D&D General 1979 AD&D coloring album art sells for $57,500

Stormonu · 2026-04-09T20:34:10+0100

Wow!

I had, and colored in that old album back in the day* and ended up getting another copy to keep in pristine shape. Also, the mini-game in it was actually pretty difficult!

* my preacher actually got it for me for my birthday - this was back in the early 80's!

Dire Bare · 2026-04-09T21:09:37+0100

I just got an email today that the digital version of this coloring book has been added at DriveThruRPG.com for about $5.

sevenbastard · 2026-04-09T21:34:18+0100

Dire Bare said:
I just got an email today that the digital version of this coloring book has been added at DriveThruRPG.com for about $5.

Thay also have it POD!!!!

Sacrosanct · 2026-04-09T22:02:23+0100

Things like this remind of just how much value was destroyed when TSR filled the landfills of original work (art and manuscripts) when they were bought by WotC. I know some folks tried to save as much as possible, but most still went to the landfill.

Starmaster · 2026-04-09T22:28:34+0100

Sacrosanct said:
Things like this remind of just how much value was destroyed when TSR filled the landfills of original work (art and manuscripts) when they were bought by WotC. I know some folks tried to save as much as possible, but most still went to the landfill.

I heard the neato castle that TSR used for their mega-booth at Gen Con also went to the landfill along with the other stuff. Not right away, but eventually. I think it was when the con moved from Milwaukee to Indianapolis.

Koloth · 2026-04-09T22:39:56+0100

Sacrosanct said:
Things like this remind of just how much value was destroyed when TSR filled the landfills of original work (art and manuscripts) when they were bought by WotC. I know some folks tried to save as much as possible, but most still went to the landfill.

Such happenings are sad, but from the WOTC perspective, shipping a bunch of 2nd ed stuff from the soon to be closed TSR warehouse/HQ to the WOTC warehouse/HQ probably didn't make much sense, in light of plans to create and release 3rd ed. Neither shipping nor warehouse space are free. Plus the employee costs to sort, catalog and try to keep 'the good stuff'. Very possible that at the time, much of the stuff had little value. To the accountants of WOTC, the value of an original Caldwell, Bell or Elmore artwork wasn't worth the bother. Add in the issues of who owns what rights to the artwork, better it vanish then open up a later IP legal fight. Any good stuff that was thought to have real value at the time probably 'vanished' in the hustle to vacate the building. It is almost 30 years after the buyout. Plenty of time for things to appriciate in value.

Stormonu · 2026-04-09T22:47:40+0100

Sacrosanct said:
Things like this remind of just how much value was destroyed when TSR filled the landfills of original work (art and manuscripts) when they were bought by WotC. I know some folks tried to save as much as possible, but most still went to the landfill.

Hate to tell you this, but those purges happened long before WotC was around (both in the 80's and early 90's). Though I do remember that Peter Adkinson(?) talked about purging a warehouse full of 1E product still sitting on pallets.

TSRArt said:
Muaddib5 pinged me to ask what happened to all the vintage TSR art, and I thought the answer might interest others, too, so I figured I'd post the reply.

Up until the mid 1980s, TSR kept all of the artwork that was produced by its staff illustrators. Then, at some point in the mid 90s, they destroyed almost all of it -- just threw it in the trash. The major stock of things that survived were actually pulled from a dumpster by Diesel (DSL) and subsequently sold.

I know of only three major paintings that have survived -- Gary Gygax has the Player's Handbook cover, supposedly. A collector I know owns the original Monster Manual cover, and another owns the original Deities and Demigods cover. Several of Jim Roslof's pieces survived as well -- Jim was art director for a while, and took all of his stuff with him when he left.

Other than that, there are miscellaneous inks floating around out there, and the odd off cover (I had and sold an unused Bill Willingham cover for a variant of L2) but that's it. I've never seen a published module cover appear from Otus, Willingham, Tramp, Sutherland, or Dee. I've never been able to get in touch with Sutherland or Willingham, but I know that Tramp owns nothing but his Wormy pages, and Erol has only a few inks.

Starmaster · 2026-04-09T23:26:27+0100

Stormonu said:
Hate to tell you this, but those purges happened long before WotC was around (both in the 80's and early 90's). Though I do remember that Peter Adkinson(?) talked about purging a warehouse full of 1E product still sitting on pallets.

I remember going to what amounted to the art show at Gen Con in the very early 1980s when the convention was held at the University of Wisconsin Parkside campus in Kenosha. The art show was really just a fairly small, darkened alcove with a handful of paintings and a miniature diorama or two. The coolest thing was that they had all three paintings of the 1e Player's Handbook, DM Guide, and Monster Manual on display side-by-side (the original covers; not the Easley orange-spine covers). It just seemed really neat at the time seeing the paintings that appeared on the books I'd bought a year or two earlier. I wish I'd thought to take a photo of them (It was a simpler time; back then nobody cared about photos of paintings).

Sacrosanct · 2026-04-10T00:02:31+0100

Stormonu said:
Hate to tell you this, but those purges happened long before WotC was around (both in the 80's and early 90's). Though I do remember that Peter Adkinson(?) talked about purging a warehouse full of 1E product still sitting on pallets.

I know. IIRC, the first purge happened in the mid 90s. Diesel himself went and tried to save as much as he could, but only so much he could do.