Header Modules
Modules featuring a cardboard header glued or stapled to the shrinkwrap, with the D&D or AD&D logo and some other advertising. These were distributed to large retailers (such as Toys 'R' Us) and were designed to be hung on a rack.
Yet another attempt to clear overstock, much like the 10th Anniversary Combo Packs -- though in this case, the modules chosen were some of the most popular ever written.
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook
B2 Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax
B4 Lost City by Tom Moldvay
D1-2 Descent Into the Depths by Gary Gygax
EX1 Dungeonland by Gary Gygax
EX2 Land Beyond the Magic Mirror by Gary Gygax
I4 Oasis of the White Palm by Philip Meyers and Tracy Hickman
L1 Secret of Bone Hill by Len Lakofka
L2 Assassin's Knot by Len Lakofka
MSOLO1 Blizzard Pass by David Cook
MSOLO2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur by Jeff Grubb
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun by Gary Gygax
X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay
X3 Curse of Xanathon by Douglas Niles
X4 Master of the Desert Nomads by David Cook
X5 Temple of Death by David Cook
The cardboard header of modules for the Basic Rules (B2, B4, MSOLO1) are red; those for the Expert Rules (MSOLO2, X2, X3, X4, X5) are blue; for AD&D (A1, D1-2, EX1, EX2, I4, L1, L2, S3, WG4), orange.
There was but a single identifiable printing of each header module.
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity: Identified as a Fourth print on the A page. Orange header, glued to shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Third print.
B2 Keep on the Borderlands: Identified as a Seventh print on the B page. Red header, glued to shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Sixth print.
B4 Lost City: Identified as a Second print on the B page. Red header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
D1-2 Descent Into the Depths: Identified as a Fifth print on the D page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Fourth print.
EX1 Dungeonland: Identified as a Second print on the EX page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
EX2 Land Beyond the Magic Mirror: Identified as a Second print on the EX page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
I4 Oasis of the White Palm: Identified as a Second print on the Desert page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
L1 Secret of Bone Hill: Identified as a Fifth print on the L page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Fourth print.
L2 Assassin's Knot: Identified as a Second print on the L page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
MSOLO1 Blizzard Pass: Identified as a Second print on the MSOLO page. Red header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
MSOLO2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur: Identified as a Second print on the MSOLO page. Blue header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: Identified as a Seventh print on the S page. Orange header, glued to shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Sixth print.
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun: Identified as a Second print on the WG page. Orange header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
X2 Castle Amber: Identified as a Third print on the X page. Blue header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Second print.
X3 Curse of Xanathon: Identified as a Fourth print on the X page. Blue header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a Third print.
X4 Master of the Desert Nomads: Identified as a Second print on the X page. Blue header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
X5 Temple of Death: Identified as a Second print on the X page. Blue header, glued to the shrinkwrap. Module itself, separate from the header, is indistinguishable from a First print.
Thanks to Adrian Newman for the scans of B2 and L2, Michael Deaton for the scan of B4, EX1, I4, X4, and X5, Scott Fayers for the scan of X2, Mike Kuo for the scan of EX2 and S3, and Jeff Philbrick for the scan of WG4.
A1 Header
B2 Header
B4 Header
D1-2 Header
EX1 Header
EX2 Header
I4 Header
L1 Header
L2 Header
MSOLO1 Header
MSOLO2 Header
S3 Header
WG4 Header
X2 Header
X3 Header
X4 Header
X5 Header
Header modules are significantly rarer -- and often sell for several times more -- than their headerless brethren. The values below assume the cardboard header is present and intact. Since the cardboard is attached to the shrinkwrap, the normal SW-value "enhancement" doesn't apply (i.e., if there's no shrinkwrap, the header won't be present, either, making them indistinguishable from headerless copies).
The following represents The Acaeum's current valuation of these items, dependent upon condition. Values are updated at the beginning of the month, provided there were new public sales. Due to the very limited number of sales of any Header modules (as of the time of this writing, only 28 total tracked sales), we've decided to combine all the sales into one valuations estimate. While it appears the the B2 header module is quite a bit more common than the others, it remains that all of these are extremely rare, and should fetch a similar high price.
| Fair | Good | VGood | Fine | VFine | NMint | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Header module (any) | Fair$250 | Good$450 | VGood$600 | Fine$750 | VFine$900 | NMint$1000 |