This will be fun.  I've been trying to collect more information on this, but have hit a road block and felt it time to proceed with our collective energy.

Some time ago Harry Quinn posted on the classifieds that he had an Orange B3 in shrink for sale.  Harry was a TSR atrist in the early 80s.

http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2534

I took him up on the offer, and during our correspondances, it was learned that he also had "the box that it came in" and had been kept in for the last 20+ years.  :idea:  :!:  :!:   This of course was interesting and exciting to say the least...knowing the fabled legend of this module and how some of these met their salvation from the trash...

Harry Quinn wrote:Hi Jeff,

The box it has remained in for the last twenty something years is the original box from TSR days.  I took this box off the top of the dumpster shortly after they were placed there.

I was employed in the art department, at TSR, from the spring of 1981, to I think the spring of 1984.  Most of the artwork I did was the Black and White module drawings or manual drawings, and a few module covers.  I also did design work on the modules, and packaging.

Thanks,

Harry

Pictures of the legendary box for review:







Now the interesting part....  The box has about 2.25 inches of module space, which would hold many fewer than the "one box of 72 copies" stated in the Acaeum information.  By my estimation, only 30-36 copies would fit in this box.  I've tried to contact Harry for more information, and have left him a voice mail to try to obtain more of his recollections on this but haven't been able to connect.

So, knowing what information we do, what do you think that means?  Perhaps there were 2 boxes of 36 saved?  Or perhaps only this one box?

Oh, the OB3 is in pristine flat mint SW shape with utterly no warping or corner stress FWIW.

Jeff,
What are the height and width of the box?  Could it hold two stacks of 36 modules lying side by side?  Or does it have the dimensions of a single stack of 36 modules?

-Stephen

a2jeff wrote:

afoolandhis$ wrote:Jeff,
What are the height and width of the box? Could it hold two stacks of 36 modules lying side by side? Or does it have the dimensions of a single stack of 36 modules?

-Stephen

Definitely only one stack of ~36....the dimensions are slightly larger than 8.5x11.

Adam, I agree these TSR folks probably think we are insane! And yes, the box was sent in a box thusly protected.

First off that is freaking wicked cool.

Secondly, I suspect that the story about the box of 72 may not infact be true. The story itself is almost too perfect to be true, and it is kind of folk tale-ish(is this even a word?). Additionally, when taken into context, if in fact that there was really only 1(or 2) boxes that survived the trashing, I seriously doubt that we would be finding them from so many differsified sources right now. For example, think about the one that sold back in the spring by toymom. Only ~24 years have past since its supposed dermise and yet we have seen OB3s come some from some very different and seperate sources. You would think that if Harry was the only one who was able to save the OB3s, taking in consideration the amount of time that has past, to me it would seem logival that a majority og the ones that we would be seeing would be primarily first or second hand from previous TSR employees and possibly thier family members. I have a suspicion that the story about the 1 surviving box may not in fact be entirely true. I am sure with further interogationing , oops I meant questioning , former TSR employees we may be able to get a clearer picture of what really may have happened. A good place to start would be to probably ping both Frank Mentzer & Stephen Mrsh since they both visit here from time to time about what thier own recolections of the happenings of the OB3s. That in conjunction with following up with HArry himself may lead to some answers. If Paul & Alan can also touch base with EGG and RJK that may help as well.

i bought the first two ob3`s sold at gencon (for $46 and $71). the third one sold for $310. when the tsr staffers heard about this they went home that night to get their personal copies, and i suspect a number changed hands the next day via private sales. the next year (1984) they were rather plentiful ( i`d say i saw 10+ copies sold at auction and many more were being traded and sold in the auction hall). in 1985 the number was greatly reduced and in subsequeny years they hardly would turn up at all. i suspect that after people realized that the module was really pg-13 as opposed to x-rated the interested waned for the masses and they had settled in the arms of collectors. oh and that box is very cool by the way.

killjoy32 wrote:so do y'all think there might be more of the OB3's? if so what kinda figure are we looking at?

From what I suspected yes.  From information that I was given last night it is almost certain now, and the figure that was indicated to me was a lot more than 72.

Though I'm fully aware of how ridiculous a statement this is, I'm still compelled to say it:

That is, quite possibly, the coolest cardboard box on the planet.

zhowar1 wrote:

blackdougal wrote:Though I'm fully aware of how ridiculous a statement this is, I'm still compelled to say it:

That is, quite possibly, the coolest cardboard box on the planet.

Yeah, I like how the font for the description of the contents ("Dungeon Module B3 Palace of the Silver Princess")

Yeah, and what's really cool is how understated it is.  Man, nobody had any idea what the contents of that little box would unleash.

Adam Shultz wrote:Wasn't there a listing of all fonts used in TSR products somewhere?

I just Googled (+TSR +fonts) and the first hit was the TSR & WOTC Font FAQ:

http://www.geocities.com/rgfdfaq/tsrfonts.html

Looks like the one above is:

*? Souvenir Demi, Light (Linotype, Adobe, etc.)
a.k.a. Soutane, Souvienne
(Confirmed as "Souvenir", but which version was not specified)

I'd say that's a hell of a match.  Very cool.