hi, i want to get some trophies ordered for a tournament. I want BIG trophies, and i want them CHEAP! does anyone have any suggestions?
I’ve split my orders between Crown Awards and a local shop. The trophies themselves are cheaper from Crown, but the company gets you good on the engraving, so keep that to a minimum. The nice thing about buying from the local shop is that I get to micromanage the design.
Try as much as possible to deal with a local shop. Establish a good relationship so that if you have a rush order or want to make some last minutes changes or want to pick up a couple more trophies, the shop will work with you. If you have a lot of lead time, then look to the big online sellers, like the one Anjiaoshi suggested. I prefer to support local businesses. Sometimes shipping costs will far outway the state sales taxes. I also like to see the trophy up close and get ideas for other types of awards that the local shop has on hand. My local trophy store is near a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream shop, so I am a little partial. 
i’ve not seen the large awards i want for sale at crown awards…
Just out of curiosity what size awards are you looking for? Crown Trophies in Northboro, MA, which is a franchisee of Crown, has some huge trophies in their showroom. They told me the largest of them, which reach almost to the ceiling, were originally made for a cheerleading competition, and that for some reason cheerleaders (or their parents) favor big trophies. Size matters for cheerleaders. Are you running some kind of chess tournament for cheerleaders, or something?
Good grief . . . how large do you have in mind?
Parents often don’t enjoy ovesize trophies. They can be difficult to display and store around the house. A good looking smaller trophy is more appreciated over time for a local event.
But some parents and the younger kids love them. They think the bigger the better. I know more than one parent that built shrines out of all of the trophies their kids won - chess, soccer, football, academic awards, etc. At the nationals, some of the trophies are bigger than the kids. Hey, if your group likes big trophies go for it. Be prepared to shell out some cash for the big trophies and the shipping costs. Nothing is cheap anymore. And some assembly on your part may be required; get a set of socket wrenches to tighten up the nuts so the trophy doesn’t fall apart.
A 5/16" nut-driver is required for any trophy tournaments.
A Leatherman multitool works for me.
I’m not sure just what size trophies you have in mind. However, Crown did the trophies for a number of national scholastics, where first-place trophies are typically around 4’ in height. I’ve heard more than one story where traveling players had to actually disassemble their trophies just to get them on the plane going back home.
Crown can make trophies as big as you want, no problem. However, if you’re looking for a small number of trophies, a more intricate design, or a LOT of engraving, a local shop would be better for you. If you do decide to go with Crown, my advice would be to use a year figurine on the trophy (so it doesn’t have to be engraved on the plaque) and keep all engraving to an absolute minimum. If memory serves, Crown gives you 40 letters per trophy free.
One of the advantages of having a local shop make your trophies is that, for smaller orders, they can compete with Crown’s pricing, especially once they get to know you as a regular customer.
I notice that the people who seem to want the huge trophies are adults, while I have seen the actual winners of those trophies taking them apart and keeping only the part that is engraved.
It seems to me that whenever adults get involved in the activity, the emphasis gets misplaced.