Game Props - RINGS!!!
Remember when MTV used to be about Music Videos, the History Channel actually aired shows about History and Weather Channel was just a constant loop of the weather? Here is another one for you…..remember when GameStop (or Babbage’s if you are really old like me) focused on Video Games? Yeah, that too is a hard one.
Over the years, some of GameStop’s focus has been physical/tangible props/items to help augment Video Game sales. Sold as GameStop exclusives - you typically saw these as Pop Vinyl figs or exclusive in-game content.
Recently, GameStop has put a pretty cool dice tower - an “Officially Licensed” throwback to the OG Hardcover Players Handbook. While it is pretty cool - $49.99 seems a bit steep….so I would probably wait until I could 3D print my own vs. shelling out the $$$.
That said, the real purpose of this post is something that could be used as in game props, a set of 6 “Officially Licensed D&D Rings (in a collectors box and with a Cert of Authenticity - wooooooo).
While the release date on these is not until 6/11/21 ( you can pre-order now for $39.99) I wanted to give you an early opinion and get everyone’s feedback on if they planned on purchasing.
For me, at first glance - the box looks cheap and cheesy. It appears the the rings set in cardboard platform with cut-outs and names for each. Even in the promo pic, it appears to already be wearing out, and that is not a good sign if you are wanting to use this for display purposes.
The rings themselves look pretty good - but not something I would want for long term (weekend/Convention) wear. Each ring is Each is adjustable from size 8-12, and this just reminds me of the rings you would get in a bubble gum machine. You know the kind, you bend them a little bit, or smash together to tighten….but by the end of the day, the ring is ruined. Also, with no description beyond “Base metal”, we do not know what the rings are made of……so, if you wore this to a convention, you might have a green skin coloration.
Interestingly, each ring does appear to be a close representation of their 5e DMG counterpart, with the exception being the Ring of Telekinesis - where the hands appear to be etheral or crystal, but the actual ring is base metal. Colors are a little dark as well, but not dramatically so…..especially since they are not made out of gold.
I personally doubt I would purchase these for my game, where props tend to be more specific game driven and custom made. I could see if I were doing a cosplay, one or two of these being nice additions, but as I pointed out with the dice tower…..I could just as easy 3D print them. In fact, someone over at Thingiverse has already created the Ring of Spell Storing.
In closing, it should be noted that I have not seen these in person, as they have not released yet. My opinions are based soley on the promo stills provided by GameStop. That said, unless I received them as a gift or a review copy, this is probably as far as this will go - as I see very little functionality other than the “Cool Factor”, and that is limited.
My initial gutcheck is this would be 2 out of 5, possibly 3 out of 5 if you are into cosplaying Wizards.
Let me know what you think about both of these products in the comments below. We love to hear feedback. Was I to lenient or harsh? Is this something you could or would never use? Should we drink more beer before posting? Let us know….and have a great one.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- Ed
