Editing TSR, Inc. (section)

====Management turmoil====
Sales of the core rule books and boxed sets crested in 1983 and fell in 1984 and 1985, largely due to [[market saturation]]; customers who wanted rulebooks largely already had them. There were bright spots in 1983–1985 such as ''Dragonlance'' novel sales, ''Unearthed Arcana'', and ''Oriental Adventures'', but TSR's finances were in bad shape due to high expenses and costs that had assumed rule book sales would remain strong. The result was a cycle of layoffs and contractions in 1983–1985, as well as the Blumes negotiating a $4 million loan from [[American National Bank]].<ref name="riggs45">{{harvnb|Riggs|2022|pp=45–48}}</ref>

The struggle for financing led to board room shake-ups at the top level. TSR's line of credit was stopped by its bank, and the company was in debt to over {{USD|1.5 million}}. Gygax would later say that he was in the dark as to the extent of the financial difficulties due to being in Hollywood; Ben Riggs, an author who studied TSR's history, is skeptical Gygax was truly unaware, however.<ref name="riggs56"/> Gygax returned to Wisconsin from Hollywood. In the spring of 1985, Gygax exercised an option to buy seven hundred shares of TSR stock, which combined with shares given to his son Ernie gave him 51.1% of all stock, up from around 30% before.<ref name="riggs56"/> Gygax also says he had a confrontation with the board of directors, and had the Blumes removed.<ref>Gygax: "I was alerted to a problem: Kevin Blume was shopping TSR on the street in New York City. I flew back from the West Coast, and discovered the corporation was in debt to the bank the tune of circa {{USD|1.5 million}}." {{cite web | title = Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part XII, Page 28) | work = EN World | date = 2007-01-21 | url = http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/171753-gary-gygax-q-part-xii-28.html | access-date = 2009-03-15 | archive-date = 2011-06-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110614223453/http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/171753-gary-gygax-q-part-xii-28.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="magicnmemories2">{{cite web |url=http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539197p1.html |title=Magic & Memories: The Complete History of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' - Part II |last=Rausch |first=Allen |work=[[GameSpy]] |publisher=[[IGN]] |date=16 August 2004 |access-date=2008-12-20}}</ref>{{Rp|4}} Gygax now controlled TSR. Financial difficulties continued, however.<ref name="riggs56"/> Within a year of the departure of the Blumes, the company posted a net loss of US$1.5&nbsp;million, resulting in layoffs of approximately 75% of the staff. Some of these staff members went on to form other prominent game companies, such as [[Pacesetter Ltd]] and [[Mayfair Games]], or to work with [[Coleco]]'s video game division.

Gygax searched for financing. [[Flint Dille]], one of his contacts he made in his time in Hollywood, suggested his sister [[Lorraine Williams]] might be interested in investing money into TSR. Williams was given a position of general manager at TSR and attempted to fix TSR's precarious financial situation. This led to clashes between Williams and Gygax, who resisted some of Williams' suggestions. Meanwhile, the Blumes, out of power at the company and worried about its financial strength in the long-term, sought to cash out their shares. They offered to sell their shares to Gygax, but he refused. They exercised their own options to buy seven hundred more shares, then sold their entire holdings to Lorraine Williams instead. Williams herself bought fifty shares. With these purchases, Williams became the majority shareholder of TSR, and used her voting power to depose Gygax as CEO and president on October 22, 1985. Gygax unsuccessfully challenged the sale in court; Gygax's supporters considered the Blumes' sale an act of retaliation.<ref name="magicnmemories2"/> Gygax eventually sold his remaining stock to Williams and used the capital to form [[New Infinities Productions]]. On TSR's side, they would pepper Gygax with legal threats long after he left in an attempt to deter him from competing with his old company in the area of role-playing games.<ref name="riggs56">{{harvnb|Riggs|2022|pp=56–61}}</ref><ref name="witwer171">{{harvnb|Witwer|2015|pp=171–197}}</ref>