Do you remember your first RPG purchase?

[Bayushi_seikuro]

I was already playing the Basic Set (1982, with the red dragon and the warrior with their back to the 'camera') but I think the first thing I bought was either the old FASERIP Marvel Superheroes in the yellow box, OR Top Secret. I do remember Star Frontiers in there at some point too though.

 

[Imhotepthewise]

Holmes blue book in 1979.

 

[Vael]

There was a 3.5 starter set for players. It had a softcover PHB, a box of minis and a set of dice.

 

[Hex08]

I started with the Basic and then Expert boxed sets but I think those were gifts. I think my first purchase was the AD&D 1E Players Handbook. I bought it at a Walden Books at the mall then my mom took me right to my friends house. What I remember most about the purchase was that when I was flipping through it in the car I found a religious pamphlet railing against the evils of the game. When we got to my friends house the first thing I did was show the pamphlet to his dad, a minister, and he thought it was nonsense and that the game kept us out of trouble. I sold all of my 1E stuff years ago but I still have the pamphlet on the bookshelf with all of my RPGs..

 

[Voadam]

My town growing up in Massachusetts had a great library but no bookstores nearby, let alone a gaming shop and when I started playing D&D at eight buying my own stuff was not really an option. High school was when I started buying stuff of my own but it was only occasionally starting with the mail-in 2e PH offer and then when we were on vacations in New Hampshire I would get stuff at Waldenbooks. It wasn't until I went to college in Madison Wisconsin with Pegasus Games within walking distance of my dorm that I had regular access to a gaming shop and I started to make use of such access. I bought a lot of Ravenloft modules and sourcebooks there, a decent amount of Mystara stuff as well and some Greyhawk.

 

[Maxperson]

Though I had played for a couple of years I was very poor and couldn't afford to buy any RPG stuff. ( I did create some of my own games and even made some cardboard d8's!)
Then in 1982 I had some birthday money and went to the local gamestore to buy something.
I purchased Starstone by Northern Sages. Can't remember why. Luckily it was great and has become a classic and I now have multiple copies and have run it many times under several systems.

How about you?

The 1e PHB, DMG and MM.

 

[aramis erak]

I can't remember the first thing I bought with my own money. The memory blurs. Possibly Villians & Vigilantes? Definitely not anything D&D; Purchase of D&D stuff came later, though I think I chipped in a couple bucks for our DM to buy modules.

The first thing I owned was the first edition of Gamma World, but it was a gift. A gift I asked for, but a gift. First game I ran, too. Poorly.

I figure most people's first game GMd is suboptimal. It was for both my offspring. It was for me. It was for most of the others i've been a player for in their first game GMd.