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Original Post from 12/12 (see updates below):
Ho, Ho, Holmes!
For the holidays, I will once again be giving away a surplus Holmes Basic box set, pictured above, that I acquired during the past year. Same rules as last year: if you are interested, add a comment in reply to this post. By the end of the weekend I'll treat the list of comments as a table and roll randomly for the winner, using dice from a Holmes Basic set. The goal here is to get Holmes Basic to someone who doesn't yet have one, so if you already flush please don't participate.
I'll cover postage (media mail) for any U.S. address. I can ship to other countries but I ask that you cover the difference (any amount over $4) in shipping by PayPal; so if you are overseas please only participate if you have a PayPal account and willing to chip in the extra.
More details on the item:
The rulebook is a 2nd edition, Nov 1978, and is in very nice shape. The inside is very clean - no marks that I could see - although the map of the Sample Dungeon has a slight printing defect - part of the background is gray rather than black. The reference sheet is attached. The B1 module is in excellent shape but more usd, with most of the keys filled in with pencilled numbers & letters from the monster & treasure list. There's also a smudge inside the cover and a piece of tape stuck to the page with the lists. The box is fairly worn with some split and taped corners, creases, and torn-off surfaces. But it still does its job of sturdily protecting the contents. Alas, no dice are included.
Update: Note that I have moderation on for any posts over 1 day old, so your comments to this post will not appear until I approve them. I set this up so I could get rid of that onerous captcha but keep spam comments at bay. I have been getting occasional spam comments in the posts I made about the WOTC T-shirts, so I'm going to leave the moderation on. After you post a comment, you should see this message:
Update #2, 12/17: Okay, I'm stopping the commenting now. 30 commentors. Will roll the dice soon.
Update #3, 12/19: Tonight I had my trusty assistant make the roll. To generate a random 1-30, we used the method suggested in the back of the Holmes rulebook: "If 1-30 or 1-36 are desired, read the 6-sider with the 20- or 12-sided die, with 1-2 equalling no addition, 3-4 adding 10, and 5-6 adding 20" (pg 45 of the 2nd printing). Note that the original white 20-sided die from the Holmes set is numbered 0-9 twice. And here is the result:
2 + 20 = 22. By my count, the savage halfling is the winner! I have sent an email to the address on his blog notifying him.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2012 to all!
Until next year!
Looks great! I started D&D with Basic back in the day, and still love it.
ReplyDeleteI have the components from the boxed set (a copy of the rule book and a copy of B1), but I don't have the box. If you feel that this disqualifies me from contention, feel free to eliminate me from the roll.
ReplyDeletePlease count me in! These buggers are hard to find in Oz :)
ReplyDeleteThat is very generous! Please put my name in the hat. Many thanks, sir!
ReplyDeleteI've been searching for a copy for years, wishing I still had my original. Hope the dice lands in my favor :)
ReplyDeleteI'm tearing up just looking at it. My first. You always remember your first.
ReplyDeleteI'd like it. Being born 15 years after Holmes was released means I never got to experience it the first time around. It'd be fascinating to own one.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be in the running!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to enter on behalf of my brother-in-law, who doesn't have one!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! This was my first! Such fond memories!
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to own one of these, count me in.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a copy of B1 again.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read what comes between my OD&D and my B/X!
ReplyDeleteI have not seen one of these since the early 80s. If I win I'll cover the difference in postage to Canada
ReplyDeleteSure, I'm up for a chance at something like this.
ReplyDeleteI've never actually seen a Holmes (I'm in Oz - I share bogeymantone's problem). Feel like I'm really missing out. I'd love to take a place in the random table. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI don't have ANY original basic set (be it B/X, BECMI or Holmes) but from retroclones like Blueholme and your blog I think that's the most interesting variation of D&D for me
ReplyDeleteI was introduced to the hobby through the Holmes Basic set I bought in December, 1980. I spent my holidays engrossed in this book, and I'll always associate Christmas with Holmes D&D. Sadly, my copy fell by the wayside when I left home and my mother purged my childhood memories, and I would love to own it again. Thanks for so generously sharing your surplus copy with a luck follower.
ReplyDeleteAh, summer of 79. Graduated High School, and introduced to D&D. I had this set. Ran my buddy through Quasqueton and the rest was history. My mother cleaned my room that fall and that was all she wrote for Holmes and B1.
ReplyDeleteMany an hour I spent staring at that box in the hobby shop back in '79. Love the title of the post, btw.
ReplyDeleteYou can exclude me from the contest, I still have my original version. Let some other lucky soul get their mitts upon this treasure!
I'd love a copy of Holmes! I started with the Mentzer Red box when I was a kid and got Moldvay last year. So, it'd be great to work my way back to Holmes!
ReplyDeletethis sounds most excellent...would love this for christmas :w00t:
ReplyDelete#22, you are the winner!
DeleteI'm Mentzer era kid too and would love to have a boxed Holmes set.
ReplyDeleteI have the rulebook reprint that came with TSR Silver Anniversary Box though, so I can't really honestly ask you to include me on the roll.
I'd love a copy of this version. Way back in 3rd or 4th grade, some neighbor kids had the Holmes set, and would read from it to us but no one could touch the book (or the dice!).
ReplyDeleteWe wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!
ReplyDeletePlease put my name on that list. It would make a swell christmas present.
ReplyDeleteSign me up. I have many fond memories of this set.
ReplyDeleteMy friend had a Holmes, which he threw out after deciding D&D wasn't punk rock enough. I started with Moldvay Basic, so I would love to have a copy of Holmes. Thanks for doing this blog, and have a great holiday!
ReplyDeleteI have never had a copy of the Holmes rules or B1.
ReplyDeleteThe Moldvay rules I have had a few copies of,though I am missing the Cook expert rules. If you know where I can locate a copy please point me to it.
Thanks for having such a nifty contest.
I have the rulebook, but have never been able to get the set. If that sneaks me into the contest, great. Otherwise, thanks for offering the contest and good luck to the entrants! And keep up the great work!
ReplyDeletethanks again my friend...very cool gift :w00t:
ReplyDelete