Q Workshop GIC Electronic Dice

Today on the Q Workshop Facebook page they announced that their sister company GIC has developed an electronic dice version which just might be the next big advancement in the dice world. Functianally there is actually only a few things that seperate this from a regular analog D6. It rolls and lands on a number just like any other die. Where it differs is in the ability for the results to influenced. The die will go red if the roll is too short and that decreases the chance that the die is being manipulated. The die will also go red if after the die comes to a stop the die is tipped, again with the goal of reducing the chance of cheating. It should be noted that the "Q" has assured it's Facebook friends that the dice are balanced. That will be interesting to see.

This is all very interesting and it certainly is not a new idea with respect to a digital die, I have one from Radio Shack from the 1980s and I am familiar with several that might go back to the late 50s and therefore what makes this one special. I think it is the fact that the previous dice where novelties with no other purpose then perhaps allowing a player to roll multiple sided dice on the same device. This concept while clever has never been successful. There is something about real dice hitting the tabletop...it's the feel...the sound...the vibration as the dice bounce along. There is also the style of dice...and the "Q" sure has shown us that in recent years. They have advanced our concept of style on dice significantly, they have turned the industry on edge and given us all a whole bunch of interesting collectables. I am looking forward to getting a set of these new electronic dice in my hands. It is my hope they have a nice feel to them both as they roll around in my hand and also how the skid and tumble over my table.

Here is a link showing the die in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRvR5do2sI4&feature=youtu.be

The Armory Dice - An Evolution

The Armory - An Evolution

To understand the importance of Armory dice you have to go back to Dungeons and Dragons. When it was released in 1974 there was no way to predict the popularity nor the explosive growth of the game. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson had tapped into a subculture eager to expand on the fantasy world of middle earth. Because of this unpredicted popularity production of the original components of the game was strained. This was especially true of the dice which were included with the game. For the first time polyhedral dice were in demand.

Some of you might even remember the early sets of dice coming in small plastic bags. This bag contained a devilishly sharp yellow D4, an orange D6 with numerals, a medium green D8, a light blue D12 and either a white or pink D20. These dice were actually purchased from an educational supply company to be included with the early DnD game, they were actually marketed as Math Dice. But, at the time, there were no other sources for these strangely shaped dice and the DnD game system required the use of them.

As I have previously stated demand for Dungeons and Dragons was high. So high in fact that at a point the manufacturers inventory of polyhedral dice was depleted and TSR had to resort to including "chits" which were numerals on tokens which could be blindly pulled out of a bag to create the random results required to play the game. A coupon was also included with the game for a future set of dice. Please realize that this is a simplified version of the history as I understand it...there are rumors of a totally pink set of polyhedrals being included in some original sets but until I see proof I hesitate to believe these rumors. There is just enough credibility in them to make me continue my search for my own set but not enough for me to be sure I will ever see one. They are like Nessy...or Hobbits. I would consider anyone having seen one a crackpot but would eagerly investigate the sighting to determine if there was any chance they do exist. I want to believe.

Anyway...I told you that story to lay the foundation for why Armory dice ever came into existence. You see, anyone who produced polyhedral dice in those early days would have enjoyed fast and furious sales. The obvious company that comes to mind is Gamescience. Lou Zocchi was the founder of Gamescience, the first company in the United States to produce polyhedral dice. This put them in the enviable position of producing a product which was in short supply due to the enormous demand which was being created by DnD. Distributors of Gamescience dice could not get enough product. Everything they could get their hands on immediately flew off the shelves. A market with few suppliers and huge demand was attractive to several companies especially those already in the gaming industry. The Armory was a game store in Maryland(I think). From what I know of them and that is very little indeed they seemed to have an inclination for at least private labeling products and in many cases actually having products made for them. Dice were no different; in fact it seems downright logical they would get into making polyhedral dice.

I do not know the dates of production but in the early days The Armory produced dice like you see in the far left in the intro picture with the distinctive "A" replacing one of the 1s. We collectors sometimes call this 1st Generation Armory. The "A" was a branding attempt by the Armory to make sure players knew what dice were being used. What is interesting about this is that the dice were not of the highest quality and looking at it from my perspective I am not sure I would be proud to have my brand on low impact dice which had cock eyed 2s and fell apart. But hey...I am glad they did it now because "A" dice are fairly rare and very distinctive.

Directly to the right in the picture you see the next generation of Armory where the “A” no longer exists and the dice have assumed a more traditional look for the time with 2 sequences of 0-9. The player would then ink half the numerals to designate the number above 9 and thus achieve the desired D20 effect. The is called 2nd Generation Armory by many collectors. In fact all generations of armory dice after the “A” disappeared are referred to 2nd generations.

I am here to suggest these two designations are not enough. I now have enough of a population of Armory dice to start to discern patterns and I see 4 distinct generations of Armory dice. I call them, and you can follow along left to right in the picture above (ignore the D10 for now), 1st generation, 2nd generation, 3rd generation and multi co period.

I have already gone over the history of the “A” but two other obvious characteristics of both 1st and 2nd gen Armory dice are the Fat “O” and the check mark shaped “7”. Study the Armory dice on this page and you will begin to develop and eye for these traits.

When Armory dice evolved into the 3rd Generation the 0-9 system was dropped and a more modern 1 – 20 sequence was established. And finally on the far right you can see what I call the Multi Co dice. This was the period right before The Armory was purchased by Chessex and interestingly enough the dice began to reflect a different mentality. Gone were the sharp edges of precision dice, gone was the Fat”O” and the check mark “7”. The armory went over to the dark side and was buying dice from an offshore source (probably Chinese). These factories were producing dice for any number of other American buyers. I have inserted the D10 in the picture above to show a transitional die where The Armory attempted to reinsert the traditional ”A’ as a branding mechanism on these generic “Multi Co” dice in order to distinguish them from all the other companies buying these same dice.

See my entire dice collection at www.dicecollector.net/JB/

Patina

Patina
In the coin collecting world uncirculated mint condition coins are the most sought after and generally most valuable. Paper money is the same. Sports cards, comic books and magazines…same. However, if you are collecting furniture the worst thing you can do is clean off the “patina”. The richness and character that has been acquired through use and life should only be removed under the most dire of circumstances. So where does the dice world fall into this spectrum?

I have studied more than my fair share of dice collections. Maybe that’s a little weird but it keeps me out of jail. I usually run through my hotlist of collections every 2 or three months looking for new acquisitions which spark that jealous desire to own those little baubles. Like Gollum and his ring I am. My Precious! And in those collections one of the things I find myself gravitating towards are those items which show the wear of use. Not broken…not rotten…worn. Worn dice show the death of a thousand dragons or the conquest of many a kingdom. Worn dice show that these were not cloistered objects destined to never be touched by human hands. But they were in fact cursed, and blessed and caressed in hope and thrown in anger. Worn dice show the love of age or the hatred of betrayal. They are like Woody in toy story. You can almost feel the fear in them of being surpassed by the new love. It is my opinion that most collectors value mint condition dice over used dice. I am not that idealistic. Yes I have mint condition dice but also I have the well used dice which show every bit of life they have earned.

In my collection these dice have found a home. I photograph them with the same respect as the latest and greatest mint, in the package designs. They are given a place of honor in my heart if not in placement within the collection. These dice have soul; they have a story to tell us and the represent the people who held them in their hands and waited with anticipation as they rolled to a stop. And in that moment there was humanity. And while the games change and maybe even the stakes change, the human emotion of hope carries through the ages. As I roll them over in my hand this is what connects me to these dice and to the people who used them. Would you want a prestine set of dice from the roman age? Or would you rather like to know a roman soldier travelling through Slovakia rolled them. I know where I stand on that.

I will forever argue that worn dice are just as important if not more important than boxed sets. Boxed sets tell us something but used sets tell us more.