"tokens" game room signs

TheShanMan

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I saw this picture and thought how cool it would be to have a sign like that to put above my token machine. Anyone have any idea where to find any sort of token sign? Lit would be the ultimate but I'm guessing that'll be hard to find and/or expensive. 2 sided (or 2 signs back to back) would also be ideal.

Anyone have a tokens sign in their game room? If so, lets see some pics and where did you get it? Leads for such signs would be appreciated! :)

(photo courtesy of nutballchamp :))
loftarcade2.jpg
 
I saw this picture and thought how cool it would be to have a sign like that to put above my token machine. Anyone have any idea where to find any sort of token sign? Lit would be the ultimate but I'm guessing that'll be hard to find and/or expensive. 2 sided (or 2 signs back to back) would also be ideal.

Anyone have a tokens sign in their game room? If so, lets see some pics and where did you get it? Leads for such signs would be appreciated! :)

(photo courtesy of nutballchamp :))
loftarcade2.jpg

A friend of mine makes my signs out of neon. You could have that sign made for around 200.00
 
I've been looking for one of those for some time. I've seen them at auction, but they're usually attached to a change machine that sells for crazy $. You could always print out the text on mylar and sandwich it in plexi...make your own light box and bingo, done.
 
I've been looking for one of those for some time. I've seen them at auction, but they're usually attached to a change machine that sells for crazy $. You could always print out the text on mylar and sandwich it in plexi...make your own light box and bingo, done.

x2.. or have mamemarquees print you out a couple..heck, even buck up for it to be put on plexi.. probably total cost<$100
 
I was at one point thinking about contacting these people to make me a sign. The sign I was going to have made wasn't arcade related, but I still have the site bookmarked. Maybe you could contact them and see if they could make you a "token" one. $60 for a 12x24 solar powered sign isn't to outrageous.

http://www.lightedsigns.info/
 
Some pretty good ideas here. Mamemarquees doesn't sound like a bad way to go. The cheaper the better. If anyone has a good image to work from that would be helpful. Kinda looks like that sign isn't as simple as black background and white letters. Letters look bluish so I don't know if the letters have some special shading or what. I'm no artist so if I were to do it I'm sure it wouldn't look as good as that sign.
 
Found a couple of images online. One appears to be the image in question, although there doesn't seem to be any shading in the letters so I wonder what is causing that effect in the picture above. I guess if it really doesn't need any special artistic effects then even I could do it :). The other one is basically pixel art, so I could do that as well.

A2XXME.jpg


2495555558_75ed3884d8.jpg
 
Found a couple of images online. One appears to be the image in question, although there doesn't seem to be any shading in the letters so I wonder what is causing that effect in the picture above. I guess if it really doesn't need any special artistic effects then even I could do it :). The other one is basically pixel art, so I could do that as well.

A2XXME.jpg


2495555558_75ed3884d8.jpg

It is not shaded at all it is the illumination that caused that effect on the picture. Overall new commercial light boxes are not cheap, I'd figure on about $400 for that sign new. If it were me I'd just make my own but I'm in the sign business ;) You could make one out of a wooden frame, a few flouresent bulbs, and a couple of sign white plexi faces with cut vinyl for the black field letting the white of the plex shine through. I'd bet you'd still spend $100 by the time your done though.
 
Ivan, sounds like a good approach and a fun project. What's your suggestion for cutting the vinyl? Maybe print the outline on regular paper, put it on top of the vinyl, and carefully cut with an exacto knife? Or is there an easier way? Obviously that approach would work a little better with the 1st example than with the 2nd. :)

I've been thinking of making a trip to my local tap plastics, and this just gives me another excuse to do that.
 
Ivan, also wondering what specifically you would do to light it? You mention a "few" florescent bulbs, but I was thinking it calls for perhaps one 18 incher on the top and one on the bottom. So when you say "few" how would you do it compared to what I'm thinking? How well would rope light work?
 
Found a couple of images online. One appears to be the image in question, although there doesn't seem to be any shading in the letters so I wonder what is causing that effect in the picture above. I guess if it really doesn't need any special artistic effects then even I could do it :). The other one is basically pixel art, so I could do that as well.

A2XXME.jpg


2495555558_75ed3884d8.jpg


I have the first one. I got it off ebay about 4 years ago. It was new in box. No one must have been looking for one at the time. I got it for $11 shipped. :D
 
You can change the color of a fluorescent bulb by putting a gel over it. You can get them in any color, slip them over your bulbs, and install your bulb in your fixture. I would have a sign shop cut out the "Tokens" in Vinyl and then apply that over fogged plexi. And then just build your frame to hold the plexi and you are done. If it was me I would make the frame out of Aluminum, but that's just me.
 
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Running out of wall space now

I just hung the "House Rules" sign and saw this thread. I'm running out of wall/ ceiling space quick. LOL The "House Rules" sign only cost $30 to get reproduced at a local printer. So add me to the list for the Token sign too and I'll squeeze it in ... somewhere
 
Ivan, sounds like a good approach and a fun project. What's your suggestion for cutting the vinyl? Maybe print the outline on regular paper, put it on top of the vinyl, and carefully cut with an exacto knife? Or is there an easier way? Obviously that approach would work a little better with the 1st example than with the 2nd. :)

I've been thinking of making a trip to my local tap plastics, and this just gives me another excuse to do that.

Any sign company (like mine) can cut the vinyl for you if you give them the size and the file or the photo, real easy job. Two flourecent tube lights should do the trick.
 
For mine I'm going to be using a small programmable desktop LED sign I found somewhere cheap. Can't remember where I got it but its pretty nifty for having its own built in keyboard and all. I'll post pics once I set it up - planning to get back to the gar-cade after the holidays.

EDIT: This one is priced fairly decently and looks pretty cool!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/car/afe6/
 
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Found a couple of images online. One appears to be the image in question, although there doesn't seem to be any shading in the letters so I wonder what is causing that effect in the picture above.

The blue tint is likely due to the white balance settings on a digital camera. From the looks of it the person who took the picture had the WB set for incandescent, which is what's behind most of those marquees, so the color is right on the games. The tokens sign is probably running florescent lights, the color temperature of which is cooler, which makes that light source look blue in the picture. If they'd set the camera to flourescent and taken the picture, all (or most, whichever were running incandescent lights) of the lit up game marquees would come out with a red tint to them.

If you're really good you can do some interesting things with photos using mixed lighting, but if you're like most of the world (myself included), trying to shoot with different types of light in the same shot can be a royal pain in the ass as colors go wonky.

The sign looks a hell of a lot like the tokens signs I used to see on the Rowe changers back in the day, just set up on a custom mount for that guy's space. The font seems spot on at least.
 
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