Bescon recently released some new colours in their Moonstones lines, and as many collectors have observed, the Orchid set is very similar to the Chessex Borealis Purple old glitter dice. While the Bescon glitter doesn’t have the exact same depth and shimmer as the old Borealis glitter, it’s definitely the closest emulation I have seen to date.
Continue readingNov 06 2020
Magic the Gathering Spindowns & Pokemon Dice
Magic the Gathering (also abbreviated MtG) uses life counters, also known as spindowns to keep track of life totals.
These are usually 20-sided dice that, unlike most other d20s, have similar numbers next to each other so that you can easily find the right number when you need to count up or down. The 20 face of the spindown die usually has an expansion symbol.
Continue readingNov 04 2020
Chessex Lab Dice 2020-2024
The continuing journey of the Lab Dice
Updated 15 July 2024
Ever since the premiere of the first wave of Lab Dice in 2019, Chessex has continued releasing new test colours under their Lab Dice premise — smaller runs of new designs to test their popularity and make more informed decisions which of them to make available as regular releases. Below are details on the Lab Dice releases from 2020 and beyond.
Continue readingOct 24 2020
Reference Guide: Crystal Caste Silk vs. D&G Marble
In my series of dice identification guides, this time I’d like to focus on two other lines of dice that get easily confused: Crystal Caste Silk and Dice & Games Marble. Both are two-coloured styles with one dominant colour and white swirls, but they do have some features that can help you tell them apart.
Continue readingOct 24 2020
Dice Trading & Selling 101
No matter if you’re new to dice collecting, are a veteran collector, or somewhere in between, at some point you’ve probably run across so-called ISO (in-search-of) or WTT (want-to-trade) posts and requests. It’s almost inevitable to trade dice with fellow collectors if you’re looking for a set you’ve fallen in love with that is no longer available in stores, or have that incomplete set of elusive out-of-print dice that you want to complete.
Continue readingOct 24 2020
Chessex Lab Dice 2019
Every year dice collectors and enthusiasts get excited about new releases, and Chessex dice are certainly no exception. At GAMA Expo in March 2019, we got the very first glimpse of new dice that Chessex was planning to release this year. Back then, they were called “From the Lab”, which later evolved to just “Lab Dice”.
Continue readingOct 24 2020
Getting Dicey with Critical Role
Updated 07 October 2024
Critical Role is a popular live-streamed D&D adventure, where dungeon master extraordinaire Matt Mercer leads a group of LA-based voice actors through epic adventures in a completely homebrewed campaign setting. It is now in its third campaign, with their first one encompassing an impressive 115 episodes, their second one 141 episodes strong and their third one still ongoing.
Continue readingOct 23 2020
What Are the Hard to Find Dice?
A lot of collectors have probably felt the frustration of getting closer and closer to completing that out-of-print dice set, and then there’s just that last elusive die that’s missing. You know, the one that everyone is looking for. It’s a bit of an odd phenomenon, and no one can really explain why it is always those one or two dice that seem to be the hardest to find.
Continue readingOct 23 2020
Glossary of Dice Terminology
Below are common terms and acronyms often used when talking about dice.
Continue readingOct 23 2020
Online Dice Shops
Below is a listing with known, legit online dice shops that I have compiled and try to keep up to date as much as possible.
It has different tabs per region and shops are listed by country with added information on shipping costs (where available). Red flags indicate when there are known controversies or issues with a store to help make informed decisions about where to buy.
(Please note that there are different tabs at the bottom for the different regions.)
I also have a PDF version below, but it may not be as up to date as the Google sheet linked above.
