stock agreement of a company run by Blume’s father Melvin, President of Wisconsin Tool and Stamping. The gist of this language was to guarantee that, should any shareholder die or seek to divest themselves from the firm, TSR Hobbies would reserve a right of first refusal to buy back their stock.

The original TSR Hobbies stock agreement, executed by Gygax and Blume on August 1, 1975, awarded Gygax 150 shares of stock and Blume 100. Thus, as the company was initially structured, Gygax held controlling interest. But Gygax could not have intended for this situation to last long. TSR Hobbies required capital to purchase the assets of the partnership. For that, it would need investment. The first two stock certificates, issued to Gygax and Blume as stipulated in thefor the development and publication of new titles. But the sum probably looks larger than it actual was: due to Blume’s one-third stake in the partnership, some of this money must have effectively gone back into his family’s pocket.

The Blume capital infusion immediately rendered Gygax a minority shareholder, with his 150 shares now well below the total Blume family holdings of 440 shares—and he would remain a minority shareholder for the next decade. Thus, although Gygax enjoyed fleeting control over TSR Hobbies in 1975, it was only at a time that the company did not even own Dungeons & Dragons. But ownership did not translate into executive titles: Gygax retained the office of President of TSR Hobbies despite the reversal of control.

The steadily mounting popularity of Dungeons &