Thrift Treasure: Dragon Dice
This week’s Thrift Treasure find isn’t a result of hanging out at our local Goodwill. Like many, I peruse the Facebook Marketplace from time to time to see what others are getting rid of. Back in January, well before the COVID quarantine, a person listed a couple games that her son left in the closet after he moved out. She had gotten permission to sell them and was asking $5 a piece for them.
If I recall correctly, she had three games listed in her ad. Two of them were regular mass-market (I think Scrabble was one of them). But the third caught my eye. An original Battle Box of Dragon Dice by the makers of Dungeons & Dragons, TSR! I immediately sent her a message on Facebook and within an hour I was on my way across town to pick it up.
I’ve never owned Dragon Dice before, but knew a little about it. It was popular for about a year in the 90’s and then fell out of favor pretty quickly. Recently a new company had picked up the license and announced they would be reissuing the game. I don’t know if the old game is compatible, but for $5 it was worth the risk. After I got it home and opened it up, I realized I really got a great deal.
Not only was everything inside the box that was supposed to be, there were five SEALED expansions to the game which had never been opened! eBay prices are all over the place on these, but it’s safe to say they bring $20/each on a regular basis. Not that I’m looking to sell, it’s just good to know what a bargain it was. The regular game looked to have only been played once or twice as all the components were in like-new condition!
Dragon Dice is a game for 2-4 players where each person will field an army to battle against the others. The Battle Box contains everything needed for two players. A full set of dice for each army, a battle board, reference cards, a rule booklet and a set of advanced rules for more serious play.
What makes Dragon Dice so unique is that the dice represent different things depending upon their color and/or number of sides. For instance, 6-sided dice are your soldiers. 8-sided dice represent the terrain and 12-sided dice are dragons that can attack either side! As I mentioned, the color is important too and represents the race (elves, dwarves, goblins, etc.).
The faces of the dice also may be different from one another, making them more or less powerful. Dragon Dice was considered a collectible game, much like Magic the Gathering, where you’d try to purchase more powerful dice to make your army stronger.
Going through the entire ruleset for Dragon Dice would be a futile effort, since the rules have been updated a number of times over the years. We recommend watching one of the many Youtube videos on how to play the most current ruleset. If you’re interested in learning more about the modern-day version of Dragon Dice, head over to the official website to learn how you can pre-order the newest issue! Still need to finish out your collection of original Dragon Dice? There are plenty on eBay for very reasonable prices!
Do you remember the company TSR?
I do not remember the company TSR.
TSR? who?
I seem to recall hearing of them, but I’m not sure I’ve ever played their stuff….
i do not remember TSR at all, but looking them up now.
I don’t
THE ORIGINAL
I guess I’m old – TSR is D&D before WOTC
I dont
Amazed by the lack of recognition. I’d be nowhere without TSR. I had the honor of playing D&D at the home of Eric Holmes, co-author of “Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook (First Edition)”. One of my earliest memories of strategy board gaming is “The The Awful Green Things from Outer Space” from Dragon magazine, and I treasure my first edition copy of “Divine Right”. I had hoped that the exposure in “Stranger Things” would have brought the TSR brand back to the public consciousness.
Of course I remember TSR, the family still had a weekly 2nd edition d&d game! Lol
I wish there was a thrift store near me… jealous of all the great finds people post that they find. What a find!
Of course I do! I love dungeons and dragons. I had all the original manuals and some miniatures and modules
I definitely do not remember the company TSR.
I owned so many products/books from TSR way back in the day – many of the non-DnD games like Star Frontiers, Gamma World, TSI, and such. There were so many great games/sources published by TSR.
Nope, don’t remember. I was too young to even know of its existence.
I never heard of them .
No, I don’t remember TSR
I don’t remember TSR. ☹
I don’t get it. Is saying you don’t remember TSR some new meme?
I remember the company TSR for their computer games since I’ve never played the analog version.
Never heard of TSR!
I know about TSR from reading various RPG histories.
neat
I’ve never heard of TSR
What is TSR? IDK
Yes, put out some great games back in the day including D&D.
Yes, I remember, and those who don’t need to get off my lawn!
My boys would absolutely love this game I think! Never heard of it before but now I think I’m going to get it for a stocking stuffer!
I could tell it was TSR by the art on the box. I grew up playing D&D until my mom got very concerned for my safety when the news reported that a college student committed suicide and they blamed D&D. Rumors started that kids were losing touch with reality and it was dangerous.
I still have some of the rule books, campaigns and a hardcover monster manual somewhere in my garage. Dice were always a big part of the game but I didn’t know they made any “board games”. If we had internet or game stores back then I probably would have owned some.
I honestly can not think of them at all
Never heard of TSR.
No I don’t
Alas, I wish I had from some of these comments. Guess I’m too young
No, I do not remember the company TSR.
I don’t remember TSR. I thought Wizards of the Coast was always the owners of D&D
I do not remember the company TSR.
No, unfortunately I don’t remember hearing about TSR.
I know of TSR, but I’ve never really played any of their games, unless they’ve been re-released
I don’t remember them.
I’ve never heard of TSR before!
Nope. I think they made war games?
TSR sound familiar, but I’m not sure.
I do not remember TSR
I don’t know the company TSR
TSR was the original publishers of Dungeons and Dragons.
As for the Dragon Dice property, they are currently owned by SFR
http://www.dragondice.com/dragondice.php
Yep, I mentioned their site in the last paragraph. Been following their return, but haven’t seen any for sale locally yet!
The old dice are compatible, but the rules.have been updated
just before the plague hit, i was at a garage sale (for MY “thrift store finds”), and i saw a bag (about 80) for sale for $10 dollars, and i thought, looks familiar, why not ?
it was only when i got home and went online did i realize what they were, AND it jogged a memory. so i went back to a box of games from my youth, and discovered i had actually bought the original set at one of the first dundra-cons (in the SF bay area) in the late 70’s, to kill time between campaigns. (like steve jacksons “ogre”), and forgot about it (a double major will do that to you)!
but aside from my poor memory, i am amazed that so many people have not heard of TSR. unless they are saying such just to wind us old fogies up.