Own a special piece of D&D history in the form of a diorama of the cover of the original Player’s Handbook – Before the Party Begins.
In June 1978, TSR released the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. 128 pages of mind blowing goodness. Even though AD&D is now in its 5th (6th?) incarnation, it’s the cover of the first ever player’s guide which has stuck in the public imagination as the iconic image of D&D. The famous painting featuring a party of adventurers clearing up after battle and gathering loot, under the bejeweled eyes of a grinning demon statue, was by David Trampier, one of the greats of D&D art. This diorama is set BEFORE the party arrives to do their clearing out of this evil temple.
This prototype build of this diorama debuted at the sales table at Arnecon 2 in October, 2024 in Minneapolis and the grognards raved about it! And these were people who worked with David Trampier. “Make MORE!” “Are you kidding? I’d pay a hell of a lot more for this.” “Dave would have loved this and would have asked you to make him one.”
Created with foam, resin, and filament, this hand-built and hand-painted diorama is best in class. Painted with care. Wired with LED lights (powered by 2 easily replaceable AA batteries, btw), the torches light up, the brazier lights up, and, is that a hint of light in the iconic ruby eyes?
Need more information? Ask me or see the video below!
Note: each one is hand built, assembled, painted, etc so they are all unique and have some differences in paint and build (particularly the columns which have several styles).
