D&D 2E Does anyone know what month AD&D 2e was released in 1989?

[Kai Lord]

All the sources online I see indicate a 1989 release but unlike more recent editions I don't see any reference to what time of the year. Does anyone know what months the 2e PH, DMG, and MC were released?

 

[EricNoah]

I feel like I remember some of that stuff coming out in the spring or early summer. I know I had some of it during the summer as I spent the summer out of the state and bought some of it while I was away.

 

[N'raac]

I feel like I remember some of that stuff coming out in the spring or early summer. I know I had some of it during the summer as I spent the summer out of the state and bought some of it while I was away.

I remember picking the PHB up on release day, and I'm sure I had it over the summer. I think May or June, as getting away from work in April would have been unlikely. I'm pretty sure it was PHB first, DMG a month later and MC a month after that.

 

[chewie93]

It was definitely spring, at least for the PHB. I remember showing it to friends at school as soon as I got it.

 

[Stormonu]

April 1989. I looked it up in Dragon Magazine (#144). DMG came out one month later, and MC a month after that.

 

[N'raac]

Huh - I must have slipped out one afternoon in April.

 

[ExploderWizard]

April 1989. I looked it up in Dragon Magazine (#144). DMG came out one month later, and MC a month after that.

It might have just been distribution delays in my area but I remember the PHB being available in May and the DMG in June.

 

[Stormonu]

I don't have an exact date in April, but I seem to recall back then it was around the 3rd week of the month TSR stuff would hit our local FLGS; with as big of a demand for the game back when, I could see some backlog on getting product.

I faintly remember waiting until school was out (late May) before we even started to approach converting our 1E characters, even though I'd gotten the book as soon as it was available.

 

[TerraDave]

As an aside, the 1E PHB was kept in print one year after the 2E was released.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?132399-A-little-more-on-TSR-s-strange-strategy

(original source seems to have changed or gone away...)

Though now, that doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

EDIT: source is here, at the bottom:

http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/phb.html

 

[grodog]

As an aside, the 1E PHB was kept in print one year after the 2E was released.
http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/phb.html

A number of OD&D books and sets were printed into the 1e era (most notably the OD&D Original Collectors Edition and the Greyhawk supplement---both printed through the end of 1979 at least, per http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/original.html and http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/supplements.html), and 1e books were printed well into the 2e era (ToEE being a great example---it was printed up through 1992 per http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/super.html).