Help for someone clueless about D&D before AD&D 1st Edition?

[pemerton]

I'm almost positive that it was the Moldvay edition with the Earl Otus cover, but the Mentzer edition with the Elmore cover is also very nostalgic and familiar.

<snip>

I know for a fact that my set had the lighter blue dice that I needed to fill in the number with a white crayon that was provided. Does that narrow it down?

Okay, I just looked it up on the excellent Acaeum site (https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/basic.html) and I'm certain I started with the Moldvay version.

The dice don't help as the Mentzer edition could come with either uncolored or colored dice.

BUT, the Mentzer edition did NOT come with the Keep on the Borderlands adventure and I am 100% certain that my first boxed set did

I never owned Mentzer Basic, but did see a copy once at someone else's house.

My first was Moldvay Basic. My copy came with KotB, but dark blue dice that needed to be crayoned. My Expert set, acquired not much later, came with light blue dice that also needed crayoning, but - I assume due to some sort of error in a factory - had 2 d10s and no d12. So my first ever separate dice purchase was of a purple d12 at the local games/hobby shop.

That Expert set came with X1 the Isle of Dread.

I still have the old dark blue d20 - with worn-away corners it is more like a ball than a die - but I think all the others are lost.

 

[Morrus]

I seem to recall [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] at one time had a pretty impressive timeline chart showing what was released when through all of D&D's history up to that time, but I'm not sure where he's hidden it or even if it's still on this site.

I've never had a product timeline. I do have an industry timeline here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?1646-TSR-WotC-Paizo-A-Comparative-History

 

[MNblockhead]

I never owned Mentzer Basic, but did see a copy once at someone else's house.

My first was Moldvay Basic. My copy came with KotB, but dark blue dice that needed to be crayoned. My Expert set, acquired not much later, came with light blue dice that also needed crayoning, but - I assume due to some sort of error in a factory - had 2 d10s and no d12. So my first ever separate dice purchase was of a purple d12 at the local games/hobby shop.

That Expert set came with X1 the Isle of Dread.

I still have the old dark blue d20 - with worn-away corners it is more like a ball than a die - but I think all the others are lost.

It could be that the remaining die (a d10) *used* to be dark blue and faded with time or some chemical reaction to dog saliva.

My parents kept a certain amount of old toys from when my sisters and I were kids for their grandkids to play with when they visited. Going through the closet of the 70s and 80s toys, finding that d10 was the most exciting discovery, followed by finding action figures for Kelek and Warduke. Stronghorn and Elkhorn were missing, sadly lost long ago to the play of careless kids and vicious dogs.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The family dog got a couple of our Star Wars toys. As a result we had a Battle Damage Luke to go with the Battle Damage X-Wing.

Stronghorn and Elkhorn were missing, sadly lost long ago to the play of careless kids and vicious dogs.

 

[Henry]

I never owned Mentzer Basic, but did see a copy once at someone else's house.

My first was Moldvay Basic. My copy came with KotB, but dark blue dice that needed to be crayoned. My Expert set, acquired not much later, came with light blue dice that also needed crayoning, but - I assume due to some sort of error in a factory - had 2 d10s and no d12. So my first ever separate dice purchase was of a purple d12 at the local games/hobby shop.

That Expert set came with X1 the Isle of Dread.

I still have the old dark blue d20 - with worn-away corners it is more like a ball than a die - but I think all the others are lost.

Yep, that was my first set, too - bought it in a Circus World toy store in 1981. I remember buying a bunch of those AD&D toys from that Circus World, as well - the Kellek, Strongheart Paladin, Northlord, Ogre King, Titan, Warduke, etc.