How to Identify: TSR D&D Dice
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- Опубліковано 3 січ 2023
- This episode looks at the different sets of dice TSR used/sold for Dungeons & Dragons from the original wood grain box set through the BECMI boxed sets, and examines the 5 different versions that they sold and produced. Once you learn how to do it, you can quickly be an expert and impress all your friends -- you can do it every time in under 60 seconds... guaranteed!
What is it Wednesday episodes help collectors and sellers of RPG items identify the precise printing, edition, or version of an item: an RPG rule book, accessory or boxed set, miniature, magazine or other awesome memorabilia. And it also let's me share some of what I've learned about the stuff that I enjoy.
And if you really want to geek out and test yourself, go on eBay or your other favorite sale site and start looking at dice for sale. With just a couple of photos of the item for sale, you can start to get really good at this, really quickly.
Watch the video and learn how to identify which version of TSR dice you're looking at; or tell if the dice are actually made by a 3rd party company (you often see folks putting in other dice with sets to make them "complete").
** I'm not offering any valuations here, but as with most RPG collectibles, two things to keep in mind: earlier is better and condition is key.
*** Link to the Acaeum website: www.acaeum.com/index.html
*** Thanks again to the folks who did awesome work at the Acaeum site.
**** Link to Jon Peterson's Playing at the World blog: playingattheworld.blogspot.co...
***** Link to Kevin Cook's website: www.dicecollector.com/
****** Link to gmdice article on polyhedral dice: www.gmdice.com/blogs/dnd/the-...
******* 3rd Party Dice Companies:
Gamescience.com
koplow.ecadv.com
Thank you for the lesson! You helped me identify a set of light blue Moldvay dice I found at the flea market. My all time best find there 😀 Thank you!
Glad it helped! Enjoy those dice !!
Lou Zocchi is a real character... I talked with him on the phone once upon a time asking about back-issues of Dragon Magazine and he kept me on the phone chatting for like an hour. lol This was back in like 1990 when you had to pay long distance calls. I was having so much fun chatting with him, I didn't fuss, though. lol 🙂
btw... his name is pronounced like ZOCK-EEE. Definitely a character! ;-)
@@KabukiKidyou know, I thought maybe I was saying that wrong but I couldn’t recall so I went with an Italian pronunciation. 😅
Very informative! I always knew the older dice as "Mud" dice.
Yes, I’ve heard that term too. Bottom line, they weren’t the greatest quality but they sure were the key to some awesome fun!
This is an excellent video, I never knew there was that information about dice! Thanks for posting
Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked it.
Excellent piece of history and a must for DnD newcomers. I understand the passion people show about Zocchi and his gamescience dice sets. But that is now a thing in the past, a piece of DnD history. I think I can fully appreciate it as it is. But people have to accept we don't live in those times anymore. We have now well made metal dice sets with dozens of motives that outlive any regular plastic die and they cost less then your average gamescience set. Just something to consider. Otherwise thank you for this video.
I usually play with the old Moldvay dice. It's purely about the nostalgia for me -- reminds me of being a kid. I sure wouldn't say they are "better" dice, just what makes me happy. As long as you're rolling dice and having fun, that's what counts.
@@AZMountaineer Hoping you don't play with that red set from your picture -- those dice are fried. Although maybe because they're so worn they're good at rolling 20s. Yeah -- I tossed my Moldvay dice a long time ago -- I had the more common blue dice. Another set that didn't hold up, not as bad as the Holmes dice -- but pretty bad.
Learned some things today
@@jacobspa6725 glad to hear it!
Happy New Year Mountaineer! This is an excellent video! My first set of dice came with my Moldvay/Cook rules around 82 or so. They lasted about 5 years or so and gradually disintegrated. 🤣 One set was red and the other light blue. The first time I saw them they were the coolest things in the world to my 11 year old mind. 🤣
Glad you enjoyed it. This was a fun one to make.
You missed the big black box that came out in the 90's while it was still owned by TSR. They resemble chessex dice but had a dot instead of a line to designate the bottom of a 6 or 9.
Thanks for the comment. I think I cut off my review before that set and its dice came out, but I'm not sure I really said that in the video. I did have a set of those dice I picked up somewhere but I'm not sure I even still have them.
Have my mother's old dice. Looking for helpful information to fix the fading numbers.
Mother's first set of dice are of Mentzer . Very kool too learn that.
Glad the video was helpful. Normally the numbers on those dice were filled in with a crayon - really any crayon will do the trick. You color in the number and wipe the face of the die with a napkin or cloth and the number should stay colored. Some people used an ink pen and just carefully colored the number that way.
One of my friends has the Holmes set, and ya, they are really jankey. All of the corners are worn off so they are almost round. He loves them.
Isn't that the truth...I've told people that about my original dice too -- I'd never trade those for "higher quality" dice.
Yes -- I also have a set of the Holmes dice. Yes - "Janky" is the right word to describe them. But thanks to this video I've learned they're worth at least $100, and I almost tossed them a few years ago. Don't quite understand why someone would spend $100 for crappy dice -- but there is a market for them.
Do you have a video for Dice from later editions? personally looking for some facts on AD&D 1st and 2nd edition Dice
I don’t have a separate video on other dice. You may know, the dice didn’t come as part of the hardback books. You bought the books and then if you didn’t have dice already you bought dice separately. TSR had the Mentzer style dice they sold in a blister as Dragon dice. And then TSR sold a different style dice in a separate blister pack for a while. Because the dice weren’t part of any particular system or book set I did not include those in this video.
6:26 ...we got this set and we didn't get dice...but CHITS.
I'm curious, did you all punch them out and use them to generate numbers for the game or did you do something else?
@@AZMountaineer we cut them out and put them in a cup.🙄 We got dice later.
Curious how much the OD&D dice or the Holmes dice (got them in the Holmes basic set, and yes the d6 was orange) are worth? I'm assuming like most collectible things if they were never used i.e. near mint worth a dent amount -- and worthless if they were used. Sadly, I actually used my Holmes set from back in the day like most people -- and they looked bad in the end, you're right - they were very low-quality dice. I think I finally tossed them totally worn down.
These dice are quite collectible. Condition is always a big factor affecting price, but even a worn set is something some collectors would be interested in getting.
@@AZMountaineer Any idea on value in dollars? A brand new set? A badly worn set? I actually did find my old set after I commented -- they are badly worn -- but I do have all of them.
I see people asking $100-$150 for a complete set of these dice used, maybe $150-$200 if they're in very nice condition. And even more if you can find them in the original bag and never been opened. Condition is a key thing and of course finding a buyer who really wants the item. But the market for vintage D&D is pretty good.
@@AZMountaineer Crap you are right. I looked on eBay and yep $100-$200 for an old set (multiple listings) and some are in poor condition. Now I'm really glad I still have mine. I was going to toss them out. Not sure why anyone would want a Holmes set in poor condition -- but I guess some people are interested -- serious nostalgia collectors, I guess.
@@quantus5875 I'm not sure why folks like Holmes either. But I love Moldvay dice - -that is the first set I had and the first dice I had so the nostalgia is a big factor. When I got a set of Holmes dice a couple years later, I was like "who would want these things?" Fortunately I tossed them in a box and they stayed there.