Here’s the only Chessex catalog I have, December 1993, more than a decade after Boynton and Associates vanished out of the tabletop gaming industry. It doesn’t have nearly the production value or appeal of any of the other catalogs we’ve looked at this week. There is barely a product photo in sight. Most of the graphics are just line logos — the majority of the catalog is just stock lists. Column after unsexy column. And this is a holiday catalog!

That speaks to the strength and growth of the industry, though. There were so many games for so many players from so many companies, that a traditional catalog was just impossible. So lists took over. Boring! But neat, in its way. Of course, the collectible card game apocalypse was just a couple short years away, and the distro models were rapidly changing even without that. I don’t think there were a whole lot of RPG catalogs after this point.