D&D General Wizards of the Coast releases pay-for-download PDF of the 1974 Original D&D Three Volume Boxed Set (including Tolkien references!)

[darjr]

Oh! I purchased it but it isn’t in my library either. I did download my copy. I wonder if they refunded me?

 

[Alzrius]

Oh! I purchased it but it isn’t in my library either. I did download my copy. I wonder if they refunded me?

Now that's alarming.

Checking my library right now, and I still have it listed, with no problem downloading. That's usually how it is for DriveThruRPG; I've picked up products that were later pulled, and they've always allowed me to re-download them even after they were taken down.

 

[darjr]

Wait, it’s there just not in my list of products. I had to go to my purchase history.

sorry for the false alarm.

 

[Burnside]

Not really, see here for details. Without the box, you would probably not be able to get a good price for the three booklets.

Thanks - I kinda figured. None of these books could be considered better than "Fair" condition except Swords & Spells which looks to have been barely used.

The three core books do seem to be an alpha or beta print from 1974, so even in fair condition they would be worth a few thousand IF the box was here, which it isn't.

 

[Nikosandros]

LOL. Why would they even bother. They can't have made much from a $10 PDF that was up for maybe 10 hours.

Possibly a SNAFU. They didn't realize that the earlier printing had the issues with infringing copyright.

 

[Voadam]

Now that's alarming.

Checking my library right now, and I still have it listed, with no problem downloading. That's usually how it is for DriveThruRPG; I've picked up products that were later pulled, and they've always allowed me to re-download them even after they were taken down.

DriveThru has not always. Notably when WotC pulled their PDF catalog for years you could not redownload any of the ones you had bought.

When the Margaret Weis/Sovereign Stone/Arthaus licenses ended for the 3e stuff I got all of the dragonlance ones on the big sale. I did not download them immediately and two days after I bought them I was not able to download any of them. Drivethru refunded me when I contacted them about it but I would have much preferred to have the PDFs.

 

[Burnside]

I'm still able to download MPMB's Character Generator from my DMsGuild library even though they pulled the product years ago.

 

[JEB]

I wonder how these errors keep happening? Did someone just give an intern a stack of things to scan and upload without double-checking what was in it, or something?

 

[Reynard]

There's so much that is so weird and fun and inexplicable in this document. Like the completely offhand comment that the referee should include some robots and cyborgs on the encounter chart, or that a 20::1 player to ref ratio was about right.

Now I need to dig up some discussions by the old timers what actual play was like during development.

 

[Alzrius]

There's so much that is so weird and fun and inexplicable in this document. Like the completely offhand comment that the referee should include some robots and cyborgs on the encounter chart, or that a 20::1 player to ref ratio was about right.

Now I need to dig up some discussions by the old timers what actual play was like during development.

Things like that are why I love reading about the early history of D&D. I've been devouring various books about the early days of the hobby over the last few years, and it's truly incredible (in a good way) how different a lot of things were back then.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

So I actually have these physical booklets, with the Tolkien references intact:

Chainmail - rules for medieval miniatures by Gary Gygax & Jeff Perrin 3rd edition (it says copyright 1975) - this is different from the others in that it has a silver cover and black plastic spiral binding
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Men & Magic - Volume 1 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Monsters & Treasure - Volume 2 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - Volume 3 of Three Booklets (1974)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I Greyhawk - Gygax & Kuntz (1976, THIRD PRINTING)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement II Blackmoor - Dave Arneson (1975)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry - Gary Gygax & Bryan Blume (1976)
Swords & Spells by Gary Gygax for use with Dungeons & Dragons (1976)

No boxes, just a bunch of loose softcover booklets, a little yellowed & battered.

I notice that the term "Dungeon Master" doesn't seem to exist yet in the 1974 books or in Greyhawk or Blackmoor - the term "referee" is always used. "Dungeon Master" does appear in Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry and in Swords & Spells. The Tolkeinisms are present in all books.

Are these considered valuable?

Very valuable, especially the 3 original set even without the box and insert. The others less so. I am guessing, though PM me for a professional appraiser's e-mail, that the 3 original w/out box and insert would sell at auction for $1,000-$2,000, depending. I note that you are missing Supplement 4 God, Demigods and Heroes (Kuntz and Ward)! for a complete run!

 

[Burnside]

Very valuable, especially the 3 original set even without the box and insert. The others less so. I am guessing, though PM me for a professional appraiser's e-mail, that the 3 original w/out box and insert would sell at auction for $1,000-$2,000, depending. I note that you are missing Supplement 4 God, Demigods and Heroes (Kuntz and Ward)! for a complete run!

Thanks Rob! And yes - that's the only one I'm missing. I'm hoping to snag a copy on eBay to complete my set at some point. The other books were a gift from my mom's husband, who would have been a teenager in the 70s. And I actually do have the inset for the original set as well - it's only missing the box.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Thanks Rob! And yes - that's the only one I'm missing. I'm hoping to snag a copy on eBay to complete my set at some point. The other books were a gift from my mom's husband, who would have been a teenager in the 70s. And I actually do have the inset for the original set as well - it's only missing the box.

Cool. PM me and I will provide you with P. Stormberg's e-mail. He owns the Collector's Trove, has conducted many, many auctions for TSR Alum and others (myself included) and is your best bet for getting the best price if you ever decide to part with them. Good luck finding GD&H, it's not really rare so it should be a short hunt.

 

[Burnside]

Cool. PM me and I will provide you with P. Stormberg's e-mail. He owns the Collector's Trove, has conducted many, many auctions for TSR Alum and others (myself included) and is your best bet for getting the best price if you ever decide to part with them. Good luck finding GD&H, it's not really rare so it should be a short hunt.

Thank you! I will PM, although tbh I don't think I would ever sell them. If anything, if they really are valuable I may want to insure them and/or see about getting them conserved so they don't deteriorate any further.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Thank you! I will PM, although tbh I don't think I would ever sell them. If anything, if they really are valuable I may want to insure them and/or see about getting them conserved so they don't deteriorate any further.

I understand. In either case you'll have the option. Paul has been in biz for 15+ years with a 100% rating on Ebay and isn't going anywhere soon. PM on the way.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm still able to download MPMB's Character Generator from my DMsGuild library even though they pulled the product years ago.

It depends if the author pulls the underlying PDF/file or just makes it unavailable for sale. Looks like in the OD&D case they just removed it from sale, but didn't physically remove the PDFs (yet).