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[EAST] 2012 Challenge Coins - Orders Closed
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I thought this last year was the first year for PAX East challenge coins, and that's why I posted what I did. I think the PAX East coins should have some consistency to them. I love the classic arcade theme ideas, I mean, that's where the modern age of video games began!
Obverse: A joystick or some form of arcade control (just so the lone stick doesn't look phallic or anything) with pin ball paddles on each side in the place of oak leaves. Then have something similar to last years PAX East coin (where the dice are forming a half circle on the top) but since dice was already used I'm out of ideas for what should be there. Something gaming or tabletop related I would think.
Reverse: Still down with the USS Constitution and it seems most people are as well.
General: Keep the edge relatively the same as past years because breaking tradition is lame
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Also voting to keep, but clean up, the Revere statue on the obverse, but the USS Constitution is still cool. Also voting to keep the smooth milling.
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There was at East 2010 I know for sure, I took pics of the arcade room and I found a pic of a guy playing pinball...so yes lol.
I'm up for either milling, I prefer the same as on the Prime coins but if you guys want to make smooth an East tradition (since thats what we used last) I'm cool with that too.
As for the design, I'm digging the retro gaming ideas, I'm partial to keeping Paul Revere on the reverse and I'm not too keen on smooth edges but I won't be heartbroken over either way on that one.
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I'll throw in my 2-cents on the design (haha - cents... coin...)
For the front: I know last year it had a predominantly tabletop design. I think we should avoid the temptation to lash out this year with a wholly console design. PAX, for me, is awesome because it incorporate all of the areas of gaming that I love, e.g. console, PC, board, tabletop, and more. I think the coin should represent that same unity by incorporating elements from all those gaming families in one way or another. This can be as simple as a D20 and a thimble.
For the back: I think we should change it up but keep the spirit the same. I'm not sure if being from Boston helps or hinders me when it comes to ideas, but I would like to see something unique but iconic. I was thinking that since we did Paul Revere last year, maybe we could keep the theme. I think two old-school lanterns would be really cool. You all know the saying, "One if by land, two if by sea." The British came by sea, so two lanterns were hung from the steeple in the Old North Church. It's unique and most people should make he connection, especially if we wrap the image with the saying "Two if by Sea."
I don't really have a preference on the edges other than to say that I think reeded edges are used in currency to signify value. In other words, smooth edges are easier to make and thus perceived to be cheaper or of lesser quality.
Fun fact - Paul Revere made coinage in his career as a silversmith. I wonder if he used reeded edges?
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Not really. Reeding was done for two reasons - to prevent counterfeiting, and to prevent people from shaving the edges off the coins (when the coinage was made from actual precious metal). Hence why it is associated with currency, and military challenge coins and the like are generally smooth.
I think the PAX East coins should maintain the edge, size, and color that the first coin had. I realize this will make them different from the Prime coins and I think that's okay. Prime coins and East coins wouldn't really be part of the same set as they are different events. The Prime coins, the 2 I've seen anyway, are already 2 different sizes and colors...I would like to see the East coin avoid at least that much, unless there was a change for like the 5th or 10th year of PAX East.
PAX East 2013:
Hotel [ Westin ] Transportaion [Driving] Passes [ X ] Challenge Coin [ X ]
As for the what, if you read the first page of the thread you'll see some examples. It's basically a commemorative coin that is in limited production just for this event.
As for the how, stay tuned to this thread closer to pax.
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Thanks for the information!
PAX East 2013:
Hotel [ Westin ] Transportaion [Driving] Passes [ X ] Challenge Coin [ X ]
Good points all.
As for the ship, what we need to do is determine which elements of the ship would go in. We can't do all the rigging and millions of details of a real ship, so we'd need someone to simplify down the picture into the basic parts which identify the ship.
As for what we submit, anything we give them will probably be used as a reference, then their mold artists will create the mold based on what we submit. While more detail is good, that detail is more to inform the mold artist than something that is directly placed on the coin.
Basically, we need to figure out what elements we want on the coin (hopefully within the month) and submit those. We'll be given a quote with a die fee, and I'll organize a donation drive to fill that fee. After we pay that, it takes a couple of weeks minimum of back and forth to approve artwork, create a die, and make a sample. Depending on how many times we have to redo the die, we'll then begin production. USCC will put up a sale item in their store for people to place their individual orders. As USCC receives the coins from the factory, they'll then ship it on to the customers.
Right now our most important task will be to determine what subject matter will be on the coin, and roughly what elements will be featured of that subject matter. So let's stick with that for now.
Scott Kurtz, The Morning After, Aug 31 - 2010
VP of 5x5Servers.com
This is a good example of what I mean by picking and choosing elements to be in a picture. It's from a Franklin Mint coin commemorating the Boston Tea Party. Notice how they focus on certain details to make it obvious that people are dumping boxes overboard from a ship. When we're talking about a complex subject, we need to figure out what details to include, and which to omit.
Scott Kurtz, The Morning After, Aug 31 - 2010
As far as design notes go, I agree with the Old Ironsides idea; there are certainly other landmarks in Boston, but something about the Constitution particularly appeals. Slogans should definitely be the same. And I like the idea of an Atari joystick, that's iconic enough that it should work. Not sure about pinball or ping pong paddles...it seems like the gaming references should tie in directly to PAX. Granted, ping pong is part of the Penny Arcade mythology, but it hasn't really been an event at PAX. Maybe a DS or a Pokeball or something? Pokemon seems like a pretty big deal in the PAX community.
Suggestion for the border detail: we had Pac-Man going after some dots this year; maybe to tie into that, we could have some ghosts?
After time adrift among open stars
Among tides of light and to shoals of dust
I will return to where I began
As far as the other details everyone's talked about:
Materials
Everyone seems to agree on antique nickel, and there's been no strong push for the larger size, so we keep that as 1.75". For edges, there seems to be a narrow margin for keeping the smooth edges (I count 5 votes for smooth versus 4 for ridges, with one additional person "leaning" toward smooth). Therefore, seems like at the moment we're sticking with smooth, which I agree with. In addition to all of flatline's excellent points about ridges being specifically for currency (not challenge coins), our supplier, US Challenge Coins, also hates them. Why antagonize our supplier?
Obverse
The only two ideas that seem to have traction are arcade machines (whether the whole cabinet or just the controls) and Atari joysticks. Those seem conceptually similar enough that I don't think we have to choose between them until we reach the mock-up stage. For the rim, everything stays the same (Wheaton's Law in Latin, "Welcome Home," and Pac-Man). While Themiscyra's idea of replacing Pac-Man with ghosts for the rim is cute, I think 1) everyone likes keeping the rim the same to tie the coins together (that's the one thing that Prime DID keep consistent from one year to the next), 2) Pac-Man has a specific PA connection, being Gabe's tattoo, and 3) I think the level of detail around the perimeter might make it hard to make out the ghosts.
Reverse
Clearly, everyone likes the USS Constitution, AKA "Old Ironsides." I humbly bow to the will of the crowd. Obviously we'd have the same basic text (PAX East 2012, Boston, MA, April 6-8).
Thus, unless there's a strong push for a new design element by the end of the week, I expect that our instructions for those who wish to submit mock-ups are: nickel, smooth edges, USS Constitution on one side, and an arcade machine (or Atari joystick) theme on the other, with all text borders as were done last year.
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Hotel Room {X} Three Day Pass {X} Pre-PAX Events {X} Coin {X} Plans for fun {XX}
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That being said, I still feel like Iron-sides is done to death around Boston. I understand that it is a very recognizable symbol of Boston, which is why it's used a lot, but I'm not in love with that idea for the Challenge Coin. I think there are other things that are very iconic of Boston but largely unexplored. Some example might be: A Bean-Pot, The Duckling Statue from near the Charles, the CITGO sign from Kenmore Square, the Old North Church, etc...
For the Obverse, I like the arcade cabinet idea. I wouldn't mind a boardgame theme, but I'm sure I'm in the minority there. (Maybe a Meeple PLAYING an arcade game?!?)
Maybe we should spend a short amount of time collecting nominations for various aspects of the coin, then setup a poll where we can all vote. The results will be definitive and it's sets up a final deadline by which all decisions will be made.
Also, They have Pinball in the arcade freeplay area. That’s why I suggested Pinball paddles instead of oak leaves. That and cuz I've never seen oak leaves at PAX and they are mad cool
This is actually one of the big reasons why I *am* a fan of it for the challenge coin. It's ultra recognizable for Boston. It's in the same vein as doing paul revere and the church last year. If this coin were to be some unique Boston thing I might agree with you, but it's really supposed to tie PAX to boston and big symbols do a good job of that.
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I was just thinking that if people buy other Boston souvenirs while in town, they are likely to have the Constitution in it. So rather than go home with two Constitution shot-glasses, a Constitution refrigerator magnet, a Constitution t-shirt, and also a Constitution challenge coin, it might be good to offer something a little more unique.
I will leave this to the will of the forum, but here's an idea. Maybe we don't have to take the coin too seriously. We can put a PAX spin on whatever we choose. Here's a fun example I just thought up. Everyone has the Constitution, but nobody will have the Constitution firing on an enemy with the line :"You sunk my frigate!"
Boom - We just turn the USS Constitution's battle with Java in the Worlds most epic game of Battleship!
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution#Constitution_vs_Java
I think that if someone has that many Constitution things, they might just be a fan of the Constitution. Just sayin'.
I do like the idea of the bean pot personally... I mean whats a big symbol of Boston without some Boston baked beans! However seeing as ironside is in the numbers right now I think this is the one to go with for this year, but I am def putting down the pot of beans as my first thought for next years coin! I think it's hilarious, and would put a nice spin of fun to the coins.... not that they aren't fun now or anything... lol
Just checked my receipt from last year. 6 of 'em were $27, shipped.
It depends. The die cost last year was around $300? I think? and people donate to fill that bucket up, so you could pay whatever you want into the donation bucket. The per-coin cost is pretty low, around $5-8 over the past few years. These things could change though.
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How about an arcade stick and 6 buttons, the classic SFII layout. Or a stick and 4 directional arrows.
I don't know what anything you mentioned is except the Old North Church (which was used last year). Bean-pot? CITGO sign (I don't even know what Kenmore Square is)? One thing to keep in mind, to me, the "landmark" needs to be recognizable as a symbol of Boston to people who have never been there before. I have only been to Boston twice - for PAX East 2010 and 2011. Paul Revere/Old North and the Constitution are both symbols that I can correlate with Boston.
Also, last year I suggested "PAX: Where everyone knows your game". It was fairly well received, but the general consensus was to keep the Latin. Aside from the gaming-themed imagery, we haven't really done 'whimsical' - the coins themselves are very handsome and well done, so I'm not sure that people would like to have something silly like "You sunk my frigate".
PS - This is the most epic game of Battleship.
I also agree with keeping the landmark ultra-recognizable. It's meant to say "Boston" to the casual outsider. If someone from Chicago looks at it and doesn't know what it represents, then it's failed. That being said, as a member of a fraternal organization, I've seen a lot of medals from various meetings produced over the last century or so, and the Boston bean pot does crop up with surprising frequency on the medals from Boston chapters (here's a nice one that incorporates both the bean pot and the harbor, from a meeting in San Francisco in 1904). I still prefer the USS Constitution, but sure, the bean pot might be a potentially viable idea for next year.
+1 to the no jokes. I've been awarded many challenge coins from both the military and other groups and very VERY few have jokes on them. The only ones that I've received with jokes on them are "unofficial" and aren't shown off outside of the group.
Also that medallion seems to match one I've seen in a display case at a certain building in Boston.
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If everyone thinks the coin needs to be super serious, then I'll respect that. I'll remind you though, this is PAX. Three days of people running around dressed as Pokemon and Power Rangers, not a constitutional oversight committee. At what point did any part of PAX get serious? I don't think I had a serious thought for fours days last year other then "I seriously need to find a restroom."
I would also point out that regardless of the name - this isn't really a challenge coin when anybody can go online and order one. There is no membership required, and the only barrier is having an extra $6. This is a collectors coin, nothing more.