Well, That Will Teach Me To Look Into The Murky Past...

 

 

 

 I should have known that the unearthing of that copy of GWs Black Sun fanzine the other day would lead to an emotional rollercoaster of memory and eye watering expense.

It's 1984, and my Dad has a part time job as a main collector for Littlewoods Footbal Pools, a job which involves a Friday night spent collecting literally hundreds of pounds and the entry forms from a network of collectors, before cashing up and taking the whole shebang late at night over to Doncaster to the regional director's office.

I'm having to ride shotgun for my Dad for a £3 pittance. £3 was a fair amount in '84 I hear you say, but look folks, I was already earning £50 per week painting figures after school, so this was really just paying lip service to Mamon.

Well, the day before had seen the news agent deliver the latest White Dwarf (yes my news agent managed to get the mag in a time before news agent distribution was the norm) and of course it contained the latest Black Sun z'zine. Now I loved Black Sun, and I saved it for those Friday nights. My Dad was parked up just of Earl Marshall Rd, colleting from a rather chatty collector, so I was hunkered down with a home taped copy of Script For A Jester's Tear on the car stereo and that Black Sun, yes that one I showed you in my last post.

The review was good, but the price tag was eye-watering at £25, plus another £12 for the Companion, but my lord, did you get a quality product by the look of things.

So, it was a repeat of the standard pattern which gained me the epithet 'Limpet' at GW. Basically, I'd be down there at least every day to see if the lates game had come in. I recall that when Twiglight 2000 came out, I was found by staff, frozen to the glass of the store in November.

Luckily, this game was released during more temperate months, so the only pain was the wait, and the wait was not as long as some.

In the meantime, I began reading the Ringworld books - and was hooked. This game has remained one of my favourite reads. It is I assure you best read, stretched out on a bed, with Marillion's 'Fugazi' album (side 2) playing, a plate of crackers and Cheddar (NEVER Cheshire) cheese, on a warm Summer afternoon.

Well, you know how it's going to end...

At the weekend, I managed to get the rules and the companion for what is actually a pretty reasonable if eye-watering £80 and £50 respectively (in fact the rarity/value balance should go to the companion as it had a smaller print run) and then I managed to find the only published scenario (Published in Different Worlds) for £15.

Next, I need to get the band back together, but Darren is going to need written assurance that his hamster will not be dropped into the fly cycle's food processor by an irate Kzin...