Tournaments Illuminated - You Should be Reading it.

In 2024, I started collecting issues of Tournaments Illuminated magazine. I wanted to begin my search with the oldest issues I could find, figuring that they would be the most difficult to obtain. Well, I was certainly right about the 1960s and 1970s. Until last week, I had never seen an issue for either one of those decades listed for sale, and I've never come across one in a box lot. Last week, I purchased Spring 1979, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first pre-1980s issue. 

I have stressed to my parents, who are avid yard sale sleuths, that they should buy any and all issues of Tournaments Illuminated they can find, and have shown them some examples. I keep imagining that my mom will call and say, "We got a big box of those magazines you wanted, for $5," and it will be filled with every issue I need... but, back to reality. 

Thus far, I've amassed a fairly robust collection of them, obtaining all but a few of the 1980s and all but one of the 1990s. 

I have various issues dotting the 2000s, which were mainly due to their presence in box lots that I purchased, as well as one of my shire-mates who was cleaning her bookshelves and asked if anyone wanted issues of Tournaments Illuminated. Yes please! I planned to purchase the 2000s issues later, as they would be easier to obtain. A word of advice on issues from Summer 2001 to the present: do not buy these as used single issues from eBay sellers, they often list them from anywhere from $5 USD to $25 USD. Most of these issues, from Summer 2021 to the present, can be purchased as brand-new back issues for $3.50 directly from the SCA Marketplace (as of 7/16/2025). Why pay inflated prices to an eBay seller when you can purchase them right from the source for less money? This is how I plan to fill in the 2000s issues I do not yet have, unless another kindly SCAdian friend is clearing off their bookshelf or I happen upon a box lot that has plenty of issues I need. 

Tournaments Illuminated had a hiatus between 2020 and 2022. I assume the pandemic had a significant impact on that. However, there was another hiatus, during which no issues were published in 2023 or 2024. 

When I joined the SCA in 2024, I immediately added a subscription to Tournaments Illuminated to my membership, and I only received my first issue two weeks ago. I'm not certain what happened with that hiatus, but I assume it had something to do with a lack of people, both in staff and submissions. 

The SCA is staffed by volunteers who also have jobs outside of the SCA, families to raise, events to attend, and bills to pay. I always try to bear that in mind. That said, I hope they can get some help updating the web presence for the magazine and assistance with updating and posting content on the Facebook page, as they need some hype. I'm sure they are aware, but it's worth bearing in mind that there were two years during which no issues were published, and not every person who joined during that time had prior knowledge of Tournaments Illuminated. Likewise, it was published again for a year and then went into another two-year hiatus. Even more new members likely joined during that hiatus since there wasn't a global pandemic preventing people from socializing. There is, in essence, a whole generation of SCAdians who never lived in an SCA with Tournaments Illuminated. I was only aware of it since I played very briefly as a college student in the 1990s, but was unable to continue due to schedule constraints, having a "local" group that wasn't very local, and being a broke college student who wasn't terribly resourceful. 

The new issue, Issue # 221, First Quarter 2025, is an excellent read, and I hope this is the start of a long run of regularly published issues of Tournaments Illuminated. Congratulations to new editor Kendra C, Jones (TH Lady Kendryth Filia Gerald) and the entire staff on their first issue. 

If you were a past author of a Tournaments Illuminated issue, please click here to go to the Tournaments Illuminated website. Likewise, if you know past authors, please share this with them. Tournaments Illuminated needs permission from authors who have had articles published prior to Summer 2001 so they can offer past articles or potentially publish more back issues. Articles from Summer 2001 onward had the correct permissions that allowed digital access and printing of back issues. 

The Tournaments Issues website provides contact information, an almost complete listing of past issues, submission guidelines, advertising information, subscription-related links, and details on joining the review board. 

If I sound like a walking advertisement for a magazine I have no vested interest in, I suppose it's because I sort of am. Back issues of Tournaments Illuminated are valuable resources for research, with the caveat that information about a topic from 1981 may not remain accurate after more than 40 years of additional archaeological and scholarly research. You can look back on issues and see one of the first articles that Laurel, whom you met last week, wrote. Newer SCAdians or those looking for something new to get into can scour issues and find a wealth of ideas, often accompanied by tutorials to get them started on something new or to lend additional information to an interest they are already pursuing. A collection of Tournaments Illuminated is an excellent reference addition to any SCAdian's personal library or to a local group's library if they are fortunate enough to have an accessible area where a group library can be housed. And what I think is best of all, and why I love it, Tournaments Illuminated is a major part of the written history of every generation of the SCA. 

In hopes of further adding to my collection, here is my list of issues still needed to complete it. If you are unloading issues, please reach out to me, I may be interested if I need the issue and the price is fair. 

Tournaments Illuminated Wishlist

1960s - 1970s (EXCEEDINGLY RARE)

Issues 1 – 53 (1960s, 1970s*)

*Spring 1979 is en route to me as I type this, courtesy of an eBay score. 

1980s (SCARCE)

Issue #57, Winter 1980

Issue #56, Fall 1980

Issue #55, Summer 1980

Issue #54, Spring 1980

1990s (OBTAINABLE)

Issue #132 Autumn 1999

2000s (OBTAINABLE)

Issue #142 Spring 2002 (for some reason not sold as back issue on SCA.org)

Issue #137 Winter 2001

Issue #134 Spring 2000

Issue #133 Winter 2000

2000s (OBTAINABLE FROM T.I. BACK ISSUES SITE)

Issue $172 4^th Quarter 2009 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #170  2^nd Quarter 2009 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #168 4^th Quarter 2008 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #167 3^rd Quarter 2008 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #166 2^nd Quarter 2008 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #165 1^st Quarter 2008 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #164 4^th Quarter 2007 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #163 3^rd Quarter 2007 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #162 2^nd Quarter 2007 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #160 Fall 2006 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #159 Summer 2006 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #156 Fall 2005 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #149 Winter 2004 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #148 Fall 2003 Buy @ SCA.org

2010s (OBTAINABLE FROM T.I. BACK ISSUES SITE)

Issue #212 4^th Quarter 2019 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue $211 3^rd Quarter 2019 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #210 2^nd Quarter 2019 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #209 1^st Quarter 2019 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #208 4^th Quarter 2018 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #207 3^rd Quarter 2018 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #206 2^nd Quarter 2018 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #205 1^st Quarter 2018 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #204 4^th Quarter 2017 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #203 3^rd Quarter 2017 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #202 2^nd Quarter 2017 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #201 1^st Quarter 2017 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #200 4^th Quarter 2016 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #199 3^rd Quarter 2016 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #197 1^st Quarter 2016 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #1964^th Quarter 2015 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #195 3^rd Quarter 2015 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #194 2^nd Quarter 2015 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #193 1^st Quarter 2015 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #192 4^th Quarter 2014 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #191 3^rd Quarter 2014 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #189 1^st Quarter 2014 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #188 4^th Quarter 2013 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #187 3^rd Quarter 2013 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #186 2^nd Quarter 2013 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #184 4^th Quarter 2012 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #183 3^rd Quarter 2012 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #182 2^nd Quarter 2012 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #181 1^st Quarter 2012 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #180 4^th Quarter 2011 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #179 3^rd Quarter 2011 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #178 2^nd Quarter 2011 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #177 1^st Quarter 2011 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #176 4^th Quarter 2010 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #175 3^rd Quarter 2010 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #174 2^nd Quarter 2010 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #173 1^st Quarter 2010 Buy @ SCA.org

2020s (OBTAINABLE FROM T.I. BACK ISSUES SITE)

Issue #220 4^th Quarter 2022 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #219 3^rd Quarter 2022 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #218 2^nd Quarter 2022 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #217 1^st Quarter 2022 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #216 4^th Quarter 2020 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #215 3^rd Quarter 2020 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #214 2^nd Quarter 2020 Buy @ SCA.org

Issue #213 3rd Quarter 2020 Buy @ SCA.org