Wee Warriors - Wee Warriors and Collecting

Wee Warriors and Collecting

Because of Wee Warriors' association with TSR in the formative years of Dungeons & Dragons, and the fact that two of their products—Palace of the Vampire Queen and The Character Archaic—were the first products of their kind published, aftermarket prices for many of their products (in particular those products distributed by TSR) have skyrocketed in the past few years and are now second only to the true TSR rarities (such as Lost Tamochan) in value in the D&D collector's market. This price increase is directly traceable to the Internet. In the mid-1990s rec.games.frp.marketplace became one of the primary conduits for the aftermarket trading of D&D collectibles and information about D&D collectibles. In 1995 or 1996 a few copies of Wee Warrior products (later versions of Palace of the Vampire Queen and The Dwarven Glory that were not distributed by TSR) were auctioned and sold on r.g.f.m for under $10.00. The auctioning of 1970's era D&D modules that many of the regular members of the group were unfamiliar with piqued the interest of the community and collectively they researched the history of the different Wee Warriors products. Reviewing early TSR catalogs and unearthing earlier versions of Wee Warrior products it became clear to the group that Wee Warriors had played a role (how important is debated) in the early development and marketing of Dungeons & Dragons increasing their value to those collectors interested in the historical aspects of the game. Additionally, the discovery that TSR had actually distributed and advertised Wee Warrior products immediately increased their value to those collectors interested in completing their TSR sets. The result is the high prices we see for Wee Warrior products today.