I just want to get some opinions on this. I wonder if I’m thinking about this wrong.

Do you consider table top boxes that you find at events to be “traditional”? By this, I mean stamps that are just laying on the table.

What about HIPS boxes? Those that are hanging around the shelter or whatever but you have to actually find them either accidentally or with a clue like "find the one eyed frog"? Do you count these as a a traditional find?

How would you list/record them?

For me, a traditional letterbox needs to have a clue that takes you to the box, something more involved than "look around the lodge" or even "under the front steps". That's because it's an event, so you don't even need clues for those ~ just sit and watch others and you can get those boxes. I try to keep my traditional finds limited to boxes that have specific clues.
However, I have created boxes that I listed as traditional where you have to solve an encryption or puzzle to find them, but the location is still indoors.
I guess for me, there is some sort of blurry line - yeah, that helps - blurry area between picking up stamps sitting in plain sight, or in a container in plain sight, and reading & following a clue - even a picture clue or rebus. The HIPS boxes are still fun to find and stamp in my book, and sometimes are the best carvings, being kept safe indoors because they are so good.

But that's just me. We all play differently and I see that more and more. I guess if you wanted to make your own blurry area, you could still use the Record Find feature to contact the planter of those blurry boxes and tell them how cool the stamp is.

I've always considered table top boxes to be event boxes, not traditional, because they're not used once. They go from event to event and lack clues. HIPPS can go either way, I've seen them listed as both. I, personally, feel that listing table toppers as traditionals is beyond lazy. It's almost like cheating. I guess if all you're into is numbers, it's okay, but I feel like you have to do some work to get a traditional.

Ok. It seems you two both agree with my line of thinking. I don’t consider HIPS or table toppers as real traditionals either. If a table box has some type of encryption or puzzle to solve, I would consider that a true box, though. Definitely blurred lines. It seems that so many HIPS or table boxes are listed as traditional instead of event boxes. I want my online logbook to match the numbers in my real logbook. But it’s hard to do that if people list them as traditional’s. I have been logging the find to leave comments, then deleting the find and then re-logging it manually as an event stamp. But that’s sort of a pain in the neck. I guess I will continue on with that practice.

I want my online logbook to match the numbers in my real logbook.

That way madness lies.... :)

Haha. Right? It is driving me a little crazy.

I agree with your thinking. Table tops, HIPS, boxes like yours at the event are Event boxes to me. But, on the other hand, there are Traditionals that have WOM clues which blur that line. I had one (at the event) on my car tire which is a WOM Traditional. When I am recording finds though, unless I want to do what you do (which I don't) I have to go with what the owner designates the box to be. I may not agree with that and it might "mess up" my find count, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a fun hobby with no rules set in concrete. The other thing that comes up is: when I was boxing with a group of friends I didn't technically find every box we found, but I still count them as finds. I know of boxers who won't unless they actually find the box. All I know for sure is this is a wonderful addicting hobby and the letterboxing community is a great bunch of people!

PS. I only asked about your boxes so I knew what section of my logbook to put them in, as I cut and paste my finds into my logbook.

Thanks CC! I agree that I consider your WOM car box as a traditional, but I don't think my Disney Dudes HIPS are traditional. But other boxes that were there, similar to mine are listed as traditional. So, I was thinking maybe I was wrong. But it seems like people are agreeing with me, based on comments and agreements here. I guess I just need to give up on the idea that my online log should match my real log.

As far as counting finds that I slack-boxed, I have no problem with that ! LOL ;)

I have been logging the find to leave comments, then deleting the find and then re-logging it manually as an event stamp.

You can leave a comment without logging the find by changing the default Found to NA.

I've listed them as either Event stamps or Other.

Madness? One or two strong, complex rationalizations can cure that ;~)

I kind-of wondered about the Disney Dudes when I was trying to log them on the event page and couldn't find them. I finally found them by looking at "nearby" and scrolled down the list. I figured that since they were hidden originally, that's why they were traditionals (although I didn't find any in their hiding spots, I got lucky when someone had them all at the table.) They were really cute, by the way.

Thank you! I thought I had them linked to the event as event stamps, I'll double check. I can see the logic behind argument that HIPS could be considered traditional because they have to be hunted down. But, the thing you mentioned about finding them all at once with one person is why I don't really think they're traditional. This isn't relevant here, but one person grabbing all the boxes is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I wish people would get one at a time and return it to where it was so other people can find the other boxes and the boxes get returned to where they should be.

Do you consider table top boxes that you find at events to be “traditional”?

From the glossary:

tabletop box
Boxes, usually event stamps, left at an event or gathering for people to discover and stamp into. Many times, the stamps are left on the top of a picnic table for anyone to pick up, but it refers to any type of stamp that's sitting around at a gathering available for the taking whether it's on a table, on the ground, in an ice chest, or anywhere else they may be cleverly hidden or disguised.

traditional letterbox
Traditional boxes are the 'real' letterboxes—actual containers hidden around the world and require the use of clues to find. The non-traditional boxes are more recent offshoots including postals, hitchhikers, LTCs, and so forth. Strictly speaking, these offshoots aren't real letterboxes, so the word traditional has been used to identify the real letterboxes from their non-traditional offshoots.

There is often a grey area at events. But that, believe it or not is a soapbox I don't want to step up on.

Do you consider table top boxes that you find at events to be “traditional”?

No. ... They are event boxes.

Sadly, I have to concur. I say "sadly" because I was once bestowed with the great honor of a "Box of the Week" Purple Diamond. However, the box it was bestowed upon was an insidiously sneaky puzzle box (the box itself was an X-MarksTheSpot box, so you KNOW it was amazingly crafted!). Unfortunately, we felt it necessary to change the box type such that it is no longer "Traditional", for the reasons mentioned previously. Thus, I lost my Purple Diamond. It was the right thing to do, despite the loss-of-bling.

At least I know that people really enjoy that box, though!

A Mr. X box doesn't need a diamond of any color. There are those rare things that outshine even diamonds, so its really no loss there. The only loser in that case is the diamond itself. ;)