Hi guys, haven't been around to post for some time now what with one thing and another, although I've tried to have a read up on the latest comments etc.

Anyway, the boxset I recently bought is on its way at least. It wasn't listed as such, but it appears to be a 4h print, so I'm quite pleased with that. Although the box appears a bit squashed the books look good so with a bit of luck I can finally get hold of the original books!

I'm not sure if I paid over the odds, having been watching a few previously on ebay, but it seemed a fair price to me. Out of interest are the 4th prints particularly less desirable than later ones, as I had originally wanted to get an OCE, but their prices seemed to be much higher for some reason.

Hope to get chatting here again soon,

Dave

Oops, soz about the twin post!  

Anyhow, it arrived this morning. Box is pretty battered really, but the books are perfect with only a little bit of marking on a couple of the staple areas.

There were even the reference sheets in there too, which weren't advertised.

Really chuffed with it!  

Thanks for that. Having checked things closely with the copies shown in the rules section, it seems I have the 5th print as there are no prices on the books covers (but still has Hobbits), although the box is much more yellow than white.

Anywho, I suspect thats age.... Still, well pleased I've got a copy of these old books at last and it does have the reference sheets too! (clutches at straws)  

So, just out of interest, would anyone happen to offer a Blackmoor supplement??     Not bothered about the other two, because I've got the Greyhawk books for AD&D and don't know if the GH supplement adds anything in details?

Thanks
Edit

Just out of interest, the books I have look more like the scan on these pages of the 4th print, but just don't have the price. The scan of the 5th print here appears to have more space below the lowest line of lettering and appear much whiter.

Maybe its just the scans, but were there any 4th print books without a price on the front??  

ashmire13 wrote:
So, just out of interest, would anyone happen to offer a Blackmoor supplement??     Not bothered about the other two, because I've got the Greyhawk books for AD&D and don't know if the GH supplement adds anything in details?

Congratulations!  Sounds like a great find.
You may want to reconsider how you feel about Greyhawk, the supplement.  If memory serves, it has little or no content about  The World of Greyhawk.  What it does do is expand the OD&D rules into something much more like the AD&D we know and love, adding the Thief, the Paladin, Beholders, different hit dice for different classes, different damage dice for different weapons, and lots more.   Historically it´s of major importance.

stumbling tiger wrote: What it does do is expand the OD&D rules into something much more like the AD&D we know and love, adding the Thief, the Paladin, Beholders, different hit dice for different classes, different damage dice for different weapons, and lots more.   Historically it´s of major importance.

Indeed. Judges Guild used to sell a D&D starter pack including the white box plus Greyhawk [& CSIO], since Thieves & differing weapon damage had become so essential.

I intentionally ran my OD&D campaign without Greyhawk, in order to get the most archaic effect. Having an old print with 'Hobbits' instead of 'Halflings' is good for that too.

serleran wrote:There is magic in that little box, and, oddly, it is just big enough to put the supplements inside, too, even S&S.

Probably why they stopped making supplements for OD&D when they did. My copy is overstuffed with every other digest-size TSR book I can find. There was a lot of magic to go around in those days.

Greyhawk is where most of the stuff you see fully fleshed out in AD&D appeared first.  Of the supplements for OD&D, it's the most important one because of the wholesale changes it made to the original D&D rules.  The other books aren't strictly necessary, but as each of them with the exception of Gods, Demigods & Heroes had elements that made their way into AD&D, you might want to think about getting them, especially if you want to have a proto-AD&D feel in your gaming.

To briefly recapitulate here is the stuff from each book that made its way into AD&D in some form.  This list cannot be considered wholly accurate, but should suffice to illustrate the importance of Greyhawk.

• Greyhawk: Thieves, half-elves(?), exceptional strength, variable hit dice for classes, revamped experience system, weapon speed factors (ugh!), variable damage for weapons, hit dice change for monsters (to 8-sided dice), additional spells, monsters, and magic items.
• Blackmoor: Assassins, monks, aquatic monsters and treasure.  Blackmoor's biggest selling point though is Temple of the Frog, one of the first adventures for OD&D.
• Eldritch Wizardry: Druids, psionics, demons, psionic creatures, artifacts.
• Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes: Was not a core rule book, but was expanded into the Deities & Demigods supplement for AD&D.
• Chainmail, Swords & Spells: Not in the core rules, mass combat was eventually revisited with Battlesystem.

As a side note, core AD&D also incorporated stuff found in early Dragon magazines at least until issue #14, possibly later.

Congrats on the win.  I think you'll enjoy it, especially as you have hobbits, ents, and balrogs, while all I've got are halflings and treants.