In the 80's there was an issue of Dragon where a similar product was reviewed. It was called the Fair Shake Dice Device, but that was a clunky wooden think that was a bitch to transport. I know because I built my own as my project for 8th grade woodshop class. (Yes, I am that big of a dork.) This looks like it could disassemble to travel flat, which would explain why it's called the portable dice tower.
That Dragon issue also reviewed a couple of other dice oddities. Dragonbone was a handheld LED thingy that generated random numbers electronically. They were apparently built solidly, as I've heard of people who still use their Dragonbone two decades later. Then there was The D4 That Rolls, a d8 marked 1-4 twice. That's a great idea but I wouldn't use them today because, outside of casino d6s, 80's dice had much dodgier quality controls than models nowadays. I have seen some d12s marked with 1 to 4 pips on each side, but I've never found them priced cheap enough where I would feel justified in replacing my d4s with them. Over on Gamecraft someone highly recommended I get some of the new prism-shaped d4s from Crystal Caste. I just got done replacing my d4s, so I'd feel a little silly doing so again.
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I knew a guy in the 80s who had a Dragonbone. A lot of guys in the shop teased him about it, but he whipped his bone out at every opportunity ...
ReplyDeleteIf you have a teacher's supply store near you, that's a magnificent source for unusual dice of all kinds ... not just all the different shapes, but all kinds of alternate marking and numbering schemes, since such objects are apparently useful to math and geometry teachers. My favorite oddity from a teacher shop is probably the clear transparent d12 that acts as a d6 with only half the faces marked, and the other (opposite) faces left entirely blank. Why? Because it produces a perfect d6 roll when rolled on a lit overhead projector.
Jeff
ReplyDeleteI have one of these and they're very nifty. They come in a cartoon about the height of a 64 page softback book and are a doddle to build. Chessex have a construction video on their dice boot page, and I've included a couple of other fun dice tower links.
Regards, David Radford.
Chessex Dice Boot (includes a construction video)
http://www.chessex.com/dice%20accessories/Dice_Accessories.htm
Self loading Lego dice tower;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTE6ErZ3EQ&feature=related
Dice-O-Matic;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n8LNxGbZbs&feature=related