Eldritch Arts Review: Affordable Dice Boxes?

We’ve seen offerings from Elderwood Academy and Wyrmwood Gaming but what if I said the name Eldritch Arts? No clue? Well, you’re in luck. I stumbled upon these incredibly helpful and delightfully cordial people by sheer luck, and I cannot be happier to showcase their dice boxes. Onward to the breach! Er… Review!

Use Promo code: DROPTHEDIE15 to save 15% off any EldritchArts order! Holy cow!

Materials

I managed to snag two different kinds of wood for this particular review, and I’m more than pleased to offer up my findings.

Jotoba

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Also called “Brazilian Cherry Wood” – Jotoba is used for flooring, jewelry boxes, tool handles, even as railroad tie lumber – all because of it’s incredible strength and hardness. It’s actually not used for tables and other furniture very much because it’s so damn hard it blunts the tools one uses to work on them.
The deep red color apparently waxes and wanes depending on the finish and how much light the wood is exposed to over time. But I have to say, the three of them I have are extremely red and gorgeously warm.

Maple

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Maple is a classic wood. I do believe, from the looks of the laser etching on the front and back, that this is a soft maple – easier, by far, to work with than a hard wood like oak or Jotoba. Maple has a wonderful yellowish white color that, after hard use, gains a gentle patina, like the handle of a baseball bat or heavily used garden tool. You’ll find it gets smoother and warmer over the years. it’s one of my favorite pale woods.

Both woods are great choices – each has a light and gentle scent with properties that make them each great choices for box building, particularly for durability and longevity in a product.

Fastenings

Unlike our earlier Wyrmwood products, E.A. has chosen to stick (get it) with a glue bonding agent for their magnetic fastenings.

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I cannot say I approve of superglue to hold onto magnetic connectors, but I had no issues of slipping, pilling, or dried glue on any of the four boxes I have – a damn sight better than many other products.

In addition to their magnetic clasps, E.A. also has a very substantial grove on the base of each box to help clamp the lid down and prevent it from shifting. I believe this also adds some stability, as it prevents the lid from skewing and slipping open while in transit. 2017-02-15-12-28-13

Security

I’m pretty happy to report that these held closed during several drop tests as well as shake tests, so the connections are quite good. I will say that E.A is missing out by not having a foam lining inside their case!

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While the boxes are the perfect size for a set of dice, allowing for only 1/8 of an inch of extra clearance on the inside, adding a layer of foam would help keep the entire package more quiet and more secure for an overall better quality feel to the case: hopefully they can look into their options in the future as the brand, undoubtedly, grows.

Style

Oh boy. Buckle up.

My favorite thing about these cases is the laser etchings offered by Eldritch Arts. I had quite a bit more fun than I assumed I would trying to find the perfect dice in my collection to match up to the cases I was given!

There are 30+ styles currently on Eldritch Arts’ Etsy Page – growing all the time, and they do custom engravings! Gene may be one of the nicest guys I’ve ever worked with – if you have a vision, especially a template, he can make it happen.

Size

These dice boxes are a little longer, a little narrower, and a little thicker than most other dice vaults/dice boxes I’ve worked with. They’re very blocky and tall:

The shape of these boxes is not a problem for the vast majority of you, but I do know a few DMs who have their DM Cabinets (portable or otherwise) set up exactly the way they like them. If that’s the case, be sure you measure out enough space!
(6 1/4″ long, 1″ wide, 1 1/2″ tall)

Overall

These dice boxes were a delight. They smell nice (having 4 open at once on my table makes a lovely wood scent that doesn’t linger), they look great, they are fairly well built. There is still room for improvement as the shape gets finalized, the laser etching on the maple gets smoothed out, and finishing touches get polished – but these are TWENTY DOLLARS! ($22 at the time of this review)! Holy crap! They’re nearly less expensive than some sets of PLASTIC dice?! For this much quality?
I’m going to have to keep an eye on Gene and Eldritch Arts moving forward. I think the sky is the limit: and I couldn’t be happier for them.

Use Promo code: DROPTHEDIE15 to save 15% off any EldritchArts order! Holy cow!

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I don’t always advocate rolling, but when I do… be sure you have to Drop the Die.

Review by JB Little, Follow me on twitter for more “useful” information.

10 thoughts on “Eldritch Arts Review: Affordable Dice Boxes?

  1. That’s a useful review, i’ve looked at these before and the price do make them tempting.

    (btw, might be a little unfair to both companies to have the last pic be the Wyrmwood logo)

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