Hello fellow MOTD goers!

I bring you...

THROWIES!!!


These little guys are a great thing to light up your car at night for Darkness and Midnight on the dragon, and the most inexpensive way to do so that I have found!
The parts can be easily bought in bulk, so I was thinking about selling these at the Dragon. They are cheap, cool, and easy to put together yourself.

I really want to find out if anyone will buy these - I can just buy enough to make 20 for myself, but it gets much cheaper per unit if I order at least 100.
So, if you have an interest, please speak up and post!


What they are:
LED Throwies are very simple - they are made up of four parts: a "diffused"(throws light in all directions) LED, a lithium button battery, a small neodymium magnet, and a piece of tape.
They sell similar pre-made devices on various sites, but they have been reported to not stick well, due to using bad magnets.
The Neodymium magnets I plan to get are rated to hold pounds of weight, so losing these shouldn't be an issue.
They also shouldn't scratch your paint, because the magnet will have tape in between it and the car's finish.
Colors Available:
-Blue
-Green
-Red
-Yellow
-White
-Your own LED ( keep in mind that bigger is better, and Diffused LEDs look best)
Non-magnet variant - this is something that is more economical and more go-anywhere oriented. Just tape or adhere to whatever surface you want and go! Good for interiors, bumpers, spoiler, hood scoop, etc.

How they work for us:
Some good places to put them:
All over the body of your car! Anywhere on metal (pretty much - see Lawyer Zone)
WHEELS (they look awesome as your wheels turn, I've seen this done in previous years)
You can also obviously use a bit of extra tape and tape them anywhere non-metal that you want them (under the hood scoop looks cool, too).

WARNING: LAWYER ZONE!
There are very specific laws about what lights can be where on your car. Tennessee and North Carolina are pretty much in agreement about these matters (convenient), and I will summarize the laws here. I will bring you any color LED that you ask for, but I don't take any responsibility for what you do with them. I will, however, put the rules here at-a-glance for you to look at and plan around.

North Carolina Traffic Laws (about halfway down the page for lights)

Tennessee Traffic laws (Tennessee code > Title 55 > Chapter 9

My recommendations (Not a lawyer's advice):
-No white LEDs around the headlight or taillight areas
-Keep blue and red LEDs away from the "usual cop light" places (middle of roof, near the windshield, etc.
-Try not to put blue and red LEDS right next to each other (again, for the cop-look reason)

These Throwies DO NOT FLASH, so there shouldn't be a big problem with putting these anywhere your heart desires. The laws mainly have to do with flashing lights, but use these at your own risk.



The Brass Tacks:
I have looked into pricing, and it looks like the supplies for the magnet version are going to be about $6.50 for a set of 10, and the non-magnet ones are going to be about $5 for 10.
I'll be seeing how many people respond to what type here, and plan to buy however many magnets I need, plus some extra for those who buy on-site.

Putting these together is very easy. The best instructions I have found for doing this is at Instructables, HERE. It shouldn't take more than a minute to do each one, after you get the hang of it.
Try to bring a roll of "strapping" tape (fiberglass reinforced), or borrow one from me - I'll try to bring multiple rolls.


So please, if you're interested, leave a post or a PM saying how many you would want, and in what color(s)! That way I can get an accurate number of how many to order and bring!

 

Thank you for posting links to local laws...I was wondering about those and you have saved me the trouble of looking them up!

Is the $6.50/ 10 (magnetic) price for a 100 light bulk order? Can these be twisted to turn off or do they light until they burn out? Does that include shipping/ taxes/ handling?

Again, thanks for pre-researching!

 

Once they're put together, they're on... However, the Instructables site shows that the batteries will last nearly two weeks! So, if you buy them and put them together at the beginning of the event, they should be working long after. When I order them, I will do a series of prototype tests to make doubly sure of how long they burn and how bright they are.

The $6.50 price tag is for a 100 unit order, with 50 of those being with magnets. It may go towards $6.00 if all 100 were magnetic.

I wouldn't ship these out - they would be available at Fontana - I'd be available over the radio for pickup pretty much whenever after I get there (thursday night). If I have any left over, I may put them together if I have time and bring them with me before Darkness starts.

Thanks for the edit Snooter - I was not aware of how things worked, and definitely didn't mean to step over a line. Thanks again for the clarification.

 

Forgot to mention altogether:

I will gladly collect these for recycling at the end of the event, if that's how long you want to use them. If you want to take them home with you, don't let me stop you! But please, once you're done with them, make sure that the lithium batteries, magnets, and LEDs don't end up in a landfill!

 

this sounds like a really good deal, idk what color i would want yet, by when do you need everyones order?

 

I would hope to have a good idea of how many people would want and in what colors by, maybe 2 or 3 weeks from now, so I can get them in well before the event. It would stink to get the products late :(

 

Anyone else interested? I'm probably going to order these by the end of the week, so please let me know how many you want and of what color!

 

im still a little confused on the pricing, is it $6 for 100 throwies w/ magnets or $6 for 10 throwies w/ magnets?

 

EDIT: Here is the final pricing: Assuming I get one more order, I will bump the quantity up to 100 - The price for a set of ten is $6.50. I'm not making any profit at that price, which was the plan from the get-go.

Please, if you want a set, let me know so I can send in orders for the right LEDs!


Apparently the non-magnet ones are a non-hit, so all orders will have magnets unless someone whats a whole bunch of tape-ons (like 50 of them).

 

It's time to wrap this up - I'll be ordering on Monday! Get your color requests in! At the moment it's looking like I'll be getting 50.