The genesis for this article began over a year ago at WDC in Paris when I was discussing our Diplomacy board game collections with some of the European hobbyists. One of them asked me how many different versions of Diplomacy I had and, to be honest, I didn’t have any idea. I knew I had a box of them and some other games out on the patio at home and that there were more around somewhere. Eventually my curiosity got to me and I actually went through that first box and discovered some Diplomacy games that I had totally forgotten about and some that had never even been opened. After several weeks of digging around in the garage I found another large, heavy box that I thought was filled with books but which turned out to have even more games, including more Diplomacy games. Still, I knew there was one more Diplomacy board game in my collection, even though it was technically not a playable version — that was Claire Brosius’s embroidered Diplomacy map based on Allan B. Calhamer’s original game design. It took another few weeks to finally find the mailing tube it was in amidst all the posters and other maps in similar tubes. When I found the mailing tube and looked at it I realized I’d had that piece of art sitting in the garage since 1993. When I finally got them all together in one place I discovered my entire game collection filled 16 feet of shelves and just the Diplomacy games filled 8 feet of shelves 2 feet high. The individual titles and some info on them follows and with duplicates I counted 18 (What an appropriate number, right?) in all. I think the most I ever had in use at one time was 7 or 8 at DIPCON XXII when I hosted it in San Diego in 1989. Not so long ago I asked a question on one of the Facebook Diplomacy sites about how many copies of the game players had. I think about I got a half-dozen replies, if that, and Toby Harris with 5-7, as I recall, had the most. DIPLOMACY SETS DIPLOMACY (Gibson Games, UK, 1963 ed) “The Classic Game of Political Intrigue and Military Power in Imperial Europe," *4, 5, for 2-7 players, 12-adult. (Box and board are slightly warped (Needs the pile of books on top treatment.) but pieces are still in their original sealed plastic. This is the edition that has the VERY brightly colored board with the cute line drawings. The pieces are the plastic bullet ones. (This may be a later edition. It isn't always easy to tell with foreign editions.) +DIPLOMACY (House of Games, Canada, 1971 ed), "The exciting game of international intrigue," 5.0, for 2-7 players, 12-adult, this is not the same as the Waddington/Canada edition; which caused a lot of confusion at the time. It looks like a knock-off of the original GRI edition. The map board is the same, but it has a gold color back instead of the GRI black. The rules are copyright 1971 by GRI but published in English and French by House of Games. The pieces are wooded. Everything is in excellent condition; which is why I rated it 5.0. DIPLOMACY (Intellectual Diversions, UK, 1962 ed), "the new game of international intrigue," *4.5, for 2-7 players, 12-adult. This is the original UK edition complete with a promotional flyer, the original rules, copies of a later edition of the Rules and even a copy of the 1972 AH Rules. The pieces are plastic. The board is smaller than the GRI edition. The pieces and board colors are traditional and the board artwork is cute. The physical quality of the box is better than other editions but the Diplomacy logo for the front of the box (printed separately and glued on the box) has worn and torn in the corners. Indicative of the care given in the making of the game, the game board center fold is reinforced on the back to keep it from splitting. Perhaps the most intriguing thing is the promotional brochure promoting this "new" game. Quite a fascinating look into the early history of the game." Still, I'm left wondering "Who is Timothy?" DIPLOMACY (Intellectual Diversions, UK, later edition) 5.0, At the 1989 National Diplomacy Championships (UK) in Birmingham, England the organizers offered these imprinted game boards done by Intellectual Diversions for sale. The board is the game, but it is the standard sized board and not the original version. The gold leaf printing is on the front and says, "NATIONAL DIPLOMACY CHAMPIONSHIPS 1989). I was the only American participant in that event that year and I was given one board and bought another. Does not include Rules, pieces or box — just the board. These may be the only ones in the USA. They are definitely the only ones still owned by the original American owner. DIPLOMACY (, France, early edition). 5.0, this map board is from the French version of Diplomacy. The game board is same height but slightly narrower than the UK edition, perhaps because of the metric difference, and the back cover is red instead of black. The colors are paler, almost pastel, and the language used is French, of course. I obtained this board at the French National Championship in Paris in 1989. Playing on the board was no problem, but trying to negotiate and write orders in French was a real challenge after 20 years of not using my French. +DIPLOMACY (Games Research, Inc., 1961 ed), +4.5, this was the first commercial edition of Diplomacy published in the USA. The only earlier one was the original version that Allan B. Calhamer himself published and sold by mail. Like most of the early GRI edition copies the box on this one shows its age with split, taped and split again corners, etc. Obviously it was frequently used but the board is in nearly new condition with no marks or cracks. The wooden pieces are in good shape. Rules, Map and grid sheet are present. I noticed that the original owner, a Canadian player named Dale Gabeihaus, printed his name on the box and the Rules so even then there was a problem keeping a game intact, especially at multi-game events. However, seeing what he did reminded me that violins made by famous makers or who had famous owners early on were often named for them. Perhaps we should try that in Diplomacy. Therefore, this will be known as "The Dale Gabeihaus" Diplomacy game. Yet another early hobby tradition was having the original owner and first players sign a board when it was first used. Later boards used for event championships were often signed and then retired to one's icon wall. And everyone tried to get Allan B. Calhamer to sign their board if they had a chance to meet or play him. +DIPLOMACY (Game Research, Inc. 1961 ed, Acquired in 1965 by Larry Peery for USD 7, the board and some of the pieces have traveled all over the world and been used in over 35 Diplomacy championship events including multiple world championships and national championships in the USA, Canada, the UK France, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, San Marino, Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea. The box, original Rules and conference maps are long gone, and many of the original pieces are scattered around the world hobby. The board is in tatters, held together by tape which is itself in tatters, the fabric cover is badly frayed, the edges are worn down to the bare cardboard, and as a badge of honor the board carries a real stab wound administered by Conrad Von Metzke in the late 1960. Now retired from active use, the board serves as a protective cover for "The Claire Brosius" Diplomacy embroidered map board. The board has been named "The Larry Peery" by and for the original owner. (Click for a full-size view in a separate window) DIPLOMACY (Avalon Hill, 1976 ed), *4.0 An interesting puzzle as the box says this is the AH 1976 edition, the Rules inside are for the 2nd ed. February, 1982, the board is an Intellectual Diversion (UK) 1963 ed, board in perfection condition, and the conference maps are by GRI. That must have been an interesting game! The price on the box is USD 14.75. Ah, eBay has both the UK and USA eds. In the same box. A little switcheroo by the manufacturers? DIPLOMACY (Avalon Hill, 1982 ed). *4.5, AH eventually sold off the last of its big box and single piece with a centerfold board and wooden pieces. After a transition design that still kept the wooden pieces AH decided to make Diplomacy fit the same production mold as its other bookshelf games which meant a smaller box, a three piece board, each piece with its own center divide, and, horror of horrors plastic pieces! Hobby old timer complained loudly and bitterly about the changes but in time as the old games wore out and the old timers faded away, This version has the "stars and anchors" plastic pieces, a pretty traditional board with a brown backing and a box in reasonably good condition. The board is named "The John Clark," for the original owner, a LA area Diplomacy player who came to many PEERICONS. It includes a copy of the 2nd edition of The Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy written by Rod Walker in 1979, which helped many newbies find their way in the hobby. It also has conference maps and a copy of the Basic Rules Remind me; it needs a copy of the complete rules. DIPLOMACY (Avalon Hill, 1982 ed.), 5.0, This copy looks like it has never been used. Box has minor scuff, the boards are fine, the plastic pieces are still attached in their plastic bag, and the box includes The Rules (2nd ed. 1982), Basic Rules, and, most importantly for the hobby, a Play Diplomacy By Mail flyer that was included in every box. That went a long way toward helping the hobby grow in the 1980s. Although at first glance these last two listings look like the same game the boxes are different. One has, in the front lower right corner, the AH logo and the words The Avalon Hill Game Company. The other has this: "Game of skill in which negotiation, rather than chance, decides destinies of international politics. Up to seven players seek control of Europe. Strategy without dice. An exciting game of wits!" +DIPLOMACY (Avalon Hill, 1987 ed.), 5.0, By the mid-1980s game companies and the microcomputer companies were tripping over each other in the race to be the first to make it big in the new computer gaming market. AH continued to sell its new edition of Diplomacy as a board game for USD 18, but it brought out a pretty basic and pretty bad microcomputer (as in PC for 256K) version that sold for USD 30 and bombed! Microcomputer Games was a division of The Avalon Hill Game Company which in turn was a subpart of Avalon Monarch, the box maker that provided AH with boxes for its games. It didn't help that AH and Monarch was a closely held operation run by some very unpopular people in the gaming world. This copy I've named "The Michael Maston" Diplomacy for PC Game since he was the one who bought it, tried it, and promptly trashed it in my Archives. The box contains two price lists, an order form, an Instruction Manual for Computer Diplomacy, The Gamer's Guide to Computer Diplomacy (hastily rewritten by Rod Walker but based on his original Gamer's Guide and, most usefully, a pad of conference maps with the correct 3 letter space abbreviations in enlarged RED print! The game was designed to run on an IBM PC, a Compaq portable and Chameleon Plus (Remember them?) computers. DELUXE DIPLOMACY (Avalon Hill, 1992 ed.) *4.5 By 1992 AH realized sales of Diplomacy were falling because of all the criticism their earlier versions had gotten in the hobby and gaming press. They conceded their errors by making improvements that included a new Deluxe Rulebook that looked an awful lot like the previous editions of Rod Walker's Guide but wasn't and, perhaps most importantly, did include a full page color promo for the Play Diplomacy By Mail! That included direct access to people like John Caruso, David Hood, Gary Behnen, Don Del Grande and Cal White (and some of them are even still around). The conference maps were plain ugly. For no known reason the new version included "stickies" for the armies and fleets of each of the powers with the idea, I guess, that the players were too stupid to remember that Red was Austria, Black was Germany, etc. so you got these pseudo decals to stick on the wooden pieces with flags on them. I don't know anybody that ever used them and, frankly, they never made it out of the box of my game. There they sit after 21 years looking at me with remorse. But the big discussion, besides the price of the new Deluxe Diplomacy, was the new game board. Unless you've made ravioli or dim sum you won't understand it, but I'll try. The new board was just like the old board except that it was one piece. Well, sort of. It was divided into two halves, top and bottom, and each half was divided into three sections. If you were real clever you could figure out how to fold it on both half into two half that could, again, be folded to create one big stack of six pieces. Yeppers, that's what they did. The price, as I remember, was USD 50. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. It's now available (and there is only ONE) on eBay for USD 40. Actually, that shows players are keeping it and using it in comparison to the newer and older versions of which there are plenty on eBay. The problem is that Monarch Avalon cut corners where they must have known they shouldn't — on the boxes. After barely 20 years the box on mine is already caving in because of the poor quality of the material used in the box and, no doubt, inability to handle being stacked. The corners are OK, etc. but it should be holding up better than this, especially since I haven't used it or traveled with it. Well, except for a few moves here and there. So, where are we? DIPLOMACY (Hasbro, 1999 ed.) 5, In 2000 I celebrated the arrival of the new millennium with a bang! I bought a copy online and paid for it online of Hasbro's new version of Diplomacy! The cost for the game was USD 33.95 and shipping was USD 6.50, for a total of 40.45 which was a lot less than the cost of the bottle of Champagne I bought to celebrate that night. There was a lot of talk and praying that Hasbro taking over Monarch Avalon would improve the game and help the hobby. First, a shoutout to Funagain Games in Ashland OR for their good service. The Rules were nicely done with lots of white space, maps, and highlighted important points. There was a nice board of markers to indicate who owned which centers, I guess. Nice, but time consuming in a tournament situation. The brochure was artsy, but informative. The conference maps were basic and plain which is OK but unless you read the news this week how many Dippers knew UKR stood for Ukraine? The plastic one piece tray was nice. The metal pieces were good but I wouldn't use them around a child and I have questions about the paint used on them. For that matter, nowhere did I see any indication of where the game was made, especially the metal pieces!! And, the only real disappointment was the board. Instead of being rectangular the designers juggled the map to fit it into a square. It still is a double fold square, but at least it isn't a triple fold. There are a lot of these on eBay at the moment and if you get a chance read the ads for the 99 cent offering and the $500 offering from Herman the German. DIPLOMACY (Hasbro/AH? 2008 ed) DO NOT OWN. I don't have this version so I can't judge it. It's on eBay for around $25. When I saw the cardboard (?) pieces I decided this was one I didn't want in my collection, even if it was the 50th anniversary of the game. I'm sure Allan Calhamer had a fit when he saw it, as I did when I read about it. COLONIAL DIPLOMACY (AH, 1994 ed.) 5.0, for 2-7 players, 12-adult. One of the few "variants" of Calhamer's classic game Diplomacy to actually be sold commercially. I bought it when it came out and put it away and have never looked at it until now. But now I'm playing a game of Youngstown Variant IV (a ten player game that adds India, China, and Japan to the original board) and I'm dying to try it. The game includes: British Empire, Ottoman Empire, French Indo-China, Dutch East Indies, Russian Empire, Manchu China and Imperial Japan. I haven't physically opened it so I haven't seen the board but it looks OK. Pieces are wooden. Rules look OK. THE CLAIRE BROSIUS EMBROIDERY DIPLOMACY MAP BOARD This is not a Diplomacy game board. It is a work of art done by noted embroidery artist Claire Brosius in 1993 on commission from Larry Peery. It is a 16 by 12 inch replica of the original Rand McNally physical map of Europe (c. 1954) that Allan Calhamer used for Diplomacy. Colors are essentially the same as on the original map and it includes space and power borders, black dots for supply centers, a border with the names of the powers, and a legend. It is signed, dated, and numbered by the artist. The quality of the workmanship is exceptionally high and the back of the piece is as "clean" as the front is perfect. A photo of the piece can be found online if you're interested at http://mysite.verizon.net/~vze4r2c2/Diplomacy/Amateur.htm The work is currently valued at $2,000 for replacement and between $500-$2000 for sale price. NATIONAL PASTIME Buying this prototype of Allan B. Calhamer's NATIONAL PASTIME could be the biggest gamble of your life or it just might elevate your gaming life to the next level. If you're a fan of the man, or the game Diplomacy, or a fan of baseball than this is a once in a lifetime to own a prototype copy of the game Calhamer designed because he loves baseball. Whether you buy it because you love Diplomacy or because you love baseball, or just because you want to be able to brag to your friends during baseball season that you've got something "really unique," this is it. $450 might seem like a lot but as an investment or for the sheer joy of owning something so special it's actually a great deal. Don't ask for a discount because if you do I'll surely raise the price. SO WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU AND TO ME? During one of her periodic loss prevention and general “snooping” trips my insurance agent asked about the various collections I had and I mentioned the games. She wanted to know what their value was and I had no idea. Some time ago I had asked Doug Kent, who knows about such things, what he thought they would be worth (e.g. what would he pay for them) and he said $200 for what I mentioned to him. That didn’t seem enough, naturally, so I started looking on Craig’s List and eBay to see what kind of prices these games were being offered for and actually selling for. I was surprised at how little some were going for and how much others were being offered for; and some of them were just so old or so rare they weren’t even mentioned on eBay. How could I realistically put a value or a price on something like Claire’s masterpiece or Calhamer’s NATIONAL PASTIME prototype? I talked to a couple of professional embroidery artists and after some study they came up with a value of her work of between $500 and $2000. It was the same kind of vast range I had run into with some of my Asian art with one expert telling me a bronze Buddha head was worth $500 and another telling me it was worth $30,000. I had decided that the Calhamer game was worth $450 when another expert in baseball told me that it would sell for much more than that if I found the right buyer, and he named several big name celebrity baseball fans that collect baseball memorabilia. Interesting thought, .but, as I thought about it I realized these games were really priceless, at least to me, and the idea of disposing of them piecemeal bothered me. Who knows, perhaps someday they’ll all find a good home for the hobby’s future generations to covet? For the latest information on Diplomacy games and their selling and purchased prices check out eBay or Craig’s List. For further information on the various versions of Diplomacy check out Doug Kent’s archived article on his web site. Addendum: I thought my eighteen copies of Diplomacy would be an unchallenged recor,d but recently one of the European hobbyists and a serious game collector mentioned on FaceBook that he had nineteen, but I think he was counting multiple copies of some editions. FYI, the Europeans are serious game collectors. Gian Carlo Ceccoli, of San Marino, has an icon wall that hits you right when you walk into his place. It covers one entire wall and what makes it impressive is that the room has a 16 foot ceiling. However, the biggest collection I've ever seen by far is that of Ferdinand de Cassan, of Vienna. He's a gentleman farmer that raises roses and he converted three good-sized buildings on his farm to house his game collection. I would guess each was 16 by 32 feet. One building housed his games in German, a second housed those in English, and a third everything else. What was amazing was he could find anything without hesitation. Larry Peery (peery@ix.netcom.com) If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, and clicking on the envelope above does not work for you, feel free to use the "Dear DP..." mail interface.