Results tagged “equipment” from Swell 3D

Have you ever caught yourself wondering, in the quiet hours when unbidden thoughts arise, if maybe 3-D glasses aren't cool? Well, knock it off. Dissizit is the streetwise clothing line of celebrated Los Angeles graffiti practitioner "Slick." These clothes are so cool that gang lords shoot each other for them, probably. And you'll never guess what the hottest, most sought-after Dissizit item is (unless you already read the headline or looked at the picture).

The Smoking Skull 3D T-Shirt costs $32, and comes with the dopest pair of cardboard 3-D glasses. There are two other Dissizit 3-D T-shirt styles, but they are too tasteless for me to post here.

(Hat tip to Andy, who posted about these two days ago, but I found them at a much lower price.)

Most of my advice regarding the procurement of 3-D glasses is aimed at those who only need one or two pairs. But some people need 50 pairs, or a hundred, or a thousand. Perhaps you are one of them.

I, for instance, needed a whole bunch of 3-D glasses. I wanted to give them away to my kids, to my friends, to my clients, and to my students at the college where I teach. So I shopped around for the best bulk deal on paper 3-D glasses.

I found it at Movie Vision, Inc. Their plain white 3D glasses are only 17¢ apiece. This price is substantially lower than other suppliers charge for plain white anaglyph glasses. I mean, it's less than half the price of the next best deal I could find! (Naturally, if you know of a better deal from some other company, please let me know in the comments.)

There is no minimum order; you could theoretically order just one pair, and pay 17¢ for it. But you won't, because there is a minimum shipping charge of $12.00, and $12.17 for a pair of paper glasses is not a bargain. This source only makes sense for people who need at least 50 pairs.

For example, if you buy 50 pairs at 17¢, that's $8.50, plus $12 shipping, for a total of $20.50. So your glasses will cost 41¢ apiece, including the shipping, and that's not bad. But if you buy 100 pairs at 17¢ plus $12 shipping, they're only 29¢ apiece. If you buy 1,000, they're about 18¢ apiece. So big orders save more.

And the shipping was quick. I placed my order online at 8:42 a.m., and just 24 minutes later, at 9:06, I got an email saying my order had been shipped! With a tracking number and everything. The package arrived two days later.

I should mention that I have no relationship at all with this company, I am not being paid to promote them, and I have no dealings with them other than having placed this order I'm blogging about. If anyone knows of a better deal on bulk 3D glasses from any other supplier, just let me know by commenting on this post, and I'll look into it.

UPDATE AUGUST 12, 2008: For at least the past five days, it has been impossible to place an order with MovieVision. Their website is up, but their shopping cart functions are all disabled. Nobody answers the phone, or returns my calls. Emails get no reply.

I also sent an email to their shopping-cart host, Website Forge, LLC, asking about the issue. My reply from them said, "This page has been restricted by the site administrator." That means it is not some technical glitch, but a decision by MovieVision to pull down their shopping cart.

I am not happy to see such a good source of 3-D glasses disappear, and I hope they come back soon. For now, if you need 3D glasses, I recommend buying from Rainbow Symphony, whose bulk prices are higher than MovieVision's, but a little lower than American Paper Optics.

These Pro-X glasses are what I wear. I actually chose them for their style -- they just look the least dorky of all anaglyph glasses I've seen. But they are also made to exacting standards for comfort and the best 3-D viewing for computers and television monitors. The blue lens is actually a cross between cyan and true blue, for best viewing of both monochrome and color 3-D images.

The plastic frame is amazing. It's hard and rigid, except somehow they made it soft and squishy where it would press on your nose and temples. I wish all glasses were this comfortable.

The price won't break you, either. Only $10.50, plus about $3 shipping. If you want to know more, or even buy a pair, go have a look at the Amazon page for these glasses.

A company in California named Rainbow Symphony offers a wide array of novelties, including many 3-D products. They sell paper 3-D glasses at pretty low prices, about 40¢ apiece... but the minimum order is 50, and then they hit you with shipping charges, so you can't buy any without spending at least 30 bucks!

But what if you only want one pair? Well, then, they're free. That's right, totally free 3-D glasses. The instructions are here on their Web page. Other than paying for two 42¢ postage stamps, you're not out any money at all.

To get the free glasses, you'll just need to mail a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Rainbow Symphony, Inc.
ATTN: FREE 3D GLASSES
6860 Canby Avenue, Suite 120
Reseda, CA 91335

Also -- and this is important -- you should include a cover letter specifying exactly what sort of glasses you want! They offer different sorts of paper glasses, so you have to tell them you want the "Red/Blue Anaglyph" glasses!

I sent them a SASE on June 24, 2008, and my free glasses arrived in the mail on July 3, so it took nine days.

I should mention that I have nothing to do with this company, no connection or dealings with them at all. I just found them doing a Google search for "free anaglyphic glasses."

I should also mention that the U.S. First Class postage rate is not 41¢, as their website claims; it rose to 42¢ in May of 2008. Be sure to use 42¢ stamps (or whatever the current rate is when you read this; the Postal Service raises rates annually every May).

If you know of any other free anaglyph 3D glasses offers out there that I should post about, please leave a comment on this post and let me know.

More options for getting 3D glasses can be found on my "How to Get Your 3-D Glasses" page.