#RPGaDay2023 - Day 23 - Coolest Looking RPG Product or Book

Day 23 of #RPGaDay2023 and the prompt is asking my demographic what's cool.

For each day I'll be answering the question provided, and for fun, review how I answered a similar question during #RPGaDay a decade ago.  Scout's Honor, I have not peeked at the older answer.

Day 23's prompt is "Coolest Looking RPG Product or Book"

I know I'm dating myself, but the Coolest Looking RPG would have to pass the "Waldenbooks" test.  The gaming section in the Waldenbooks in the Palmer Park Mall was a solid vertical panel in the back corner of the store.  There was tons of D&D, but there was also a better selection of other RPGs than most stores I visit nowadays.  

Certain books just called to me from the shelves:

Talislanta 2nd Edition:

The Temple of Elemental Evil: 

And most of the BECMI boxed sets (Immortal was mediocre art and the gold was horrible...)

Not surprisingly, this was the stuff that shaped my gaming background.  

But the ultimate in coolness?   The Lost Souls Edition for The End. 

The End is a simple concept.  The Book of Revelations transpire.  The Rapture finally occurs. Billions die in war, famine, plague, and pestilence.  And yet, after all of that, the war with Heaven and with Hell seems to cease, there are still people left on the Earth.

The meek have inherited it, and its reverting back to its primordial roots. 

The Lost Souls edition is d20 compatible (OGL and all), but the book itself passes my test.

A pdf copy of the game is available on DrivethruRPG, but it's an average scan and it's overpriced.  

Ten Years Ago Today:  The End had me back then as well.  It's a shame I never got the chance to play it.