You Can Never Have Too Many Dice

Rainbow Borealis

The full spectrum of Chessex Borealis in d10s. All of them are old glitter, and high clarity. The only one that is in print is the Maple Green, all of the others are either out of print or in-print with different glitters.

Top Row: Pink, Magenta, Red, Orange, Confetti

Middle Row: Maple Green, Green, Light Green, Teal, Clear

Smoke Borealis OOG - Sunlight

It’s hard to see galaxies in the blinding sun, but I did my best. I’m only a d4 away from the full set. You can see in the third photo that the normal OG is more of a flat dark grey, and is missing those galaxies~

Crystal Caste Jade Moonstone vs Chessex Borealis Clear

These two dice are almost ‘dupes’ for another and are commonly mistaken for the other. The glitter is identical in appearance: green dominant with shifts to gold and blue. The differences lie in the clarity, font, and size.

Clear Borealis: Uses an underline to denote 6 and 9. Has a slight hook on the 7.  Higher degree of clarity (usually). Larger dice, very noticeable in certain comparisons. Has the blue-green glow, but is dominant on the surface glitter (green-gold shift).

[Light] Purple Borealis - Old vs New Glitter

More commonly referred to as ‘Light Purple’ to avoid confusion with Royal Purple, Purple Borealis glitter types are very easy to distinguish especially in proper lighting.  The easy trick - “if it’s got green, it’s OG!”

OG: Has the distinct blue-green colorshift in addition to a golden glitter, creating the ‘pocket galaxies’ that are very vivid. However, each die has a ‘sweet spot’ - meaning that the galaxy effect is not equally present in all corners of the dice, and it may be necessary to rotate the dice a few times to find the sweet spots.  Even in shade, there is a slight colorshift, but it becomes less noticeable. 

In the world of dice collecting, there are a lot of acronyms and terms used that can be confusing, so I have compiled a guide for them all! Please feel to message me with suggestions :)

~General Acronyms~

DMC - Dice Maniac’s Club. Facebook group with a fanpage, Dice Market, and blog. Popular group for collectors of any level!

ISO - In Search Of. It is a list of dice that someone is seeking to purchase, trade, or otherwise acquire. 

d? - Refers to the number of sides on the dice, ex: d20 - a 20 sided dice. 7-piece sets contain a d4, d6, d8, d10, d%, d12, and d20. 11-piece usually include two d20s and four d6s, and 12-pieces with a d2 coin.

OG - Old Glitter. Refers to the type of glitter used in Chessex Borealis up until around 2016, which then became used in European currency and was banned for other use. May also see as “Old Material” 

OOG - Old-Old Glitter or Original-Old Glitter. A misnomer as the glitter used is the same as Old Glitter dice. The difference is actually in the dyes that were used that change the transparency of the dice. Date of the dye switches is unknown. Most commonly seen in Smoke, Magenta, and Royal Purple Borealis. 

NG - New Glitter. Refers to the type of glitter used in Chessex Borealis after the discontinuation of the old material. Is widely available. 

OOP - Out of Print. Any dice that are no longer manufactured with no plans for further release. 

IP - In Print. Any dice currently manufactured and available. 

KS - Kickstarter. Many dice lines are funded through Kickstarter due to the high costs, time, and R&D involved.

CC1/CC2/CC3 - Cotton Candy 1, 2, and 3. Limited run series by Kraken Dice.

MO - Moonstone. Refers to the Moonstone line by Crystal Caste (Jade, Aquarius, and Maple). Moonstone can also refer to the Die Hard Dice called “Moonstone”.

FO - Fire Opal. Refers to the Fire Opal line by Crystal Caste (Smoke/Scarab, Maple, and Aqua)

MtG/MTG - Magic the Gathering. Game that uses ‘spindowns’ (d20s that are in numerical order instead of randomized), d4s, and others. Often has special runs of limited edition dice.

MOP / MoP - Mother of Pearl. Refers to an out of print dice line by Chessex (white and blue).

FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. Commonly used when discussing limited availability dice (which could lead to Buyer’s Remorse)

(F)LGS - (Friendly) Local Game Shop. Any local game store, specifically ones that sell dice. Friendly ones are at your discretion :)

POD / PoD - Pound of Dice. Usually in reference to the Chessex Pound of Dice bags.

SSDS - Sparkle Sparkle Dream Sand. A holographic dice line from Lucky Hand Dice, highly sought after for the rainbow coloring.

V/HTF - Very / Hard To Find. Refers to dice that are long out of print or were done in limited quantities, and thus rare even among collectors.

~Manufacturer & Seller Acronyms/Info~

AD - Artisan Dice. Handmade dice with very rare materials. Buyer Beware.

Chessex - Manufacturer. Makes their own lines and is available for custom orders. Considered the ‘standard’ in common dice for their reasonable pricing, wide variety of lines, and general consistency. 

LHD - Lucky Hand Dice. Handmade high end precision resin dice.

MDG - Metallic Dice Games. Reseller, but also has exclusives such as the Year of the Unicorn dice.

DHD - Die Hard Dice. Reseller, known for amazing customer service. Does have exclusives such as Moonstone and their metal dice lines.

CC - Crystal Caste. Produces acrylic and rare material dice, known for their line of unique dice shapes.

Kraken - Reseller. Known for their exclusives and unique dice molds. Resin and acrylic dice. “Kraken Originals” are produced in limited quantities and often difficult to purchase.

GS - Gamescience. Makes raw, precision edge dice.

TDSO - The Dice Shop Online. UK retailer known for huge inventory and ability to purchase singles and sets.

HD - Dice manufacturer and wholesaler. Inexpensive acrylic dice. Also known as HDDice, HengDa Dice, or HDDais. Commonly resold.

BD - Bescon Dice. Dice manufacturer. Commonly resold.

R4I - Roll 4 Initiative. Has original line of slightly oversized dice and easy-to-read numbers.

LC - LittleCLUUS. Handmade resin dice. Buyer Beware.

Sirius Dice - Reseller with unique packaging, known for price markup. 

Oakie Doakie Dice - Reseller with questionably high markup. 

~Chessex Borealis Color Basics~

Green, Red, Orange - Limited run. Highly sought after. Used Old Glitter. No longer in print.

Clear, Aquerple, Confetti - Varied rarity, contained unique pigments that are no longer used. Prone to cracking from cold. No longer in print. All are ‘clear’ (non-colored).

Light Purple, Royal Purple, Teal, Pink, Sky Blue, Light Green, Smoke - Core line. Have used both Old and New Glitter. In print. 

Magenta - Discontinued in 2018, was formerly part of the core line. Used both Old and New Glitter. No longer in print.

I am close to finishing several sets, and also I need pieces in order to take reference and comparison photos. 

If anyone would like to trade or sell for the following pieces, you can feel free to send me an ask or PM. 

Royal Purple Borealis (Old Glitter): d12

Royal Purple Borealis: (Old-Old Glitter): Any

Magenta Borealis (Old-Old Glitter): d12, d8

Smoke Borealis (Old-Old Glitter): d4

Green Borealis: d10 (or any)

Confetti Borealis: any but d10

Orange Borealis: any but 10

Teal Borealis - Old Glitter vs New Glitter 

All pictures taken outside in sunlight/indirect shade.

One of the more difficult to identify, Teal Borealis is very similar in color for both the old and new glitter, especially in sunlight or bright lighting. Dark lighting tends to make the difference very obviously (OG is a greener teal, NG is a bluer teal) but in general the dyes are very close.

OG has the signature chunky glitter, with far more clarity and translucency. It has a distinct blue-shift in addition to the more neutral teal, making it almost glow in certain lighting. It casts a ‘crystalline’ shadow in bright light. 

OOG Smoke Borealis - Backlit

This photoset showcases the incredible transparency of the OOG Smokes. Note the ‘true’ or ‘neutral’ grey coloring. There is no dominant brown, purple, or green as is found in many black dyes.

Smoke Borealis - Shades

Smoke Borealis is one of the most underrated of the Borealis line, particularly because the most stunning style of it is the hardest to find. Both OOG and OG use the same glitter, but the pigment or dye used to give it the ‘smoke’ color has changed throughout it’s production history.

OG (the left side) contains a more opaque dye. The shade of black is referred to as ‘flat’, ‘soft’, ‘grey-black’, or even ‘dark grey’. Especially in bright lighting, and when compared to it’s OOG counterpart, it truly does resemble Smoke.

Borealis Magenta - Old Glitter vs Old-Old Glitter

Discontinued in 2018. OG on the left, OOG on the right.

The differences between Old Glitter (OG) and Old-Old Glitter (OOG) are not actually in the glitter, but the dye and coloring used to create the dice.

The pictures above illustrate how OG is more cloudy and less transparent, while OOG has a more ‘crystal’ like quality. 

OOG shows off the individual flecks of glitter when backlit and casts crystalline shadows due to the facets on the die. It appears to glow with the blue-shift of the glitter, almost like stars - the individual flecks of glitter are very visible. One can also see the parallel numbers with a strong light (though they are not legible)