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<blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 3713360" data-attributes="member: 16574">The Holmes Basic Set was in print from mid 1977 through the end of 1979 (though backstock was still sold through at least 1980). Note that the &quot;Original Collector's Edition&quot; of the Original D&amp;D rules remained in print through the entire run of the Holmes set, and the Holmes set wasn't a complete game (it topped out at level 3) so I tend not to count it as a full &quot;edition.&quot; The Moldvay/Cook/Marsh version was released in early 1981 and only lasted until mid 1983 (but managed to sell so many copies in that two year span that it's still, along with 1E AD&amp;D, probably the most widely known and remembered version of the game). The Mentzer Basic and Expert sets were released in mid 1983 and the subsequent sets followed 1 a year after that (i.e. Companion was released in 1984, Master in 1985 and Immortals in 1986). This edition lasted until 1991, when it was replaced by the &quot;Black Box&quot; Intro Game (covering levels 1-5) and the Rules Cyclopedia (covering levels 1-36). Wrath of the Immortals, updating the 1986 Immortals set, was released in 1992. All of these went out of print in 1994 (IIRC) and the entire non-A D&amp;D line was dropped (except for two products -- &quot;The Classic Dungeons &amp; Dragons Game,&quot; a repackaged version of the 1991 Black Box, that was released in 1994 and then again (with different cover art) in 1996). A set called the &quot;Dungeons &amp; Dragons Adventure Game&quot; was released in 1999, but (from what I understand, I never owned this) it wasn't part of the genealogy above and was, instead, a simplified intro version of 2E AD&amp;D. So, in convenient list format:Dungeons &amp; Dragons (original edition) (1974-80) 7 years(Holmes Basic Set (1977-80) 4 years)Moldvay/Cook/Marsh Basic/Expert (1981-83) 2 yearsMentzer Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortals (1983-91) 8 yearsBlack Box/Rules Cyclopedia/Wrath of the Immortals (1991-94) 3 yearsThe Classic Dungeons &amp; Dragons Game (1994-96) 2 yearsEntire Line: 1974-94; 20 years (22 if you count the two &quot;Classic&quot; sets, but since those weren't complete games (like the Black Box, they topped out at level 5) I tend not to)EDIT: Your considering these &quot;one long edition&quot; matches TSR's practice -- if you look at the credits in the Mentzer Basic Set you'll see the following: &quot;written by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, edited by Frank Mentzer; copyright 1974, 1977, 1978*, 1981, 1983.&quot; The credits for the Holmes and Moldvay/Cook/Marsh versions read similarly.*For reasons that aren't entirely clear, TSR assigned a second copyright date to the &quot;2nd edition&quot; of the Holmes rulebook, even though it only contained minor errata-corrections -- perhaps it's something to do with the copyright laws changing in 1978 and different rules applying to works published pre-1978?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="T. Foster, post: 3713360, member: 16574"] The Holmes Basic Set was in print from mid 1977 through the end of 1979 (though backstock was still sold through at least 1980). Note that the "Original Collector's Edition" of the Original D&D rules remained in print through the entire run of the Holmes set, and the Holmes set wasn't a complete game (it topped out at level 3) so I tend not to count it as a full "edition." The Moldvay/Cook/Marsh version was released in early 1981 and only lasted until mid 1983 (but managed to sell so many copies in that two year span that it's still, along with 1E AD&D, probably the most widely known and remembered version of the game). The Mentzer Basic and Expert sets were released in mid 1983 and the subsequent sets followed 1 a year after that (i.e. Companion was released in 1984, Master in 1985 and Immortals in 1986). This edition lasted until 1991, when it was replaced by the "Black Box" Intro Game (covering levels 1-5) and the Rules Cyclopedia (covering levels 1-36). [i]Wrath of the Immortals[/i], updating the 1986 Immortals set, was released in 1992. All of these went out of print in 1994 (IIRC) and the entire non-A D&D line was dropped (except for two products -- "The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game," a repackaged version of the 1991 Black Box, that was released in 1994 and then again (with different cover art) in 1996). A set called the "Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game" was released in 1999, but (from what I understand, I never owned this) it wasn't part of the genealogy above and was, instead, a simplified intro version of 2E AD&D. So, in convenient list format: Dungeons & Dragons (original edition) (1974-80) 7 years (Holmes Basic Set (1977-80) 4 years) Moldvay/Cook/Marsh Basic/Expert (1981-83) 2 years Mentzer Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortals (1983-91) 8 years Black Box/Rules Cyclopedia/Wrath of the Immortals (1991-94) 3 years The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game (1994-96) 2 years Entire Line: 1974-94; 20 years (22 if you count the two "Classic" sets, but since those weren't complete games (like the Black Box, they topped out at level 5) I tend not to) EDIT: Your considering these "one long edition" matches TSR's practice -- if you look at the credits in the Mentzer Basic Set you'll see the following: "written by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, edited by Frank Mentzer; copyright 1974, 1977, 1978*, 1981, 1983." The credits for the Holmes and Moldvay/Cook/Marsh versions read similarly. *For reasons that aren't entirely clear, TSR assigned a second copyright date to the "2nd edition" of the Holmes rulebook, even though it only contained minor errata-corrections -- perhaps it's something to do with the copyright laws changing in 1978 and different rules applying to works published pre-1978? [/QUOTE]

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