Ralph "Riverboat" Phillips and his wife Eleanor in Orange County, California. The first store was located at 6555 Beach Blvd. in Buena Park, California. In 1972, a second location was opened at 1650 North Glassell Street, Suite R, in the City of Orange, California, which is now the company headquarters. At that time, Mr. Phillips ran the Buena Park store and Mrs. Phillips ran the Orange location.
Everything was done on the New Hermes Pantograph machine, which we still use occasionally today. The first computerized engraving machines, Dahlgren System Is, were purchased in March of 1984. They used Radio Shack TRS-80 computers, with no hard drive (they used 360K 5.25 diskettes). Susan Blackwood went to work for Blue Ribbon Trophy on April Fool’s Day, 1984. She purchased the company from Mr. Phillips in December of 1984. In 1988, new computer engravers were added to complement the existing systems. These systems included a Dahlgren 12x24 table, and a Dahlgren Wizzard. In 1991, Don Leedy joined the company as Susan's partner. The company's first laser engraver, a 25 watt LMI was purchased in late 1991. A Newing-Hall Model 300 rotary engraver was added in 1992 allowing for engraving of cylindrical objects and glass, updated to a Windows based open architecture machine. In 1993 the LMI 25 watt was replaced with an LMI 40 watt raster/vector (engrave/cut) machine. In 1995, a second laser engraver was added. It was an Epilog Summit 25 watt laser. In 1997, the Summit was sold, and an Epilog Express 100 watt laser was added. In 1999, the company purchased a 100 watt LMI laser Engraver, and updated its sublimation capabilities with the addition of laser printer sublimation, and full color sublimation. In 2000, two new rotary engraving machines were added to enhance the company’s ability to output state of the art awards. In 2003, a fourth laser engraver was added. The LaserPro Explorer is a large format laser engraver, putting out 120 watts with a 38"x20" engraving/cutting area. In 2006, a fifth laser engraver was added. The Epilog Legend EXT large format laser puts out 120 watts with a 36"x24" engraving/cutting area. A Visions 16"x12" rotary engraver was also added in 2006. The addition of the fifth laser and fourth rotary engraver gives us the ability to produce a significant amount of work in a given day. In January 2007, an Epilog FiberMark 20 watt Fiber Laser with flying optics was purchased. This laser is designed for direct engraving on metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, brass and other metals, as well as some plastics. The table size is 24" by 12", allowing us to engrave larger items such as control panels. In 2009 an Epson Stylus Pro 4880 large format printer was added to enhance our full color sublimation capabilities. In 2011 an Epilog Helix 60 watt laser engraver/cutter was added, giving us a variety of laser engraving/cutting systems to utilize. In 2014 a new color sublimation system was acquired. In 2015 a second Epilog Helix 60 watt laser was purchased to keep up with demand for laser engraved products. In 2016 the Epilog FiberMark Fiber Laser was sold and replaced with a 30 watt Epilog Fusion M32 Fiber laser with a 32"x20" engraving area for larger industrial parts and signage. In 2017 a new digital heat press was added to enhance our sublimation production.
