Check Out These T-Rex Bone Dice... But They'll Cost You!

If you have some spare cash to burn, you can back a crowdfunding project for polyhedral gaming dice made out of genuine T-Rex bone fossils. They're not cheap, though!

The bone is, apparently, ethically sourced--coming from "scraps and broken fragments" not used by museums or scientists. The dice come in three different styles (and prices!); the most expensive option is a set of dice carved from solid bone, which will set you back a whopping $599. Cheaper options include "bone inclusions", which are fossil fragments suspended in the center of clear dice, at $99; or pulverized bone, which is blended with resin, for $69. Those are for full dice sets, of course--you can also grab single dice if you don't want to splash out that much cash. Delivery is in July 2026.

In addition to the dice, the Kickstarter also offers 1:12 scale dinosaur replica skulls, 1:53 scale full replica skeletons, and fancy dice cases and stands.

 

[abazaba]

What about megalodon teeth? I've got some of those.

Somehow, to me personally, that just feels wrong. In the sense that it rubs me the wrong way. Without any further arguments or explanation.

If I find a T-Rex on my property it belongs to me. i.e. It's just as much my property as any other rock I dig out of the ground. I'm free to do with it whatever I want.

Same thing here.

In a sense, all of those are important to me for the sake of science, and how we explain "life, the universe, everything". Everything that commercializes these things just rub me the wrong way.

Not aimed at you personally, by the way, but in general.

 

[GMMichael]

To not over hunt we never go to the same decade twice so one TRex every 10 years isn't going to make a big difference.

So that's your team we've been seeing in passing? We're trying to get a tarrasque metacarpal to build sustainable tiny homes. Wondering if we should aim lower. Like dice.

 

[Superchunk77]

And amplifying artificially-created reasons for being offended by a business venture does not create an actual problem.

Thank you for saying that.

 

[aco175]

I wonder what the uproar would be if AI was involved in creating them?

Wasn't there something like this made from petrified trees a couple years ago?

Same problem when the PCs kill the dragon and then take its blood to make potions of heroism.

Real problem is that they cost 700$. But then I could buy dice with some powder inside, supposably from dinos for only a fraction of that. If you can afford this and want them, fine, wish I could or would want to. I'll just buy a new set of 10$ dice from the convention again this year.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And amplifying artificially-created reasons for being offended by a business venture does not create an actual problem.

Have you not met humans?

Once a market is created for something- especially something scarce- there’s an economic incentive for someone to cut corners and ignore ethical concerns about sustainability. See mummies, tiger hides, rhino horns, elephant tusks, antiquities, and so forth. With a big enough incentive, you get armed poachers.

(Not only do we risk depleting or destroying the original source, there’s always the issue of counterfeiting.)

For context: I have collected fossils since I was a child. And as a jewelry design hobbyist, I have several pieces made from fossils of animals & plants. But in each case, the fossils were relatively common in origin, like trilobites & clams.

T. Rexes probably roamed the earth in millions if not billions over their span- we’ve found fewer than 100. No skeletons were more than 90% complete like “Sue” (AFAIK), and some finds were just single bones.

 

[Deset Gled]

Does this apply Does this apply to all fossils?
... Other good stuff...
And here in the United States at least, there are other considerations. If I find a T-Rex on my property it belongs to me. i.e. It's just as much my property as any other rock I dig out of the ground. I'm free to do with it whatever I want.

To start, with: no, this absolutely doesn't apply to all fossils. Some things are relatively plentiful, like petrified wood. But others are extremely rare. There are some ancient life forms that only have single specimens. So there's a huge range here. That's why I was asking if anyone knows about the rarity of T-rex fossils, because I'm not an expert. But I do think they're much more rare than people think. Most of the dino skeletons you see in museums are casting, not actual fossils. I linked to Sue before, and that's essentially a unique find. So... I'd love information, but from someone who isn't selling or buying it.

The other main thing to think about here is mass production. Nobody will notice or care much if you find a rock on your property and make a d20 out of it (unless it's uranium or something, it guess). But this Kickstarter is potentially making thousands of dice between the carved and cast sets, plus whatever their recast bones uses. Is that a lot of T-rex fossil material to consume? Will the next Kickstarter use ten times as much? Does that matter? I don't know! But I know I can't ask the people selling it to give me a straight answer.

And really, my questions are about a bigger picture than backyard art projects. The world doesn't end because one rhino is killed, but we don't allow selling rhino horns because free trade leads to all rhinos being killed. Ditto for ivory, and plenty of other materials. Controlling the market for certain products is responsible capitalism. People love to complain about the evils of late stage capitalism, especially in threads about AI. But it's not like capitalism or free markets are an absolute. And it would be great if we could have a simple conversation about things like this before all the fossils are destroyed rather than after. An ounce of prevention, a pound of cure, and all that.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Maybe I'm gun shy, which is entirely possible, but when I see exotic KS like this, a get this gnawing voice in my head that there's a good chance they won't be able to deliver, and will go into the hall of infamous KS horror stories. I hope not. I hope they succeed.

*Edit, it looks like a previous KS has shipped from them, so my worries seem unwarranted. That's good news.

 

[Umbran]

Sure but also some museums and scientists might need money at some point and then decide to destroy some bones from their archives for this.

"That's your get-rich-quick scheme, Frank? Bust up some valuable fossils and make dice out of them?"

The problem with this notion is that lower-quality Tyrannosaur fossils aren't actually all that valuable. Like, you can buy something big enough to make a die out of for $50 - $100 or so. It is expensive for dice, but not, "well, now my lab is funded for a year," kind of money.

 

[Hygge Halfling]

Im not directly related to this project, but I am on a team of time travelers who travel to the Cretaceous period to help the ultra rich hunt t-rexs.

I struggled at first with the ethics of it, but it paid really well because of the risk and I needed a job.

We use the meat for a banquet and most of the bones are repressed into souvenir items. Realistically the biggest impact is the energy used to power the time gate, but they use hydro from a dam (located near the under ground facility) so I feel less bad about it.

To not over hunt we never go to the same decade twice so one TRex every 10 years isn't going to make a big difference.

I went on one of those expeditions as a guest once. Ended up stepping on a butterfly and changing basic grammar and the results of an important election. The tour guide shot me after! Do not recommend.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This price point isn't way out of line for other fancy dice and, frankly, seems a lot more fun than "no, we promise, these sharp-edged dice are super-fair and evenly balanced." I went way down the rabbit hole of buying fun dice with inclusions, etc., during lockdown. I've since pared my collection way back, but if there was a set of these with shark teeth, I'd be in.