Premade Dice Molds: My Wish Experience

In this video I go over my experience with the molds that I purchased from Wish (or that others have seen on AliExpress)! I also talk about the moral objections that I have to the molds.

I hope that I don't sound like I am on a soapbox in this video, as that truly was not my intention. I have just heard/seen so much about these dice that I feel that it was important for me to mention. That being said, I wanted to judge these molds purely on their merit, and I tried to do that prior to talking about my moral hesitance with these molds. I think that this is something that we can all learn from, as well as better ourselves as Dice Makers!

Please support Dispel Dice and their release!

That being said, now I hope that the merit of these types of molds is clear. They are great for non-pressure pot dice making, and with some tweaks, possibly pressure pot usage. I don't think that they will last as long as DIY DnD dice molds made from Silicone, as they are really thin and you have to be pretty rough when getting them out. So I still think that the better value is to make them yourself. That being said, molds like these can be great for beginners! Hopefully some new ones like this come out with a legitimate design in the near future.

SUPPLIES:
Dice Molds: I don't think that I want to provide a link for these dice. Call me a hypocrite, but I wouldn't have purchased these in the first place had I known about how I THINK they were made/designed. Apologies for the inconvenience. If you are REALLY gung-ho about getting them, you can find them pretty easily.

If you have any ideas for what you would like to see built/reviewed in the future, let me know in the comments down below! Then subscribe so you don't miss any new videos coming out in the future! Also, if you liked this, gimme that sweet sweet like.

Here is a link to the Material Safety Data Sheet for the Art n Glow dice:

MUSIC:

"Renaissance Period" "Music For Youtube Videos" "Royalty Free Music"

LAKEY INSPIRED - Better Days

[cmathews]

You’ve actually done a service by buying them. We are now informed buyers because we know that these could be a rip-off. Thanks for sharing

[BVSchaefer]

About 10 years ago Apple attempted to trademark the lowercase "i" and it was determined that such protection of a stylization was not legally supported. Similarly, the use of a font would not be protected intellectual property.

[Robertkopp]

I don't like these 1:1 copycats, but a generic font on a geometric object is not something you can protect.
Just ask Wizards if they would come after you for making a D20.

[Verity_Reigns]

I hope when you do 3D print your own dice or experiment with alternate ways of making unique molds you’ll make a video about it. I’m always interested to see different methods of 3D printing and it would be cool to find out how to make gifts without ripping someone else off if you find an alternative that would work for those that don’t have a 3D printer

[lordmalice]

I just wanna buy molds to make dice that i can eat

[mszoomy]

$6 compared to $100, I'll go with Wish. I just got these in the mail yesterday. I have no intention of making them for sell, only for myself and a gift for my niece

[lynnthomas]

Not a professional creator, so this is a legitimate question. How much of dice design can be claimed by the creator?

You can't really copyright geometric figures, sharp edges or rounded. Unless the font was made personally, you can't copyright those either. While the circle thing is interesting, it's not a specially made thing, its a standard circle. I get those same proportions on photoshop. So how much of that can be claimed by personal ownership?

To me, saying we should *learn* from the molds but not use them because of the "copying" is hypocritical. The creators did something creatively different in adding the notched lids and the pipet holes, different enough I think that it overrides any ethical complaints I might have and makes them distinctive. To use that as a learning objective, but claim that the circle is a theft? I don't understand. Rybonator made those swirly core dice. Granted, he used his own technique, but the end results were incredibly similar. Is he not allowed to sell those when he gets his own molds to work with, just because someone else did it first? That too seems wrong to me. The same goes for coloring.

The creative process is to see what it around you and build off of it. So to that end, I don't have a problem with these. But again, I am not a creator, I speak from outside this circle, so I have a different perspective.

[Discostick]

Are we sure these are somehow cast from/stolen outsourcing molds from Dispell Dice? I love their dice and can't wait for my kickstarter dice to arrive, but I sometimes take issue with the dice community and the blown-out drama over 'stealing designs' when its as simple as some art-deco font choice, or the inclusion of some type of glitter.

[becky]

Frankly, unless they're literally a recast, I wouldn't have any objections. I'm fairly sure that the typeface Dispel Dice is using isn't one that she made herself, and its not like dice shapes are proprietary. I'd say if they're just a rip off meant to look like her dice, it's fine, but taking a literal cast of one of her dice WOULD be a definite no-no.

[space.tel-e-grams]

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but here goes: The font Dispel is using is Neutraface which is everywhere these days. I'm not 100% convinced that a company in China bought and waited to receive a $48 set of handmade dice from a Kickstarter and made molds out of them (though it is definitely within the realm of possibility). If that manufacturer had the capability to produce that good of a mold i'm pretty sure they would be able to model a polyhedron in a 3d program and slap a very popular and not at all custom typeface on it to produce a mold from.

There's nothing proprietary about the design of Dispel Dice since all the glyphs are from a very popular and commercially available typeface, and there seem to be no visual telltales (from what I can tell from photos) to prove that it was molded from her dice. The "0" is so big on the D10 because that is characteristic of that typeface when the 0 is the same height as the other numerals. I'm not gonna say it wasn't a blatant rip off because we will never know for sure but I don't see an ethical dilemma in using a mold of a design that is derivative in and of itself.

[restlessellis]

I'm actually a bit mixed on how I feel about these dice molds. I'm in a number of hobbies where recasts/bootlegs can really damage small 'companies' which are really just one or two folks. And when it comes to dice, if they were making dice and selling them as dispel dice, or ripping off completed designs I'd agree entirely. But the product they've released isn't direct competition. It's not going to stop people buying dispel dice because they can get them somewhere else cheaper. I do think it's bad they're profiting off of someone else's hardwork, but I don't think that person is losing out by their existence? The vast majority of people who are going to buy dispel dice wont also make dice, and those who do make dice aren't likely to see the prospect of making their own as a cheap alternative to buying some premade nice dice. So, like I said, mixed opinion on it. But a very helpful video and I entirely get the moral objections folks have!
edit: especially since I know a number of folks who do sell dice made from other premade ones like a chessex set. Not everyone has access to a 3d printer or the ability to make their own new base set. It shouldn't really prevent them from being able to make and sell handmade dice. Of course say chessex is a bigger company, and wouldn't be in competition with someone making unique handmade resin dice. Whereas dispel dice from what I've read is a single person or maybe a few folks and IS advertising its dice as handmade, I believe?

[ShaynaDomina]

To play devil's advocate here for a second, I think there can a difference between just selling molds that are made from someone else's dice and making those molds yourself to created new dice to sell and that difference is all in how transformative the end result is. There are only ever going to be so many ways you customize the actual shape of a cube, but when you make a mold from an ordinary die and then create a candy-filled die from it or something equally creative and different, then I think you've put in enough of your own effort to have made it into something new, different, and ethical to sell.

[Panaesthesia]

Just to play Devil's Advocate:


Dispel Dice probably bought a license to use the font on their products. Maybe the Wish makers did the same as well.

Having been in the graphic Tee industry for 15 years, I know the ins and outs of font licensing. You'd be surprised how many companies use the same font banks around the world!

[SpitfiretheCat]

....How do you make your own dice without copying if you don't have access to a 3d printer?

[partlicloudi]

as someone who had this randomly pop up on recommended, I might be looking into dice making now. never knew this really existed, and it seems absolutely fascinating.

[d.wilson]

I wound up with a few sets of these and have had a good time practicing with them. I'm glad you are recommending learning from them! The molds themselves are imperfect, leading me to think they're not deliberate copies but overprint of whatever Dispel needed to make for her outsourcing, given how lax IP rights are in China, but there is something innovative there to learn from and improve on. Thanks for sharing this, I'm still enjoying practicing until they inevitably wear out, but I'm so bummed they had it distribute her dice design.

[musicsaves]

On one hand, Wish is notorious for knockoffs and stealing IP. On the other, these particular molds aren't infringing or stealing anything. Having similar or the same font doesn't really seem like a huge deal. It would be one thing if they were making inferior quality items and selling it as dispel dice but this isn't that. I think if you have an issue with that, you should have issues with some of your own content. (Particularly I just one that was how to make your own swirling glitter dice which you say you based off someone else's dice).

[Alex-rvdl]

"This issue turned out to be a feature and I liked it"
A programmers favorite words

[Kronin]

Commercially available font, on simple geometric shapes?
It's not a unique work of art, nor a proprietary design unless registered as such.
Talking about ethics for a thing like that is a little overkill.

[darrenellerton]

Ethically this is very bad! On a side note to fix the void problem when pressure casting. Try a short length of drinking straw in the fill hole, this would create enough backup resin?
But if the product is ethically bad, not worth the effort but worth bearing in mind for future projects. Good to see you have morals!!! Love the channel; keep those videos coming 👍👌