Zenopus wrote:Thanks for sharing! I went through some of the earlier ones back when the link was posted on Grognardia, looking for the Holmes Basic set, but didn't find anything. It seems that D&D didn't get into these types of catalogs until a bit later. Though the coverage is spotty, so others might turn up.
Zenopus wrote:Grognardia did a retrospective on Shadowlord! I'd never heard of it before. It has promising looking artwork.
Zenopus wrote in Early TSR/D&D advertisements & catalogs:Here's another ad. Later (Wizard Logo) but much odder:[ Image ]I don't know where it was published. The image was hosted on a "vintage e-card" website several years ago.
Zenopus wrote in Early TSR/D&D advertisements & catalogs:I'd almost forgotten about this thread!
Zenopus wrote in Early TSR/D&D advertisements & catalogs:Chris of Hill Cantons has tracked down the source of some unusual D&D ads, one of which was previously featured on the very first page of this thread.They ran in Omni magazine in late 1980, and there were at least three in the series, one of which I hadn't seen before:D&D Omni style
Zenopus wrote in Early TSR/D&D advertisements & catalogs:That makes sense, since the B/X sets weren't released until January 1981, and that ad shows pictures of them. Thanks for looking up the issues.
SimperingToad wrote in Early TSR/D&D advertisements & catalogs:grodog on Zenopus Archives wrote:It's interesting that the black-banner B1 appears in the 2nd and 3rd ads, but is replaced by the 4th ad. I wonder if that helps at all with trying to nail down its existence further? The ads span from Sept 1979 to April 1980, which are well after B1 was supposed to have been published in 1978, per B1 & B2 so I wonder if either the Acaeum dates are wrong, or if in fact the black banner versions were sold in prior to Nov 1978 and the Holmes 2nd edition/4th printing sets.I'll do some digging this weekend to see what I can find among my TSR catalogs/sell sheets/etc. to see if there's any further help on this dates-wise.To possibly answer grodog's query from the comments on Zenopus' blog on the 'black banner' modules on the back of the Holmes box...[snip]So, if I am correct, these 'pre-production' prints are simply mock-ups made for the photo, and no such 'printing' actually exists.
grodog on Zenopus Archives wrote:It's interesting that the black-banner B1 appears in the 2nd and 3rd ads, but is replaced by the 4th ad. I wonder if that helps at all with trying to nail down its existence further? The ads span from Sept 1979 to April 1980, which are well after B1 was supposed to have been published in 1978, per B1 & B2 so I wonder if either the Acaeum dates are wrong, or if in fact the black banner versions were sold in prior to Nov 1978 and the Holmes 2nd edition/4th printing sets.I'll do some digging this weekend to see what I can find among my TSR catalogs/sell sheets/etc. to see if there's any further help on this dates-wise.
