Chaosium’s 1981 summer/fall catalog is rather sedate in comparison to TSR’s Gateway to Adventure. Red and pink, there’s a fair amount of art, but the design is clean and text-heavy, so the art fades into the background.

Again, it’s the moment in time that gets me. The front several pages are dedicated entirely to RuneQuest products with the back half to strategy games. In the middle is a coming soon box, listing “Literary Tie-ins” Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer and Thieves World. What a year! Imagine getting those three boxes in the span of a handful of months! Earthshaking!