It's been a few years since the original Miskatonic University Prop Project. I still get emails asking if I have any patches or pins available on a regular basis. I inevitably reply that another run is coming up "soon". I think that time has finally arrived.
The motivation for getting things in gear is that I really, really want a nice Miskatonic keychain. The kind of thing an actual Ivy League alumnus would be carrying around. Ideally, that means cast metal, or fired enamel (so the keychain doesn't get ruined by scratches) around 1.5 inches in size. Not too big, but large enough to be impressive.
As part of the package I'd also like to do a "Mythos Merit Badge". Long time readers know I'm generally not a fan of the cheesy "Spellcasting 101" approach to the Mythos. That said, I think it's a fun idea to commemorate the achievements of Lovecraft's protagonists. In honor of Miskatonic University the first one will be the "Bookworm" badge, honoring those who've delved into eldritch tomes in search of forbidden knowledge. If it goes over well I'll follow up with "Reanimator" and "I go Mi-Go!" badges
At this point I'm looking to have the complete Miskatonic Alumni package available in May, just in time for graduation season. I'm aiming for a run of about 100 sets and a price point of $20 to $25. If you have an idea for something cool to include I'm open to suggestions.
25 comments:
Hey, I just noticed you used V's for U's in the outer border of the MU seal but not in the motto.
I've always thought an MU Student Union card would be ... reasonable. I have art for my 'version' of that, if you'd like to collaborate?
Additionally, you might want to make your MU keychain styled like a Phi Beta Kappa 'key'. Just a thought. It's Ivy League.
Other ideas:
Souvenir Arkham postcards
Matchbook (MOrrison Freight Co, First National, Arkham Advertiser, etc...)
Out of the Aeons Museum Ticket ?
Paterson Museum Ticket (NJ, COC) ?
MU lapel pin?
Newspaper clipping(s)?
Business card for local office / school supply store / textbook store?
Letter from the Alumni Assoc. asking for money ;)
-Mike J.
@ gndn
All great ideas. I'd love to do matchbooks, but they're hazardous materials and can't be sent by US mail. To keep the shipping costs down I'm trying to get everything to fit inside a Priority Flat Rate box.
Email sent.
Just tell me how to pay, and I'm in.
Period, local YMCA membership card?
Local Taxi co. business card?
Local soda fountain bus. card?
Random period movie ticket stub? http://www.hplovecraft.com/life/interest/movies.aspx
-MJ
Looking forward to this! Also, I'm in desperate want of your Miskatonic Expedition patches -- both the Antarctic and Australia ones (I'm a late-comer to this blog so missed them the last time around). I know that's a tad off-topic but I sure would love to see them available again as I have the perfect shirt for those. :-)
The Phi Beta Kappa key seems to have originally been a pocket watch winding key.
Really exited for your reproduction !
Maybe 1 or 2 stickers of the patch would be great !
A sticker like the patch would look great on a laptop .....
Really exited about your reproduction !
Fantastic idea! At the college I used to work at, they also sold ID holder keychains (to give away where I used to work, it looked exactly like this).
What about prop matchbooks? You can make decent looking fake book-matches out of grungeboard. Or do you think the Post Office might have issues with the fake ones too?
How about an overdue book notice from the Orne Library with a few interesting book titles? please count me in for two sets.
I'm in - I'd LOVE to add the keychain to a lll of your other items from past projects!
As an Englishman, I crave disappointment. Will I be able to buy this, or is it only for the colonies?
Whole fake matchbooks, eh? DIY-ing them would be pretty time consuming, BUT
How about just the covers? Glossy and color on one side, nothing (or 1 color matte?) on the inside? You could get the copy shop to score them and them cut them. That way the end user just folds in his own matches, and staples them together, and adds a striker strip.
OR: Empty match BOXES... BYO matches.
I do have some art for match books, not boxes, but it could be modified.
If you search online, you can find short-run match box mfrs., usually tailoring to weddings & such. They tend to want you to pick one box color and one ink color, but for something like First National (Shadow Over Innsmouth), red & white are their colors... Ideally, you could order them without any matches at all, they might look at you funny, otherwise you just open em up and dump em out before you ship them.
-MJ
Tim, that's a brilliant idea! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear:
http://gothamist.com/2014/07/09/photos_an_overdue_nypl_book_notice.php
http://www.libraryhistorybuff.com/postalcards-overdue.htm
I would be proud to put a Miskatonic diploma up on the wall! It would be nice to get something that passes a quick inspection -- I can see it up on office walls everywhere.
Diplomas have long been done by the HPLHS.
http://www.cthulhulives.org/toybox/PROPDOCS/PropMUDiploma.html
@gndn, Actually what takes time is making the covers look good. Fake book matches are just two little rectangles of grungeboard snipped and then stapled into the cover at the bottom. Now if you wanted to get fancy and put heads on them, that would be time-consuming. ;)
Great idea! I'd also love to see a rerun or a new batch of expedition patches!
That NYPL postcard uses a line-art version of the famed NYPL seal (here's the stone version), which has the city's arms at the bottom (see the city seal) and shares its cresting eagle.
Arkham Public Library seal designers, take note. (A good bird for a crest would in that case be a dove carrying an olive branch, in reference to Noah's Ark, the namesake of "Arkham".)
@ TT Mooney : Not to dissuade you from eagerly getting every prop you can from Propnomicon, but you DO know you can get Miskatonic diplomas from the H. P Lovecraft Historical Society, right?
How about a quality leather wallet (what I believe you bally colonials call a billfold) embossed with the crest....
I just did a quick Google Image Search for student IDs. Found 3 good examples, from 1931-35, all from the University of Michigan, strangely. They have spots for mug shot-like photos. Design-wise, they're very simple. Didn't see many from before then, at least not from the US.
Also found a couple student club cards, if you'd like to consider some kind of club for, say, Friends of the MU Library, or something?
-MJ
I'll absolutely pick one of these up. Definitely into the scout badge idea.
Trying to think of what might be neat. I somewhat remember pins were a pain last time, otherwise I'd love to see some kind of fraternity or secret society identification item. You could probably also do up a due date card, with all the previous patrons, for eldritch tomes you've conveniently forgotten to return.
@Raven of course that branch could conveniently be shaped like an elder sign...
Love these ideas! Maybe a library card granting access to not-for-public-access library archives.
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