I just found this game hiding in a bargain bin (on the verge of being thrown out) in a charity shop for £1.

Is there a reason why this classic is not available anywhere?!

lucasarts

As far as I'm aware, LucasArts/Disney don't actually own the rights to Sam & Max - Steve Purcell does. And I would bet that this is where the problem lies - Disney is probably not willing to pay licence fees for the rerelease of the game, Telltale I guess was more flexible in this regard.

Just as LucasArts has been thrown in the Bargain (Disney) bin.

I own the Telltale games and love them to bits. It's a shame to see the rights for games like this to go down in flames of shit.

Steve Prucell owns the rights to the franchise, but Lucas Arts and Disney own the rights to Hit The Road, I read GOG.com and Night Dive have had a hard time negotiating with Disney, however I can't find where they said that.

Licensing hell and corporate ambivalence. This is why abandonware exists.

Like everyone is saying, currently it is in legal limbo due to having two parties owning different rights to the game. This is nothing new and there has been progress made with other games under similar circumstances (i.e. System Shock 2). However, we are talking about Disney... so you never know what terms they demand to allow the use of the license.

I'd love to see this game on GOG!