Fantasy Football Trophies, Custom Logo Title Plates, Part 3

In my last post, I talked about the difficulties trophy makers have with the artwork submitted by fantasy football leagues for their custom title plates.


This subject is so important, it warrants further explanation and examples. As I mentioned in my last post, I am using real examples from commishes who wanted to have their logo incorporated into their fantasy football trophy title plates.

Let's start with the above image submitted to me by a commish. As discussed in the part 2, artwork needs to be clean, camera ready, and in black and white. The commish told me he just wanted to do the figure with outstretched arms in the circle as his league logo.

The problem is, this logo doesn't exist, and that means that our graphics department has to create it, which results in a $30 art charge. The football commish didn't want to pay for the art charge, saying, "Can't you just copy the dude in the circle?"

No. there is text in front of the figure and the circle, there is all kind of shading and imagery on the figure, etc. Understand that when your "logo" doesn't have clarity and isn't a cohesive design, you are going to be looking at some kind of upcharge in order to get this image on your trophy.

The next example is the very common customized NFL shield, that the league has modified to be their logo. Not a problem, but in this case, the shield is fuzzy and pixilated, not to mention that it is in color, and is not at all suitable for laser engraving.


As I mentioned in part 2, we need to be able to freely resize the logo, and enlarge it with absolutely no loss in clarity, or the logo will look blurry and crappy when engraved.





Next we have an example of a league shield we created for a fantasy football commish. We did end up revising the greek letters under the FFFL portion of the logo.

Now, you might notice that this is a little blurry when you click to enlarge. That is because when we create a logo for someone, we send them a proof in a jpeg or pdf for easy viewing, as not everyone has high resolution graphics software like CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator.



Here we see the finished laser plate, with revised greek letters, custom text under the logo, and the rest of the league information left aligned and stacked on the right side of the plate. This is the kind of bold, clean layout that gets noticed from across the room!






Here is another poor quality jpeg logo presented to us for laser engraving by a football league commissioner. The greyscale in this logo would not translate well on a laser plate, it would make the overall look very muddy.



Below is the revised artwork for the fantasy football trophy title plate. With the gretscale removed, we have a clean black and white logo which will really pop on the title plate.

Probably one of funniest types of engraving requests I get is when someone sends me an animated gif and asks if I can engrave it on their title plate.

Moving images are not suitable for laser engraving.

So what kinds of files should you send? .Tif files work very well, most jpegs do not. Just make sure that you can enlarge the file without loss of quality or getting the pixel effect. You can also save your file in a much larger size, as there is rarely a loss of quality when making an image smaller.

To see all of our fantasy football perpetual, loser and keeper trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley!

Fantasy Football Trophies, Custom Logo Title Plates, Part 2

In the world of fantasy football trophies, nothing is more desirable than incorporating the league's custom logo into the title plate design. More and more fantasy leagues have their own logos, and branding the trophy with this image is not only cool, but it also makes other leagues that see the trophy salivate with envy!

Hands down, the biggest challenge in creating a custom laser engraved title plate lies in the artwork. Logo artwork needs to be camera ready, that means clear, crisp black and white art. Admittedly, I cringe when someone sends me art to review for their fantasy football trophy, I know when I open the file what I am going to see. Less than 1 percent of artwork submitted for engraving is acceptable, and I spend a great deal of time explaining to fantasy commishes why.

I am going to use actual examples of fantasy football trophy artwork submitted to illustrate this point. Let's start with exhibit A. This is typical of the kind of art file we receive. Most leagues create their logos in a jpeg format and have it posted up on their fantasy league website. While this is great for a website, it's no good for laser engraving. First of all, it is in color, and a laser only operates in black and white. There are a few exceptions in terms of greyscale that I will address in part 4 of this article.

The biggest problem with this logo, which is so common, is that when you attempt to enlarge it, the logo becomes pixilated, with jagged edges. With a laser engraved title plate, what you see is what you get, so having a pixilated and blurry image on the plate looks like, how shall I say it? Crap.

In the case of this fantasy league logo, we needed to completely recreate the artwork in a high resolution format. This means our graphics department had to draw the logo in CorelDraw which then can be used to engrave the plate. When a fantasy football logo has to be sent to the art department, we generate a proof for client review in a jpeg or pdf file for easy viewing.

In the second example above, we have inverted the file and changed the white to a gold color. This is very helpful for football leagues to imagine how their logo will look laser engraved on the trophy. At this point we can make changes to the logo to help clarify certain elements, based on what the league commissioner wants. Once approval is given on the art, we can complete the title plate on the fantasy football trophy!

Here we have the completed trophy, which you can click on to get a better look, along with any of the other pictures in this post. This fantasy football trophy also incorporates custom fonts, and again, prior to engraving, the entire layout was sent in a proof to the commish for approval.

If your logo needs to be recreated, you will have to pay a one time art charge, which is typically $30, but can be higher if the logo is super detailed and takes more time to draw and digitize.

Trust your trophy engraver if they tell you the artwork is not suitable. Look at the logo, try to enlarge it to a 4 inch by 4 inch size, and if looks pixilated, it's no good. Don't try to smooth it or sharpen contrast in your photo editing program and resubmit it again and again. Many fantasy leagues do this in an effort to avoid the art charge, and spend hours monkeying around with the logo. If you want the logo to look like it should on your football trophy, and you don't have a graphics artist in your league, just bite the bullet and have it done right. Our policy is, if the artwork won't look great on the plate, we simply don't accept it, because we know that ultimately the league will be disappointed with the results.

To see our full collection of fantasy football perpetual, loser and keeper trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley! Please feel free to email or post any questions!

Fantasy Football Trophy, Custom Logo Title Plates Part 1

I've been wanting to write a detailed article about this subject for a long time, and I hope you will find this information useful.

Up to this point, my articles have featured trophies with standard engraving. For most fantasy football leagues, standard engraving is an elegant and classic choice. For other fantasy leagues that have a logo, we need to enter the realm of custom title plates.

With standard engraving, the metal is actually cut to a predetermined depth. If you rub your finger across the surface, you will feel the engraved characters. Most standard engraving machines have limitations on the number and style of fonts they can do. As I mentioned, this is a classic approach, and standard engraved plates have a great sparkle to them.

In the trophy example on the above, the top plate was done with standard engraving, and the bottom plate was engraved with a laser.

A laser engraver is an amazing and costly piece of equipment that offers stunning capabilities to recreate complex graphics. In the above example, the laser plate is a special brass stock specifically made for laser engraving. The brass has a thin black coating which the laser removes revealing the golden brass beneath. On a laser plate, if you run your finger across, it feels smooth, the engraved characters are barely perceptible.

For a fantasy football trophy featuring a laser engraved title plate, the logo and text must be digitized with graphics software. My next article will talk about the types of art files needed to make a laser title plate. Because the art is digital, the laser can engrave virtually any kind of font and graphics, although there are some tips and tricks to making your title plate graphics look their best, which I will cover under the art requirements article.

If you are interested in having a custom title plate for your fantasy football trophy, and you have a logo, you should email it to your engraver to make sure it will work. They can guide you on what changes need to be made in order to have your graphics really "pop" on the plate.

At Sculpture Alley, we really enjoy working on logo title plates, this makes the fantasy football trophy truly custom! To see our full collection of fantasy football perpetual, loser and keeper trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley! Don't forget to visit our Fantasy Football Engraving Gallery!

Funny Fantasy Football Trophies, The Toilet Bowl Perpetual Trophy

In my last posts, I talked about individual fantasy football loser trophies. These are great at season end, or at the start of the new draft to remind an owner what NOT to do during the current football season.

The dead last loser in a fantasy football league deserves respect. It is not easy to do everything perfectly wrong! While the league winner is busy gloating and bragging, the league loser can take comfort in the fact that he or she has performed exceptionally poorly and can now be crowned Season Loser.

Nobody remembers who was second and ninth in Fantasy Football. Well, whoever came in second certainly remembers, but the glory goes to first and last. These are the celebrities of the fantasy football league!

For some leagues, the season loser is such a coveted position that like the Championship Football Trophy, they elect to do a Perpetual Loser Trophy. In this way, the annual loser can be appropriately honored and remembered year after year.

Having detail plates on your perpetual loser trophy allows you to include the year, owner name, team name, and for many, to include the loser's pathetic season end score. Adding this information to the detail plate makes sure that the loser never forgets, and that his fantasy football league mates can poke fun for years to come.

At Sculpture Alley, we create each fantasy football perpetual loser trophy with the same level of excellence that we apply to our champion perpetual trophies. To see our full line of fantasy football perpetual and loser trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley!

Funny Fantasy Football Trophies, The Toilet Bowl Trophy

In my last blog I talked about the classic Horse's Ass Trophy, an overall great loser trophy for just about any offender. Today I will talk about the coveted Toilet Bowl Trophy, which gained fame years ago in Fantasy Football League forums.

The last place loser in a Fantasy Football League deserves almost as much credit as the season winner. While the season winner did everything right, the season loser has the dubious honor of having done everything wrong. It is quite an accomplishment!


Nothing says loser like an attractively displayed roll of toilet paper. With this trophy, even though it is a joke trophy, we still shoot for an elegant presentation and balanced design. There is ample space on the base for an engraved plate which can include the league name, owner of the losing team, team name, year and final score.

At Sculpture Alley, we sell this trophy complete with an engraved plate ( and luxurious 2-ply toilet tissue) for $20. You really don't have to spend a fortune to have a nice loser trophy for your league, and the laughs you will get at the end of season party are so worth it!

Many fantasy football leagues award loser trophies at the draft for the prior year. So at the draft picks party for 2009, they would award the loser trophy for the 2008 season. This is a great incentive for the recipient to get his or her act together during the current football season!

To see our full collection of perpetual fantasy football trophies and fantasy football loser trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley! We have a great collection of keeper trophies too!

Funny Fantasy Football Loser Trophies, The Horse's Ass Trophy

One of the greatest things about making Fantasy Football Trophies is dealing with the people in the leagues. While Fantasy Football leagues are serious about winning, they don't take themselves too seriously, and are some of the funniest people on the planet.

In addition to creating a championship trophy that commemorates the league winner, the league loser also holds a special place. Coming in dead last is quite an accomplishment!

The grandaddy and still classic of the loser trophies is the horse's ass trophy, which not only works for Fantasy Football, but is a great trophy in any joke capacity, particularly if it is presented in a tasteful way.

We like to make our Horse's Ass trophy as elegant as possible, with a dignified marbelized column, which is capped top and bottom with genuine Italian marble, and a black brass engraved plate. Taking an elegant approach to a joke trophy makes it even more hilarious, particularly during the presentation.

To see our full collection of Fantasy Football Perpetual and Loser Trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley!

Can't decide what to put on your Fantasy Football Trophy Title Plate?

Sometimes it is not the easiest thing in the world to decide what to put on your Fantasy Football Trophy title plate. If you have a mature league, and the league name is etched in stone, you are probably in good shape.

But what happens if you want to order your championship trophy, and the league is new, with a league name being in flux? What sounds good after a long day of football and six packs may not stand the test of time. Also, many leagues decide to do a custom title plate with a logo or other custom graphics, but the group cannot decide on the look they want.

In these cases, rather than rake yourself over the coals trying to make a snap decision, you can have a preliminary title plate made, and attached with screws. This gives you the option to easily remove the title plate in the future, and have another one made.

As you can see by this example, the look of a mounted title plate on your Fantasy Football Trophy can be both decorative and elegant. The trophy dealer can create embellished corners, and even use decorative rosettes to further jazz up the screws and work them into the design.

Later, when it is time to make a new plate, you can remove the first one and take it or send it to your engraver, so they can put holes in the exact same position as the previous plate. Additionally, adhesive backing can be used on the plate to hide the fact that the base was ever drilled.

This is a great way to get over the anxiety of choosing the perfect text at the time of purchase!

For other tips, please read my prior posts, and feel free to stop by and see my full collection of perpetual fantasy football trophies at Sculpture Alley!

Trophy Care Tips - How to Clean Your Fantasy Football Trophy

I am often asked this question, so here's a few tips that should help keep your Fantasy Football Trophy looking it's best for many years.

Probably one of the biggest problems in keeping your trophy in tip top shape is dealing with anything that is metal. The parts of your trophy that are wood can get dusty and be brought back to life with some pledge, but once tarnish starts setting in on the components and engraving, it can be a real problem to get things under control and restore the original luster.

The best plan is preventative maintenance. Each time you dust, and yes guys, that should be at least once a month, you should give the trophy a once over. Pledge works fine for resin toppers, and bases. In terms of the engraving, that depends on the metal stock used on the trophy.

If the plates are gold with silver writing, or any kind of silver writing that is not showing signs of tarnish, you are probably looking at aluminum, which can just be buffed up with a soft cloth, so you won't have much to worry about.

Similarly, some engravers use plastic (yuk) for their engraving, again, nothing to worry about there.

For black brass, or brass in general, you are going to have more of an issue. Most engraving brass is lacquered, to inhibit tarnish, but as soon as it is engraved, the lacquer is removed, leaving your text exposed to the elements. On black brass, the black is a coating on the plate, so great care must be used not to scratch it or scuff it up. I find the best method is to use a soft cloth and Windex to clean the text, make sure it is absolutely dry, and then polish the whole trophy (including engraving) with Pledge. I think the wax helps to protect the engraving longer, the trick is to stay ahead of tarnish, especially if you live in a humid zone.

Silver cup trophies are tricky, and once they get like this, they are a real pain to clean. If your trophy is mounted on a base, I would suggest taking it apart so you can work on the cup component without risking damaging the base.

Many commercial cleaners work by removing a layer of the silver. If your trophy is silver plated, and a commercial cleaner is strong, you might strip the plating right off. I would avoid any TarnX type product. You would do best to work with a paste with no abrasives and a soft cloth to slowly work the tarnish out. Lots of patience and rubbing. Wax on...wax off....

The idea is to keep your trophy looking like this. If your trophy is in good shape, I would suggest using a silver polishing cloth, and after your draft party, just wipe all the fingerprints and saliva off with a soft cloth. Fingerprints and grease will start the tarnish process, so nip them in the bud. Afterward, just do a routine buff with the cloth, and for stubborn spots, I like Wrights Silver Polish. A great product with no abrasive qualities.

Brass components like the trophy shown at the top of this post should be cleaned in a similar manner with only a high quality brass paste, gentle enough for brass plating, with a special cleaning cloth.

With a little TLC you can keep your trophy looking as good as new, something you and your league can be proud of for many years!

Please feel free to ask any questions, and check out my line of fantasy football perpetual trophies, loser trophies and more at Sculpture Alley!

Fantasy Football Trophies Engraving Part 3

One of the great features of a fantasy football perpetual trophy is that you can update it every year with the league winner. On a fantasy football trophy equipped with detail plates, you simply detach a plate and take it to your local engraver with the winner's information.

Individual detail plates are generally not very large, and some consideration should be given as to exactly what will be included on the plates, so there is a consistent appearance to the plates year after year. Click on the detail plate pictures in this post to get a better view.








The less text on the plate, the bigger it will be. I suggest no more than 3 lines for a detail plate, with a max of 20 characters per line, and even 20 characters is pushing it a bit.

Some of the most popular information to include on a detail plate is:

1. Year
2. Team Name
3. Owner's Name
4. Season Score

A good layout would be:

2004

Bubba's Bombers

Jim Glass

Some fantasy football leagues that have been around for a while, and have many past winners elect to do "list style" engraving. Rather than use the little detail plates, I make large plates for the side, and engrave the information in a line. While I personally like the look of detail plates, for some leagues this is a better option.

As with anything in life, there are pros and cons to list style engraving. On the positive side, you can fit more winners on the side of the fantasy football trophy. If you have quite a few engravings, it looks cool.

On the down side, if you don't have many winners, or whole plates that are not engraved, it can make the trophy look empty.

Also, yearly updates can be more expensive. It can be difficult to match the exact font (unless the same engraver made the first engraving) and to get the line in the exact position. For this reason, many engravers will just redo the entire plate, and that's where the expense comes in.

Detail plates are also covered with clear tape that protects them from scratching. It is removed prior to engraving. With list style plates, the tape has been removed, so care must be used when transporting it to the engraver.

Please feel free to ask any questions, and check out my Fantasy Football Trophies at Sculpture Alley!

Fantasy Football Trophies Engraving Part 2

Once you have selected a fantasy football perpetual trophy, you will need to decide on the text for the header or title plate. Many perpetual trophies feature a large plate which will accept more text than a keeper award. In my Engraving Part 1, I suggest around 60 characters for a keeper award, but a large header plate can easily fit 100 characters.

That doesn't mean you should do 100 characters, it just means you can. The nice thing about a large header plate is that you can make your league name really shine by engraving it in large type.

Take a good look at the header plate. Do you like the engraving style? Does it look cool to you? Do you want another font? Before you buy, contact the dealer and ask about your options. Don't be afraid to ask questions! A good trophy dealer will offer you options, and should have samples for you to look at.

Let's get back to what text to put on a fantasy football perpetual trophy header plate.

1. The league name is obviously most important. Many customers ask for their league initials, such as CKFFL. On a large header plate, you can actually spell out the league name. In the trophy shown above, I used the league initials in a decorative medallion.

2. Most folks will want the words "Fantasy Football League" on the header plate.

3. Champion, Champions, or Championship Trophy. This lets everyone know what this trophy is about! You can also have a league start date, for example "Est. 1992"

Many people submit their header plate information in all caps like this:

GRIDIRON GODS
FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
CHAMPIONS

This is fine, but consider that having all the type in caps doesn't draw attention to any particular part of the engraving. Experiment with different formats; some caps, upper and lower case, perhaps a portion in italics. For example:

GRIDIRON GODS

Fantasy Football League

CHAMPIONS

Here is another cool option for league initials. In this plate, I curved the league name around a football graphic, and put the league initials inside the football.


Give some thought and planning to your header plate, and you'll have a fantasy football trophy that you and your league can be proud of for many years.

Please feel free to ask any questions, and check out my line of fantasy football perpetual trophies, loser trophies and more at Sculpture Alley!

Fantasy Football Trophies Engraving Part 1

Engraving is a huge part of the Fantasy Football Trophy. Personalizing the trophy is what makes it yours, and unique to your league. I am asked so many questions about engraving, I had to make a FAQ page to answer some of the more common issues.

In my opinion, less is more when it comes to engraving. The more text you try to squeeze on a plate, the less emphasis is placed on key elements of the engraving. The engraving tells a story, the who, what where, when and why of an event. It may include some or all of this information.

The most common question I am asked is, "How many letters can I fit on a plate?"

For a regular trophy, sculpture or keeper, a good rule of thumb is 60 characters, in 3 lines with 20 characters each. Most plates can accept this much text, look nice, and still be easily read. I see some dealers advertising more characters and more lines, but you will need a magnifying glass to read your plate! It is important that your trophy dealer uses their experience to guide you as to what will or will not fit. I review all engraving and formatting via email so that people will have a good idea of what the finished product will look like.

Perpetual Football Trophies with large header plates can accept more engraving, I will be covering this in Engraving Part 2.

There are a few key points to keep in mind when submitting your engraving.

Check your spelling. Seriously, use a spell checker, and triple check the spelling of names. The trophy dealer has no way of knowing what is correct, and they will do exactly what you submit.

Many people submit engraving like this:

Bob "Bubba" Smith Red Zone FFL Champion

A long single line like this doesn't work. The text is made smaller due to the limit of the plate length, and the rest of the plate (above and below the engraved line) looks empty.

Break apart your engraving to add emphasis, for example:

Bob "Bubba" Smith

Red Zone FFL Champion

or

Bob "Bubba" Smith

Red Zone FFL

CHAMPION

or

RED ZONE

Bob "Bubba" Smith

FFL Champion

This will make your engraving go smoothly with the trophy dealer, as they will know exactly what you want. You can make elements larger, bold, italics and caps easily in most email programs. Don't hesitate to experiment with different formats to get the engraving exactly as you want it.

Please feel free to ask any questions, and check out my entire line of Fantasy Football Trophies at Sculpture Alley!

Fantasy Football Perpetual Trophies Part 3

Some of the most expensive "toppers" of the Fantasy Football Trophy are the cups and metal footballs. They are not all created equal, and you should read the descriptions carefully to determine the true quality of an item.

The base of the fantasy football trophy is a major factor in the price. Genuine walnut is the best material for bases, it is beautiful and strong, but be prepared to pay extra for this very expensive material. Look for terms like "Walnut like" and "wood base." These terms apply to laminate pressboard bases, which are great looking and reasonably priced, but if I was considering a $150 or more fantasy football trophy, I would want real walnut.

I am always suspicious of a trophy that does not ship fully assembled. This means something is prone to breakage. This points to a potential weakness in either the main component or the base. If the base is genuine walnut, the weak spot is the sculpture or topper. If the base is not walnut, most likely the topper is heavy, and can crack the top of the base in shipping. This is an important point if you are looking for a traveling trophy, one that ships to the annual winner.

Assembling trophies is a pain in the neck, and trickier than it sounds. You will need a long 7/16 nut driver or ratchet extension, and lots of patience. A common mistake is to overtighten the component, and crack or strip the topper, or cross thread the mounting rod.

If you do find yourself in the position of having to mount your own trophy, make sure to place the trophy on a soft cloth or pillow to protect the surface. Do not allow the sculpture or topper to slide or swivel around on the top of the base, this will avoid scratches. Tighten the top to almost snug, adjust the piece to the desired position, and then tighten one or two more turns.

All Sculpture Alley perpetual football trophies ship fully assembled, and in a reusable shipping box.

Fantasy Football Perpetual Trophies Part 2

What makes one fantasy football trophy more expensive than another? Most of the time it boils down to the materials and components used to make the trophy. Size isn't always an issue. One could construct a gigantic trophy from inexpensive materials, while a more modest trophy could be made of higher quality, and therefore more expensive components.

Most fantasy football trophies feature some item, a ball, sculpture or trophy figure.

The least expensive of these is the trophy figure. Back in the old days, trophy figures were made of metal, most that you see now are made of plastic. There are still some metal figures out there, but if it is metal, the trophy dealer will be quick to point this out, as they are more expensive.

Resins. These have flooded the market in recent years, and you see them everywhere in the form of sculptures. Resin sculptures are synthetic polymers, in other words, plastic. Detailed and fairly strong, they are very popular in the trophy industry. Resin production in the United States is limited, due to environmental regulations, so 99 percent of these items come in from China.

Sculptures that claim to be genuine cold cast bronze, genuine bonded marble, and secret process metal are all in fact, resins. This really bugs me, and it's something I think everyone should know. Don't be fooled into thinking you are buying a genuine bronze or marble sculpture. The nicest of these are the plated resins, which will advertise gold plated, copper plated, etc. They look very nice, but are still essentially resin.

Composite/HydroStone. These sculptures are made from mineral based casting compounds, and are produced in the United States. The advantage to these is the variety of colors and finishes available. Usually the finish process involves coating with metal powders and shavings, like in the auto industry. These pieces tend to be quite heavy, and also can fool people into thinking they are bronze. The most famous of these would be the Austin sculpture "The Long Bomb."

Want to check out some of my perpetual trophies? www.SculptureAlley.com

Fantasy Football Perpetual Trophies Part 1

The Big Daddy of the Fantasy Football Trophy realm is the perpetual, or championship trophy. A perpetual trophy is one that is awarded year after year, and usually has or can accept small plates for engraving the name of the annual champion. I call these detail plates.

Perpetual trophies can be very fancy, equivalent to college and professional level awards, and the biggest of them can sport a hefty price tag of several hundred dollars. There are however, many excellent choices available at a reasonable price, so don't think your league can't afford one!

Before you start shopping, consider the needs of your league.

How many years do you envision keeping the trophy? If you have just started a league, or decided to make things official with a perpetual trophy, you might only need a trophy with 6 or 12 detail plates, and then upgrade if your league is still together after that time.

How many past winners do you have? Will they be included on the trophy? I make quite a few trophies where the league has 7 or more years of past winners. In those cases, I usually suggest a 15 or 18 year trophy although a few of my trophies can go up to 36 years. Also, there are some engraving options for mature leagues, such as eliminating the detail plates for a "list style" engraving format. I will be discussing engraving in depth in future posts.

Where will the trophy be kept? Will the yearly champion keep the trophy, and pass it on to the next winner? Will the trophy need to be shipped? This issue should be addressed by your league. If the trophy is to stay in a central location or be passed by hand to the next guy, it isn't a problem. If you are planning to ship the trophy, it needs to be professionally packed, or it will wind up broken and scratched. For my trophies, I use an expandable foam packaging system that perfectly forms around the trophy like a mold. Assuming the league retains the carton, it can be reused for several years.

What is your budget? Keep in mind that there can be upgrade costs to the trophy, like adding detail plates, and engraving past winners. Most fantasy football trophies include some free engraving, like the header or title plate, but additional engraving and plates are extra, and these costs can quickly add up. Don't forget to plan for your shipping costs too.

Please feel free to ask any questions! Want to check out some of my cool perpetuals? Visit us at Sculpture Alley!

Part 2 Consider your Fantasy Football Trophy Options

A nice mid-range trophy for your league is a Keeper award, meaning that the recipient "keeps" the trophy. It does not necessarily refer to a Keeper League versus a Dynasty League, although it can apply.

Keeper awards run from the moderately priced to the very expensive, depending on your budget (and your ego.) They can be purchased by the league, usually for last year's winner. Many times, individuals who have had to surrender the perpetual trophy purchase a keeper to commemorate their victorious season.

I like to offer a perpetual/keeper combination, so that if someone buys a perpetual trophy, there is a smaller matching version of the same item. Here is an example of a perpetual trophy and matching keeper:

Although they make look the same size in the photograph, the Perpetual is 15 inches high and the Keeper trophy is 8 inches high. I plan to discuss engraving in detail eventually, but for right now, let's just say that the Keeper trophy should contain the following information.

1. Year of the victory
2. Recipient's Name
3. League and/or Team Name

You can also include the word CHAMPION or other appropriate title, and season scores are a nice touch. You should be able to pick up a nice Keeper Award for $10.00 to $30.00.

Consider your options when buying a Fantasy Football Trophy Part 1

So you're thinking about buying a Fantasy Football Trophy? Perhaps you were the winner this year, and want to make your accomplishments part of the league history. Maybe you spotted something cool to put on the table at the draft, and along with the cash, the winner receives your great find.

Whatever your motivation, there are many different kinds of trophies available, and a few things to keep in mind when shopping.

Starter leagues might want a simple and inexpensive trophy, one that can be passed from winner to winner each year. Choices abound in the inexpensive category, most are a traditional style trophy, but there are some nice choices available without breaking the bank.

Bobbleheads are very popular, although I've never understood the fascination. Cheaply made, these types of trophies are not meant to last, planned obsolescence suggests that you break this trophy in a certain amount of time, and return to purchase another.

Check the measurements of any item you are interested in. The lowest priced trophies can be tiny, and might wind up being a joke trophy for your league. Imagine the space where you would display the trophy, something 3 or 4 inches high would be lost even on a desk.

Watch out for the $3.00 trophy. I've seen some dealers mounting a piece of trim on a small base and selling that. Trim is something meant to be used as an embellishment or additional decoration on a larger item. It is way too small and inconsequential to be used as the focal point of a trophy.

Looking at a trophy that is super low priced? Send me a link, and I'll tell you what it's really like, and what it's really worth.

Here are a few of my favorite lower priced trophies, both available for under $13.00 (including the one shown at the top of this post!)

World Class Recognition

It's funny how things work out sometimes. I have worked in the awards business for 10 years, and made hundreds of football trophies. Most of the time they were very simple, a sculpture with an engraved plate. Once in a while, I would get lucky and be asked to make something really special.

I started making Fantasy Football Trophies by accident. A few years ago, I met a guy in a fantasy league. He mentioned that they had a trophy, and when I saw it, I had to laugh. I ended up making a trophy for that league, and the word spread. I made quite a few trophies that first year, and in the process had a great time.

The Fantasy Football leagues are great to work with. They have a great sense of humor, and don't take themselves too seriously. The league names are absolutely hilarious. I take great pride in the Fantasy Football trophies I make, and I hope it shows. I hope you will stop by Sculpture Alley and check them all out!

Here are few of my favorites: