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. In addition, the Second and Third
prints were bundled with a Correction Sheet.
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 It was superseded in 1977 with the release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).
Contrary to rumors, the Original D&D Set was *not* available at the 1973
Eastercon, nor were any "pre-publication" sets released. The set was first printed in
late January 1974, and very likely was not publically available until the second quarter of
1974.
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First Alpha (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).
Incidentally, the image was "inspired by" (*cough*) artwork by Dan Adkins,
originally found in Doc Strange comic #167, Apr 1968, on page 11. That artwork
is viewable here (thanks to Jason
Williams for the find, and to the Doc Strange discussion forum for the
scan!)
Woodgrain striations on the box run horizontally. Compared to the Third print sticker, this sticker is more centered and has fairly equal whitespace on the borders
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
Inside rear covers of booklets 2 and 3 show the printer's imprint --
Graphic Printing of Lake Geneva; booklet 1 doesn't have it
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. As evidenced by the additional prints below, there is strong indication
that the box, the cover stickers, and the booklets themselves were printed in differing
amounts, which led to later "frankensteining" of the various parts
Thanks to Jon Peterson, Bruce Robertson, Paul Stormberg, Steve Vogel, and David Witts
for help with this info
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First Beta (mid 1974)
Identical in all respects to the First Print Alpha, except on two
points:
contains an errata sheet
contains a different print of Volume 3, Underworld &
Wilderness Adventures. In contrast to the booklet in the Alpha print, this
booklet has a cream-colored inside cover, and has slightly lighter (brighter?)
cover printing. Does not state any printing number inside
Our guess here is that for whatever reason, Volume 3 either had a lower
production run, or more likely, a portion of the batch was damaged and discarded. A
new run was commissioned and placed in these (and possibly some of Gamma's) boxes.
The same run was also used in the Second Print, though with "Second Printing --
January 1975" added to the inside
Thanks to Bruce Robertson, Paul Stormberg, and David Witts for help with
this info
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First Gamma (sold / distributed Dec 1975)
Wood-colored box, usually found without any sticker on the box. A
contributor who received his in Lake Geneva at the time remembers that the cover sticker
was loose inside the box, and had to be manually affixed. Others who received this
set do not remember any sticker at all
Woodgrain striations on the box now run vertically, i.e. this is a
"1975" box also used in the Second print, below
Booklets 1 and 2 are identical to the First Print Alpha
Most (all?) of these sets completely lacked a Volume 3 booklet; we'd be
interested to hear from those who have this set, to see if a Volume 3 is present and which
printing it matches
This print was clearly leftover stock of booklets 1 & 2 after the
boxes, stickers, and booklet 3 had run out. It was primarily given away to TSR
employees at the time; David Sutherland, Rob Kuntz, and Tim Kask all had copies. It
may also have been advertised as a "Christmas Special" in the Strategic Review Volume 5 (Dec 1975) for $2 or $4, even
though the Fifth Print was well underway by then!
Formerly referred to as the "Pre-Publication Print", which we
now believe to be false
Thanks to William Meinhardt, Bruce Robertson, Paul Stormberg, and Mike
Willegal for help with this info, and to William Meinhardt for the scan
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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)
Woodgrain striations on the box run vertically. Compared to the Third print sticker, this sticker is more centered and has fairly equal whitespace on the borders (same sticker as the First print)
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 all three booklets 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
1000 copies of this set were printed, and hand-assembled by Gygax and friends. Reportedly sold in five to six months
Thanks to Jon Peterson, Bruce Robertson, and Tyson Vickers for help with this info
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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)
Woodgrain striations on the box can run either direction (horizontally
or vertically); both versions spotted. Compared to the First/Second print sticker, this sticker nearly touches the top and bottom of the box, and has more whitespace towards the bottom
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
2000 copies of this set were printed, and again hand-assembled by Gygax and friends, as were the previous
sets. Reportedly sold out in five months
Thanks to Jon Peterson, Bruce Robertson, Tyson Vickers, and David Witts for help with this info
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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)
Woodgrain striations on the box run horizontally
(confirmation on this point needed)
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
Booklet 1
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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". The copyright notice notice on the title page
of Men & Magic correctly states Copyright 1975; the other two booklets state 1974
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"
5,000 copies of this set were printed
Unknown whether this print originally came shrinkwrapped (very likely,
it did)
Thanks to Scott Gregg, John Huckerby, Bryan Manahan, Jon Peterson, and David Wiley for this info
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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
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Sixth (1977)
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
Men & Magic catalog in the back has prices
Internal typeface is in an easy-to-read font
This print originally came shrinkwrapped
Often referred to as the "OCE" set
Thanks to Matthew Foster and Neville Ridley-Smith for help with this
info
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Seventh (1978-1979)
Identical to the Sixth printing, but Men & Magic no longer
has prices listed on the catalog in the back
This print originally came
shrinkwrapped
Often referred to as the "OCE"
set
The first three (including the Third+) printings of the Original D&D Set are extremely rare.
Prices for a First print continue to increase.
In December of 2016, a First print
Original D&D Set sold for $22,100 -- the highest (confirmed) sale price of any single
non-unique D&D item that was originally offered for retail sale.
The highest price for a D&D module is currently
B3 Palace of the Silver Princess.
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Box cover
(1st prt Alpha & Beta)

Box cover (1st prt Gamma)

Box cover (3rd prt)

Box cover (4th-5th prt)

Box cover (6th-7th print)

Book 1 (1st-3rd print)

Book 1 (3rd+/4th print)

Book 1 (5th-7th print)

Book 2 (5th-7th prt)

Book 3 (5th-7th prt)

Reference Sheets
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