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| Box Cover from the 1st Print |
Original D&D Set (woodgrain box) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Original D&D Set (white box) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Original D&D Set (white box, OCE) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Contains three booklets (Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, Underworld & Wilderness Adventures) plus a Reference Sheets booklet. In addition, the Second and Third prints were bundled with a Correction Sheet.
The Reference Sheets booklet (actually, just loose pages stapled together), was exclusively available in the Original D&D Set. Nearly every set we've heard about has a booklet with varying pages, from 6 to 12; as far as we know, each printing has the same info, only differing in format and number of pages.
The history of the box set mirrors the rise of TSR Inc., from hobby to international corporation. The first sets being fairly amateur productions becoming increasingly slick as the years went by.
The first of two major litigations that TSR was to be involved in was between them and Tolkein Enterprises over the use of the terms 'Hobbit', 'Ent', 'Balrog' etc. TSR removed these references in later editions as the license was sold to ICE who produced the MERP (Middle Earth Role Play) system.
The second was between the co-creators and is more fully explored in the post on the original Chainmail.
The rule set was further expanded upon with the five Original D&D Supplements. It was superseded in 1977 with the release of the D&D Basic Set (and to some extent, the Advanced D&D system).
Which edition is your copy?
Contrary to rumors, the Original D&D Set was *not* available at the 1973 Eastercon, nor were any "pre-publication" sets released. The set was first printed in late January 1974, and very likely was not publically available until the second quarter of 1974.
First Alpha (Jan 1974)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00).
Woodgrain striations on the box run horizontally
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and do not indicate any printing number
Inside rear covers of booklets 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva; booklet 1 doesn't have it
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (copyrighted names of the Tolkien estate; easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Allegedly, 1000 copies of this set were printed by Graphic Printing (and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends in his home). Reportedly took eleven months to sell out. As evidenced by the additional prints below, there is strong indication that the box, the cover stickers, and the booklets themselves were printed in differing amounts, which led to later "frankensteining" of the various parts
First Beta (mid 1974)
Identical in all respects to the First Print Alpha, except on two points:
contains an errata sheet
contains a different print of Volume 3, Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. In contrast to the booklet in the Alpha print, this booklet has a cream-colored inside cover, and has slightly lighter (brighter?) cover printing. Does not state any printing number inside
Our guess here is that for whatever reason, Volume 3 either had a lower production run, or more likely, a portion of the batch was damaged and discarded. A new run was commissioned and placed in these (and possibly some of Gamma's) boxes. The same run was also used in the Second Print, though with "Second Printing -- January 1975" added to the inside
First Gamma (sold / distributed Dec 1975)
Wood-colored box, usually found without any sticker on the box. A contributor who received his in Lake Geneva at the time remembers that the cover sticker was loose inside the box, and had to be manually affixed. Others who received this set do not remember any sticker at all
Woodgrain striations on the box now run vertically, i.e. this is a "1975" box also used in the Second and Third prints, below
Booklets 1 and 2 are identical to the First Print Alpha
Most (all?) of these sets completely lacked a Volume 3 booklet; we'd be interested to hear from those who have this set, to see if a Volume 3 is present and which printing it matches
This print was clearly leftover stock of booklets 1 & 2 after the boxes, stickers, and booklet 3 had run out. It was primarily given away to TSR employees at the time; David Sutherland, Rob Kuntz, and Tim Kask all had copies. It may also have been advertised as a "Christmas Special" in the Strategic Review Volume 5 (Dec 1975) for $2 or $4, even though the Fifth Print was well underway by then!
Formerly referred to as the "Pre-Publication Print", which we now believe to be false
Second (Jan 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and state "Second Printing – January 1975"
Inside rear covers of all three booklets show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Contains an errata sheet
Sources disagree: either 1000 or 2000 copies of this set were printed, and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends. Reportedly sold in five to six months
Third (Apr 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and state "Third Printing – April 1975"
Inside rear covers of all three booklets show a new printer imprint -- Heritage Models of Dallas, Texas
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Booklets are actually slightly smaller when compared to First and Second print booklets, but the difference is minor
Contains an errata sheet
Again, sources disagree: one source says 2000 copies of this set were printed, another claims 3300 copies (3000 were ordered, with 300 in an overprint). Regardless, this set was hand-assembled by Gygax and friends, as were the previous sets. Reportedly sold out in five months
Third+ (Nov 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
This print is a hybrid print, with a wood-colored box matched with Fourth print booklets. Obviously, TSR tossed the first Fourth-print booklets into leftover/overprint Third-print boxes, and called it a day. Two sets matching this description have so far been spotted, leading us to believe that it was more than a unique occurrence
Fourth
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is now actually printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies, Inc" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
25,000 copies of this set were printed
Unknown whether this print originally came shrinkwrapped (very likely, it did)
Fifth (Dec 1975 - Apr 1976)
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, but do not state any printing number (the booklets still have the "copyright 1974" line, however). Note that at least two sets have been spotted that have interior covers the same color as the exterior
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface has been changed to an easy-to-read font
This print originally came shrinkwrapped
A set has been reported that has a Fifth print box (no starburst), but has Sixth print booklets -- possibly a case of the last batch of Fifth print boxes bundled with the first run of Sixth booklets
Sixth (1977-1979)
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (like Fourth and Fifth), but now has a starburst stating "Original Collector’s Edition" (this was done to differentiate it from the D&D Basic Set, which had just been released), and the price has been removed
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
Inside covers of all three booklets are now the same color (parchment) as the exteriors, and do not state any printing number (though they still have the "copyright 1974" line)
References to Hobbits and Ents have been changed to Halflings and Treants (see page 9 of Men & Magic), due to copyright conflicts with the Tolkien estate (with the exception of a single leftover reference on pg 6 to Hobbits!). Furthermore, many other infringements on Tolkien's literary license were excised or changed; notably, references to Balrogs, Nazgul, and even several mentions of Tolkien himself
Internal typeface is in an easy-to-read font
This print originally came shrinkwrapped
Often referred to as the "OCE" set
The Sixth printing continued to be printed through the end of 1979
The rule set was further expanded upon with the five Original D&D Supplements. It was superseded in 1977 with the release of the D&D Basic Set (and to some extent, the Advanced D&D system).
Which edition is your copy?
Contrary to rumors, the Original D&D Set was *not* available at the 1973 Eastercon, nor were any "pre-publication" sets released. The set was first printed in late January 1974, and very likely was not publically available until the second quarter of 1974.
First Alpha (Jan 1974)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00).
Woodgrain striations on the box run horizontally
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and do not indicate any printing number
Inside rear covers of booklets 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva; booklet 1 doesn't have it
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (copyrighted names of the Tolkien estate; easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Allegedly, 1000 copies of this set were printed by Graphic Printing (and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends in his home). Reportedly took eleven months to sell out. As evidenced by the additional prints below, there is strong indication that the box, the cover stickers, and the booklets themselves were printed in differing amounts, which led to later "frankensteining" of the various parts
First Beta (mid 1974)
Identical in all respects to the First Print Alpha, except on two points:
contains an errata sheet
contains a different print of Volume 3, Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. In contrast to the booklet in the Alpha print, this booklet has a cream-colored inside cover, and has slightly lighter (brighter?) cover printing. Does not state any printing number inside
Our guess here is that for whatever reason, Volume 3 either had a lower production run, or more likely, a portion of the batch was damaged and discarded. A new run was commissioned and placed in these (and possibly some of Gamma's) boxes. The same run was also used in the Second Print, though with "Second Printing -- January 1975" added to the inside
First Gamma (sold / distributed Dec 1975)
Wood-colored box, usually found without any sticker on the box. A contributor who received his in Lake Geneva at the time remembers that the cover sticker was loose inside the box, and had to be manually affixed. Others who received this set do not remember any sticker at all
Woodgrain striations on the box now run vertically, i.e. this is a "1975" box also used in the Second and Third prints, below
Booklets 1 and 2 are identical to the First Print Alpha
Most (all?) of these sets completely lacked a Volume 3 booklet; we'd be interested to hear from those who have this set, to see if a Volume 3 is present and which printing it matches
This print was clearly leftover stock of booklets 1 & 2 after the boxes, stickers, and booklet 3 had run out. It was primarily given away to TSR employees at the time; David Sutherland, Rob Kuntz, and Tim Kask all had copies. It may also have been advertised as a "Christmas Special" in the Strategic Review Volume 5 (Dec 1975) for $2 or $4, even though the Fifth Print was well underway by then!
Formerly referred to as the "Pre-Publication Print", which we now believe to be false
Second (Jan 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and state "Second Printing – January 1975"
Inside rear covers of all three booklets show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Contains an errata sheet
Sources disagree: either 1000 or 2000 copies of this set were printed, and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends. Reportedly sold in five to six months
Third (Apr 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers are white, and state "Third Printing – April 1975"
Inside rear covers of all three booklets show a new printer imprint -- Heritage Models of Dallas, Texas
References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
Booklets are actually slightly smaller when compared to First and Second print booklets, but the difference is minor
Contains an errata sheet
Again, sources disagree: one source says 2000 copies of this set were printed, another claims 3300 copies (3000 were ordered, with 300 in an overprint). Regardless, this set was hand-assembled by Gygax and friends, as were the previous sets. Reportedly sold out in five months
Third+ (Nov 1975)
Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
This print is a hybrid print, with a wood-colored box matched with Fourth print booklets. Obviously, TSR tossed the first Fourth-print booklets into leftover/overprint Third-print boxes, and called it a day. Two sets matching this description have so far been spotted, leading us to believe that it was more than a unique occurrence
Fourth
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is now actually printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies, Inc" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
25,000 copies of this set were printed
Unknown whether this print originally came shrinkwrapped (very likely, it did)
Fifth (Dec 1975 - Apr 1976)
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
Inside covers of all three booklets are white, but do not state any printing number (the booklets still have the "copyright 1974" line, however). Note that at least two sets have been spotted that have interior covers the same color as the exterior
References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
Internal typeface has been changed to an easy-to-read font
This print originally came shrinkwrapped
A set has been reported that has a Fifth print box (no starburst), but has Sixth print booklets -- possibly a case of the last batch of Fifth print boxes bundled with the first run of Sixth booklets
Sixth (1977-1979)
White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (like Fourth and Fifth), but now has a starburst stating "Original Collector’s Edition" (this was done to differentiate it from the D&D Basic Set, which had just been released), and the price has been removed
Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
Inside covers of all three booklets are now the same color (parchment) as the exteriors, and do not state any printing number (though they still have the "copyright 1974" line)
References to Hobbits and Ents have been changed to Halflings and Treants (see page 9 of Men & Magic), due to copyright conflicts with the Tolkien estate (with the exception of a single leftover reference on pg 6 to Hobbits!). Furthermore, many other infringements on Tolkien's literary license were excised or changed; notably, references to Balrogs, Nazgul, and even several mentions of Tolkien himself
Internal typeface is in an easy-to-read font
This print originally came shrinkwrapped
Often referred to as the "OCE" set
The Sixth printing continued to be printed through the end of 1979
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