# Floppy Disk Con Badges



## DeCatt (Mar 3, 2014)

I had this idea for making a little bit of con money and getting rid of these stacks of 3.5" floppies that are all over my desk. The disks have a space for a label/index on the front and I thought a cool idea would be to offer con badge commissions which include them being printed on these with a lanyard attached. I honestly have no idea what people would think of this idea, does anyone think this is a good idea, or should I find something else?


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## Taralack (Mar 3, 2014)

Sounds nifty. I wouldn't buy one but that's because I don't use badges. 

You might be better off asking your watchers what they think, since it's more likely you'll get a customer or two from it that way.


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## DeCatt (Mar 3, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Sounds nifty. I wouldn't buy one but that's because I don't use badges.
> 
> You might be better off asking your watchers what they think, since it's more likely you'll get a customer or two from it that way.



Will do. Would be handy to have a few more though


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## Sammacha (Mar 3, 2014)

In my opinion, depending on how the person is going to wear them they are good and bad. If they want to clip them well thats all good, but I wouldn't want it hanging around my neck, too much weight, but thats jut me


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## Socks the Fox (Mar 3, 2014)

Floppies aren't all that much heavier than a USB drive, and I've seen some people wearing those on lanyards.

Bonus points if you can load some dinky doodle on it before you make them! :3


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## DeCatt (Mar 3, 2014)

Sammacha said:


> In my opinion, depending on how the person is going to wear them they are good and bad. If they want to clip them well thats all good, but I wouldn't want it hanging around my neck, too much weight, but thats jut me



They weigh about 15g I think. Not that much more than a USB drive and about the same as a small jewellery pendant or dogtags.


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## CallMeCactus (Mar 3, 2014)

It would be a cool idea if the buyer could upload character art onto the disk as well.


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## Tica (Mar 3, 2014)

CallMeCactus said:


> It would be a cool idea if the buyer could upload character art onto the disk as well.



But who even has floppy disk drives anymore??

@ OP: what are you thinking of charging for 'em? IT seems like it could be a cool idea. I'd love to see an example.


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## Destova (Mar 3, 2014)

Tica said:


> But who even has floppy disk drives anymore??
> 
> @ OP: what are you thinking of charging for 'em? IT seems like it could be a cool idea. I'd love to see an example.



I do, but granted I enjoy playing with older model computers as a hobby. Someone who might be interested in this idea (such as myself) will probably also have a similar hobby to be honest.


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## DeCatt (Mar 4, 2014)

Tica said:


> But who even has floppy disk drives anymore??
> 
> @ OP: what are you thinking of charging for 'em? IT seems like it could be a cool idea. I'd love to see an example.



At a rough guess, including commissioned artwork, lanyard, etc, about $5 each. Shipping and handling would vary but I imagine it would be under $10 world wide.

I'm not sure about actually writing anything to these disks, many of them are very old (over 20 years) and have damaged sectors. The floppies are only 1.2MB anyway which is barely enough for one decent quality picture.

The range of colors I have available, however, are many. I have black, orange, green, grey, yellow, red, pink, etc.

There is obviously considerable interest, so I will invest in some nice photo paper, lanyards and a laminator and run off a few examples.


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## Sammacha (Mar 4, 2014)

DeCatt said:


> They weigh about 15g I think. Not that much more than a USB drive and about the same as a small jewellery pendant or dogtags.



lol Idk ,maybe mine are older and heavier? either way it,s not something i would wear around my neck, I'd have no problem pinning it to something though.


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## DeCatt (Mar 4, 2014)

Sammacha said:


> lol Idk ,maybe mine are older and heavier? either way it,s not something i would wear around my neck, I'd have no problem pinning it to something though.



I could offer a choice of lanyard or clip then?


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## Echoshock (Mar 4, 2014)

Sounds good, 5 1/4" would be lighter


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## Valery91Thunder (Mar 4, 2014)

Oh man, considering that pretty much floppies are now a symbol of the 90s, every nostalgia afictionado would love one! If I find myself with some extra cash when you make them I'd love to get one for me and my friend, even though badges here are basically useless. But, you know, just to have a cool thingie to hang on my trophies wall. :3
Let us know if you make an example of these. :3


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## DeCatt (Mar 4, 2014)

I'm glad so many people are excited! I will make some sample ones ASAP (it will take some time for the lanyards to arrive in the mail). 

Another question: Plain black lanyards or random color?


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## Valery91Thunder (Mar 4, 2014)

You said you have a wide array of floppy colours, it'd be cute if the lanyard could match the colour of the floppy.  But I think coloured strings cost more than plain black ones.


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## Tica (Mar 4, 2014)

the 90s were definitely an era of random colors


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## DeCatt (Mar 4, 2014)

Valery91Thunder said:


> You said you have a wide array of floppy colours, it'd be cute if the lanyard could match the colour of the floppy.  But I think coloured strings cost more than plain black ones.



Nah, same price, it's all bulk order anyway.


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## Queen-Cheetah93 (Mar 23, 2014)

I love that idea!  I think it would be a big hit!


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## powderhound (Mar 23, 2014)

The con badges for BLFC (this Friday, woot!) have the option of being printed on a floppy disk this year. I went with it.


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## DeCatt (Mar 23, 2014)

Good news is my supplies are due to arrive tomorrow (Made the bad mistake of choosing the Hong Kong option for a few less bucks) and I have sample artwork ready for a sample run.


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## Valery91Thunder (Mar 23, 2014)

Neat-o! :3


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## DeCatt (Mar 25, 2014)

Ok guys, after a heap of technical difficulties involving printers (Printers never work properly) I finally have an example ready. The electric drill is still charging so the lanyard is just tac'd on at the moment (in the future a small hole will be drilled into the shutter). The sticker here was just cut out with scissors to save time, commissioned badges will be cut out with a knife and ruler. The sticker has angular corners but I think I might just leave them as 90 degree corners next time.

Any input and suggestions encouraged!


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## Valery91Thunder (Mar 25, 2014)

Ah that's cute! I'm no expert on badges, but maybe you would write the character's name bolder, or using a font that makes it stand out and be easily recognizable/readable?


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## DeCatt (Mar 25, 2014)

Valery91Thunder said:


> Ah that's cute! I'm no expert on badges, but maybe you would write the character's name bolder, or using a font that makes it stand out and be easily recognizable/readable?



Can do, how about a double thickness white outline around the name?


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## Valery91Thunder (Mar 25, 2014)

Why not =D If the backgrounds/characters' colours are very vivid or fairly dark, the white outline will stand out a lot. Otherwise you could swap and have white text with black outlining.


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## FleckTheFox (Apr 18, 2014)

That is so badass! I will definitely be ordering one from ya next week when i get paid XD  

you get mad props for a cool crafty way to recycle


and Valery91Thunder  just made me think of somethin.. you could let people pick from different letter styles and colors too so its a little more personalized


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## DeCatt (Apr 18, 2014)

FleckTheFox said:


> That is so badass! I will definitely be ordering one from ya next week when i get paid XD
> 
> you get mad props for a cool crafty way to recycle
> 
> ...



Yeah I can do these. I haven't officially opened for them due to time restrictions but I can make one for you.


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