Prize Wedge Hunter - Vintage Edition

seeing the sides with the glittery effect could give credence to it being Mandela'd (as it would seem more in place with Wheel 2000 than the shopping era of the regular show

CRYSTAL is another Prize Wedge that I would unofficially classify as uncommon but perennial, with at least 29 appearances across 12 seasons. This particular variant accounts for at least 6 of those, with a seventh strongly suspected but unconfirmed. Currently, the earliest appearance is [S1-E72 Paul/Marilyn/Linda 1/3/1984], and this variant seems to have been used consistently into Season 4, with a last known appearance in [S4-E767 Paula/Miriam/Jim 5/15/1987]. When record of the CRYSTAL wedge next surfaces in Season 6, a new variant is used.

Early on, CRYSTAL was often used for crystal stemware, vases, and bowls. At one point a pair of crystal model cars were offered. In Season 10, it seems like someone in Prize Coordination really took a liking to Lalique crystal. The frequency of CRYSTAL Prize Wedges increased noticeably, and almost every time from that point forward, the prize offered for CRYSTAL was a Lalique piece.

Again, some of these letters are definitely not Clarendon. It appears the people responsible for the prize wedges are mixing and matching fonts at this point. The C and the S at the very least are leaning much more Bookman than Clarendon. We'll be seeing more of the Bookmanish-Clarendon mix in some of the other earlier wedges.

By now you probably don't need a CRYSTAL ball to know that this wedge is going on my wheel.

STEREO was uncommonly used, and was limited to mostly the first four seasons. This variant accounted for all 6 appearances known to me in Seasons 1 thru 4, first appearing in [S1-E97 Frances/Elaine/Duane 2/7/1984] and last appearing in [S4-E644 Pete/Stephanie/Esther 11/28/1986]. New variants briefly popped up in the Daytime CBS run and then in Season 12, but both were short-lived and at present I only know of each of them being used once.

The STEREO wedge was used to give away stereos, as one would expect. This is another prize that over time probably started falling uncomfortably close to or below the minimum budget for prizes. This would account for its brief re-introduction as a new variant in the daytime CBS run, where the prize budget was much lower than in syndication. Also, the increasing popularity of surround sound systems would render "stereo" systems obsolete.

Notice how the text is keystoned. We will see a few wedges with keystoned text like that.

Maybe later we'll put some music on the old-timey STEREO, but for now, I'll put STEREO on the wheel.

VASES in plural in the wheel were a rare treat, and is only known to have occurred 3 times, once in Season 1 with [S1-E153 Bill/Jude/MaryAnn 5/2/1984], and twice in Season 2, with the last appearance being [S2-E342 Carolyn/Scott/Mawnna 4/9/1985]

As expected, VASES was used to give away a pair of vases. At one point later in Season 6, a pair of vases was offered again, but that time an ART wedge was used.

If anyone puts any VASES on my wheel, they better not have any water in them or I'll have words that shouldn't be put on a prize wedge.

Very nice work on these wedges, Duke. Looking forward to seeing those of season 2 next week.

This is another wedge variant that has only been spotted once, in [S2-E204 9/20/1984 Debbie/Suzanne/Dan]. A different VASE variant later makes an appearance in the Daytime Goen era.

VASE was used, predictably, to give away a singular vase.

This wedge looks suspiciously similar to VASES-S1, but with the S removed. Maybe they were made at the same time, from the same tracing, otherwise it would be very hard for them to be that consistent with eachother given the tech available at the time. I don't think VASES-S1 was altered to make VASE-S2, because VASES-S1 appears intact later in Season 2.

Let me quickly put this on my wheel while Pat and Jack debate the proper pronunciation of VASE.

This would be the second variant of the often-used PIN wedge. It seems to have been exclusive to Season 2, with a first known appearance in [S2-E207 Terry/Mitch/Georgia 9/25/1984], and a last known appearance in [S2-E307 Pat/Mike/Tammie 3/8/1985]. I have record of six total appearances for this variant.

Overall the text is a bit narrower and taller than its Season 1 predecessor, filling a bit more of the wedge.

We'll put a PIN in this prize wedge until we see a series of new PIN variants starting in Season 4, meanwhile let's get this one situated on the wheel.

The LUGGAGE wedge did not really seem to catch on. There are a total of 3 instances recorded of a LUGGAGE wedge being used, with this variant accounting for two of them. This variant was first used toward the beginning of Season 2 in [S2-E215 Bill/Brilla/Teddy 10/5/1984], and then it was seen once more in [S2-E379 Denise/Rob/Mary 6/6/1985]. A new variant of LUGGAGE was not seen until Season 13 sporting the updated neon green color contemporary to that era.

Is this wedge text actually in Clarendon or not? I think it is a fair question, as the three G's and the E are all missing Clarendon features. The top of the G resembles the Bookmanish C being used during this time, but the bottom of the G looks nothing like even Bookman. I really think there is another pre-digital font at play here in some of these early wedges. The closest digital match I've found at this point is Claremont, so possibly it's an ancestor of that. Separately, the E looks like it had the serifs on its middle bar surgically removed. the L, U, and A do seem properly Clarendon, though.

Predictably, this wedge was used to give away a set of luggage. Often, though, luggage would be made part of a TRIP or CRUISE or TRAVEL prize package, probably one reason we didn't see more of this wedge.

Soon I'll need a set of LUGGAGE just to hold all of these prize wedges. Here is the new wedge on the wheel.

The JEWEL wedge is another very common wedge that was introduced in Season 2. There were at least 40 appearances between seasons 2 and 8, including four from daytime episodes during that timespan. This variant seems to have been used only once, in [S2-E237 Verna Dean/Steve/Sharon 11/9/1984].

The typography on this wedge is very unusual. I'm not even sure it's a proper font, it might have been hand-designed.

The JEWEL wedge was used to give away various pieces of jewelry aside from rings. Often the jewelry piece featured was representative of what could be bought with a gift certificate offered as the actual prize.

A JEWEL this beautiful definitely belongs on the wheel.