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Review of Legendary Metal Coins Season 3 (Vampire)
Blurb from the publisher: 'Vampires have been one of the main monstrous characters in human fantasy, with many games adapting them as their main villains or heroes. se them as simple transaction objects or use them to mark your victims.
Copper. Diameter: 30mm. Thickness: 3mm.
Silver. Diameter: 32mm. Thickness: 3mm.
Gold. Diameter: 34mm. Thickness: 3mm.
Games where the coins can be used at: Vampire: The Masquerade, and in all games reminding something out of Transylvania.'
What you get: Legendary Metal Coins Season 3 is currently on kickstarter until the 15th of March 2018. Those participating can purchase different numbers and types of coins starting from USD 20 (around EUR 16). When the kickstarter campaign is over, the Vampire set will have the same number of coins and the same cost as every other set of Legendary Metal Coins: EUR 24 for twenty four coins (10 bronze, 8 silver, 6 gold). That's a saving of almost 30%, not factoring in any wild currency exchange fluctuations, as well as the shipping fees. In any case the coins will not magically appear tomorrow on your doorstep. Weather allowing, it is most plausible and prudent to expect them somewhere around October 2018.
In the interest of full disclosure I received prototypes to review. I am however assured that the final coins will look exactly like the ones I have in front of me.
Season 3 of the LMC series contains five different sets: Japanese, Medieval Units, Post Apocalyptic, Wizard and Vampire (the set under review). It is reminded that LMC's Season 2 contained seven sets (Spartan, Cthulhu, Cyberpunk, Egyptian, Roman, Viking and Units), while the first Legendary Metal Coins season before that contained eleven different sets: Arabic, Capitol, Dragon, Dwarven, Elven, Far East, Greek, Medieval, Pirate, Sci-Fi and Steampunk.
Each set contains three types of coins: copper, silver and gold. In reality of course all coins are made of zamak. The copper and the gold coins are round, while the silver coin is 13-sided (!). Their diameters from copper to gold are 30 mm, 32 mm and 34 mm, while all of them have a thickness of 3 mm. My scales are not of adequate precision, but on average they weigh just over 13 gr each (40 gr when weighing three coins together, one of each type). As a comparison, the 2 EUR coin, the biggest coin in circulation in the eurozone, has a diameter of just over 2,5 cm and a thickness of just around 2 mm.
There are no numbers in any of the coins while the sides of each are different. In a way, this set s confirms to the heads or tails principle.
The bronze coin's heads side depicts a skull inside a pentragram adorned with bat wings. The design is encircled by Celtic knots. The reverse side depicts a stylized letter V, designed as if with wings; alternatively it can be read as an M with extremely curved sides, or it can be perceived as a V superimposed on a circle, possibly the moon. This design is surrounded by countless bats, while it is further adorned by complex, curved shapes.
The silver coin's heads side depicts an archetypal vampire, as expected to appear in any given film, especially of the silent type. The vampire's fangs are visible, as is a bat-like pendant around his neck. The obverse side is dominated by a multi-tower castle perched upon a rock, only accessible through a steep and winding road.
The gold coin's heads side shows none other than Vlad Țepeș, the original Dracula, in a design that can be best characterized as folk-like. His name is inscribed in English (Vlad Tepes) and not in its correct Romanian form. The reverse side depicts a dragon with his tail practically crossed with his head. I am made to understand that this is a classic design, even though I cannot locate its origins. The image is circled by the inscription 'exactor humani generis - rex immortuorum', a phrase in Latin that, should one excuse one neologism, means 'controller of the human race - king of the undead'.
The set additionally contains a cloth pouch from 100% velvet. Its colour can be chosen between beige, dark brown, green, purple and red.
The strong points: Since Cthulhu and necromancers got their own coins sets, so should the vampires. The present set tries to strike a balance between the historical and the fantastic, and in many ways it succeeds. The tributes to Țepeș, the vampire films of yore and the more modern vampire culture are well executed. I particularly enjoyed the full-on retro silver coin. The old-style vampire, the castle, as well as the thirteen sides are all elements of an exquisite design. I also liked the reverse side of the gold coin with the dragon and the pseudo-Latin inscription. Were Vlad's design a bit more convincing and his name inscribed in the proper Romanian way, that coin would have also reached perfection. The ultra satanic neo-gothic copper is acceptable, but nothing spectacular. There is nothing wrong with it mind you; this is just a subjective opinion.
The coins look mostly new. The colours and designs are easy to distinguish from far away irrespective of light conditions. There is no way of confusing a coin of one type with another.
There are quite a few boardgames out there that deal with vampires and could use dedicated tokens; Castle Ravenloft is one of them, even though we haven't examined it together yet. All in all, I feel that this set will be far more useful for RPG sessions irrespective of style. The Curse of Strahd for D&D 5E is a prime contender, as is Vampire the Masquerade. If, like me, you have an enormous library of Ravenloft material and you wish to use it, more power to you; these items will fit perfectly. Even though they are sold as coins, the items might be more useful as tokens, amulets or talismans. If you wish to combine them with another set, the Wizard set from the current kickstarter would be the first logical choice.
Just because the coins are luxurious and gorgeous does not mean that they are flimsy. They will clearly not break, scratch (at least not by casual usage) or bend. They will last forever and will far outlive the games you bought them for.
For those wondering about the success of the kickstarter, don't. This isn't the publisher's first. Even more so, it has by far surpassed the funding target, and has started adding bonus coins to the sets purchased before its conclusion. As cool as it will be to buy these sets when they hit the market, it is obvious that right now one is getting more bang for the buck.
The weak points: Even though the designs of the set are cool, overall it comes off as kind of unfocused. I understand why design-wise a vampire set should cover everything about the vampire genre. The implementation however leaves something to be desired. The medieval-looking dragon and the Latin inscription have nothing to do with the detailed, folk-like depiction of Vlad Țepeș. The style of that gold coin is light years away from the silver coin, which could have been a prop in any 1940's vampire movie. The copper coin on the other hand would feel more comfortable in a modern, vampires-are-misunderstood-yet-so-utterly-cool kind of game. In short: each type of coin works well in itself, when however they are placed next to one another they don't appear to have that sought-after added value.
The copper coin's reverse side is less crisp than I would have wanted it to be. The bats are less well-defined than I would have wanted them to be, while the (floral?) decorations around the V are incomprehensible.
These coins will not be damaged. Use them cautiously however, because they might be likely to scratch your table, your cardboard components, or other, softer material. This is metal after all.
Conclusion: If vampires are your thing, this set is likely to find its place on your table. What it lacks in homogeneity it provides in flexibility. Besides, who can resist a menacing castle at the end of a long and winding road?
To find out more about Drawlab Entertainment and the Legendary Metal Coins Season 3 (Vampire), take a look at http://www.drawlab.com. If you like what you see, the current kickstarter, closing on the 15th of March 2018, can be found right here.
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