https://www.facebook.com/shawn.spickert ... 915&type=3Way back in the early 1970's, when I was still in preschool, my father was a weekend tabletop gamer with a local crew in Pittsburg KS. Their genre of choice was modern military miniatures. They constructed their own rules, made table top terrain, and conducted garage battles based upon both real and fictional scenarios. To this day, my Father still dabbles in game creation from time to time, but now it is from more of a teaching perspective. In any case, during this era one of the crew got interested in a game of another sort. A game by Gary Gygax. He had picked up a few copies of the Wood grain first print alpha OD&D box sets from the original creator and one made its way to me. It has largely set on a shelf, as it was not the game genre of choice. I got bit by the RPG bug during my teens and the game and its successors were a welcome escape for many an hour right through my early thirties. Even with periodic use, my original first print set and the reference sheets that came with it are still in fairly good shape. The main casualty of the set is the lack of the wood grain box which went missing sometime during the late 1990's.
The basis for my claim that this is one of the original 1000 sets is the following: 1) The price on the cover of all three books is $3.50. 2) The first book of the set has the mounted figure on the cover that was inspired by the comic book. 3) There is no mention of second or third printing on the inside cover of any of the books. 4) There are references to hobbits, balrogs, and ents throughout the books. This was later changed due to Tolkien. 5) The elves are bearded. 6) The back inside cover has the right markings or graphic printing company. Given all this and the obvious trail of ownership that the set took, it is clear that this is a boxless original first edition first printing dungeons and dragons set. A very rare set indeed. Note that the insert material has survived as can be seen in the pictures at the above link, so the main casualty of the slightly worn set is the original wood grain box.
I am unsure whether I want to keep it or sell it, but would like an idea of its value in its current form. Your thoughts and feedback are appreciated.
