Tolkien Enterprises Again

So, another item of interest emerged in the ongoing sort-through that ties in nicely with the comments I made recently about Tolkien Enterprises being confused with the Tolkien Estate. This one comes in the British rpg magazine ROLE PLAYING INDEPENDENT, in the January 1993 issue (Volume 1 Issue 2 page 5).

In a page headed "In Brief" devoted to short news items (mostly updates about forthcoming releases), one of the ten items reads as follows:

TOLKIEN ENTERPRISES
A recent advert placed in 'YOU' magazine offered for sale a limited
edition range of pewter characters from The Lord of the Rings. We are
advised by Tolkien Enterprises that this line of "Lord of the Rings" 
pewter figurines offered for sale by Shire Evocations is unauthorised by
Tolkien Enterprises. The Tolkien Estate has granted Tolkien Enterprises
the sole right for quality control and licensing of merchandise based on
J. R. R. Tolkien's works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Watch
this space for further developments!

This offers a good example of Tolkien Enterprises presenting itself as if it were acting on behalf of Tolkien's heirs, when a close reading of the announcement shows they've only suggested this. No wonder people got the two (Tolkien Estate/Tolkien Enterprises) confused and never realized they were separate entities with diametrically opposed goals.

--John R.
--current reading: skimming a lot of old modules (D&D and C.o.C.). Some of them hold up really well; others have mainly nostalgia value. It's rather like classic rock, which I listen to all the time: mostly what I liked back then I still like now, and what I didn't I don't. I'm currently playing through MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP for the first time and am looking forward to reading it once the game eventually wraps up (which cd come sooner than we think, in our most recent session we came perilously cloose to the dreaded t.p.k.)