As far as I know, the 1st printing of the Moldvay Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules book has only slight graphical details setting it apart from later printings.
But, hey, in collecting the details are everything.
Zenopus Archives noted similar changes in the Expert Book.
The Acaeum describes the 1st print book in the 8th print box. The Moldvay D&D Basic Box continues on to 9th, 10th, and 11th printings. Holmes Basic and Moldvay Basic are so vastly different, I have to say I can’t agree with the Acaeum’s combining them in the same printing sequence. Ditto with Mentzer Basic. I understand the Acaeum was trying to reconcile common term usage, but the various incarnations of D&D Basic really are distinct editions.
Front cover, the “1” is in a white circle in later prints. And the fonts of the promotional and legal text were adjusted.
Ditto with the back cover.
But the copyright date is not the same: 1980 for the 1st printing, and 1981 for subsequent prints.
Inside cover, the table of contents went from black to blue.
Dates changed on the title page as well. And they numbered the title page as the first page: “B1”. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson went bizarrely uncredited in the first print; this was corrected in later printings.
See Also:
Dungeons & Dragons: The Shift in Early Box Formats
MINIATURE COLLECTOR’S BOX – Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Expert Set
Which BECMI D&D Expert Rulebook do you have?
PLAYER’S HANDBOOK & DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE (ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, 1978-9) ** 1ST PRINTS **
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
I have a copy of a printing between the two you referenced above. It had some of the 1980 title page original run, but also some the changes for the 1981 run, with the creators credited. The #1 dot is also a pale yellow or light orange. An odd mix of the first print and second print. So, there is a third run. There is no other reason for my copy.
Definitely something to be looked into, on my part.
That is very interesting. I’ll keep my eyes open for it.