Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Vanguard »

They do not. I LOVE the the look of the opaque sets. Gem dice are not really my thing, so I tried to match them as close as possible.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by reverenddak »

I've seen a few defective Zocchi dice recently. Return them. One of the players in my group got a bad bunch, returned them and got a new set without a problem. Quality control isn't what they used to be, for sure. My original set (pre-funky dice) have no bubbles or cracks, just the spur. I bought another d20, and it had bubbles. While my funky-zocchi set, that I bought inked, are perfect. I did use a modeling file to buff down sprues, but they've never bothered me. In fact I look for them, that's how I know it's a genuine gamescience die. I've been a fan of Gamescience dice since the early 80s.

There's a company that makes barrel style dice in d5, d7, d14 & d16. Dunno if they're still in production.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Karaptis »

I will hold off until Chessex makes some. I have been a loyal user of theirs since the beginning. Besides their logo is the eight arrows! How cool is that? Eat that Gamescience! Blood and souls for Chessex! :twisted:
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by bill4935 »

I've completed one full set with regular and Zocchi dice finally. I bought them haphazardly because I don't like the feel of precision dice. I just wanted as many inked and rounded red translucent ones as I could get. Luckily I love collecting dice as much as minis, so when I heard about this game, I already had most of what I will need.

d3: in a Crystal Caste 10 piece set.
d4: already owned.
d5: I had bought some custom Chessex d6 dice where the 6 pip side is replaced by a symbol (in my case, the logo for S.H.I.E.L.D., from the comics) Perfect for a d5!
d6: I have barrel shape and some wooden dice from an ancient snakes & ladders set. Wooden dice are old-school, just like hand-written character sheets :)
d7: A black seven sider I bought 8 years ago, the last time I was in a vendors' hall at a con.
d8: from the Crystal Caste set.
d10, d%: Crystal Caste, diamond and barrel shapes.
d12: regular and barrel shapes.
d14: hard to find, apart from gamescience. Finally found a very large Koplow d14 in white on ebay just recently.
d16: all I could find was opaque, but at least it's red! Same seller as the d14.
d20: Jeez, I think this is the one from the Paranoia 2E box set I bought when I was in middle school!
d24: These are easier to find than d14/d16, but not in every single colour. I had to settle for opaque.
d30: These are in every shop, so I've got 2 so far... but when will I use them?
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Karaptis »

How could I forget Crystal Caste!? Thanks for the tip.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by reverenddak »

Has anyone thought, or have heard, of some of these dice manufacturers to make funky dice? I'm sure if enough of use wrote them, they'd take it into consideration and come out with a complete matching set.

They only really need to make d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24 and d30's (heh, ok, that's a lot.)

Think geek sells a random set for $40 that includes the d7, d30 & d100:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/d031/
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Arayis »

reverenddak wrote:
Mintaro wrote:Besides everyone knows dice are coated with badluck when their pulled from the mold. you have to wash that stuff off.
haha, yup.

Does anyone know what markers they use in the pre-inked zocchi dice? It looks like a paint and looks really good compared to the ones I hand-inked with an Ultra-fine Sharpie.
Hey Rev, below is reply I got from one of the customerservice reps:

Thanks for considering Gamestation... Here are a couple options if you choose to ink them yourself. You canfind our official finishing kit on our websitehere...https://mail.google.com/a/gamestation.n ... 4c9a5a4a75 - the kit gives you the extra fine tip white paint pen along withstandard sharpies (they work, too, just fade over time) and the VERY important paint remover pen. Also we throw in a file if the edgesneed a little smoothing out. We also sell the remover and the whitepen separately. We dont, however, carry the black so.... Option#2 You can, of course, also look for the pens on your own. We recommend either ArtDeco or Sharpie extra fine tip paint pens. If it is not extra fine it will not fit in the grooves. ArtDeco also makesthe paint remover pen. I have had trouble finding them in stores, butyou can get all the colors you need at dickblick.com Also note, if you get the remover pen or denaturalized alcohol, youget get the paint or standard sharpie ink off the dice fairly easily. So, if you are worried you will mess them up, there are ways to get a"do-over" :)

Now I went with option#2, ArtDeco paint pen & denaturalized alcohol since I could not find the remover pen locally. Now as others have said on these boards it is very difficult doing the d5 & d24 due the shallow grooves on these dice. After it was all said and done I was not satisfied with the job I done inking these dice myself. It was difficult keeping the paint in the grooves. So, I thought I would do a do over as stated above but to my surprise it was very difficult removing the paint with the denaturalized alcohol. So thinking I had ruined my 2 sets of gem dice I decided to try some WD-40 on them & to my amazement it took it right off with a little wiping from an absorbent shop towel. After that I just dropped them in some warm soapy water to remove the residue. I then decided I would try the crayon method. Now after using the crayon I have decided that this will be my preferred method. I'll post some photo's later.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by TheNobleDrake »

My experience with Gamescience dice is a bit... overzealous, I will admit. I own more than 6 lbs of their dice.

However, buying (and coloring) all of those dice has given me some insight that I think some others out there have missed: Customer service.

You got a die that just won't take the ink/crayon well enough to have a clear number? You snap a photo, shoot customer service an email with the photo, your order info, and a message of "This one won't ink right." ...they get you a replacement and an apology in pretty short order.

Same if you have an indent or chunk of die missing where there should be a sprue sticking out.

Basically every complaint I've seen in the thread so far is one that would be completely removed by a simple chat with customer service.

Also, my inking experience has been thus:

1. Paint pens are nice... it's easy to slip out of the groove, especially if you are a little shaky like me. Most brands you can wipe off your mess ups on the die face with a paper towel if you (depending on brand/type of paint pen) wipe the die quickly or wait just a few moments and then rub thoroughly.

2. Cheap acrylic paint is better... you take a slightly ratty brush and slop paint onto the die face, then wipe the excess off the face with a paper towel or a slightly damp cloth. Same end result as the inkpen method, but it gets me there a lot easier and faster because it requires nearly zero skill.

3. Crayon... best method. Takes a little longer, sure, but requires no actual skill since you are just rubbing crayon on a die and then rubbing the excess wax off the face. The end result is high contrast, clear numbers with a "bold" appearance, and you can even switch up colors to make 1s, 20s, or other numbers that are important - like everything 3 and higher on a set of d3 through d10 for your favorite mighty deed dice, or the 7 through 10 on your d10s if you happen to occasionally play Exalted.

It's also the least hassle to do touch ups - no shaking (paint pens), palette (paint), just cracking open the box of crayons.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Colin »

reverenddak wrote:I've seen a few defective Zocchi dice recently. Return them. One of the players in my group got a bad bunch, returned them and got a new set without a problem. Quality control isn't what they used to be, for sure.
Unfortunately, returning them simply isn't worth my while. By the time I package them up, make the trip to the post office, line up for half an hour to be served, and sort out the international posting, I've lost an hour of my time. Time is a lot more precious to me than a few messed up dice. Why yes, I do have very young children. Why'd you ask? ;)

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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by arcadayn »

You actually don't have to return the defective dice. You can just take a picture of the defective one(s) and they will send you a replacement.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Colin »

arcadayn wrote:You actually don't have to return the defective dice. You can just take a picture of the defective one(s) and they will send you a replacement.
Gah. I'll remember that in future, should I ever purchase any more GS dice; my defective ones are currently residing in a landfill as of two days ago.

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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Arayis »

Arayis wrote:
reverenddak wrote:
Mintaro wrote:Besides everyone knows dice are coated with badluck when their pulled from the mold. you have to wash that stuff off.
haha, yup.

Does anyone know what markers they use in the pre-inked zocchi dice? It looks like a paint and looks really good compared to the ones I hand-inked with an Ultra-fine Sharpie.
Hey Rev, below is reply I got from one of the customerservice reps:

Thanks for considering Gamestation... Here are a couple options if you choose to ink them yourself. You canfind our official finishing kit on our websitehere...https://mail.google.com/a/gamestation.n ... 4c9a5a4a75 - the kit gives you the extra fine tip white paint pen along withstandard sharpies (they work, too, just fade over time) and the VERY important paint remover pen. Also we throw in a file if the edgesneed a little smoothing out. We also sell the remover and the whitepen separately. We dont, however, carry the black so.... Option#2 You can, of course, also look for the pens on your own. We recommend either ArtDeco or Sharpie extra fine tip paint pens. If it is not extra fine it will not fit in the grooves. ArtDeco also makesthe paint remover pen. I have had trouble finding them in stores, butyou can get all the colors you need at dickblick.com Also note, if you get the remover pen or denaturalized alcohol, youget get the paint or standard sharpie ink off the dice fairly easily. So, if you are worried you will mess them up, there are ways to get a"do-over" :)

Now I went with option#2, ArtDeco paint pen & denaturalized alcohol since I could not find the remover pen locally. Now as others have said on these boards it is very difficult doing the d5 & d24 due the shallow grooves on these dice. After it was all said and done I was not satisfied with the job I done inking these dice myself. It was difficult keeping the paint in the grooves. So, I thought I would do a do over as stated above but to my surprise it was very difficult removing the paint with the denaturalized alcohol. So thinking I had ruined my 2 sets of gem dice I decided to try some WD-40 on them & to my amazement it took it right off with a little wiping from an absorbent shop towel. After that I just dropped them in some warm soapy water to remove the residue. I then decided I would try the crayon method. Now after using the crayon I have decided that this will be my preferred method. I'll post some photo's later.
Okay here are some photo's:
photo 1.JPG
photo 1.JPG (110.45 KiB) Viewed 55878 times
photo 2.JPG
photo 2.JPG (129.98 KiB) Viewed 55878 times
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by reverenddak »

Arayis wrote:Okay here are some photo's:
photo 1.JPG
photo 2.JPG
Wow, that's Arayis. They look great. I'm concluding that crayon works best.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by ctaylor »

reverenddak wrote:
Arayis wrote:Okay here are some photo's:
photo 1.JPG
photo 2.JPG
Wow, that's Arayis. They look great. I'm concluding that crayon works best.
My first thought is that those were factory painted dice. They really turned out great. There is no way I would have known those were crayon'd without someone saying so.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Arayis »

Thanks guys, you really can't go wrong with the crayon. Here is a link to a to a really good site about using the crayon method:

http://www.gnomestew.com/crock-pot/thin ... h-a-crayon
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by GlowingDice »

I just ordered a couple more sets for my players. I've been hopping between frpgames.com and Amazon for all of mine thus far. I just wish there was a full set available that included the D30 and D7. So far, I've only one of each of those.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Blood Axe »

So has anyone figured out the best & most cost effective set of dice yet? I have the book in hand & Im anxious to try it out. :D
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by reverenddak »

Blood Axe wrote:So has anyone figured out the best & most cost effective set of dice yet? I have the book in hand & Im anxious to try it out. :D
Getting a d14 that's number 1-7 twice. And using a proxy/control die for the rest.

If you're OK with using a d8, and re-rolling 8's, then you can use it as a proxy for d7 and d14 with a control die.

I have a d6 that is numbered 1-3 twice, half the numbers are green, the others are red. It makes for an excellent d3 and as a control die for everything else. You could also use a Fudge/Fate die as a control die/ d3.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Vanguard »

Blood Axe wrote:So has anyone figured out the best & most cost effective set of dice yet? I have the book in hand & Im anxious to try it out. :D
You can get just the Zocchi pack for like $10. The only things you won't have will be a d7 and d30, neither of which are hard to simulate with the other dice.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

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I got my dice today! And I inked all 24 of them (that's 256 faces, btw). Picture:

Image

You can read my thoughts on inking and sanding the here:

http://earthlightacademy.blogspot.com/2 ... -dice.html
Last edited by Vanguard on Sun May 13, 2012 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Joe Mac »

reverenddak wrote: Getting a d14 that's number 1-7 twice.
Who's making that for you? I have lots of d6, d8, and d10s numbered half-range twice, but I haven't found a company to make me a 14-sided 'd7' yet. Hook me up! : )
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Harley Stroh »

Vanguard wrote:I got my dice today! And I inked all 24 of them (that's 256 faces, btw).
You can read my thoughts on inking and sanding the here:

http://earthlightacademy.blogspot.com/2 ... -dice.html
Gorgeous "inking" job! Those came out great!

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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by GlowingDice »

You can see where my glow-in-the-dark set has some scratches, but I still like them. I've bought another d30 since I took this and it's about half the size of the ones pictured here so it doesn't stand out quite as much. Now, I just can't wait to put them to use! :D Image
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by crabus »

The cheapest and the easiest way to get funky dice in Europe : http://www.thediceshoponline.com/

d3 : d6 numbered 2 times : http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/1 ... hite-Black
d5 : d10 numbered 2 times : http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/2 ... ed-D5-Dice
d7 : d14 numbred 2 times : http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/5 ... ed-D7-Dice
d14 : d14 Koplow http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/5 ... o-D14-Dice
d16 : d16 no gamescience http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/9 ... d-D16-Dice
d24 : d24 no gamescience http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/2 ... d-D24-Dice
d30 : d30 Interferenz http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/1 ... d-D30-Dice

They have gamescience precision dice too but it's more expensive.
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Re: Zocchi Dice Buyer's Guide

Post by Vanguard »

Harley Stroh wrote:
Vanguard wrote:I got my dice today! And I inked all 24 of them (that's 256 faces, btw).
You can read my thoughts on inking and sanding the here:

http://earthlightacademy.blogspot.com/2 ... -dice.html
Gorgeous "inking" job! Those came out great!

//H
Thanks! Should it technically be called waxing? That sounds like I'm taking my dice to the spa.
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