Defining "Dice"...dismantling the cube.

yourdictionary.com
defines the noun "die" as; a small, marked cube used in games of chance.

dictionary.babylon.com
defines the noun "die" as; small six-sided cube used in games of chance

merriam-webster.com
defines the noun "die" as; a small cube marked on each face with from one to six spots and used usually in pairs in various games and in gambling by being shaken and thrown to come to rest at random on a flat surface


dictionary.reference.com
defines the noun "die" as; 1. small cubes of plastic, ivory, bone, or wood, marked on each side with one to six spots, usually used in pairs in games of chance or in gambling.

or

defines the noun "die" as; 4. any small cubes.

Ok...so what's wrong with these definitions? Well, probably the most obvious item is they all define a die as a cube. A cube is defined as being of 6 square facets. This statement is wholly untrue by almost any measure. Polyhedral dice have been in existence for at least 22 centuries. A cube die is but one of many configurations. I consider any definition which does not incorporate other possible forms of dice to be inaccurate. It is my belief that "dice" the noun and "dice" the verb have a relationship. Small tossed randomizing devices were called dice because they resembled what came from the chopping of food stuffs into small, often cubical bits. This should by no means limit the definition of dice to "cubes".

Additionally, I call into question the term "random" as being absolutely and exclusively true in defining a die and therefore the use of the term limits the picture conjured up when imagining a "die". There are two easy examples of "dice" which point out the limitations of the word "random". The first is cheat dice. The very intention of cheat dice is to limit randomization for the cheater while providing the illusion of randomness to the "mark'. Like a doppelganger cheat dice exist disguised as dice but really by most definitions are not dice. And yet...there they sit in my "dice" collection.

The second example of where randomness is NOT the intention of the dice is in divination dice. Divination dice are used to expose the will of the gods. Therefore while the user should exert no influence over the outcome of a toss of the dice the gods certainly are expected too. At the least hardly random in the mind of the user and as for the gods...well I guess if devination dice are random god does no exist.

I am still thinking about what would make a good definition of the term "dice" but these are thoughts I am having along the way to that definition.

European Invasion

Last year I started noticing that the cutting edge of dice design was shifting from the United States to to Europe. It was not any one event which caused my shift in thinking but several "OMG" moments which had me salivating as surely as Pavlov's dog at dinner time.

The first thing which caught my eye was the unique designs of Q Workshop of Poznan, Poland and how they seemed to be taking full advantage of laser engraving. The combination of new and interesting designs with the detail and accuracy of a laser engraver are brought together in designs here-to-fore unseen by the world. The faces of dice began to look like the engravings once reserved for coins. The picture to the left is a Q workshop design and illustrates my point wonderfully. This is the new Celtic design. Q Workshop was kind enough to get me an advanced copy. As you can see quite detailed with each face almost a work of art. This is way beyond anything US manufacturers have been doing and has caused some of them to sit up and take notice.

But Q's work in bringing these new and wondrous designs to market was far from the only reason I say the center of the dice world has shifted from North America to Europe. One other reason came to my attention last year when Lego of Denmark announced the changeable face dice mentioned in an earlier post. These dice are new. The very concept of being able to change the odds or the ratio of the resultant throw of the dice is unique in history...as far as I know. Here is an example of a design I created with the new Lego system.

And if it were just Lego and "Q" which came out with trend setting designs then would I be mentioning a shift in the center of the dice design world...no. Enter Irondie. This was a WOW moment for me. Take the time to look at what these guys came up with. Located just southwest of Milan Italy Irondie has come up with a beautiful style for what looks to be an interesting game. I would consider this a collectible dice game(CDG) in the fashion of Dragon Dice or Chaos Progenitus because of the rare dice which can only be acquired by purchasing multiple booster packs. Simply stunning design and not shy about pricing. I do not own any dice yet but will be making a purchase later this year.

And one more...Late last year I was introduced to a new concept in dice design...heck new to any kind of design. That is the world of rapid prototyping. For those who are not interested in the technical aspects of this it should suffice to say that rapid prototyping is a way of printing a 3d version of a concept or design. Very quickly, very inexpensively. That is starting with just a 3d drawing of a die and literally printing out a "hold in your hand and roll" copy. I am talking about Shapeways. Shapeways is a company out of the Netherlands which has brought rapid Prototyping to the masses by allowing people to design their own items and have Shapeways print the design. What an amazing concept. Here is a link to one of the more interesting designs submitted. While technically speaking Shapeways is not specifically in the business of dice production they have effected how I look at the ability to get designs into production. I currently have a design I would like to produce and need only send it in for editing and then production. A very cool concept indeed.

And so...in conclusion these four companies have made me come to the conclusion that the center of the dice world is now in Europe. If anyone can offer an argument in opposition to my theory please let me hear it...I'm all ears.

Count on it.

Once you start collecting dice it is not long before you start needing to describe the size of your collection. It is an awfully convenient number to have to place into a conversation just before someone else says "Really? I had no idea there were so many". In other words it is helpful in impressing your family, friends and neighbors. It also comes in handy when trying to compare your collection with someone else's collection.

The most common way of sizing your collection is through an actual count of all dice, seems simple. That is what I thought until Kevin Cook came into my life. Kevin holds the Worlds Record for number of dice in a collection. At the time of this writing it numbers 29,577. That figure changes almost daily but right now his official counter, which appears on his web page, says 29,577. Kevin owns more dice than 29,577 but he probably cannot tell you what the absolute number is because he doesn't count that way. He has very specific rules which determine the number of dice in his collection. You will have to dig through his site to find his rules. My rules are the subject of this writing.

Duplicates are one of the largest issues. What constitutes a duplicate? I have 100s of average sized white dice with black pips. I have so many I could make small sculptures with them. Perhaps I will someday. It is either that or get my slingshot out and do a study on the aerodynamics of the 6 sided dice. That would be fun too. But the true question is, do they count towards the official total of my collection...no. Actually at one point in my collecting history I did count them but the time of having to impress with numbers has gone from my life. Now my collection is more about what speaks to me and what I know will impress those I feel important to impress. A far smaller population then once was needed. All the same i do like to quantify my collection if for no other reason than conversation.

Here are some of my rules...

Pipped 6ds are counted in pairs.

Unless I own only one

Unless it was intended to be a single

Unless for some compelling reason they would be counted as more than 2

Polyhedrals are counted as singles

Unless a set is more than one

Casino dice are counted in pairs

Unless I own only one

Game dice are counted as the number required in the rules to be part of the game

Unless that number is unknowable like Xenon or Lego dice

Collectible dice are counted as singles even though the rules of the game may allow for multiple copies of the same die.

"Vintage" or antique dice may be counted individually because hand work or wear has made them unique

My official collection count right this instant is 826. Strange, somewhere in a previous post I mentioned something like approaching 4000 dice, 826 is a far cry from 4000. Rest assured this unusually low number is only low because I am currently entering all my dice into a spreadsheet. The official tally with the above rules applied constantly updates at the top of the worksheet. I have 3 large plastic bins yet to document. After everything has been entered I will have approximately 4000 dice. As I enter these dice i am defining my rules on the count. There will be issues yet to decide...I am sure. I will update the above rules as new ones are created or old ones get modified.

In later writings I will be discussing the very definition of a die. This can also effect the total number of dice in ones collection.

Lego's Got Game

March 1st brought to the shores of the USA Something both my son and I can appreciate, Lego Games. These games were introduced in Europe last year and in the interim production scaled up for the US market. It has been a long wait for a dice collector.

The uniqueness of this game is that it uses a changeable die. That is the facets of the die can be changed to effect the outcome of the roll...during game play itself just by switching out tiles. This is not without precident.

In the early 1990s Dirk Laureyssens invented a changeable die which was marketed under the Dirk's Dice label. Today this design seems to still be around but it is difficult to say since I have been unable to purchase them. Today they are known as Zap Dice. However this design differs in one important way. The Lego Die allows the odds on any given face to be changed while Dirk's Dice only allowed the entire face to be changed. Therefore the Lego die gives far more flexibility.

In reading about these games I learned Lego has taken the philosophy that games which stand the test of time are designed to have the rules modified and certainly this die reflects that notion.

For the Dice Collector these dice are unique enough to make this release one of the premiere events of the year.

The games are...

Robo Champ
Magikus
Monster 4
Lava Dragon
Race 3000
Pirate Code
Minotaurus
Lunar Command
Rames Pyramid
Creationary
Shave a Sheep
UFO Attack
Magna Monster
Pirate Plank

See them here.

I would also add this link for those wishing to buy Lego Parts.

In the Beginning...

Well...this is the beginning and I hardly expect this to be my best work since I am completely inexperienced at Blogger. This ignorance has me distracted from the content and focused on the operation of the blog itself. So please forgive me, it will not be long before I bring the standards up to my liking both graphically and in a literary sense.

Let's see...well to make things simple in this beginning it can be stated categorically that I collect dice. I have done so for many years and I have to this point accumulated nearly 4000(a number I will justify in a later post). They sit beside me now in a 5 foot tall tower of Tupperware. They are mostly wrapped in Ziploc and organized by type, or color, or shape or association. They have been identified as best as I am able and with only a few exceptions are well documented.

Would you like to see them?

If you would, please follow this link.

As you can see I have more than an average number of dice. More than any one person should own really, and a nice variety as well. And so you might wonder what in the world would make a person want to collect dice. It is simple really...they are so much easier to acquire than supermodels, less troublesome than collecting countries and less expensive than Faberge Eggs. What else would a person want?

And that is what I say to people when they ask "why dice"? When I really mean to say...

• They are small and easy to store.


• They are everywhere from dollar stores to flea markets to junk drawers and beyond.


• They are used by all ages.


• They are owned by just about everyone regardless of wealth, religion, gender or culture.


• They are in every country on earth.


• They come in a great variety of shapes, sizes, materials and configurations.


• They can be very inexpensive and then again can be very expensive.


• The collecting population is not over crowded and yet is well dispersed globally.


• and most of all is that I like them...they are just cool.

I was recently invited by Kevin Cook, the quintessential dice collector with nearly 30,000 dice, to post my collection on his website. This changed the game for me. My collection is now accessible. I no longer need to paw through piles and piles of dice to find that one item I am looking for. All I need to do is jump online and comb the collection. No fuss no muss. And what's more, other people can cyber paw through my collection. This is really neat since all I have to do is provide the link and everyone can see what I have and do not have. What a wonderful deal.

Anyway, for fear of babbling on and on and on I will end this for now and fill in the blanks as we go. I will be posting just about anything I feel like writing about dice and collecting dice. If anyone listens I will be surprised.