh to bring the end of the world. The plot is nothing special and the vibe suggests that this goofy gang of miscrents will find a way to do what’s right. Even though everything is foreign to them–including the use of the American spelling of the word for better marketing purposes here–they’ll find a way to correct that mistake.

But when this latest trailer reveals the undead will make up a mighty climax, perhaps there will be more surprises. I’d love to see an appearance of a Lich appear to put a wrench into the entire plan!

Continue reading “A Quick Look on Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Second Trailer and Merchandise Updates”

Magic: Legends Goes into Open Beta Next Week!

Magic: Legends Poster Magic: Legends is nearly ready to cast a spell on you, and WotC knows licensing out this game to Arc Game is theirs. This developer has a Diablo-like RPG is ready to go into open beta for PC users–launching next week March 23rd–and hopefully by the end of the year or early next, be available on the PS4 and Xbox consoles.

The videos for this game look exciting! The only downside is that this world is not MMO. Instead, it’ll be limited to whoever has a mouse and keyboard on hand. Star City Games wrote, “The game takes place after the Great Mending of Dominaria but before the Hour of Devastation on Amonkhet. Magic: Legends is focused on co-op RPG play but also offers a 1v1 PvP experience as well.”

This card game’s real time fantasy adventuring makeover is good, and is in par to how fantasy magic should be realistically done. Mages have to learn from a book (or a crib sheet of cards) of spells to summon creatures and cause damage at will. It doesn’t matter about how many times the magiks can be done in the day, but the fact players are running around in different worlds, embarking on quests is at the core of many a medieval style fantasy.

Gameplay Trailer

At the end of these adventures are opportunities to expand the repertoire of spells. Some of them are for all player character classes. Others will be unique. The only shame with this franchise is these games not operating in a shared environment. It’d be tough to do to validate ownership digital cards from Magic Arena, MtG Go and past products. The physical card game should remain as is, unless future releases start to offer one time redemption barcodes to allow for integration elsewhere.

Continue reading “Magic: Legends Goes into Open Beta Next Week!”

[Unboxing] Magic the Gathering, Godzilla, Ikoria & This Franchise’s Future…

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Not every set of Magic the Gathering is worth playing. My interest lays less on being devoted to this hobby of CCGs and more on where the narrative is headed. The story-based focus has been at the forefront for years now, and I can thankfully ditch the expensive side of the hobby and simply enjoy the tale.

After War of the Spark, the story concerning the desert gods from Amonkhet came full circle (died) and lest Hazoret returns, I’m biding my time to see what the next expansions offer.

When I heard about a partnership with TOHO Studios, my interest peaked at what’s going to happen. Planeswalkers Vivien Reid, Lukka and Narset will no doubt be important. Plus, you can never go wrong with giant monsters! Ikoria fulfills my fondest desires with the trample mechanic. The two recent additions–mutate and companion–might break standard play, but I’ll rely on reports than experiment to find out myself. For now, I can also go full on Kaiju with alternate art cards in my play deck on those kitchen table games with my buddies.

As my unboxing video shows, I got extremely lucky with pulling not one but two of the few most talked about cards.