New Interview with Eric

[happydog]

Some of you might be aware while others may not be so I will post it here. I interview collectors with 20 questions. I sit them down for a couple hours and ask whatever about their hobby. Well I just finished Eric's also known as Ace. I have gotten to know him over the last couple months or so. So here is his first sit down with me:

http://www.challengecoincollecting.org/interviews/34-interviews/45-eric-ace.html

[JAYMEDINC]

Awesome interview!  My favorite part is where Eric lists his favorite challenge coin sites and mentions Challenge Coin Association first.  So far you have interviewed two people and they both either mentioned me or CCA.  That sure is a good feeling knowing that I have reached collectors in that way.

And Eric, you mentioned in the interview that you wonder who the person is that used to own militarycoins.com and you are wanting to get in touch with him.  Well, I have a very good relationship with that CCA member (he still owns that website).  I may be able to help you out.

[happydog]

Jesse thanks for the comments. I told him who owns it and hopefully I put him in the right direction. The interviews get printed exactly as they are typed except for spelling and grammar. I have done a few others but not posted yet. I want this site to be beneficial for the collectors. I think I am onto something special and I will continue this.

[ACE844]

Everyone,


Thanks for the kind words, gents. I did try to get in touch with him using the phone number listed and it goes to some weird subscription SMS based service. I'm going to try e-mail next.  It was an interesting experience being interviewed and I hope to add some photos soon things have just been a little crazy on the home front. I'm also working on adding some in-post pics form my photobucket acct where I have started uploading some pics of my collection.
Hope all is well,
ACE

[ACE844]

Here is a link to some early pics of my collection which I am still in the process of uploading and completing.
http://www.uschallengecoins.com/Forum/index.php/topic,705.msg4344.html#msg4344

[happydog]

Thanks for posting the link there ACE! The interview was a lot of fun and I hope to do another one soon once I find an interesting collector to approach. You had a very interesting background as a collector so this really motivated me to ask you for the 20 question interview.

[ACE844]

This forum appears to be relaitvely active so I hope to have some interesting discourse in regards to our hobby.

[happydog]

It comes and goes but there are a few members that check in everyday. It just depends on how busy everyone is. It is the most active challenge coin forum I am aware of on the internet at least if not the only one that is currently maintained.

[ACE844]

In the interview I gave an example of the NAVSPECWARCOM coin and the differences between the authentic version and the fake. Here are some pics for all of you to see for yourself.

Here is the fake being sold by DEW222 on ebay:




Authentic-Original Version:




Hope this helps,
ACE844

[happydog]

I would say there is a slight difference in the coins. I don't know who to blame though, the coin designer or the coin maker...

[ACE844]

I would say there is a slight difference in the coins. I don't know who to blame though, the coin designer or the coin maker...

The 3D relief on the 'gold' copy coin is non-existant compared to the real deal. The globe design is also 'different' as well. The authentic is larger and the relief is much more detailed and noticeable while the copy is 'flat and smooth feeling'. The other difference is the back of the coin as well with the frog and seal vs the (fakes) Dept. of the Navy seal instead. I've yet to find an authentic NAVSPECWAR coin that has the DON seal and nearly all have had the frog and seal as pictured above in different variations. One notable exception being the SEAL team 5 2 troop coin.
the back looks like this:



I'll try to find a different way to take some pics to illustrate these differences.

[ACE844]

More examples can be seen here: http://www.uschallengecoins.com/Forum/index.php/topic,705.0.html

[happydog]

Sorry Eric, I was only being facetious.

[ACE844]

Sorry Eric, I was only being facetious.

I didn't pick up on that..sorry.

Since we have allot of industry people here. I was wondering merely out of curiosity. But it does bring up an interesting question. If that were the case and the manufacturer returns a less than acceptable product as far as expected relief, details, etc... Who's to blame? How common is this? How as a designer-manufacturer do you realistically manage a clients expectations in this regard? I would imageine this might be a fairly common occurance?

[happydog]

I will speak for myself here as a designer on many coins, I have gotten a 99% likeness to every design I have produced. I allow a 95% likeness to pass my quality expectations. I have continued to surpass that. As for the actually production, each customer is required to "sign off" on each order and agree to the terms before anything begins. I also in some cases call the customer and go through the process with them. I am huge into making sure everything is laid out. I had one coin out of about 450 orders this year that I had an issue with. She didn't think the black color in the lettering was black enough, then went on to say the lettering on one side wasn't as big as she thought it would be. It took her 9 months to decide on the order and she nickel and dimed me every step of the way. In the end I figured out she was really trying to get half off the order or better. She even played well I am a colonel and I know that this is not what I expected, I kindly responded that I am the CEO of my company and I guarantee that the coin is well within the expectations of any order. Both points were moot but I had some fun.

Besides this part we had no issue in 2008 and I am truly grateful for that. I don't know how common it is industry wide, but I know for me it would be 1 in a million at this point. The first factory I used sucked beyond words and I left them very quickly. So after my long spiel, you manage through solid communication and meticulous detail in the artwork in the process. I run a tight ship on this end and I firmly believe it shows. I am sure the others will chime in on the board and hopefully will give you further insight. Ace you still out of work? Want a job? You could find out first hand...haha.

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