first LBB received; do you remember yours?

[Deleted]

A few days ago I just got my first LBB, and it is Men & Magic. Sweet! I also got supplements II and IV at the same time. Needless to say, I am looking forward to completing the set.

Do you remember getting your first LBB? Didn't it feel great to hold it in your hands? And didn't it fire up your imagination and make you want to DM a game?

Yeah, it definitely beats the PDF.

[coffee]

I do remember getting mine. First I thought "Is this it?" But as I read it, everything in The Best of the Dragon volume 1 made a lot more sense.

(I got mine in about '84 or '85 or so.)

[greyharp]

Several years ago I picked up Greyhawk on ebay for a reasonable price - to my great surprise. It was magic holding it in my hands. I despaired of ever affording the rest and didn't think I'd ever pick up a box set. Then I discovered I had some rare Australian modules and I was able to swap them for a bunch of stuff, including all the remaining supplements and a 5th print white box set. Almost got a woodgrain box set, but the fella (understandably) pulled out. Still, I was better off in the long run because the deal I got really did a great job of filling in some big gaps in my collection. Getting the white box set was even more magical than the first experience and I had to pinch myself to believe I had the whole lot. I still handle them with great gentleness and reverence.

[tavis]

I found my White Box in the toy chest of my ex-wife's family's home in 1993. One of her older brothers bought it, with two issues of the Dungeoneer, at a Grand Rapids, Michigan book/hobby store in 1976. None of them was still interested in it, so I made off with my prize!

I always valued it as a piece of gaming history but it wasn't until getting the NG Wilderlands boxed set that I started paying any attention to the rules, until Gygax's death that I tried playing it, until reading these boards etc. that I really cracked the code, and until seeing other sets at GaryCon that I realized mine is a balrog-and-hobbit printing.

[ffilz]

I honestly don't remember when I got mine. Mine is one of the white box "Original Collector's Edition" versions, so I may actually have purchased it after I was already playing AD&D. But then I'm not sure exactly what I used to run my AD&D campaign before I had the DMG. It's possible I just used Greyhawk for treasure (and made assumptions about the few magic items that need description that aren't described in Greyhawk). Then perhaps I used the JG OD&D GM screen for combat tables, or didn't run AD&D until the combat tables showed up in the Dragon, or got them somewhere else.

In any case, my OD&D books are in very good condition, so I must not have used them that heavily (the box is in rough shape though, but I think it was a bit rough shape when I got it). I probably only ran AD&D 10 or 20 times before getting the DMG.

I do remember when I first perused OD&D though. I had some money in my pocket and had rode my bike to my favorite hobby store at the time. I had been reading some of Donald Featherstone's books from the library and had decided to invest in a miniatures wargame. The hobby store had a variety of games on a shelf behind the counter. I was curious about this Dungeons and Dragons game, and had a look at it. I also looked at Tractics. I decided at the time that this Dungeon's and Dragons game didn't look like something I would want to play and purchased Tractics.

A few months later, at my best friend's birthday party I was introduced to D&D via the Basic D&D set he got as a present. I was initially skeptical of this pencil and paper game without miniatures, so I opted just to watch, and actually volunteered to be the referee (due to some confusion of terminology). After everyone went to bed, I took the rule book and sat on the floor all night reading and absorbing it. In the morning I announced I was ready to run a game and had my friends roll up characters.

I know my friend soon got the OD&D boxed set, and possibly I photocopied some pages from it (after all, I ended up eventually photocopying practically his whole copy of Chivalry and Sorcery).

Frank

[Deleted]

The closest I've even ever BEEN to holding a LBB in my hand was seeing a wood-grain box set in a case at Origins last summer, and when I saw the price (which I don't remember exactly now) I could have farted Dixie. I had only recently become aware of pre-AD&D Dungeons & Dragons and I knew what a prize it was, but I was riding dirty at that convention and could barely afford the dinner I ate that night.

Someday, maybe. Someday...

(Sorry, I'll get off all y'alls lawns now!)

[thegreyelf]

Mine was only a couple years ago. It was magic. It was even more magical when I got a 5th print set with Tolkien references intact, and a saddle-stitched printing of Chainmail!

[Mr. Darke]

I remember the day I filled out the order on RPGNow to get the pdfs and the anticipated wait to get them downloaded so I could begin printing. Unless a miracle happens I have written off a real version.

[simrion]

Got my OCE in shrink at a local used book store for $10! Was already playing Moldvay B/X and AD&D but had to have it anyway. Over the next few years picked up the supps (Greyhawk worked well with Moldvay.) I just love to crack the LBBs on occasion and read the Forewards of each. Very evocative of the early gaming scene.

[jacar]

My friend got his set from his Uncle. I remember him saying it was a "Role Playing Game" where you kill monsters and get treasure. My interest was piqued but I remember being skeptical about the whole open endedness. We were perhaps 9 years old at the time. 1974-75? I still have the set. Years leater, when we played 1st edition, 0D&D ended up in my library somehow. I told my friend I still had it and he was welcome to it if he wanted it back. I even said he could probably sell it for a good price. He said I could keep it. One of the best presents I ever got.

[kenmeister]

I got a set of the 3 LBB for $15 apiece last year. Yeah, it was very cool. I was surprised that the artwork was so cheesy.

[badger2305]

I recall getting my first white box set from the Little Tin Soldier Shop in Minneapolis when I was a teenager. The wargamers scoffed at D&D, saying it was "fantasy crap" and why would anyone want to play that? Even so, I found myself opening it up with a sense of wonder, as I had played a few games with friends already. It was pretty darn cool.

Later, I got a woodgrain set as a gift from a friend. That was great!

[grodog]

I bought my original OCE from the Dungeon Hobby Shop c. 1982-4 or so, but I didn't own the LBBs or OD&D supplements prior to then. I got tired of reading references to the traps and tricks, or dungeon design advice in U&WA, etc., which is what prompted me to finally pick up the L(W)Bs.

[codeman123]

I have always been interested in od&d and ever since discovering d&d many years ago wanted a set but never thought i could afford one but it wasn't until i came to these boards that i really became interested in playing od&d and i searched the internet for years for a box set at a decent price until one of our esteemed members here Coffee sold me an extra one of his! I really cherish this set and love to show it off at the gaming table as all my players ogle at it. It will always be my favorite rpg i own thanks Coffee!

[murquhart72]

Got my first OCE years ago off eBay. Just winning the auction left me feeling like Indiana Jones staring at that gold idol with a sandbag in his hand ;D
When it actually arrived, I handled it like some old scholar, tenderly pouring over the ancient text and trying to remember life in a world before websites, CDs and mandatory seatbelts.
Now I have two sets: the better one I keep in storage, the battered one I take out all the time just to read, if not play

[crusssdaddy]

I got Supp. III, my first and only LBB, sometime in the early '80s, from Vans Hobby Shop, in San Jose CA. They mostly sold models, trains, and arts & crafts supplies, but they had a little rack on the front counter that had D&D stuff. I also got Salt Marsh, Silver Princess, and a couple others from that little rack.

My Supp. III is a little embarrassing to look at now. First thing my 11-year-old self did was to draw pubic hair and nipples on all the naked chicks.

[jmccann]

I got a 6th ed. OCE in maybe 1978/ 79 about the time I got a Monster Manual. I never got Holmes since it was so incomplete (3d level? pfft!) preferring to wait for the PHB and DMG. I got Eldritch Wizardry at about that time. About 1988(?) I got a great copy of Blackmoor at the clearance price of $3.00. In the late 90s I purged all of my wargames and most of my RPG stuff but I hung onto AD&D and WUwA (why??). Most of the wargames collection has been replaced along w/ some newer stuff, and I have since acquired M&M, M&T, GH and EW again.

[Brunomac]

I picked the LLB's and Greyhawk up at Chess and Games in Westwood around '78. They got Blackmoor not long after that so I spent my piddly allowance money on that as well.

[arcadayn]

I'm looking forward to the day I can track down an affordable copy of the box set. Unfortunately, my interest in the OSR coincided with my financial decline. Someday....