SAN ANTONIO — An unofficial alarm clock counts down to Fiesta, but it's already began ringing for David Durbin.
However, you could argue it's always Fiesta time for Durbin. Hundreds - if not thousands - of medals can be found in Durbin's workspace all year long.
"They're everywhere," he said with a laugh. "Everywhere." Durbin is not your average medal collector. He's the artist.
"It's year-round now," Durbin said."The next Rey Feo is waiting for me to finish with this. I said, 'please just let me get through this year before I start designing the crest.'"
Durbin has designed medals at Monarch Trophy Studio for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Durbin has hand-drawn his custom designs. Every year, he constantly looks for new ways to embellish them.
"The big thing is flashing lights, movable things and dangles," he said.
Durbin teased that his personal Fiesta medal will have something "you haven't seen before," although he wouldn't name specifics.
As medals get flashier, the amount of people placing custom orders increases too. "It went from going from 30 to 50, to hundreds to 500," said Jason Drago at Monarch Trophy Studio.
The medal supplier said their numbers skyrocketed in 2010, when a wave of "normal" people began ordering their own trinkets. Demand was never the same.
Just one month away from Fiesta festivities, you'll find the Monarch warehouse stocked with extra employees working extra-long hours.
While it is too late to get a custom David Durbin design for 2019, the retailer offers a way to put a personal flair on the fun.
"Express medals," Drago said, "have a basic shell design and we do an insert with a proxy design. They take about a week to do." People can place orders for these express medals until a week out from Fiesta events.
"Most people are pretty excited when they see, which really gets me. You go through the whole year of doing this, and it's fun to see them pick them up. It's fun to see that creation come to life," said Durbin. "These little medals make people so happy."
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