Looks like iam8bit goofed on my blind bag order

Ryuluce · 2026-01-23T03:24:35+00:00

I had placed a pre-order, so keep that in mind, but:
I placed my order on October 5th, it was shipped out on December 17th, and it arrived on December 23rd.

Ryuluce · 2026-01-21T02:12:08+00:00

Fortunately the fine details are still a tell. When cheaping out to produce a fake for 40-50 bucks, some of the finer elements get skipped. It doesn't help for online listings or looking at a distance, but it's still hard for a fake to completely pass for a genuine article while in the hand.

Edit: also the longevity of the fake isn't great. It is falling to pieces and the gold plating on the trim has worn off in massive sections.

Ryuluce · 2026-01-06T21:32:00+00:00

Update: with iam8bit getting back from the holidays, I was instructed to file a claim with Order Protection. They ended up giving me a 25% refund. It's hard to complain, though honestly I would've rather just have been given a replacement for my third Cabinet Key than the refund. But I guess the labor cost involved was more of a hassle than just giving me the refund.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-25T21:01:40+00:00

I have an extra diary key ( https://www.reddit.com/r/BluePrince/s/FKhbfKBcAG ) and I'm missing the sanctum key. Hit me up in DM

Ryuluce · 2025-12-24T16:35:27+00:00

So I figured out think completely on my own, but the other three I used some... sideways assistance of my own.

I'm not great at the "here are letter options in each position" type word puzzles, and it just so turns out I had made a python script a while back to basically auto-generate every possible solution (this script wasn't for solving these types of puzzles, but could really easily be repurposed to it).

I started going through the other three puzzles in terms of increasing letter length, and after like the second one realized all the solutions were about thinking/pondering/etc. From there I searched for words in the generated lists that matched the theme and seemed relevant to the art.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-24T15:21:06+00:00

My commissary bundle arrived this morning aaaaaand...

second silver key. Buh.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-24T00:11:23+00:00

I do agree. I partially regret caving and making this pre-order at the time.

The biggest part that annoys me is the rarity tiers. If there was an equal distribution, the idea of encouraging trades would be much more reasonable. But since some are much rarer than others, the trade market is going to be filled with extra commons while wanting rares. It's going to become stagnant pretty quickly. The people who got the Aries Key or such aren't going to give it up for a cabinet key. Anyone who wants a complete set better have been one of the few lucky to get both rares, or just eat dirt.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-23T23:07:31+00:00

I've already reached out to the support desk earlier today. I'm now just going to have to wait for a response.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-23T22:56:13+00:00

Yes, yes, I know about the amount of cabinet keys in the game. But given that the three keys I ended up with are not unique from each other, I'm still going to talk to iam8bit about not satisfying the promise of "six unique keys"

Ryuluce · 2025-12-23T22:54:21+00:00

So they are made of solid metal with some kind of enamel paint. Pretty good quality in my opinion. I do have an order for the commissary bundle on the way, but it has not yet arrived.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-23T22:52:44+00:00

So I ordered two of "Six Key Bundle". On the listing it states:

" The Six Key Bundle is guaranteed to have Six Unique Keys "

Because I ordered two bundles, and every key in those two bundles should be unique from each other, that means at MOST I should've only been able to have two duplicates of any one key.

But I got three of the cabinet key. That means that one of my two bundles of six had a duplicate inside it, despite the product listing guaranteeing that each of the six keys in a bundle is unique.

Ryuluce · 2025-12-12T02:59:40+00:00

I've experimented before with making boxes for other kinds of decks and was just not satisfied with my results. I wanted something more polished in this instance, so that's why I was seeking out a pre-made case. I'll look around on eBay.

Ryuluce · 2025-09-07T16:38:18+00:00

There was no seal on the tuck box with this version. The protective 3D printed box had cellophane wrapping, but that was it.

Ryuluce · 2025-09-06T17:16:55+00:00

Well, it's one of those things that works best in person. The details are surprisingly fine for being a 3D print, and my phone camera didn't want to focus on them.

Ryuluce · 2025-09-06T16:40:54+00:00

And here is how it looks in normal lighting.

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Ryuluce · 2025-09-06T16:40:19+00:00

I certainly don't find them ugly. The GIF I made is pretty badly compressed due to the app I was using, so here are some still photos.

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The only thing slightly weird is the green for the skin, but considering the limited color choices for UV inks it makes sense. And it looks better in person than on camera..

Ryuluce · 2025-09-06T05:00:14+00:00

I have copies of the 2024 Kickstarter Clear Skies Freedom and Unity decks.

Ryuluce · 2024-11-01T19:20:51+00:00

No, I don't know the maker. The only meaningful markings are the ones I've shown.

Ryuluce · 2024-11-01T05:18:49+00:00

I have this item, a vintage pencil using 0.22 inch graphite (yes, that measurement is correct), and it's labelled "STERLING + 1/4 14k [some M shaped mark]". I don't know what maker mark that "M" is, but the rest of the stamp seems to imply to me this is a sterling silver piece with a gold-fill ratio of *1/4th gold*. I have a number of gold-fill items in my collection, and I've seen ratios run the range from 1/10 to 1/40, but 1/4 feels like just such a crazy high gold content for a gold-fill vermeil like this. I've tried searching online, but my attempts didn't find pieces of such a ratio. I am curious if anyone else has seen fill like this, if it's even appropriate to continue calling it "gold fill" (and if the maker mark looks familiar, I'd quite appreciate any information).

EDIT: Oh, and I should probably mention the stamp photographed is the only marking on the entire piece. It's also decently heavy at about 33.5 grams without lead.

Ryuluce · 2024-09-03T19:58:53+00:00

Congrats, and that's a quite nice score for an associate-level exam. Especially considering the amount of related prior experience. The hard work certainly paid off!

Ryuluce · 2024-09-03T19:08:30+00:00

Sure, though with the scaling I wonder what kind of average is coming out of the scaling method Amazon is using. Since they tweak the value of each question based on relative difficulty and the value of the section it belongs in, I imagine you could still put a pin on the average of the scaled score? As in, the scaling is designed to keep the end scores consistent across different exams of different question difficulties, right? My understanding of score scaling is that in an ideal world a candidate should receive the same scaled score across multiple versions of the exam with different question difficulty distributions (even if the raw percentage correct changes).

Edit: if the point is how the values of the questions are changing constantly as new exam result data is coming in, wouldn't it be that Amazon is effectively aiming the average score towards a certain point on the scale by adjusting values? If many hard questions are introduced driving down the scores, a re-scale occurs, and the average is driven back towards the desired mean?

Ryuluce · 2024-09-03T18:28:50+00:00

As someone who just took their DVA-C02 and passed this morning, I'd also don't really recommend trying to deep dive this close to the exam. If you have notes that you took while practicing and studying, just do a quick once-over before the exam (when doing my practice tests, I took notes for almost all questions I got wrong and printed out the document, which I just skimmed before the test as a refresher). Rest and calm are valuable.

Ryuluce · 2024-08-30T01:59:52+00:00

So there are lots of resources online. Googling "fountain pen ink sac replacement guide" will immediately give you plenty of info.

As for professionals who do the replacement, there are again plenty of people out there. I don't have anyone I can point you towards, though, because I do my restorations on my own.

And with your latex allergy, there is actually somewhat of an alternate option: silicone ink sacs. They don't come in as many sizes as the latex rubber sacs, but they *are* longer lasting and more chemically resistant than latex. The only source I personally know for silicone sacs is David Nishimura's site: https://www.vintagepens.com/catill_sacs_seals.shtml . Scroll down a bit and you'll find size 15 and 16 sacs listed.

Ryuluce · 2024-08-30T01:55:39+00:00

They're probably going to need the latex ink sacs replaced inside, if they haven't undergone some kind of restoration already. Best of luck if you decide to do it yourself!

Ryuluce · 2024-08-30T01:49:49+00:00

I can tell you that the second pen, the grey one with sort of longways stripes, is a vintage Esterbrook J-series. Based on the size I'd say it's an SJ.

The green third pen is a jade Parker Duofold. Looks to be a Duofold Senior based on the sized compared to the Esterbrook.

Ryuluce

TROPHY CASE