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Manga and Full Size

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:12 pm
by MikeM
I'm sorry if this has been discussed, and I bet it has, but I couldn't find it.

Will the Shadow Chronicles, Macross and Masters books be re-released as full size when current stock runs out?
I know there are 2 full size hardcover books for Shadow Chronicles already, but I am referring to the full size softcover.

And if future print runs are going to be full size, anyone know how close Palladium is to selling out of stock? On Robotech.com, the New Generation book is already sold out.

Thanks and once again, apologies if this has already been discussed.

MikeM

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:16 pm
by Colonel Wolfe
IDK about the TSC soft cover. but the Macross and Masters books will be.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j16/C ... esmith.png

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:15 pm
by MikeM
That's great, because I admit I hate the way the books look on my shelf.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:36 pm
by drewkitty ~..~
MikeM wrote:That's great, because I admit I hate the way the books look on my shelf.

agrees.


I hope PB makes a production of it when they do have the print runs in the correct size, cause I'd like to get those books into my shelves. The manga sized one just get stacked somewhere and hard to find later.

When this was all debating out about full or manga sized I'd said that it was a good idea to print both sizes, because that was when the US had just gone into afganistan after BinLadin. And we had lots of troops their, some of them PB gamers, and the manga sized books would fit betting in their packs.

However I was disapointed that they did not print both sizes.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 9:48 pm
by sirkermittsg
drewkitty ~..~ wrote:When this was all debating out about full or manga sized I'd said that it was a good idea to print both sizes, because that was when the US had just gone into afganistan after BinLadin. And we had lots of troops their, some of them PB gamers, and the manga sized books would fit betting in their packs. However I was disapointed that they did not print both sizes.


Eliakon was one of the troops that went to Iraq. He has pictures from Ziggy-Con...which was the only gaming convention ever in a war zone (in modern times at least). the pictures show ALLOT of books - he told me that nearly all of his personal space allotment was taken up by role playing game books.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 3:37 pm
by MikeM
drewkitty ~..~ wrote:
MikeM wrote:That's great, because I admit I hate the way the books look on my shelf.

agrees.


I hope PB makes a production of it when they do have the print runs in the correct size, cause I'd like to get those books into my shelves. The manga sized one just get stacked somewhere and hard to find later.

When this was all debating out about full or manga sized I'd said that it was a good idea to print both sizes, because that was when the US had just gone into afganistan after BinLadin. And we had lots of troops their, some of them PB gamers, and the manga sized books would fit betting in their packs.

However I was disapointed that they did not print both sizes.


I know Mongoose Publishing does their Traveller books in full size as well as 'manga' size which they call 'little black books'

It really bugs me that I don't have a full run of Manga size or a full run of Full size. I actually wanted Palladium to do their original print run of New Generation as manga size so I could at least have all the core books one size :)

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:02 am
by Kagashi
Personal space is so limiting on deployment. PDFs of your laptop or tablet are the way to go, so physical sized books are pointless anyway IMHO. Manga sized was a gimmick to get anime/manga fans to pick up the book, but it didnt work cause nobody actually carries Palladium products on the shelves anyway. Time to move on and make the books functional as opposed to a hindrance as far as RPG sizes are concerned.

Manga sized books are good for...well...manga. You get your manga, and read it cover to cover, flipping pages one at a time as you advance the story, and rarely flip back to reference something. Manga could also work in standard comic book size. As an RPG, it was completely worthless.

For example, try typing up your character. I dont know about you, but I learned to type with two hands. That means, I need to be able to open the list of skills I need to type on my character sheet without using my hands to keep the book open. Tactical use of chip clips have helped me with the manga sized books to prevent them from just flipping closed as I type. Additionally, its an RPG, not a comic. It is inherent to do research and constant flipping back and fourth between sections to do something as basic as building a character, unlike a comic or manga which you simply read cover to cover. Physically smaller manga sized pages means more pages to have to flip through. Also, instead of opening up the book to the mecha you are referencing and having the stats on two...possibly three pages, I was flipping through seven to nine pages per entry for main source material like the Beta or VF-1 series mechas. I found that extremely annoying doing unnecessary page turning when I could just be reading the book like a normal RPG.

Why am I bringing all this back up again? Cause I am STOKED that Palladium recognized that the fans didn't want the manga sized books and they have publicly admitted the bad move and are moving to fix the problem for the fans. This act has actually restored some of my lost faith in the company. Unfortunately, I have to wait 10 years to see it happen, but that's another issue all together. After Masters was released, I told myself I would not buy any more manga sized books no matter the title. Luckily, they started printing New Gen in standard sized.

The move to reprinting the previous books is a very good thing not just because it eliminates the problems I highlighted above, but because it offers Palladium Staff the opportunity to correct typos, fix inconsistencies between the three main books, and even give us new material that was intentionally left out of the manga sized books like they did with the Deluxe version of tSC. Perhaps we will actually get to see some more ships since we are not getting a ship book anymore.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:29 pm
by silvermoon383
I found a very easy solution to the auto-closing issues with the manga-sized books: I took them to FedEx Office and had them rebound with a spiral binding (something I do with my Flames of War books). Unless they goof up with the cutting of the original binding the book is better than it was.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:08 pm
by Seto Kaiba
silvermoon383 wrote:I found a very easy solution to the auto-closing issues with the manga-sized books: I took them to FedEx Office and had them rebound with a spiral binding (something I do with my Flames of War books). Unless they goof up with the cutting of the original binding the book is better than it was.

Just out of curiosity, how much did that run you per book?

I've been cutting the books apart and laminating the pages before mounting them in a 3-ring binder, but that's gotten a bit expensive lately. I might try your approach with subsequent books if it's not too pricey.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:33 pm
by silvermoon383
Seto Kaiba wrote:
silvermoon383 wrote:Just out of curiosity, how much did that run you per book?

I've been cutting the books apart and laminating the pages before mounting them in a 3-ring binder, but that's gotten a bit expensive lately. I might try your approach with subsequent books if it's not too pricey.

Usually $4-6, depends on the book size.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:45 pm
by Kagashi
Not a bad idea actually. Too bad its a $4-6 solution though.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:57 pm
by Seto Kaiba
silvermoon383 wrote:
Seto Kaiba wrote:
silvermoon383 wrote:Just out of curiosity, how much did that run you per book?

I've been cutting the books apart and laminating the pages before mounting them in a 3-ring binder, but that's gotten a bit expensive lately. I might try your approach with subsequent books if it's not too pricey.

Usually $4-6, depends on the book size.

That's certainly a reasonable option then. I might just do that, since my office's lamination machine's on the fritz and the local FedEx store charges an arm and a leg for lamination by the page.

Re: Manga and Full Size

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:03 pm
by MilkManX
Well I will wait for Macross and Masters for a bit before I buy hoping for the full size version.