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'''Lorraine Dille Williams''' is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company [[TSR, Inc.]] from 1986 to 1997. Williams is notable in the games industry for taking control of TSR by forcing co-founder [[Gary Gygax]] out of the company in 1985. For several years after that, TSR was the games industry leader; however, in the mid-1990s, a combination of poor inventory control and over-extension into the publishing industry brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy and Williams was forced to sell TSR to [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1997. |
'''Lorraine Dille Williams''' is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company [[TSR, Inc.]] from 1986 to 1997. Williams is notable in the games industry for taking control of TSR by forcing co-founder [[Gary Gygax]] out of the company in 1985 (which is the source of her nickname "POG" for "person who ousted Gygax.") For several years after that, TSR was the games industry leader; however, in the mid-1990s, a combination of poor inventory control and over-extension into the publishing industry brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy and Williams was forced to sell TSR to [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1997. |
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Williams inherited the rights to [[Buck Rogers]] and a large collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia; she later sold the memorabilia at auction. |
Williams inherited the rights to [[Buck Rogers]] and a large collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia; she later sold the memorabilia at auction. |
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Lorraine Williams was the granddaughter of John F. Dille, who while president of the National Newspaper Service [[print syndication|syndicate]] in the 1920s, arranged for [[Buck Rogers]] to be turned into a syndicated [[comic strip]]. After Dille's death in 1957, ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into Lorraine's hands<ref name=auction>{{Cite web | title = Original Space Adventurer Buck Rogers Stars in 21st Century Auction | publisher = Art Daily | url = http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=39586 | accessdate = 2010-12-05}}</ref> through the Dille Family Trust, making Lorraine the inheritor of the Buck Rogers fortune.<ref name="believer">{{cite journal | last = La Farge | first = Paul | title = Destroy All Monsters | journal = [[The Believer Magazine]] | year=2006 | month=September | url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.believermag.com%2Fissues%2F200609%2F%3Fread%3Darticle_lafarge&date=2008-10-04|archivedate=2008-10-04}}</ref> When the trust was sold, the Dille family retained the licensing of Buck Rogers, as well as a collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia that John F. Dille had accumulated over thirty years. Williams helped her father to catalogue and pack all of the items.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Susanin's Aug. 28 auction to launch Buck Rogers into 21st century | publisher = Toy Collector News Magazine | date = 2010-08-23 | url = http://www.toycollectormagazine.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Susanins-Aug.-28-auction-to-launch-Buck-Rogers-into-21st-century.html&Itemid=1 | accessdate = 2010-12-05}}</ref> |
Lorraine Williams was the granddaughter of John F. Dille, who while president of the National Newspaper Service [[print syndication|syndicate]] in the 1920s, arranged for [[Buck Rogers]] to be turned into a syndicated [[comic strip]]. After Dille's death in 1957, ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into Lorraine's hands<ref name=auction>{{Cite web | title = Original Space Adventurer Buck Rogers Stars in 21st Century Auction | publisher = Art Daily | url = http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=39586 | accessdate = 2010-12-05}}</ref> through the Dille Family Trust, making Lorraine the inheritor of the Buck Rogers fortune.<ref name="believer">{{cite journal | last = La Farge | first = Paul | title = Destroy All Monsters | journal = [[The Believer Magazine]] | year=2006 | month=September | url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.believermag.com%2Fissues%2F200609%2F%3Fread%3Darticle_lafarge&date=2008-10-04|archivedate=2008-10-04}}</ref> When the trust was sold, the Dille family retained the licensing of Buck Rogers, as well as a collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia that John F. Dille had accumulated over thirty years. Williams helped her father to catalogue and pack all of the items.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Susanin's Aug. 28 auction to launch Buck Rogers into 21st century | publisher = Toy Collector News Magazine | date = 2010-08-23 | url = http://www.toycollectormagazine.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Susanins-Aug.-28-auction-to-launch-Buck-Rogers-into-21st-century.html&Itemid=1 | accessdate = 2010-12-05}}</ref> |
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She attended the [[University of California at Berkeley]], where she earned a B.A. in history. After graduating she worked at the National Newspaper Syndicate, then became an assistant administrator at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. She then joined the National Easter Seal Society, where she worked as an administrator.<ref name="br1988">{{cite book | editor= Williams, Lorraine Dille | year=1988 | title=Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century | publisher=TSR | isbn=0880386045 }}</ref> |
She attended the [[University of California at Berkeley]], where she earned a B.A. in history. After graduating she worked at the National Newspaper Syndicate, then became an assistant administrator at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. She then joined the National Easter Seal Society, where she worked as an administrator.<ref name="br1988">{{cite book | editor= Williams, Lorraine Dille | year=1988 | title=Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century | publisher=TSR | isbn=0880386045 }}</ref> It was while at University she began her life long collection of trophies from those she had been able to "scalp" beginning with Jimmy Hendrix who she first got to autograph some memorabilia (which she framed) and then she was able to have his concert cancelled over a morals clause. It was the centerpiece of her collection of scalps until she took over TSR. |
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==Brought into TSR by Gary Gygax== |
==Brought into TSR by Gary Gygax== |
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Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.<ref name="Kyngdoms"/><ref name="Gygax-GygaxFAQ">{{cite web| url=http://www.gygax.com/gygaxfaq.html#What%20Happened%20to%20Gygax%20-%20TSR?| title=gygaxfaq: What Happened to Gygax - TSR? | publisher=gygax.com | accessdate=2006-07-04| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19990128161605/http://www.gygax.com/gygaxfaq.html#What%20Happened%20to%20Gygax%20-%20TSR?| archivedate=1999-01-28}}</ref><ref name="Gamespy-MagicMemories3">{{cite web| url=http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539628p1.html| title=Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part III: Mazes & Monsters| pages=1| publisher=Gamespy| date=2004-08-17| accessdate=2006-07-04}}</ref> Williams is rumoured to have implemented an internal policy under which playing games was forbidden at the company. However former TSR employee [[Michael Breault|Mike Breault]] has stated that there was no such policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5996&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 |title=Knights & Knaves forum |accessdate=2009-08-05}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> |
Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.<ref name="Kyngdoms"/><ref name="Gygax-GygaxFAQ">{{cite web| url=http://www.gygax.com/gygaxfaq.html#What%20Happened%20to%20Gygax%20-%20TSR?| title=gygaxfaq: What Happened to Gygax - TSR? | publisher=gygax.com | accessdate=2006-07-04| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19990128161605/http://www.gygax.com/gygaxfaq.html#What%20Happened%20to%20Gygax%20-%20TSR?| archivedate=1999-01-28}}</ref><ref name="Gamespy-MagicMemories3">{{cite web| url=http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539628p1.html| title=Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part III: Mazes & Monsters| pages=1| publisher=Gamespy| date=2004-08-17| accessdate=2006-07-04}}</ref> Williams is rumoured to have implemented an internal policy under which playing games was forbidden at the company. However former TSR employee [[Michael Breault|Mike Breault]] has stated that there was no such policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5996&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 |title=Knights & Knaves forum |accessdate=2009-08-05}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> |
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She ordered most of the internal artwork on the walls of TSR's offices thrown out and burned the contents of Gary Gygax's office -- including prepress manuscripts by Steve Marsh and others. She refused to explain or justify the destruction of those works that were among Gary Gygax's papers. Much of the artwork was saved by employees at TSR, and has show up later at auction. The destroyed manuscripts, such as Starstrands, were never recovered, though the original map is in the hands of a collector in Australia. |
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⚫ | She also continued to try to thwart Gary Gygax's attempts to stay in the games industry. Upon leaving TSR, Gygax had founded New Infinities Productions, Inc., and subsequently developed a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called ''[[Dangerous Journeys]]''.<ref name="gamespy1.1">{{cite web | url = http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/538/538817p1.html | title = Gary Gygax Interview - Part I (page 1) | year = 2004 | author = Rausch, Allen | publisher = [[GameSpy]] | accessdate = January 3, 2005 | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5bJGH9dTI | archivedate = October 4, 2008}}</ref> When the product was released by [[Game Designers' Workshop]],<ref name="p92">{{cite news | title = Dungeons and Dragons Creator Has New Game to Stretch Imagination | publisher = ''[[Pantagraph]]'' | last = Williams | first = Drew | page = C6 | date = October 9, 1992 | accessdate = December 19, 2008 | url = http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=83997702&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=20886&RQT=309&VName=PQD}} (Registration required)</ref><ref name="Sullivan">{{cite news | last = Sullivan | first = Patricia | date = March 5, 2008 | title = E. Gary Gygax; Co-Creator Of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' | work = [[Washington Post]] | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402784_pf.html | accessdate = October 17, 2008}}</ref> Williams immediately sued, |
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⚫ | She also continued to try to thwart Gary Gygax's attempts to stay in the games industry. Upon leaving TSR, Gygax had founded New Infinities Productions, Inc., and subsequently developed a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called ''[[Dangerous Journeys]]''.<ref name="gamespy1.1">{{cite web | url = http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/538/538817p1.html | title = Gary Gygax Interview - Part I (page 1) | year = 2004 | author = Rausch, Allen | publisher = [[GameSpy]] | accessdate = January 3, 2005 | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5bJGH9dTI | archivedate = October 4, 2008}}</ref> When the product was released by [[Game Designers' Workshop]],<ref name="p92">{{cite news | title = Dungeons and Dragons Creator Has New Game to Stretch Imagination | publisher = ''[[Pantagraph]]'' | last = Williams | first = Drew | page = C6 | date = October 9, 1992 | accessdate = December 19, 2008 | url = http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=83997702&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=20886&RQT=309&VName=PQD}} (Registration required)</ref><ref name="Sullivan">{{cite news | last = Sullivan | first = Patricia | date = March 5, 2008 | title = E. Gary Gygax; Co-Creator Of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' | work = [[Washington Post]] | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402784_pf.html | accessdate = October 17, 2008}}</ref> Williams immediately sued, though she lacked any justifiable belief that it infringed on TSR's intellectual property.<ref name="Kyngdoms" /> The suit was eventually settled out of court, with TSR buying the complete rights to the ''Dangerous Journeys'' system from New Infinities and then permanently shelving the entire project.<ref name="believer"/><ref>{{cite web | title = Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part V, Page 4) | publisher = EN World | date = 2004-01-04 | url = http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/71486-gary-gygax-q-part-v-4.html | accessdate = 2010-05-12}}</ref> With no product to sell, Gygax's new company was driven out of business. |
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⚫ | Under Williams' direction, TSR initially maintained its leadership position in role-playing games, and solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, and comic books. Through her family, Williams personally held the rights to the [[Buck Rogers]] license and encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers games and novels. In 1988 she edited ''Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century''.<ref name="br1988" /> TSR would also publish a Buck Rogers board game, a [[Buck Rogers XXVC]] role-playing game based on the ''AD&D'' 2nd Edition rules,<ref name="magicnmemories2" /> several dozen expansion modules for the role-playing game, a line of novels and graphic novels, and a computer game version of the role-playing game produced by [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.|SSI]] using their [[Gold Box]] game engine. |
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⚫ | Under Williams' direction, TSR initially maintained its leadership position in role-playing games, and solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, and comic books. Through her family, Williams personally held the rights to the [[Buck Rogers]] license and encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers games and novels. In 1988 she edited ''Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century''.<ref name="br1988" /> TSR would also publish a Buck Rogers board game, a [[Buck Rogers XXVC]] role-playing game based on the ''AD&D'' 2nd Edition rules,<ref name="magicnmemories2" /> several dozen expansion modules for the role-playing game, a line of novels and graphic novels, and a computer game version of the role-playing game produced by [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.|SSI]] using their [[Gold Box]] game engine. Many of the Buck Rogers properties sold very poorly, consumed significant company resources and diverted revenues directly to Ms. Williams. They were widely seen as an attempt to over reach the company in order to enrich Ms. Williams ego and her pocketbook and as the reason that when the cash crunch hit, the company lacked the reserves to weather it. The products are still widely regarded as some of the worst sourced products in industry, though the writers and designers did the best they could with the source material they had. |
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==The downfall of TSR== |
==The downfall of TSR== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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Edits of June 5, 2011 came from interviews with ex-TSR employees at NTRPGCon 2011. Frank Mentzer confirmed that "Pog" had to do with Person who Ousted Gygax and was not an insult intended to compare her to pigs or to focus on her rather bloated personal appearance and noted that all of the alternative explanations of "Pog" are very forced. Pog is just a simple shorthand. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
Revision as of 11:31, 6 June 2011
Lorraine Dille Williams is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company TSR, Inc. from 1986 to 1997. Williams is notable in the games industry for taking control of TSR by forcing co-founder Gary Gygax out of the company in 1985 (which is the source of her nickname "POG" for "person who ousted Gygax.") For several years after that, TSR was the games industry leader; however, in the mid-1990s, a combination of poor inventory control and over-extension into the publishing industry brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy and Williams was forced to sell TSR to Wizards of the Coast in 1997.
Williams inherited the rights to Buck Rogers and a large collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia; she later sold the memorabilia at auction.
Early life
Lorraine Williams was the granddaughter of John F. Dille, who while president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate in the 1920s, arranged for Buck Rogers to be turned into a syndicated comic strip. After Dille's death in 1957, ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into Lorraine's hands[1] through the Dille Family Trust, making Lorraine the inheritor of the Buck Rogers fortune.[2] When the trust was sold, the Dille family retained the licensing of Buck Rogers, as well as a collection of Buck Rogers memorabilia that John F. Dille had accumulated over thirty years. Williams helped her father to catalogue and pack all of the items.[3]
She attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. in history. After graduating she worked at the National Newspaper Syndicate, then became an assistant administrator at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. She then joined the National Easter Seal Society, where she worked as an administrator.[4] It was while at University she began her life long collection of trophies from those she had been able to "scalp" beginning with Jimmy Hendrix who she first got to autograph some memorabilia (which she framed) and then she was able to have his concert cancelled over a morals clause. It was the centerpiece of her collection of scalps until she took over TSR.
Brought into TSR by Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax, co-inventor of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and partner in the company TSR, had been sent to Hollywood in 1982 to work on licensing the Dungeons & Dragons brand, leaving the day-to-day operations of TSR to his fellow board members, Kevin and Brian Blume. While in Hollywood, he was involved in the making of the Dungeons & Dragons animated television show and exploring the possibility of a film adaptation of the game. In the course of his work, Gygax met Flint Dille, with whom he collaborated on a series of choose-your-own-adventure-type novels and a script for an unmade Dungeons & Dragons film.[5] In 1984, Gygax was alerted to the fact that TSR was $1.5 million in debt, and the Blumes were looking for a buyer. As an attempt to bring new investment money into the company, Gygax asked Flint Dille to arrange a meeting with his sister Lorraine Williams. Although she turned down Gygax's invitation to invest in TSR,[2] Gygax did hire her, on the basis of her management experience, to manage TSR.[2][5][6] Gygax subsequently engineered the removal of Kevin Blume as CEO, and the removal of three of Blume's friends from the board as well, but in an act many saw as retaliation, the Blumes soon sold their stock to Williams,[2][7]: 5 making her the majority shareholder.[6] Gygax tried to fire Williams,[5] and replace her with his future wife Gail Carpenter, but was advised not to.[2] Gygax tried to have the sale of stock declared illegal; after that failed, Gygax sold his remaining stock to Williams and left TSR at the end of 1985.[5][6]
In control of TSR
Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.[5][8][9] Williams is rumoured to have implemented an internal policy under which playing games was forbidden at the company. However former TSR employee Mike Breault has stated that there was no such policy.[10]
She ordered most of the internal artwork on the walls of TSR's offices thrown out and burned the contents of Gary Gygax's office -- including prepress manuscripts by Steve Marsh and others. She refused to explain or justify the destruction of those works that were among Gary Gygax's papers. Much of the artwork was saved by employees at TSR, and has show up later at auction. The destroyed manuscripts, such as Starstrands, were never recovered, though the original map is in the hands of a collector in Australia.
She also continued to try to thwart Gary Gygax's attempts to stay in the games industry. Upon leaving TSR, Gygax had founded New Infinities Productions, Inc., and subsequently developed a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called Dangerous Journeys.[11] When the product was released by Game Designers' Workshop,[12][13] Williams immediately sued, though she lacked any justifiable belief that it infringed on TSR's intellectual property.[5] The suit was eventually settled out of court, with TSR buying the complete rights to the Dangerous Journeys system from New Infinities and then permanently shelving the entire project.[2][14] With no product to sell, Gygax's new company was driven out of business.
Under Williams' direction, TSR initially maintained its leadership position in role-playing games, and solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, and comic books. Through her family, Williams personally held the rights to the Buck Rogers license and encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers games and novels. In 1988 she edited Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century.[4] TSR would also publish a Buck Rogers board game, a Buck Rogers XXVC role-playing game based on the AD&D 2nd Edition rules,[7] several dozen expansion modules for the role-playing game, a line of novels and graphic novels, and a computer game version of the role-playing game produced by SSI using their Gold Box game engine. Many of the Buck Rogers properties sold very poorly, consumed significant company resources and diverted revenues directly to Ms. Williams. They were widely seen as an attempt to over reach the company in order to enrich Ms. Williams ego and her pocketbook and as the reason that when the cash crunch hit, the company lacked the reserves to weather it. The products are still widely regarded as some of the worst sourced products in industry, though the writers and designers did the best they could with the source material they had.
The downfall of TSR
During the 1980s, TSR was the top games company in North America. However, in the early 1990s, TSR fell behind both Games Workshop and Wizards of the Coast in terms of sales volume. Seeing the profits being generated by Wizards of the Coast with their collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, TSR attempted to enter this market in 1996 in a novel way with Dragon Dice, a game that used packs of collectible dice instead of cards. In addition, despite a history of publishing only one or two hardcover novels each year, TSR also decided to publish twelve novels in 1996.[15]
Sales of Dragon Dice through the games trade started strongly, so TSR quickly produced several expansion packs. In addition, TSR tried to aggressively market Dragon Dice in mass-market book stores through Random House. However, Dragon Dice did not catch on through the book trade, and sales of the expansion sets through traditional games stores sold poorly. In addition, the twelve hardcover novels did not sell as well as expected either. Despite total sales of $40 million, TSR ended 1996 with few cash reserves. When Random House returned an unexpectedly high percentage the year's inventory of unsold novels and Dragon Dice for a fee of several million dollars, TSR found itself in a cash crunch.
With no cash, TSR was unable to pay their printing and shipping bills, and the logistics company that handled TSR's pre-press, printing, warehousing and shipping refused to do any more work. Since the logistics company had the production plates for key products such as core D&D books, there was no means of printing or shipping core products in order to generate income or secure short-term financing.[15]
With no viable financial plan for TSR's survival, Williams sold the company to Wizards of the Coast in 1997.[2][8]
Auction of Buck Rogers collection
In August 2010, Williams announced that she was selling what she described as the world's largest collection of Buck Rogers original comic art, prototypes, toys, books, and collectibles—the material she had helped her father to catalogue and pack up many years before.[1] She said at the time of the announcement that her instinct had been to hold on to everything, but she had come to realize that it was more important to get the collection out into the public. The pieces of the collection were subsequently sold at auction on August 28, 2010.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Original Space Adventurer Buck Rogers Stars in 21st Century Auction". Art Daily. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g La Farge, Paul (2006). "Destroy All Monsters". The Believer Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-10-04.
{{cite journal}}
: Unknown parameter|month=
ignored (help) - ^ "Susanin's Aug. 28 auction to launch Buck Rogers into 21st century". Toy Collector News Magazine. 2010-08-23. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- ^ a b Williams, Lorraine Dille, ed. (1988). Buck Rogers: The First 60 Years in the 25th Century. TSR. ISBN 0880386045.
- ^ a b c d e f Sacco, Ciro Alessandro. "The Ultimate Interview with Gary Gygax". thekyngdoms.com. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
- ^ a b c Kushner, David. "Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax". Wired.com. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ a b Rausch, Allen (16 August 2004). "Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part II". GameSpy. IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ a b "gygaxfaq: What Happened to Gygax - TSR?". gygax.com. Archived from the original on 1999-01-28. Retrieved 2006-07-04.
- ^ "Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part III: Mazes & Monsters". Gamespy. 2004-08-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-07-04.
- ^ "Knights & Knaves forum". Retrieved 2009-08-05. [dead link]
- ^ Rausch, Allen (2004). "Gary Gygax Interview - Part I (page 1)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2005.
- ^ Williams, Drew (October 9, 1992). "Dungeons and Dragons Creator Has New Game to Stretch Imagination". Pantagraph. p. C6. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) (Registration required) - ^ Sullivan, Patricia (March 5, 2008). "E. Gary Gygax; Co-Creator Of Dungeons & Dragons". Washington Post. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part V, Page 4)". EN World. 2004-01-04. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ a b 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons. Renton WA: Wizards of the Coast. 2004. p. 55. ISBN 0-7869-3498-0.
Edits of June 5, 2011 came from interviews with ex-TSR employees at NTRPGCon 2011. Frank Mentzer confirmed that "Pog" had to do with Person who Ousted Gygax and was not an insult intended to compare her to pigs or to focus on her rather bloated personal appearance and noted that all of the alternative explanations of "Pog" are very forced. Pog is just a simple shorthand.