Exciting news from POPBox Hockey!
Ramblings: We finally wrote down the dimensions and placement of the "Hockey Board" layout! So much easier now to make the next one that comes along! Before this we were placing them based on how the board came to a final layout, meaning it was based on the boards end dimensions themselves. Although this gave each board its own best setup, it was REALLY slow, cumbersome and each board only varied by a 16th or 8th of an inch anyway. Now the "Hockey Board" layout will fit any full and mini board, be close to the same setup in the end, and the REALLY look like a hockey rink!
We just have a little more work to do on the www.popboxhockey.com site to get that rolling and a little finalization on the included instructions sheet and then we will "announce" POPBox to the Internet! We will officially be open for business! We hope to do this the first week of May, 2012. We have a few parties interested in buying boards that are aware of what we are doing through close friends. Just the idea of actually producing the boards for kids to play on and imaging them playing for hours is REALLY motivating!
-03/19/2012 - Ordered a POPBox Hockey wooden template to put the game name on the bottom of the boards with the serial number. Should arrive in time to put it on the first donation board. Serial Numbers and Game Name will be wood burned on we think, have not tried it yet. Will be trying this next week on one of the first mini's made that wont be leaving the shop.
- 03/22/2012 - Two accomplishments on one phone call today! Going to look at and hopefully pick up a bunch of 20 - 30 year old reclaimed cedar (used as siding on a house) next week , March 26 -30. Additionally, have a start on making another donation board for a program that mentors youth by discussion and playing games. The person that I am picking the reclaimed cedar up has a child that is a part of this organization so I will likely be making a POPBox Hockey board out of the cedar given for this program. How AWESOME is that, give a little, get a little! :)
- 03/23/2012 - We are so motivated right now being so close to selling boards, completing our first couple of donations (Richfield School Auction, Local YMCA, New child support program from 3/22 phone call), and making this dream a started reality!
- 03/26/12 - Got the Richfield boards completely stained last night. They look good but we are going to work on fabricating a template for the "hockey board" blue line, face off circles, etc. It takes a LONG time to stain those small, tight, 1/4 inch lines and even though we take 4 hours to do two of the game boards, we still make mistakes where our hands are not steady enough. Might pick up a couple cutting boards to make them (why cutting boards? No warping, very sturdy, etc).
- 03/27/12 - Going to pick up that Cedar today! Hopefully it pans out as planned, would be a HUGE add to keeping this moving forward!! Then to begin on the board for the same person(s) the cedar is coming from and the two fro the YMCA!
Thanks as always!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
March Update #3
Ramblings: Things are finally coming together to get this off the ground! By that we mean getting our first donation boards out the door! Remember, this whole goal that POPBox Hockey is about is making new products - wood games - out of reclaimed and recycled wood AND more importantly, DONATING POPBox Hockey boards to help out todays kids! We are excited about our first of 3 donation boards to the Richfield Youth Auction!
The board for the Richfield Youth Activities silent auctions has been cut, sanded, and fitted. Now the remaining steps of putting the hockey markings on the playing surface, seeing about getting some Richfield school stickers, staining, poly-ing and then putting the package together (Popsicle sticks, checkers, Instructions, Journal information) is all that remains. Got to get it done in 3 weeks!
- 03/12/2012 - Got the oak table legs and ?expander? removed, ready to cut the table top into MINI's!
- 03/14/2012 - Picked up some used 1x4's from some nice folks in Eden Prairie!
- 03/19/2012 - Picked up a 1980 something desk that MIGHT be teak...might also be just OSB with Teak veneer. If so, we will use it as a staining stand - IN TO THE WORKSHOP!
Thanks for checking in!
The board for the Richfield Youth Activities silent auctions has been cut, sanded, and fitted. Now the remaining steps of putting the hockey markings on the playing surface, seeing about getting some Richfield school stickers, staining, poly-ing and then putting the package together (Popsicle sticks, checkers, Instructions, Journal information) is all that remains. Got to get it done in 3 weeks!
- 03/12/2012 - Got the oak table legs and ?expander? removed, ready to cut the table top into MINI's!
- 03/14/2012 - Picked up some used 1x4's from some nice folks in Eden Prairie!
- 03/19/2012 - Picked up a 1980 something desk that MIGHT be teak...might also be just OSB with Teak veneer. If so, we will use it as a staining stand - IN TO THE WORKSHOP!
Thanks for checking in!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
February - March News POST #2
POPBox Hockey News!
- 03/09/2012 - Continued work on setting up the shop space to build our popbox hockey boards! Got the extensions for the radial arm cleaned off, now just need to shorten them to the radial arm saw table height. You can really pile up a bunch of un-needed stuff if you don't stay on top of it! Pictures coming!
- 03/11/2012 - On the lookout for a new sander. Current one does the job but when trying to smooth out some of this reclaimed wood imperfections on the game board itself (the backs are typically left as is to show the "used" or "reclaimed" state it was in if possible) the sander can be tedious at getting the job done. Recommendation from friends is a belt sander would be too much...
- 03/12/2012 - Put out a couple offers on some 1" by X" reclaimed attic wood and reclaimed barn floor wood. Sure hope one of the two comes through as we are getting low on the side pieces. We do purchase the contractor cast off wood at our local housing / hardware store but it is just not the same as getting reclaimed old wood!
- 03/13/2012 - Picked up an old solid oak living room table this am that was offered for free or was to be thrown if no one took it. Its 1" thick solid oak which is thicker that we normally use because of the weight factor. The edges are banged up pretty good but otherwise the table top is in good shape. It was 48" by 48" and we could have gotten two full size boards out of it BUT because of the weight and banged up edges we are going to trim it down and make probably 5 - 7 mini's! Funny to think we are reusing a table, this is our first endeavor in reusing a piece of furniture!
- Thanks!
- 03/09/2012 - Continued work on setting up the shop space to build our popbox hockey boards! Got the extensions for the radial arm cleaned off, now just need to shorten them to the radial arm saw table height. You can really pile up a bunch of un-needed stuff if you don't stay on top of it! Pictures coming!
- 03/11/2012 - On the lookout for a new sander. Current one does the job but when trying to smooth out some of this reclaimed wood imperfections on the game board itself (the backs are typically left as is to show the "used" or "reclaimed" state it was in if possible) the sander can be tedious at getting the job done. Recommendation from friends is a belt sander would be too much...
- 03/12/2012 - Put out a couple offers on some 1" by X" reclaimed attic wood and reclaimed barn floor wood. Sure hope one of the two comes through as we are getting low on the side pieces. We do purchase the contractor cast off wood at our local housing / hardware store but it is just not the same as getting reclaimed old wood!
- 03/13/2012 - Picked up an old solid oak living room table this am that was offered for free or was to be thrown if no one took it. Its 1" thick solid oak which is thicker that we normally use because of the weight factor. The edges are banged up pretty good but otherwise the table top is in good shape. It was 48" by 48" and we could have gotten two full size boards out of it BUT because of the weight and banged up edges we are going to trim it down and make probably 5 - 7 mini's! Funny to think we are reusing a table, this is our first endeavor in reusing a piece of furniture!
- Thanks!
Friday, March 9, 2012
February - March News POST #1
Hi!
Here is the latest BREAKING news @POPBOX Hockey!
- 02/08/2012 - We just received some free 3/4" Plywood that was in use, hanging on a wall, as an AT&T Phone hub mount plate for over 35 years! We were able to reclaim this wood and get 6 very good full size boards out of it! Yeah to being green!
- 02/17/2012 - The decision was made to turn 4 of the reclaimed AT&T Full sized boards in to painted for sale boards and to turn the remaining 2 in to donation boards. THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST DONATION! We are EXTREMELY excited to be able to donate our first two POPBOX Hockey boards. We are contacting a local YMCA regarding interest -Stay tuned!
- 02/28/2012 - New, used, radial arm saw purchased! We picked up a 20 year old Craftsman radial arm saw to help us rip the game base boards and to cut the straight cuts. We currently use a "borrowed" miter saw for all the angled cuts. This should REALLY help in making the boards more accurate and faster!
- 03/03/2012 - Cleanup and construction of workshop to make the POPBox Hockey boards! This will really help with time required to produce a POPBox board as we wont be making them on our hands and knees with Circular Saws and freezing!
- 03/08/2012 - Received our very first donation "request" to provide a full sized board (we are going to make a stained board) and mini sized board (stained as well) as a benefit auction item for the Richfield school system in MN!
- 03/08/2012 - Recovered an old children game table (5' x 6') from the trash. We are going to reclaim this table to be our very first JUMBO model! This will be a model / variant more for show, demonstration purposes but most certainly could be ordered if someone likes the larger model. It will be about 30% bigger than the full sized models and intentions are to use the large tongue depressors and large checker pieces as game pieces. Pictures will be up as soon as we get it cleaned up, cut, painted and put together!
- Thanks!
Here is the latest BREAKING news @POPBOX Hockey!
- 02/08/2012 - We just received some free 3/4" Plywood that was in use, hanging on a wall, as an AT&T Phone hub mount plate for over 35 years! We were able to reclaim this wood and get 6 very good full size boards out of it! Yeah to being green!
- 02/17/2012 - The decision was made to turn 4 of the reclaimed AT&T Full sized boards in to painted for sale boards and to turn the remaining 2 in to donation boards. THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST DONATION! We are EXTREMELY excited to be able to donate our first two POPBOX Hockey boards. We are contacting a local YMCA regarding interest -Stay tuned!
- 02/28/2012 - New, used, radial arm saw purchased! We picked up a 20 year old Craftsman radial arm saw to help us rip the game base boards and to cut the straight cuts. We currently use a "borrowed" miter saw for all the angled cuts. This should REALLY help in making the boards more accurate and faster!
- 03/03/2012 - Cleanup and construction of workshop to make the POPBox Hockey boards! This will really help with time required to produce a POPBox board as we wont be making them on our hands and knees with Circular Saws and freezing!
- 03/08/2012 - Received our very first donation "request" to provide a full sized board (we are going to make a stained board) and mini sized board (stained as well) as a benefit auction item for the Richfield school system in MN!
- 03/08/2012 - Recovered an old children game table (5' x 6') from the trash. We are going to reclaim this table to be our very first JUMBO model! This will be a model / variant more for show, demonstration purposes but most certainly could be ordered if someone likes the larger model. It will be about 30% bigger than the full sized models and intentions are to use the large tongue depressors and large checker pieces as game pieces. Pictures will be up as soon as we get it cleaned up, cut, painted and put together!
- Thanks!
POPBox Hockey Welcome!
Lets play Hockey!...on the table with Popsicle sticks!!
POPBOX Hockey is a table top wooden board game played with checkers and Popsicle sticks (or some form of Popsicle resembling craft wooden sticks). We were originally introduced to the game back in the middle 1980's at a local recreation center and we honestly played it for hours everyday after school! It was simple, fun, addicting and kept us off the street and doing something positive. This is something we believe was invaluable in keeping us, as kids, out of trouble and forming positive person skills
Back in 1987, one of the RIOT Gaming founders made a Popsicle stick hockey board to be used at home with his grandpa. This board was played on for about 8 years until it was packed away in storage for the next 15 years. Early in 2010 it was taken out of storage and played on by the founder, friends and now the founders children. It was about 6 months ago, around October 2011 that we looked online for a table top hockey game like we had and couldn't find even so much as a mention of anything like it. After discovering a few varieties of similar games (Nok Hockey, Box Hockey) we decided to make the one we had and remembered from the 1980s. Upon making the first one, RIOT Gaming was formed and the very first POPBOX Hockey brand board was produced. After a couple months of continued work perfecting the craftsmanship and playing around with ideas, RIOT Gaming decided to make POPBOX Hockey boards to sell. We built a website, came up with a few different models and styles, and a plan to turn half, if not more of the profits in to a donation program for supporting today's children.
HALF of every profit dollar is re-invested in purchasing of materials to make POPBOX Hockey boards and donate these boards to programs and centers that support today's children. The goal is to provide an additional activity for children and teens to enjoy at support centers (like the YMCA, YWCA, HEADStart) and help to keep them off the streets and engaged in activities that foster positive relationships and positive growth. This goal is geared to achieve, with the Popsicle stick hockey boards, what the boards did for the founders back in the mid 1980's!
This BLOG will be the news area of RIOT Gaming's POPBOX Hockey. We hope to provide news of successfully donated boards, continued product development, business progression, expanding the donation program, and other fun facts! Please stop in to see whats new, whats happening, and to stay in touch by either directly linking in OR from the link on www.popboxhockey.com.
Thanks for checking us out!
POPBOX Hockey is a table top wooden board game played with checkers and Popsicle sticks (or some form of Popsicle resembling craft wooden sticks). We were originally introduced to the game back in the middle 1980's at a local recreation center and we honestly played it for hours everyday after school! It was simple, fun, addicting and kept us off the street and doing something positive. This is something we believe was invaluable in keeping us, as kids, out of trouble and forming positive person skills
Back in 1987, one of the RIOT Gaming founders made a Popsicle stick hockey board to be used at home with his grandpa. This board was played on for about 8 years until it was packed away in storage for the next 15 years. Early in 2010 it was taken out of storage and played on by the founder, friends and now the founders children. It was about 6 months ago, around October 2011 that we looked online for a table top hockey game like we had and couldn't find even so much as a mention of anything like it. After discovering a few varieties of similar games (Nok Hockey, Box Hockey) we decided to make the one we had and remembered from the 1980s. Upon making the first one, RIOT Gaming was formed and the very first POPBOX Hockey brand board was produced. After a couple months of continued work perfecting the craftsmanship and playing around with ideas, RIOT Gaming decided to make POPBOX Hockey boards to sell. We built a website, came up with a few different models and styles, and a plan to turn half, if not more of the profits in to a donation program for supporting today's children.
HALF of every profit dollar is re-invested in purchasing of materials to make POPBOX Hockey boards and donate these boards to programs and centers that support today's children. The goal is to provide an additional activity for children and teens to enjoy at support centers (like the YMCA, YWCA, HEADStart) and help to keep them off the streets and engaged in activities that foster positive relationships and positive growth. This goal is geared to achieve, with the Popsicle stick hockey boards, what the boards did for the founders back in the mid 1980's!
This BLOG will be the news area of RIOT Gaming's POPBOX Hockey. We hope to provide news of successfully donated boards, continued product development, business progression, expanding the donation program, and other fun facts! Please stop in to see whats new, whats happening, and to stay in touch by either directly linking in OR from the link on www.popboxhockey.com.
Thanks for checking us out!
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