Greetings — Quickbeam here:
Excellent news! The brilliant new boardgame from Reiner Knizia, which I reviewed in February (please see my previous “Out on a Limb” for an in-depth look), [Out on a Limb 02/01/01] has been re-launched with a slew of major retailers across the U.S.! At last this superior game can be easily purchased by fans.
It was previously hard to find but now — with the building wave of marketing for PJ’s first film — the selling strategy has been expanded greatly. Before now, you could only buy Lord of the Rings from the British publisher (with a hefty shipping cost) and at specialty stores that catered to gamers/hobbyists. I recall the Wizards of the Coast chain had copies to sell.
But what I found at Target yesterday surprised me. There it was, just as beautiful a green box as you ever saw.
Even though the official release is set for June 15th, if you run — and I mean run FAST — to Target stores you will find Lord of the Rings all over the shelves for $34.95. Please look in the Toy Deptartment first. It’s also up on Amazon.com [here] but they will probably delay shipping until the 15th. In a matter of days the game will be all over K-Mart, Toys R Us, and other large retailers.
Happy day!!!
There is just not enough praise for this wonderful boardgame, for many reasons. It is stunningly illustrated by John Howe. It is the most thematically pure representation of Tolkien’s books ever put to paperboard. And it’s damn fun to play, too! The publishers have been whispering in my ear about a future ‘deluxe edition’ and a fun new ‘expansion set’ so stay tuned for more updates!
Much too hasty,
Quickbeam
