Signature Item Icon (with poll)

[+aka Monkey]

[From another thread, now adding a poll]

 

I was looking at FISUR's great geo-creations page earlier today, and thinking how neat it would be to try and collect signature items. I'm sick of McToys, and travel bugs shouldn't stay in one place for long, but signature items really capture the spirit of geocaching, I think.

 

Anyway, I was thinking it would be neat if there was a "signature item" icon, similar to the travel bug icon. It would function exactly the same way as far as logging goes, but of course it wouldn't need to keep track of who had it or how far it had travelled. Just whether there was one in the cache or not.

 

If someone had a particularly nice item you'd like to get your hands on, you could just check their signature item page to see what caches currently contain the item.

 

So what do you think? Worth mentioning to Jeremy?

[+Og's outfit]

I voted "I love the idea."

 

I'm with you, I think the knowledge of finding something special in a cache puts that cache higher on my list than another one.

I would pass up other caches in order to get a sig. item or a TB. But that's just me.

 

OG

 

Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?)

[+Blaidd-Drwg]

I like the idea, BUT I don't think this is something that can be tracked in a database. The tracking would be something like a travel bug tracking system, which requires entries by both placer and finders. Therefore, I think, (and maybe a techie out there will tell me I'm wrong) the best way to know that a signature item has been placed in a cache is to note it in the logs. As with travel bugs, there are going to be times when you reach a cache, marked as having a travel bug and it won't be there. Such is the nature of the game. Failure of people to log trades happens. Therefore, my final answer is 'none of the above'

 

Madog "Discover of America, ca 1169"

[+Kite and Hawkeye]

I like signature items, but I don't know how tracking their presence in a cache would work... or even exactly what the definition of 'signature item' should be. Are they necessarily something personalized? I always leave a little frog when we visit a cache, but I don't think it's worthy of a special icon, nor do I think people would hunt the cache for it. I would be interested in hunting a cache that has nice stuff in it; nice stuff can be TBs, interesting signature items, things of more than typical value, or something I just happen to find interesting. You can tell by reading recent logs if anyone's mentioned leaving anything you'd want to hunt, and I think that's the most practical way to go about it. It's awfully hard to track the contents of a cache, and there will always be people who don't want to admit that they took NiftySignatureItem and left a dirty golfball.

[+briansnat]

I guess the website can be updated to accomodate it, but who the heck really cares if there is a signature item in a cache? Besides, I know the local geocachers who have signature items and I know that if they visited a cache, their item is in there. No need for an icon.

 

"Au pays des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois"

[+carleenp]

The last three posters really nailed it. Nice idea, but it would be hard to work and you can see them from cache logs.

 

[+brdad]

I number my Signature CD's and just track them best I can and put the info on my web page. Some people pick them up and let me know what I think and if they'll be placing it somewhere. Others take them and I never hear whether it was enjoyed or kept or what. And I give the option of they can keep it or move it on like a TB. So far 3 have made it out of state; MA, PA, and MT. The one in MT is the only one I am sure is in a cache.

 

I think it'd be a waste of tracking resources to track a sig item that makes it to one cache and the next person finds it. And so many people take things and just log took something, left something, how would you know if it's still there?

 

Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.

[+bigredmed]

I suggest a new category of caches. We have micros, VC's, traditional, and now "sigs". The sig caches would be set up to trade only sig items.

 

This would be easier than doing a database.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nebraskache/

[+GeoGryffindor]

Well, I voted Loved it!

 

But, when you have a 2 year old out with you, sometimes the McToys that are found come in handy. They think the cache was for them. On the other hand, for the adults, I love the idea of signature items. We have business cards we made up that we place in the cache along with something else. But, we would really like to do Wooden Nickels - the price isn't too bad for them. We have a person here in Oklahoma that has "Treasure Finder Was Here" toothpick holders. They are very nice. I'm not sure what he paid for them, but we went out to our cache and kept the one he left there. Just a keepsake.

 

So, there are pro's and con's. If you want to get rid of the McToy's, put in another type of toy that you think is worthy for those of us that do take the smaller cacher's out.

 

"Nice find! I must go tell Harry, Ron and Hermione."