Yes, the "granddaddy of them all". Published by Tactical Studies Rules, a fledgling company (at the time) of Gary Gygax, Don Kaye, and Brian Blume. The game is based on the fantasy portion of the earlier Chainmail rules, and also requires the Outdoor Survival war game (by Avalon Hill) to play.
Original D&D Set (woodgrain box) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Original D&D Set (white box) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Original D&D Set (white box, OCE) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Contains three booklets (Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, Underworld & Wilderness Adventures) plus a Reference Sheets booklet and one Correction Sheet (the Correction Sheet is only present in the Second and Third prints).
The Reference Sheets booklet (actually, just loose pages stapled together), was exclusively available in the Original D&D Set. Nearly every set we've heard about has a booklet with varying pages, from 6 to 12; as far as we know, each printing has the same info, only differing in format and number of pages.
The rule set was further expanded upon with the five Original D&D Supplements. It was superseded in 1977 with the release of the D&D Basic Set (and to some extent, the Advanced D&D system).
| Printing Information |  |
- Pre-Publication (1973)
- Wood-colored box, but no stickers or artwork -- box is totally plain
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers are white, and do not indicate any printing number
- Inside rear covers of books 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva
- References to Hobbits and Ents are present (copyrighted names of the Tolkien estate; easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
- Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
- The booklets to this set are identical to First print copies in every respect; the only indication that this set is a Pre-Production copy is the lack of box stickers
- This set was available at the 1973 Eastercon in very limited quantities, as well as given to Tactical Studies Rules staffers at the time
- Thanks to William Meinhardt and Aardy DeVarque for help with this info, and to William Meinhardt for the scan
- First (Jan 1974)
- Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers are white, and do not indicate any printing number (though several copies of book 3 have been spotted that have a buff-colored inside cover; otherwise identical)
- Inside rear covers of books 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva
- References to Hobbits and Ents are present (copyrighted names of the Tolkien estate; easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
- Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
- 1000 copies of this set were printed by Graphic Printing (and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends in his home). Reportedly took eleven months to sell out
- Thanks to Jon Peterson, Bruce Robertson, and Steve Vogel for help with this info
- Second (Jan 1975)
- Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers are white, and state "Second Printing – January 1975"
- Inside rear covers of books 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint -- Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva
- References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
- Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
- Contains an errata sheet
- Sources disagree: either 1000 or 2000 copies of this set were printed, and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends. Reportedly sold in five to six months
- Thanks to Bruce Robertson and Tyson Vickers for help with this info
- Third (Apr 1975)
- Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a mounted warrior (same as box)
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers are white, and state "Third Printing – April 1975"
- Inside rear covers of all three booklets show a new printer imprint -- Heritage Models of Dallas, Texas
- References to Hobbits and Ents are present (easy check: page 9 of Men & Magic)
- Internal typeface is rather rough and difficult to read
- Booklets are actually slightly smaller when compared to First and Second print booklets, but the difference is minor
- Contains an errata sheet
- Again, sources disagree: one source says 2000 copies of this set were printed, another claims 3300 copies (3000 were ordered, with 300 in an overprint). Regardless, this set was hand-assembled by Gygax and friends, as were the previous sets. Reportedly sold out in five months
- Thanks to Bruce Robertson and Tyson Vickers for help with this info
- Third+ (Nov 1975)
- Wood-colored box, showing a mounted warrior on a rearing horse (the artwork is an adhesive sheet affixed to the box cover) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
- References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
- Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
- Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
- This print is a hybrid print, with a wood-colored box matched with Fourth print booklets. Obviously, TSR tossed the first Fourth-print booklets into leftover/overprint Third print boxes, and called it a day. Two sets matching this description have so far been spotted, leading us to believe that it was more than a unique occurrence
- Thanks to Girard Chandler for help with this info, and for the scan of Book 1
- Fourth
- White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is now actually printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
- Outside covers of all three booklets have a price ($3.50)
- Inside covers of all three booklets are white, and state "Fourth Printing -- November 1975"
- References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
- Internal typeface is still rather rough and difficult to read
- Rear inside cover identifies the printer: Patch Press of Beloit, Wisconsin. Also, a "TSR Hobbies, Inc" sticker covers the printed "Tactical Studies Rules"
- 25,000 copies of this set were printed
- Unknown whether this print originally came shrinkwrapped (very likely, it did)
- Thanks to Scott Gregg, John Huckerby, and David Wiley for this info
- Fifth (Dec 1975 - Apr 1976)
- White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (artwork is printed on the box) and the price ($10.00)
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
- Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
- Inside covers of all three booklets are white, but do not state any printing number (the booklets still have the "copyright 1974" line, however). Note that at least two sets have been spotted that have interior covers the same color as the exterior
- References to Hobbits and Ents (see page 9 of Men & Magic) are still present
- Internal typeface has been changed to an easy-to-read font
- This print originally came shrinkwrapped
- A set has been reported that has a Fifth print box (no starburst), but has Sixth print booklets -- possibly a case of the last batch of Fifth print boxes bundled with the first run of Sixth booklets (thanks to Sean Cruz for this info)
- Thanks to Matt Farrell, John Huckerby, Luca Lettieri, and Morey Winnett for help with this info, and to John Sohl for the scan
- Sixth (1977-1979)
- White box, showing a wizard and some orcs (like Fourth and Fifth), but now has a starburst stating "Original Collector’s Edition" (this was done to differentiate it from the D&D Basic Set, which had just been released), and the price has been removed
- Outside cover of Men & Magic shows a warrior standing with a sword and shield
- Outside covers of all three booklets have no price
- Inside covers of all three booklets are now the same color (parchment) as the exteriors, and do not state any printing number (though they still have the "copyright 1974" line)
- References to Hobbits and Ents have been changed to Halflings and Treants (see page 9 of Men & Magic), due to copyright conflicts with the Tolkien estate (with the exception of a single leftover reference on pg 6 to Hobbits!). Furthermore, many other infringements on Tolkien's literary license were excised or changed; notably, references to Balrogs, Nazgul, and even several mentions of Tolkien himself
- Internal typeface is in an easy-to-read font
- This print originally came shrinkwrapped
- Often referred to as the "OCE" set
- The Sixth printing continued to be printed through the end of 1979
- Thanks to Matthew Foster and Neville Ridley-Smith for help with this info
| Auction Commentary & History |
The first three (including the Third+) printings of the Original D&D Set are extremely rare. Some of the low sale prices you see below were due to poor advertising on eBay, where sellers were unaware of what they were selling.
- Original D&D Set (1st): Box PR, Books FR: $738 (7/05), Box PR, Books FN: $150 (11/01),
Box VG, Books VG: $255 (2/00), Box VG, Books NM: $2177 (6/05), Box FN, Books FN:
$1775 (8/02), Box FN, Books VF: $2282 (4/04), Box FN, Books NM: $774 (8/03), Box VF,
Books VF/NM: $5100* (7/06), Box VF, Books NM: $4039 (11/05), Box VF, Books NM:
$4225 (7/06) - Original D&D Set (2nd): Box FR, Books VF: $510 (12/04), Box FN, Books VF: $588 (5/02),
Box FN, Books NM: $596 (1/01), Box NM, Books NM: $611 (1/02), Box FN, Books NM:
$800 (11/03), Box FN, Books NM: $850 (12/03), Box VF, Books VF: $1295 (12/06) - Original D&D Set (3rd): Box FR, Books FN: $510 (10/04), Box FR, Books FN: $232
(10/04), Box GD, Books GD: $120 (1/00), Box VG, Books FN: $168 (10/99), Box VG,
Books FN: $450 (4/03), Box FN, Books FN: $562 (2/00), Box FN, Books FN: $455 (10/00),
Box FN, Books FN: $407 (7/02), Box FN, Books FN: $482 (9/03), Box FN, Books FN:
$566 (3/04), Box FN, Books VF: $511 (5/02), Box FN, Books VF: $896 (11/04),
Box VF, Books VF: $280 (12/01) - Original D&D Set (3rd+): Box FN, Books VF: $510 (11/99), Box FN, Books VG: $510 (3/03)
- Original D&D Set (4th): Box VG, Books VF: $109 (5/02), Box FN, Books FN: $143 (5/02),
Box VF, Books NM: $280 (4/02) - Original D&D Set (5th): Box FN, Books VF: $158 (7/00), Box FN, Books VF: $153 (2/03),
Box FN, Books VF: $160 (11/04), Box FN, Books VF: $153 (12/04), Box VF, Books NM:
$122 (6/00), Box NM/SW, Books M: $315 (6/01) - Original D&D Set (6th): Box PR, Books VF: $78 (10/99), Box GD, Books FN: $153 (11/99),
Box VG, Books VG: $128 (6/01), Box FN, Books NM: $203 (12/99), Box FN, Books NM:
$51 (6/03), Box NM, Books NM: $146 (1/02), Box NM/SW, Books M: $61 (9/03)
* highest (confirmed) sale price of any single non-unique D&D item
Box cover (pre-pub)
Book 1 (1st-3rd print)
Book 1 (3rd+/4th print)
Reference Sheets