Author Topic: Favorite GenCon collectible?  (Read 4654 times)

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Caelic

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Favorite GenCon collectible?
« on: June 20, 2008, 08:14:00 PM »
One of the really cool things about GenCon is that you get...stuff!  Just about every company with a budget (and you have to have a budget to have a presence at GenCon) seems to produce something special to commemorate the Rilly Big Show (tm).

Over the years, I've accumulated a lot of nifty little promo items...everything from special dice to a shard of the Heart of Coyote to a DocWagon Gold card.

So: what's everybody's favorite GenCon promotional toy?

For me, it would have to be my set of Paranoia Bouncy Bubble Beverage cups.  I still consider it the most brilliant promotional scheme I've ever seen at a Con.  West End managed to work out a deal with the concessionaires one year, and for the entire weekend, every soft drink came in a plastic Bouncy Bubble Beverage cup.

Meg

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2008, 01:27:18 AM »
Breakkeys!!!!  They were this game though, so I guess only sort of a promotional item.  Two "keys" you locked together and twisted and whoever broke their opponent won.

A one time thing, and so simple, but it gave us hours and hours of fun.
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Dragon Snack

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2008, 07:10:47 PM »
You're endagering the Brilliant part of your Gameologist title every time you mention BreakKeys...

Someone had these metal pirate coins last year.  That's the coolest thing I've ever picked up.  I went back for more the next couple of days and they were all gone.  Of course, since I don't remember what game they were for, they weren't THAT good of a giveaway.

The best promo item I've ever seen was an actual Dwarven Forge Barroom piece they gave away last year.  Thing is, they only brought 200 of them to the show, so if you didn't get there early Thursday you were out of luck.
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Kai

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2008, 05:26:43 AM »
We have some little plastic pirate ships from demoing 'Pirates: Constructable Strategy Game' that are pretty cool. Not enough for a game, but cool nonetheless.

The 30th anniversary of DnD came with a lot of swag at Gen Con that year...plastic cups, tshirts, canvas bags, mouse pads, dice, posters.

WotC gave out lots of their miniatures during some years and we snagged one or two each time we ambled by their section of the dealers hall, so we have quite the collection. Very handy when you need 10-12 random baddies for a combat.

I've gotten a couple of metal minis at Gen Con too...I think the first year I attended Meg and I (at least I think it was Meg) were killing time and went to see if there was space at the Reaper Miniatures area for learning to paint minis. Only there was a huge waiting list, so we put our names down, picked out the minis we wanted and then ambled away shortly thereafter minis in hand.

Oh...and I found a great quote by Rich Burlew on the BreakKey experience...
Quote
Break Keys, quite possibly the stupidest and most brilliant game ever. You basically take two little plastic keys, stick them together, and twist. One breaks and loses; the other doesn't, and wins. That's it. Nothing else. Pure genius.
Rich was one of the participants in the drinking and BreakKey fest discussed in one of the other threads.  :D
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Dragon Snack

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2008, 04:37:54 PM »
Technically, the "Sue Crew" Paint And Take (or sign up and take) isn't part of Reaper at Gen Con (it may have been at one time, but not anymore).  There are usually a few Reaper Black Lightning members that help out there though...

edit: And BreakKeys make baby Jesus cry.  In addition to being bad for the environment.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2008, 04:40:44 PM by Dragon Snack »
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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2008, 04:42:07 PM »
Oh...and I found a great quote by Rich Burlew on the BreakKey experience...
Quote
Break Keys, quite possibly the stupidest and most brilliant game ever. You basically take two little plastic keys, stick them together, and twist. One breaks and loses; the other doesn't, and wins. That's it. Nothing else. Pure genius.
Rich was one of the participants in the drinking and BreakKey fest discussed in one of the other threads.  :D

I have a picture of Rich throwing his hands into the air in pure jubilation after a winning streak of breakkey.  DragonSnack- you obviously never played with us.

Kai- where did you find that quote?  I know Rich had it on GitP at one point but I thought that GenCon experience (and thus, us) were removed to make way for stuff that's "new" and "shiny" and "not just his friends goofing off".  Slacker.
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Kai

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2008, 05:39:26 PM »
Well the "paint and take" I was thinking of was 5 years ago so it may have been Reaper then, really don't remember, but the miniature that I got was definitely Reaper.

Kai- where did you find that quote?  I know Rich had it on GitP at one point but I thought that GenCon experience (and thus, us) were removed to make way for stuff that's "new" and "shiny" and "not just his friends goofing off".  Slacker.

I copied and saved the whole review for posterity shortly after he posted it 5 years ago. I can email it to you if you'd like.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2008, 05:41:28 PM by Kai »
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Josh

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2008, 04:58:01 AM »
edit: And BreakKeys make baby Jesus cry.  In addition to being bad for the environment.
Little known fact: Break-keys are made of 100% whale oil, a renewable resource.
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Caelic

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2008, 12:55:18 AM »
Bah.  Surely we can come up with our own eco-friendly game in the same vein.

I give you:

BreakEggs.

The starter set comes with two eggs: one hard-boiled, one raw.  The players each take an egg, then smash it on their opponent's forehead.  The one who doesn't get covered with raw egg wins.

Dragon Snack

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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2008, 01:57:26 AM »
edit: And BreakKeys make baby Jesus cry.  In addition to being bad for the environment.
Little known fact: Break-keys are made of 100% whale oil, a renewable resource.
SAVE THE WHALES!

I feel so dirty...
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Re: Favorite GenCon collectible?
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2008, 03:48:19 PM »
Well the "paint and take" I was thinking of was 5 years ago so it may have been Reaper then, really don't remember, but the miniature that I got was definitely Reaper.

Reaper is one of the major contributors to Paint & Take, though we are working with several manufacturers. Reaper often supplies paint and brushes in addition to their miniatures donations, which is very much appreciated.

Reaper also usually sponsors the Speed Painting area, and like Paint & Take also has a demonstration area in their booth where you can watch and talk to professional miniatures painters showing their craft.

For those that are interested in learning more about miniatures painting, we host a classroom as well - look for MHE events in the catalog. Many are sold out, but we can sometimes sneak in one or two extra attendees with Generic tickets, depending on the class and instructor. It never hurts to try!