I was wondering if any of the OD&D products ever were available overseas.  This site implies that the Holmes Basic Rulebook or Set was the first TSR material available to players outside the US & Canada.  

I assume that the OD&D products, along with other TSR items of the pre-AD&D/Classic D&D era, were not "officially" available in the UK, Australia or other foreign countries.  Considering the relative obscurity of D&D at this time, there are extremely limited possibilities for OD&D product to find it way overseas:

1.  Someone bought OD&D items and moved overseas or was friends with someone living in the US or Canada that told them about the game; or

2.  The person subscribed to newsletters or magazines with an international scope and learned of it through there.  

The second choices seems more likely.  Even still, the process to acquire such product could not have been easy or expedient.  Since there was no copies to buy in the UK, the ordering would have to be done through the mail.  First an inquiry would have to be made whether TSR would ship overseas and how much it would cost.  Assuming TSR responded positively, then the buyer would have to send the money to TSR in Lake Geneva.  He can't send pounds, he can't send a cheque, credit cards didn't really have currency conversion services then and wiring money pay not have been an option either.  Assuming a proper medium of exchange was found, it would have to be mailed to TSR, then TSR would have to mail the product to the buyer in the UK.  Then the package would have to go through customs, duties would be declared and paid.  Considering the cost of multiple mailings and the time it would take, I would be surprised if there was alot of OD&D material in Europe.  Maybe he could get lucky with an import wargaming store, but I doubt you could find those in any given County.

I can't speak for British people   , but there was already a significant distribution network in Europe for 'wargames' between the '70s and '80s. In Italy the third issue of Pergioco (a general interest gaming magazine with articles spanning from boardgames to Go, sadly folding in 1984...) there is an article describing the various projects and lines of US 'small' gaming companies (the big ones being SPI and AH) with a description of D&D and  a photo showing various games, including the three AD&D core books and another one explaining to readers the 'fantasy games' (with a long dissertation about D&D...). And the magazine is dated December 1980! More amazingly, there is an ITALIAN contributor listed in the Fiend Folio for the Aleax monster! I have talked with a young gamer that talked with the son of this true pioneer and he told him that his father bought D&D books in the UK... while other Old Guard gamers bought from the British branch of SPI (Roberto Di Meglio, co author of War of the Ring, was one of them). And let's not forget Italian exchange students in the US - I knew one that was indoctrinated during his university years and still fondly remembered his halfling thief    Avalon Hill and SPI were regularly distributed here in the 70s and there was an outfit called Avalon Hill Italiana (Avalon Hill Italy   ) already up and running in 1978-79.

I was just looking at the Strategic Review PDFs last night and in Vol1. #3, there were listed both a European and Australian distributors of TSR goods. with #4 a UK specific contact was listed as well.

This leads me to believe that OD&D materials were definitely going overseas.

On the page for the OD&D set, it mentions that the pre-publication print was available in limited quantities at Eastercon '73.  Unless there were two conventions with the same name running in the world at that time, Eastercon is held in the UK.

Rakeesh sah Tarna wrote:incorrect information takes long time to correct here

Care to enlighten us?

remembering op question
gw import from 8/75 other organised import before walter luc haas + few flgs + played at brit universities with us students
woodgrains also in oz not so sure with some others

gyg wrote:
Care to enlighten us?

As noted by Rakeesh there never was a Prepub set.  It was an urban legend that was perpatrated by some wrong information that cause an incorrect theory. This was discussed a in the past here:

viewtopic.php?t=3285&highlight=prepub

As well as in another thread that I just can't find.  Long story short, there is and never was such a thing as a Pre-Publication Woodgrain set and Foul has just not gotten around to removing it from the site yet.