TrippyHippy
Emperor Mongoose
It is probably a way off the end-of-year ‘State of the Mongoose’ announcements, but this has been in my mind for a while anyway. Would Mongoose consider the idea of making some business out of re-releasing classic old games or editions of games, driven possibly by Kickstarter and seeing how they fly on the market?
I am specifically referring to Traveller and Paranoia as Mongoose’s major licensed properties, but there could be others. Chaosium has provided a successful model for this by re-releasing spruced up versions of Classic editions for Runequest and Call of Cthulhu. They raised good money on Kickstarter and sold pretty well, from my understanding. There is talk of doing the same for Pendragon too.
In the case of Paranoia, which has it’s 40th Anniversary next year, there is some fanfare in the current new Perfect edition (which I love already, incidentally) that it has conversion notes for the previous editions which allows you to use any of the old material. What better way to celebrate this than taking some of the old 1st edition files and reconstructing the original box set, maybe with a load of 1st edition scenarios as add ons. The quality of sturdy box-sets has dramatically improved in recent years, while keeping older 30+ year old boxes is no mean feat. I think there would be a market for the nostalgia of having an original-styled box in complete, pristine condition.
If this works as a Kickstarter campaign, then why not consider re-creating the Classic Traveller box sets? Why not consider re-landing the Judge Dredd license to re-release the old GW box set, or maybe getting a license for the classic Ghostbusters box? I think there are a lot of opportunities. I’d buy them.
Thoughts, Mongoose (and anyone else)?
I am specifically referring to Traveller and Paranoia as Mongoose’s major licensed properties, but there could be others. Chaosium has provided a successful model for this by re-releasing spruced up versions of Classic editions for Runequest and Call of Cthulhu. They raised good money on Kickstarter and sold pretty well, from my understanding. There is talk of doing the same for Pendragon too.
In the case of Paranoia, which has it’s 40th Anniversary next year, there is some fanfare in the current new Perfect edition (which I love already, incidentally) that it has conversion notes for the previous editions which allows you to use any of the old material. What better way to celebrate this than taking some of the old 1st edition files and reconstructing the original box set, maybe with a load of 1st edition scenarios as add ons. The quality of sturdy box-sets has dramatically improved in recent years, while keeping older 30+ year old boxes is no mean feat. I think there would be a market for the nostalgia of having an original-styled box in complete, pristine condition.
If this works as a Kickstarter campaign, then why not consider re-creating the Classic Traveller box sets? Why not consider re-landing the Judge Dredd license to re-release the old GW box set, or maybe getting a license for the classic Ghostbusters box? I think there are a lot of opportunities. I’d buy them.
Thoughts, Mongoose (and anyone else)?
