I love going to x-wing tournaments! Don’t get me wrong a casual night is a lot of fun, but the sheer excitement of going to a grand tournament is just so much fun. Standing in a hall of 100+ passionate pilots together with your mates from your FLGS all in matching shirts is amazing.

I also love the official prices (the FFG swag) these tournaments allow you to compete for. It is a great trophy to bring a some of these badboys home to show off to your mates.

But then there is the fan made swag.....

When you get paired op with your opponent, I usually say hi with a big smile, we exchange lists and then I usually proceed to chit-chat with my opponent, asking where he (and in the rare case she) is from, and we lay out some ground rules (cocked dice, dice that have rolled of the board etc.). But then, and perhaps it is because I am being very friendly, my opponent will offer me some homemade or fan made swag.

This happens a lot, and I think it is an increasing trend. I know it is a curtesy - but NO, I don’t want your homemade ugly target-lock you made yourself out of wood burned with a laser engraver, who in their right mind thinks this is pretty?!? F*ck no, and it is even worse when it is a token where they have burnt in their team name. Oh how original. Why would I like to play with a token with the name of another team!! – this has not been thought through, idiots! I even once had an opponent who keept pushing me to use these during the match, which I respectfully declined, I need to know which were my tokens, no distractions please. Now sometimes it is a fan made pilot card or upgrade, and sometimes even very well made and sometimes very funny. Once got a card featuring “TA-175” with the picture of a Mexican Pinata, which was funny. Now I don’t play Seperatists so I have no use for it.

I don’t want to appear rude or offensive to my opponent at a turnament, so I have just taken these, said “thank you”, sometimes even complemented them (100% fake), and when I got home….they go straight to the bin.

Should I start to say “No thanks”?

Always be nice to your opponent, and just respectfully say "no thanks, I prefer official swag".

But the "TA-175" Pinata is a good idea, where did you get that from?

You're certainly not obliged to take stuff like that. Treat it as though they've asked whether you want sugar in your tea. If you don't, a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" is fine, but don't be all "Who in their right mind puts sugar in tea?!? Idiots!" Your opponent is probably just trying to be friendly.

Also, while you may not want them, some people like to keep stuff like team tokens as a memento of all the different teams they've played or the events they've gone to (or a trophy of all the teams they've beaten).

If you don't want it, kindly decline. 'No thank you' is a complete sentence, you don't need to provide any further explanation or reasoning.

Personally, if someone offered me a custom-alt art card for a faction I don't play, I would decline the gift. A token or template in a squad/team colours? Sure, why not, I'll add it to my collection. Heck, I've got a set of target lock tokens that look like emus; I'll likely never use them because I've got a full set of matching acrylic locks/ship IDs etc, but I'll keep them to remember that tournament.

51 minutes ago, Ysenhal said:

You're certainly not obliged to take stuff like that. Treat it as though they've asked whether you want sugar in your tea. If you don't, a polite "Thanks, but no thanks" is fine, but don't be all "Who in their right mind puts sugar in tea?!? Idiots!" Your opponent is probably just trying to be friendly.

Also, while you may not want them, some people like to keep stuff like team tokens as a memento of all the different teams they've played or the events they've gone to (or a trophy of all the teams they've beaten).

I think this is the attitude to go with. And as noted if you're just looking for the easy way out, just take them and pitch them in the bin when you get home.

4 hours ago, RedHotDice said:

Should I start to say “No thanks”?

As somebody who has made up a few cards and hands them out, you should be able to start and end there. There's no insult implied with "No, I'm good. Thank you."

I like the squad based things as it's a good reminder of games played and people met, but I recognize that not everybody wants these things.

Take it and give it to someone else or just say no thanks. Don’t be rude.

As someone who generally brings stuff to hand out to opponents at big events, it's really intended as nothing more than a memento of the game. If you don't want it, it's not going to hurt my feelings if you decline it. I'd rather you do than throw it away, because then I can give it to someone who might appreciate it.

Man, the sentiment of your post, though? Yeesh.

Tone and wording are important.

Graciously take the TL, say “Thank you,” then snap it in half and dump your satchel full of broken homeswag while laughing maniacally.

One option is to add it as additional price at local tournaments. I passed on a lot of patreon stuff or official prices, too. If you don't like it, maybe someone else will?

Just take it, then give it away to someone who’d appreciate it. When you give an acrylic token to a new player, especially a young player they cherish it and value it far more than you would.

You win by not having it.

Your opponent wins by thinking you like if

The player you give it to wins by them actually appreciating it

My goodness, the tone of this whole post is off-putting.

Just say “no, thank you” and move on if what they’ve offered isn’t to your liking. Or, if you like it, accept it. Not everything has to be used at the tournament. My buddies and I use much of the sillier tournament swag or cards at the kitchen table and not at tournaments. They’re typically just offering for the reason @gennataos stated - memento of the game, as good will. You shouldn’t ever feel pressured to use it, but I’m willing to bet that’s by far the exception rather than the rule.

5 hours ago, RedHotDice said:

I don’t want to appear rude or offensive to my opponent at a turnament, so I have just taken these, said “thank you”, sometimes even complemented them (100% fake), and when I got home….they go straight to the bin.

Should I start to say “No thanks”?

That is one option, but there is another.

Re-gift it to someone in your local community or game store who would appreciate it. A common tradition within my gaming group is if there’s a copy of a card/piece of swag one of us will never use, it’s brought in and handed off to someone who would.

For me, the unofficial swag is collected at events mostly as a memento of the tournament. It’s not about whether I’ll use it or not. It’s a mental trigger when I flip open my card binder and see it, and remember that game. Souvenirs not playable swag per se.

I mean, some out there are not well done, but there are many (especially at worlds) that are.

1 hour ago, AceDogbert said:

If you don't want it, kindly decline. 'No thank you' is a complete sentence, you don't need to provide any further explanation or reasoning.

^ This. If you say no, keep it short, sweet, and polite.

Imagine hating fun.

First world problems...

15 minutes ago, Chumbalaya said:

Imagine hating fun.

Imagine feeling the need to make a post about it too.

1 hour ago, GreenDragoon said:

One option is to add it as additional price at local tournaments. I passed on a lot of patreon stuff or official prices, too. If you don't like it, maybe someone else will?

This. There are quite a few local charity X-wing events, and the community is pretty good at ponying up tokens, alt-art cards and so forth to bulk out prize support!

Man, this is the absolute opposite of the Destiny community. Who are up in arms that a TO said they can't use their Reylo alt arts or something.

7 minutes ago, Timathius said:

Man, this is the absolute opposite of the Destiny community. Who are up in arms that a TO said they can't use their Reylo alt arts or something.

RIP

Miniatures games tend to draw converters and repainters (see the appropriate forum) - I guess alt-art cards and tokens seem less of an issue as a result?

I'd never use an alt-art card/model/whatever if I didn't own a 'normal' version in case an opponent wasn't clear what it was or a TO kicked off, but I've never known people not be fine with it.

1 hour ago, gennataos said:

Man, the sentiment of your post, though? Yeesh.

1 hour ago, SDCC said:

Tone and wording are important.

7 hours ago, RedHotDice said:

but NO, I don’t want your homemade ugly target-lock you made yourself out of wood burned with a laser engraver, who in their right mind thinks this is pretty?!? F*ck no, and it is even worse when it is a token where they have burnt in their team name. Oh how original. Why would I like to play with a token with the name of another team!! – this has not been thought through, idiots!

Yea, I'd be hard pressed to think some of this sentiment doesn't come thru subliminally.

Accept the gift in the spirit in which it was given. Then, find the person to which it really belongs. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

7 hours ago, RedHotDice said:

This happens a lot, and I think it is an increasing trend. I know it is a curtesy - but NO, I don’t want your homemade ugly target-lock you made yourself out of wood burned with a laser engraver, who in their right mind thinks this is pretty?!? F*ck no, and it is even worse when it is a token where they have burnt in their team name. Oh how original. Why would I like to play with a token with the name of another team!! – this has not been thought through, idiots! I even once had an opponent who keept pushing me to use these during the match, which I respectfully declined, I need to know which were my tokens, no distractions please. Now sometimes it is a fan made pilot card or upgrade, and sometimes even very well made and sometimes very funny. Once got a card featuring “TA-175” with the picture of a Mexican Pinata, which was funny. Now I don’t play Seperatists so I have no use for it.

I don’t want to appear rude or offensive to my opponent at a turnament, so I have just taken these, said “thank you”, sometimes even complemented them (100% fake), and when I got home….they go straight to the bin.

Sounds like the rudeness is already happening whether you say "no thanks" or not.

Just take their crappy card.