Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Dungeons and Dragons First Printing Sells for $5,600

A first printing of the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set just sold on eBay for $5,600:


This game is from the first print run of 1,000 copies that Gary Gygax himself hand-assembled. This particular set is remarkable for its near mint condition - most known copies have been used to some degree, many quite heavily. Also notable is this set's provenance, as it comes with a letter hand-written and signed by Gygax:

1 June 1974

Dear Bob,

Thanks for your interest in D & D! The enclosed flyer should solve your old problems re the loca-tion of TSR… Note the set costs a whopping $10.00, but if you like fantasy I’ll personally guarantee your satisfaction.

Best,
Gary

P. S. Have a relative in Chicago by the name of (same as yours)?


The lucky high bidder also received “the first Supplement I (did not come with cover---24 pages) and second Supplement II (60 pages)” and “the original sales flyer missing the cut-out coupon that was used to order the set”. A rare and spectacular collectible, indeed! Prior to this sale, the highest price paid for a first printing of D&D was $5,100 in 2006, according to The Acaeum.

The seller also sold this first printing of Chainmail for $1,236 in a separate auction:

16 comments:

  1. Cripes this is good news. Previously, I'd only managed to convince my wife that my very old scotch is a good investment. Now I can work on her re: my copy of Chainmail and other OD&D stuff.

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  2. The mind boggles at such a thing. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

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  3. I use examples like this to rebut critics of Swords & Wizardry who claim that everyone should just play the original.

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  4. Ugh! You're dashing my hopes of picking this up for super-cheap.

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  5. b_i: look for single books in terrible shape, bid cheaply and be prepared to lose the first zillion times. That's how I assembled my set for under fifty bucks.

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  6. I use examples like this to rebut critics of Swords & Wizardry who claim that everyone should just play the original.

    Do people actually make that claim? If so, that's beyond absurd. I cherish my complete OD&D set but I'm an obsessive about stuff like this. Not everyone is nor should they be expected to be.

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  7. James: I'm laughing, personally. Then again, I was lucky enough to get hold of the PDFs when they were legally available *and* I'm a player, not a collector.

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  8. @ze bulette and bliss: Actually D&D collectible prices seem to have been pretty stable over the last 10 years or so (for non-unique items, at least). So while items like this will probably continue to set incremental records, if you adjust for inflation it's a little less impressive.

    Prices for a lot of old TSR stuff may even be going down slightly. I've seen several nice looking 6th-printing whitebox sets go for under $100 recently on eBay. For many years these have averaged around $150 or so. You can also usually pick up the individual booklets for $15-20 each, or less if they are well-used or listed incorrectly.

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  9. It makes you wonder whether you'd part with an early printing of OD&D, if you had it. At $7,000 for the combined let, this is definitely one to be put behind glass.

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  10. @cyclopeatron - crazy crazy stuff.

    @bliss - hang out on Craigslist. I got all 3 LBBs/Ref Sheets and Greyhawk for $20 from a "make me an offer" ad on CL. No box, but I wasn't gunning for the box, just the books. The guy said people were hanging up on him because he didn't have the box. Fuck that, $20 for the three? Can't beat that. I made my own box :)

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  11. Hah! I haven't specifically looked for it in a while, but Box Only auctions used to pop up on ebay all the time.

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  12. This makes my day! I'm with James Mal - the love for the game and for something this valuable makes me grin like the Cheshire Cat while my eyes grow misty with tears! Good post!

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  13. how do you know whether you have a 1st, 2nd or whatever printing of the OD&D?

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  14. I have the original D&D set with box 3rd print, I got it from my uncle who recently passed away he was a game collector, it looks to be NM condition books look like the have never been used. the box it in VG condition too. I want to sell it for about 1250.00 I know it goes on other web sites for 1399.99 and I believe mine is in better condition.

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  15. http://www.ebay.com/itm/120933379692?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

    3rd print! boxed set woodgrain!

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