The Mario Kart Trophy... Pics, This Time!
I finally finished the Mario Kart Tournament trophy for the library I work for, and I've uploaded pics! I've also narrowed down the prizes for it.
This is the trophy, in all it's fake-gold-painted glory. A couple of spots could have used some touch ups, but they're small and no one will notice... EXCEPT FOR ME (I'm a perfectionist; it WILL bug me forever).
Arial shot. The mushrooms were charms I bought from eBay. I cut off the loops and glued them down. The face plate, which says "1st Place, Turner Comm. Library Mario Kart Tournament 2010", is actually a dog tag. Wal-Mart has this nifty machine that you pay $5.00 and it etches whatever you want on it. It looks just like a normal trophy face plate, and probably faster and cheaper than going to a trophy shop, too.
I bought felt, traced the base, cut it out, and glued it on. Unfortunately some of the heavier spots of glue seeped through. Not a big deal, but another thing that's going to bug me.
Close-up of DK. This is basically jut a Mario series figure Gamestop was selling for $5.00. When I went in to buy one, they had already pulled them from the shelf. The employee was awesome, though, because he went in the back to find some. When he found three (a DK and two Daisy's), he said they weren't in the system anymore and simply gave them to me!
This was the best close-up of the face plate I could get. Unfortunately I accidentally scratched it with a screwdriver while putting those in. Everyone tells me it's nothing, but it's the one thing that bothers me most about this. The plate is glued down, so the screws are just for show (I didn't want two big holes on the side). Unfortunately this means replacing the scratched plate would be a problem, since I would have to pry it off and risk damage to the base.
Speaking of the base, it's simply a plaque I bought at Wal-Mart. The figure sat too low on it, though. Fortunately a co-worker had some smaller bases (for this one, the square DK is standing on), which work perfectly to elevate the figures. I used some wood stain I bought from Wal-Mart, spray painted the figure gold, and then used A LOT of lacquer on both. This is to prevent the paint from chipping off (according to my sister, spray paint does not like to stay on plastic) and give it a nice shine.
And this is the second trophy, which isn't finished yet. Besides the obvious things missing, I need to touch up Daisy, as some of the gold didn't take in certain areas. I don't know what our next tourney will be, so I have to wait before getting the dog tag / face plate made. I also haven't decided where to put the mushrooms (on the far sides or on either side of Daisy on the smaller platform). This is actually the whole reason I bought the mushrooms; before I had the smaller platform, there was so much dead space I had to fill it up with something. Daisy simply looked too small for it.
I really hope this is a good enough trophy for this. No one is coming to our Wii program anymore, and I'm trying really hard to reignite interest. I think we've settled on early June to start this thing, but we're still working out details.
I have managed to narrow down the prizes, though:
3RD PLACE: This is a 24x36" Nintendo poster. I'm debating on how to handle this one, actually. Originally I wanted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. However, if it's a bracket tournament (like in sports), how do I determine 3rd place? Their will be four finalists. When one is eliminated on each side, 2nd and 1st place will be easy to know because it's between the winners of each side of the bracket. But then there are technically two third place winners. I can have them face off in an extra round to determine who gets the poster, but I fear that might be too confusing for them (one thing I've learned dealing with the public is, the simpler, the better). Or I could get two posters. That will cost more, but keep things simple. I don't know which is best.
2RD PLACE: A 9" tall Donkey Kong plush. It was affordable and looks neat. Unlike the poster, I actually have already bought this and I'm waiting for it to arrive.
1ST PLACE: The trophy (of course), but also something else. I'm thinking a gift card to Gamestop. I'm going to try and win one using my Listia points, but Gamestop cards aren't all that common there. I may have to break down and just buy a $25 gift card (I'm not supposed to spend my own money, though, from what I've been told). I have several months, though, so I'm sure I'll be able to track down a free one somewhere and avoid incurring a librarian's wrath.
So, that's it! As soon as the prizes come in and we have everything finalized, I'm going to put them in the display case. We have an entire half not being used, and as big as the poster is I think devoted the space to this will really catch everyone's eye. And hopefully this will get the kids to start using our Wii program again, which is kinda the whole point...