I have a particular project that I've cultivated over the last couple of years where I create a limited edition "challenge coin" for the friends that I see in person over the year. So far, all of the coins have been 3D printed, but evolve each year as I figure out new tricks or get new equipment. Each coin is in vastly different hands across the spectrum of folks as I see different people every year. Some of my friends don't have any, and some have all of them.
2025
These are currently the newest coins, and have yet to find their way into anybody's hands. The Baby Yoshi comes from a custom "emojy" that we use extremely often in the channel titled "yeah_man" or just "yeah."
This year, I've gotten access to multicolor 3D printing at work via a Prusa Mk4 with MMU3. I think the results are fantastic, and it feels much more like a real thing. It's also easier to print!
2024
The next year, I ended up in two locations with friends and some still overlapped with the previous year. This time I went for my favorite color, orange, and a Cheshire Cat to symbolize our channel bot named catbase.
2023
These were the first coins. I came up with the entire idea a day or two before I was set to fly to see some friends for a week. My printer was on the fritz, and it took a lot of obnoxious tuning to get the number I produced to work. The original source, print files, etc. are all lost to time. In fact, even if I had the g-code from the printer, that printer has changed drastically enough that it would be invalid.
The design gives us a basic format, but also incorporates Zapp Brannigan. Our channel is called Velour after the same group had a channel called "cotton" on the silc protocol. Zapp's velour suit is an unofficial mascot of the group.