2005 BYOAC Tokens: General dicsussion.

[Santoro]

I am considering the 2005 BYOAC tokens.

[monkeybomb]

3 things:

There should be some continuity with last years.  Like having the web address and BYOAC around one side of the coin.

Brass

How about a frankenpannel?

[markrvp]

FWIW I like the look of nickel.  You can find brass tokens in any arcade, but nickel really stands out.

[coorslight]

I have to put my vote in for  Nickel to. It just looks way better then brass. As for the Logo I would love to see a skull and cross bones on it or maybe just a skull. Makelike the token of death. Sweet.

[grueinthebox]

You can find brass tokens in any arcade,

That's exactly the reason I'd prefer the brass...   

*kicking myself for missing out on the brass MAME tokens*

[Kremmit]

*kicking myself for missing out on the brass MAME tokens*

Echo that!  I figured there'd be a limited supply of nickel and brass forever, just like the BYOAC 2004 ones, and I missed out.

Santoro- since they've already got the dies, do you think they'll hit you too hard if you ask for a few more brass MAME tokens to be run while they're doing your new 2005 BYOAC tokens?

Obviously, I prefer brass. 

And let me be the first to commit to ordering- 200 brass BYOAC 2005 (and 400 MAME if you get 'em!)

[monkeybomb]

*kicking myself for missing out on the brass MAME tokens*

Echo that!  I figured there'd be a limited supply of nickel and brass forever, just like the BYOAC 2004 ones, and I missed out.

Santoro- since they've already got the dies, do you think they'll hit you too hard if you ask for a few more brass MAME tokens to be run while they're doing your new 2005 BYOAC tokens?

I'm in on that kicking self stuff too.  I didn't have the money ready, then poof they actually sold out.  I'd love to see a second run and I'd commit to both ahead of time as well.

[IntruderAlert]

[Flinkly]

BRASS...

and i'll put in an order for 200 brass tokens...unless the thing turns out horrible.  but after the last two token designs, i'm sure that won't happen.  will prices be similar?

also, i wish i would have gotten some of the last byoac tokens...but alas, i wasn't as deep into the hobby back then.  tokens were the worst of my worries in the cabinet department.

[Joystick Jerk]

Cool! I didn't even know there were custom BYOAC tokens. I'll have to grab me a bunch of a future batch.

And I know you mentioned this isn't the design thread, but the graphic-design part of me couldn't resist(hey, it's what I do for a living, I can't help it). I threw this together in about 15 minutes as soon as I saw the words "custom tokens"(sorry about the graphical artifacts, but that's what jpeg does to compressed gradients):

[Santoro]

I like the metal effect, it is very realistic looking.  In BYOAC parlance we call that "bling."    You will probably see it called that most of the time through the process.

[missioncontrol]

another vote for brass here........

I think there should be a cocktail cabinet on this one.............

my $.02 

[IntruderAlert]

..what?
nobody liked my trademarked David R. Foley token?

how do you do that gold effect anyway?

[Santoro]

I didn't know who it was till you said it.

[Santoro]

I am thinking about doing things in this order:

1) design 'contest' thread & associated polls
2) Nickel vs Brass Vote
3) preorders to ensure demand
4) if breakeven, order, if not breakeven goto end .

The only thing that would be a real bummer would be if went through a long design process then didn't have enough demand to order.  But doing a poll up front about who would buy without the design being settled didn't help much last year because most responded that their purchase would depend on the design. 

Unless I get a majority of protests here, this is how I intend on proceeding.   

[Santoro]

Also, I will be following the 'business model' that has been successful in the past.

[pointdablame]

I think its a great idea again.  I think there is a small chance of seeing an oversaturated market, but if the design is compelling (and I dont see how it won't be with the art geniuses on this board), I'm sure they'll sell.

I really prefer the look of the Nickel tokens, but it seems like Brass is the favorite so far.  As you said, a lot of people probably won't commit to anything until they see the design, but short of a major design catastrophe, you'll see another order from me.

[DrewKaree]

Might I recommend splitting these out even finer?

1) design 'contest' thread & associated polls
2) Nickel vs Brass Vote
3) preorders to ensure demand
4) if breakeven, order, if not breakeven goto end

1)  Design contest thread, locked by yourself.  All "submissions" would be e-mailed to you, and you would post any and all submissions.  Any "discussion" would be relegated to another thread linked back to it. (paging through that thread to see something "new" got to be SO tedious after a while, I stopped checking it daily.  this way, the images thread would alert me as to when something new came up)

Also, every submission should stand on its own.  That way, the "front/back" issue would be settled in the following poll, OR, list the submissions under separate polls, one for "front", one for "back".

2)  Poll with EVERY submission on it, open for 2-4 weeks.  If no clear winner after that time, condense poll to only the top 5 vote getters.  Open poll for 1-3 weeks on that.  Winner is announced.  On these polls, allow more than one vote.

3)  Picture of winning design in "brass" and "nickel".  Poll to see where demand will be highest, and allow pre-order info in that thread.  If not enough demand is there for one or the other, you can easily and quickly announce non-purchase of that option.

4)  Announce order or announce end of concept.


Hey, 4 steps too.  Mebbe I condensed some steps or something

[Chris]

It seems to me that the first thing we need is to determine what people want:

- A new 2005 BYOAC token?
- A re-run of the 2004 BYOAC token? (See http://www.arcadetokens.com/html/byoac_tokens.html)
- A re-run of the 2004 BYOAC token with the date changed to 2005?
- A re-run of the MAME token? (See http://www.arcadetokens.com/html/mame_tokens.html)

If I recall correctly, the minimum run for brass is 5000 tokens and the minimum run for nickel is 10,000 tokens.

[AlanS17]

How much would an order of 200 brass tokens cost?

[Santoro]

The pricing would be the same as the MAME tokens in my sig, assuming we have enough demand to order 10,000 and have me break even.  If we instead need to order 5000 to make this happen, the price would go up because the cost goes up.

[AmericanDemon]

I'd be in for an honest 600 Nickel Tokens just to HAVE.  I have been kicking myself ever since I missed the first BYOAC run.  Trust me I dont flex very well to kick myself, but I've been doing it. 

[Santoro]

It seems to me that the first thing we need is to determine what people want:

- A new 2005 BYOAC token?
- A re-run of the 2004 BYOAC token? (See http://www.arcadetokens.com/html/byoac_tokens.html)
- A re-run of the 2004 BYOAC token with the date changed to 2005?
- A re-run of the MAME token? (See http://www.arcadetokens.com/html/mame_tokens.html)

If I recall correctly, the minimum run for brass is 5000 tokens and the minimum run for nickel is 10,000 tokens.  So if 25 people want 200 new tokens and 25 want 200 MAME tokens, Santoro could order both.

Is anyone willing to pre-commit to any of the above?

--Chris

I vote for a new 2005 one.  I doubt many people would buy the same token with a different date.  As far as MAME tokens, the Nickel are still available, and there is a little pent-up demand for more brass, but I don't think it is very big judging from my emails and the threads here.

But, I could be wrong, folks should speak up if they think I am.

[Santoro]

Might I recommend splitting these out even finer?

These are good ideas.  If I recall, you can only have a limited number of poll options, not sure how to work around that.  But I do want to make sure all designs can be voted on.  hmm 

I love the idea of a special thread where only new designs show up.  I would probably just maintain it myself, manually linking to the attachements in the design thread.  I don't especially want to deal with e-mail. This way people could chose which thread to monitor - the really busy design discussion one, or the 'executive summary' pictures-only thread.  Nice idea Drew.

[Santoro]

I have also created an account for my wife Leslie, 'Mrs. Santoro.'

[AlanS17]

I figure most people with the 2004 tokens won't be buying 2005 tokens. That means the only people buying 2005 tokens won't have others. That means they probably wouldn't care if they look just like last year's with a different date. I, for one, don't have any tokens, and wouldn't mind buying last year's with a new number. Heck, I wouldn't even mind buying last year's!

To get the discount, do you have to have all tokens from the same die? Maybe half MAME and half 2005 BYOAC would work out. It seems like alot of people here would like MAME tokens.

[DrewKaree]

Also be warned, as a former trader on the American Stock Exchange (where she was one of six women traders in a sea of 600 men) she is not afraid to say what she thinks.  Don't pick a fight with her. 

Mrs Santoro you married a goof...that's right, I said it...whatcha gonna do about it?


I didn't buy last year's due to reasons I don't want to list to avoid making anyone feel bad, but I was considering buying them, and had I done so, I'd still be looking to purchase this year's version.  That's what I thought would be done, as discussed in last year's thread.  I don't want a MAME token at all, wouldn't buy one, but BYOAC is on my list of "stuff to buy". 

I'd like to see this done as often as possible.  Buying a hundred or so each year would build my token supply up slowly, but I'd simply be using 'em for my personal games/collection.  I give the ones I have away to people who think they're cool as it is, advertising a new design, or telling someone I know I gave one to "they've got a new one...here's a couple for you to check out" is one of those things I like doing.

[Santoro]

Mrs Santoro you married a goof...that's right, I said it...whatcha gonna do about it?

You've got to do better than that, she'd probably agree with that sentiment!

Anyway, I know some folks weren't happy with the voting process last year, if that's what you were referring to.

[namedos]

I have some of last years and I plan on ordering some of this years as I didn't get enough of them.  Too many neighbor kids wanting to play.

I would vote for brass and a different design for 2005.

[Santoro]

To get the discount, do you have to have all tokens from the same die? Maybe half MAME and half 2005 BYOAC would work out. It seems like alot of people here would like MAME tokens.

That's an interesting question.  I don't see any reason why not.  I would need to spend quite a while setting all the permutations up on ArcadeTokens.com, but it's a good idea.

[Kremmit]

I figure most people with the 2004 tokens won't be buying 2005 tokens. That means the only people buying 2005 tokens won't have others. That means they probably wouldn't care if they look just like last year's with a different date. I, for one, don't have any tokens, and wouldn't mind buying last year's with a new number. Heck, I wouldn't even mind buying last year's!

I bought last year, and inted to buy this year as well.  I only got 200 last time, and have since discovered that that's just not enough.  Plus I'm a compulsive collector.  Willing to bet I'm not the only one of those around here, either. 

That said, I wouldn't turn up my nose at more of the same, with or without a new date.  A new design is fun, and I certainly won't argue if it goes that way, but I don't need it, and another run from the old dies would be cheaper, yes?  There's always the possibillity of re-using just one side- at the least, the sides from last year's tokens should be included in the voting.  (As for the dated side, maybe the engravers can mill the date down on the die they used last year, making it date-free.) 

[jer2665]

I got into this cabinet thing recently (still haven't built, so it'll still be a while before I get tokens, but just out of curiousity what did last years byoac tokens look like?

[Santoro]

Check put the first hyperlink in the first post in this thread - it shows a good photo.

[DrewKaree]

Stat-watcher!

Hey, Kremmit's got something there - if there's a new token done this year, how about not putting a date on it?

Also, I'm gonna PM you about something.

[missioncontrol]

I think it needs a date that's one thing I was disapointed about the MAME tokens is that they didn't have a date on them, but still got some anyway.......

I think a different design than last years.

[Joystick Jerk]

how do you do that gold effect anyway?

The basic design itself was just line-art, with no special tricks. To add the shiny metal effect, I created a new layer of pure white, Texturized it with the Sandstone filter, and then scaled a small section of that up until the "texture" was the proper size for the coin. I then blurred it, changed it's blending mode to Multiply, and overlayed it on the coins. For the coin color, I created two layers, one grey, the other brassy gold. The blending mode of those layers was changed to Color Burn. I merged all layers, and then adjusted the Levels on the coins to enhance the effect of the light/shadow and saturation.

[AmericanDemon]

The basic design itself was just line-art, with no special tricks. To add the shiny metal effect, I created a new layer of pure white, Texturized it with the Sandstone filter, and then scaled a small section of that up until the "texture" was the proper size for the coin. I then blurred it, changed it's blending mode to Multiply, and overlayed it on the coins. For the coin color, I created two layers, one grey, the other brassy gold. The blending mode of those layers was changed to Color Burn. I merged all layers, and then adjusted the Levels on the coins to enhance the effect of the light/shadow and saturation.

Yeah what he said.

[darktemp]

The new version of photoshop is going to have a tool that does all that in one click.  I think their calling it the "paint bucket"

how do you do that gold effect anyway?

The basic design itself was just line-art, with no special tricks. To add the shiny metal effect, I created a new layer of pure white, Texturized it with the Sandstone filter, and then scaled a small section of that up until the "texture" was the proper size for the coin. I then blurred it, changed it's blending mode to Multiply, and overlayed it on the coins. For the coin color, I created two layers, one grey, the other brassy gold. The blending mode of those layers was changed to Color Burn. I merged all layers, and then adjusted the Levels on the coins to enhance the effect of the light/shadow and saturation.

[DarkKobold]

Just as a curiousity, wouldn't it be possible to reuse the front, non-dated part of last year's BYOAC token? I know that would save the cost of remaking that one, bringing down the price of additional tokens. Also, every release I've gotten a nickel and brass mix. I personally like the contrast.

Dave: How much money are you out on the MAME tokens? Did you still come out ahead, even with what is left?
 

[MinerAl]

I'd kind of like to see the non-date side of last year's token stay, and the other side change, kind of like the state quarters.  I like the idea of a certain continuity over the years so that they are related in some way other than all being round and shiny.  I also imagine this would lower the costs overall since one side could be a reused 2004 die.

I bought a 100 brass / 100 nickel mix last year, and can't decide which color I prefer. I would get a mix again this year if the option exists.

As always, "depending on the design," I'll be buying some again this year.

I'll be watching with interest, and I'll help out any way I can.

Al