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Trading Sig Cards


Team JKLK

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My family and I have been enjoying this great hobby for several months now. We have created our own signature cards that we leave in each cache we find. However, I've recently heard of people trading sig cards at a cache. I realize that this is ok, but I'm wondering how common of a practice this is? I always thought that the cards were for the cache owner, is this not the case? (I suppose the log book serves that purpose, now that I think about it more...)

 

So here's my question: how many people trade sig cards and what do you do with them once you trade them?

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I am also new to this, But we made our sig cards and have been placing them in the caches that we find. Ours are numbered as to the number of that perticulas r cache that was that we found. Did that make since? We find alot of sig cards in the caches but we leave them there. Thats where they should be in my opinion.

Have a nice hunt. :(

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Now I'm confused. I though a sig item was often used as a trade item, not as a log item. I'm thinking if it should remain in the cache, maybe it should be stapled to a logbook page.

 

Are sign cards different from other sig items or should all sig items remain in the cache where they were placed?

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Some folks make sig stickers or stamps they put in the log book.

 

I've never been a real fan of the cards sig items. The have a tendency to get damp and mildewy. Not that the log book doesn't do that at times, too, but sig cards tend to be worse.

 

I'd consider laminating them. That might help. Also, many people print them with their ink-jets, and those inks don't always stand up real well to moisture.

 

I think the best sig items are the metal personal geocoins, but those, of course, run into some serious money.

 

George

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I'd consider laminating them. That might help. Also, many people print them with their ink-jets, and those inks don't always stand up real well to moisture.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I went to Office Depot and bought some card stock and then used a laser printer from work (with permission) to print off 50 cards. I will be repeating this process fairly soon as we are already up to 41 finds. :( I think that the key is to either laminate the cards or use good stiff card-stock and a laser printer (both of which can be done at Kinkos, if you don't have a laser at work...)

 

I like the idea of trading these cards and keeping a book of them. I am anxious to hear what others have to say...

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Another thing might be to check into those business cards that are directly printed on a magnet. That solves the water-proof issue, and many people are attracted to the idea of collecting magnets. They're fun and useful for posting the kid's artwork to the 'fridge. Not sure how much it would cost, though.

 

You could also get the magnetic backings that go on the back of traditional paper business cards. Those aren't expensive at all, and would probably promote collecting.

 

George

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I was thinking about wooden nickles. You can get custom nickles printed for $96.95 / 1000. But I was thinking the generic single sided type

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would work. Then you could get a rubber stamp made to customize the other side. I think a custom stamp is around $10, or you can make one pretty easy if you are the artsy type.

Here is the pricing info for "blanks";

"Only $18.00 per pound (About 160 Wooden Nickels) Minimum Order 1 pound

Mix/Match your order in 1/2 pound increments

Shipping Charges for UPS Ground Service to Continental U.S. Street Addresses and APO/FPO

1-2 Pounds - $ 9.71

3-4 Pounds - $ 10.24

5-8 Pounds - $10.88

2nd Day shipping and Next Day shipping available at additional charge"

Here is a link.

I just did the math, 1#(160 pcs) with shipping and a stamp is about $.23 each. Not to bad.

 

If you make up a team you could order volume and share shipping.

They have already done the Geocaching logo as a custom, if you have the bucks to buy custom. Maybe if they get enough interest they might add the logo as a standard.

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Another thing might be to check into those business cards that are directly printed on a magnet.  That solves the water-proof issue, and many people are attracted to the idea of collecting magnets.  They're fun and useful for posting the kid's artwork to the 'fridge.  Not sure how much it would cost, though.

 

You could also get the magnetic backings that go on the back of traditional paper business cards.  Those aren't expensive at all, and would probably promote collecting.

 

George

Avery makes magnetic laser printer cards. Add a layer of Clear-view packing tape to waterproof. Both items are available at Office Max, Staples, etc. :(

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Custom "Casino"-type chips have also been mentioned as an inexpensive sig item that can be personalized. I hear they're made of some kind of clay, and can be painted with bright colors.

 

However, I've yet to find a customized wooden coin or clay chip myself. Seems like a good idea, though. I'm suprised I haven't seen one.

 

George

Edited by nincehelser
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I have made up a sig card that I think will resist moisture and make collectable. I was in the office depot and picked up some laminating pouches. One side of the card has personal info and the other has some caching ethics printed on it. Laminate it and presto One water tight and weather resistant card.

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What exactly are geocoins and where can they be purchased?

See http://www.usageocoins.com and http://www.txgeocoins.com for a couple of examples. There are also some for Canada and I think maybe California.

 

Those are those are the general geocoins most people see. They have serial numbers and can be tracked kind of like travel bugs. In the case of usageocoins, they really are treated as travel bugs on this site.

 

Those with the money have similar coins custom minted. They usually aren't serialized and are meant more as a gift for the finder rather than to travel.

 

The coolest custom geocoin I've found was done by user "Waypoint 15". I'm not sure what it cost him, but it's a really nice bronze coin with a howling wolf on the front, and the geocache symbol on the back, in color!

 

George

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We have been making our own sig cards, and laminating them. We put them in each cache we visit. We also have sig stickers that we put in log books when we sign. Just our way of having a little fun.

 

When we find a sig card (that we do not have) in a cache we take it as a trade. Actually sig items are just about all we take these days. However we always try to pump up the swag and add goodies. We leave the other treasures for other cachers.

 

"It's the journey.......not the destination!"

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I enjoy trading for the sig cards. I use a 4" x 6" photo album to keep them organized, putting 2 cards to a page. The album holds more cards than I thought it would. Actually I have one of your cards, team JKLK!

 

I purchased a laminator from wal-mart and the lamination sleeves off ebay. I've been very pleased with both so far.

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I've only been at this for about a month now. I came to realize quickly that Sig stuff is the way to go. I found out really fast that Sig stuff is usually a better choice to trade than all of the broken McToys I have encountered. I have come up with my own signature stuff and trade almost exclusively sigs now. My sig card has a copy of my avatar (That's my Grand Father, I did this to honor him, my father, and my brother who aren't with us any more), my info, a photo of the Green Man Geo Coin and boot prints. On the back, I printed the POW-MIA logo over a waving American Flag (something nice to put in your wallet to remind you of their plight). I laminate the cards, they are two layers thick and laminated in 5 mil. Then I attach a Children's Miracle Network Lapel Pin (another thing that I believe is a good cause) to the card. These lapel pins are over 10 years old, so well on their way to becoming collectable. I also have labels for logging, it saves time. When it comes down to it, all of this tells a little story about who I am. After all I put into them, I want someone to take it! :( And I will continue to collect Sig stuff. Nothing at all wrong with that. :D I wish we could all put our own personal Geocoin in every cache. Wouldn't that be nice? :D

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Another thing might be to check into those business cards that are directly printed on a magnet.  That solves the water-proof issue, and many people are attracted to the idea of collecting magnets.  They're fun and useful for posting the kid's artwork to the 'fridge.  Not sure how much it would cost, though.

 

Epson's new line of inkjet printers use water-proof inks. The inks are called Dura-Brite or something like that.

 

Since it typically costs $50-60 (or more) to replace just the inks in a printer, might as well spend $150-200 on a new printer that is better suited to your needs. I believe the $200 printer also has card slots for digital camera memory so you can probably get a lower end model if you don't want to spend that much.

 

Just checked the Epson site and they have a $150 model with a scanner in the top. Model is CX5400.

Edited by mrkablooey
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Custom "Casino"-type chips have also been mentioned as an inexpensive sig item that can be personalized.  I hear they're made of some kind of clay, and can be painted with bright colors.

 

However, I've yet to find a customized wooden coin or clay chip myself.  Seems like a good idea, though.  I'm suprised I haven't seen one.

 

George

Living in Nevada poker chips were my first choice. They are a bit pricey when custom stamped. Unstamped they run $50 /100. "Customized", your initials and a denomination, run ($80 - $125) / 100. Set up charges run $95 and up depending on how fancy you get. Twenty Five cent nickles start looking good pretty quick. :(

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