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Ben Riggs

Jul 6 • 5 tweets • 2 min read

Behold! Some actual #DnD sales numbers!

While working on my book #SlayingtheDragon I got a ton of primary source documents containing sales data for D&D. With the book coming out, I've been looking for a way to get that data out into the wide world.

I'm going to start making charts, and simply posting them. If people want the raw data, I can post that too, but obviously, charts are prettier. I'm starting with AD&D 1st ed Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide.

You'll notice a crash in the mid-80s, and then the sales peter out with the release of 2nd edition. The sales point to a fact that I believe hasn't been given enough play in our hobby. Namely, TSR was in a tight spot when Lorraine Williams took over the company from Gary Gygax.

If it weren't for Lorraine, D&D may have died in the mid-80s.

Just an idea for your consideration...

Oh, and if you haven't preordered my book on D&D history yet, here's a link!

read.macmillan.com/lp/slaying-the…

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Ben Riggs

@BenRiggs_

Jul 7

More actual D&D sales numbers!

Below you will find the sales numbers of Basic D&D, and then two charts comparing those to the sales of AD&D 1st edition.

For those who don’t know, early in its life, the tree of D&D was split in half. On the one side there was D&D, an RPG designed to bring beginners into the game. It was simpler, and didn’t try to have rules for everything.

On the other side there was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax’s attempt to throw a net around the world and then shove it into rulebooks. The game was so detailed that it provided rules on how Armor Class changed depending on what hand your PC held their shield in.

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Ben Riggs

@BenRiggs_

Dec 9, 2021

Hi all! I’m a D&D historian, and I have a book about the sale of TSR to WoTC coming out in July, and I thought now might be a good time to talk a bit about TSR’s copyrights and trademarks. 1/?

First, you have to know that in 1996, TSR was dying. The company’s gross sales fell 15% to $32.6 million. At the same time, the company owed millions of dollars to freelancers, vendors, its printer, and Random House. 2/?

In April of 1996, TSR was sued by Random for failing to meet its obligations in paying back those loans. What to do? What to do? How do you pay back loans when your sales are crashing? 3/?

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