Cheap rubber toys spawned a dynasty

The humble origins of D&D monsters

When he was working on his original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, Gary Gygax took inspiration from many sources, including a cheap packet of rubber toy monsters he found at the dime store. One blogger managed to track down the exact set of monsters, and bought them on eBay to compare with the originals. What a great story!

Image courtesy Tony DiTerlizzi