Post by foster1941 on Mar 24, 2005 2:43:25 GMT -5
In case any of the rest of you are true nostalgia fetishists you might be interested to know that authentic old-school dice sets are currently being offered for sale by Noble Knight Games. These are the real thing -- not the uninked dice & crayon that came with the Moldvay & Mentzer sets, or 'faux-old-school' dice like those included in the C&C sets (nothing says old-school like a d10 numbered 00-90 
), but the actual pre-inked 5-piece sets (dangerously pointy yellow d4, orange d6, green d8, abnormally large blue d12, and white '0-9' d20) that were sold directly by TSR in the 70s and included in the early Holmes Basic sets (before demand outstripped supply and they switched over to the infamous cardboard chits).
These aren't "good" dice by any means -- they're made of flaky low-impact plastic and don't even necessarily roll true, and everybody who used them back then complained endlessly about them and switched over to 3rd-party dice (Gamescience, Armory, etc.) ASAP, but for the truly authentic OD&D experience they're an absolute must-have. I had an incomplete set of these dice (d4, d12, and d20 only) from my Holmes set and had been looking for years (literally, I think my very first post at DF was asking if anyone knew where I could get type of dice) to complete the set, and therefore was more than willing to pay the $10 Noble Knight is asking ($20 actually, because I bought 2 sets -- I to keep sealed and pristine, 1 to use). I'm so jazzed by these crappy old-school dice that I'm now seriously considering retiring all my good dice and just using these (plus a bunch of extra d6s, of course)!
So, if you value old-school authenticity over actual quality, don't hesitate to check this out. Because, dammit, OD&D was meant to be played with crappy dice like these! ;D
), but the actual pre-inked 5-piece sets (dangerously pointy yellow d4, orange d6, green d8, abnormally large blue d12, and white '0-9' d20) that were sold directly by TSR in the 70s and included in the early Holmes Basic sets (before demand outstripped supply and they switched over to the infamous cardboard chits). These aren't "good" dice by any means -- they're made of flaky low-impact plastic and don't even necessarily roll true, and everybody who used them back then complained endlessly about them and switched over to 3rd-party dice (Gamescience, Armory, etc.) ASAP, but for the truly authentic OD&D experience they're an absolute must-have. I had an incomplete set of these dice (d4, d12, and d20 only) from my Holmes set and had been looking for years (literally, I think my very first post at DF was asking if anyone knew where I could get type of dice) to complete the set, and therefore was more than willing to pay the $10 Noble Knight is asking ($20 actually, because I bought 2 sets -- I to keep sealed and pristine, 1 to use). I'm so jazzed by these crappy old-school dice that I'm now seriously considering retiring all my good dice and just using these (plus a bunch of extra d6s, of course)!
So, if you value old-school authenticity over actual quality, don't hesitate to check this out. Because, dammit, OD&D was meant to be played with crappy dice like these! ;D
(my best gaming buddy actually had one of these when we were kids and of course we colored it all in -- and it was awesome!)