GURPS Traveller - print by demand?

[astrokiwi]

Hi - just registered this account to ask a question

Will the GURPS Traveller books ever be available on print by demand, or is there some funky licensing stuff going on there?

In particular, GURPS Traveller: Far Trader has been highly recommended on a number of different forums as an excellence sourcebook for any edition of Traveller, or even for other space games. But my only choices to get it are either paying $100 including shipping to import a used copy to Canada, or getting the pdf. Is there any way I could someday get a cheap printed copy through Warehouse23?

[ericbsmith]

The license to the GURPS Traveller line has lapsed and reverted to Far Future Enterprises. At this time FFE doesn't have print on demand for the GURPS Traveller line so far as I know, so if you wanted them you'd have to buy the PDFs and print them through a third party or track down the original printed versions.

Far Future Enterprises does offer GURPS Traveller CD-ROMS at a pretty reasonable price point of $35/dics, dividing into two discs of the books plus a third disc with the online Journal of the Travellers Aid Society 'Zine.

[astrokiwi]

Ah okay. So, I'm aware that Marc Miller is in the process of granting Mongoose the rights to all things Traveller, but it seems like GURPS Traveller is in a bit of a murky middle ground, and they have said it won't be selling it for the foreseeable future. So I guess you're right, buying the pdf and getting it printed myself, or lucking out and finding a good deal on a 2nd hand copy, do seem like the only real options right now.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by astrokiwi

buying the pdf and getting it printed myself, or lucking out and finding a good deal on a 2nd hand copy

Far Trader, at least, is readily available on eBay and Amazon for $35-40 USD, plus shipping (which I know can hose you outside of the US)..

[astrokiwi]

Yeah, I should have gone for it while I was still in the UK, they had some copies at decent prices there. On Amazon.ca it's $95 CAD, and on eBay for some reason the shipping charges are like $20-40 CAD, and the cheapest one I can find there comes out to $70 all-in. Looks like I can print the book in black & white at Staples for $27 though, so adding in the $13 CAD for the pdf, that's about $40 all-in, which may be as good as it gets. If I think about it in £ it sounds better :D

[ericbsmith]

It's been a few years, but I printed several GURPS books and compilations through Lulu, everything from a ~128 page softcover to 600+ page hardcovers. Their cost for black & white was always very reasonable; currently it's quoting me about $7 USD for 140 pages B&W softcover. Even with shipping (it should ship from within Canada) and the exchange rate it should come out to less than $27. We had several discussion threads about Print On Demand services and Lulu.

[astrokiwi]

For sure - it looks like there's some affordable options for self-printing. I think the local Staples or Walmart will do it without any postage fees, might go with that.