DEF CON 33 · United States · 2025
Unofficial electronic badge with a documented DEF CON 33 BadgeLife drop schedule
BigTaro's FrogStar 2025 project page calls FrogStar an unofficial DEFCON badge, and the DEF CON 33 Creator Events List schedules a BadgeLife Community Table 1 drop that explicitly names the FrogStar Badge alongside two other BigTaro artifacts. The maker page identifies a Raspberry Pi RP2350, 1.28 inch GC9A01 240 by 240 round LCD, two SAO V1.69bis ports, addressable WS2812B RGB LEDs, an infrared receiver, six buttons, frog-themed CTF and game framing, and a Firmware v1.0 UF2 download with a copy-to-flash instruction. A Tindie listing separately calls it an electronic badge and says it was a Defcon pickup preorder; a later Uberflux listing shows an $80 / seven-sold / 23-remaining snapshot, a DEF CON 34 drop label, and $11 USPS Flat Rate shipping. These sources establish a real independent electronic artifact and a scheduled 2025 event association, not a confirmed completed handout, official DEF CON issuance, admission, exact production count, completed later fulfillment, firmware source release, or reusable-image rights.
People
The DEF CON 33 Creator Events List names Jeff “BigTaro” Geisperger for the scheduled Submarine Badge/FrogStar Badge/FightDystopia Badge drop. BigTaro's public store profile separately says Jeff is also known as BigTaro. This credit records only the named public maker/event-presenter association, not sole authorship, manufacture, organizer status, or image-reuse authority.
SourceThe FrogStar Tindie listing says the electronic badge was designed by BigTaro's Badges. This records the source-named design/seller identity without inferring individual contributor roles, manufacturing, DEF CON issuance, or image-reuse permission.
SourceFrogStar connects a maker-owned technical page with an independently auditable DEF CON 33 creator-event schedule. That is stronger than retroactively attaching a current storefront listing to an event, yet it still distinguishes a listed drop from a proven distribution outcome. The record also preserves a firmware binary and a rich hardware description without misrepresenting the binary as source code, a license, or a fully documented electrical design.
The maker's 2025 page lists a Raspberry Pi RP2350, a 1.28 inch round GC9A01 LCD at 240 by 240 pixels, two SAO V1.69bis ports, addressable WS2812B RGB LEDs, an infrared receiver, and six onboard buttons. It does not state the LED count, display bus wiring, RP2350 variant/package, memory, storage, battery, charging or power path, voltage/current limits, SAO pinout/orientation, connector protection, dimensions, circuit, schematic, BOM, PCB/Gerbers, assembly record, final revision, test matrix, safety information, or compliance evidence.
The project page labels Firmware v1.0 and directs the reader to copy its linked UF2 file to the badge. It also describes a frog-themed CTF that unlocks GIFs, bling, and secrets plus a frogger-like built-in game, and calls the badge fully programmable. No reviewed source publishes firmware source code, a repository, a software or hardware license, build toolchain, board configuration, flash/recovery procedure beyond the copy instruction, challenge rules, answer format, score service, networking behavior, content retention policy, update history, security model, or test results.
The maker frames FrogStar around frog energy, a Frog CTF, secrets, GIFs, bling, a frogger-like game, and stickers. Its page expressly says it is unofficial and will not get someone into the con. The DEF CON 33 Creator Events List records a scheduled Friday BadgeLife Community drop naming FrogStar and credits Jeff “BigTaro” Geisperger. Tindie and Uberflux provide separate seller-context pages, but neither changes the artifact into an organizer-issued DEF CON credential or proves the result of any scheduled or later distribution.
Lifecycle
The DEF CON 33 Creator Events List schedules a Friday BadgeLife Community Table 1 Badge Drop that names the Submarine Badge, FrogStar Badge, and FightDystopia Badge, with Jeff “BigTaro” Geisperger named as creator. This establishes a publicly scheduled 2025 FrogStar activity, not the number made, attendance, sale, handoff, recipient allocation, completed distribution, organizer issuance, or admission function.
SourceThe maker says a frog-themed CTF unlocks GIFs, bling, and secret surprises, and that a frogger-like game is built into the badge. No source provides challenge rules, release dates, solution path, scoring/leaderboard, content source or license, offline/online behavior, telemetry, personal-data handling, security model, or preservation archive.
SourceThe project page lists two SAO V1.69bis ports, while the maker listings say FrogStar supports two SAOs and is fully programmable. No reviewed source supplies port pinouts, orientation, I2C/GPIO behavior, voltage/current budget, hot-plug safety, host matrix, electrical protection, programming interface, or implementation details for the fully-programmable claim.
SourceBigTaro lists a Raspberry Pi RP2350, 1.28 inch GC9A01 240 by 240 round LCD, addressable WS2812B RGB LEDs, infrared receiver, and six onboard buttons. The source does not state component counts beyond the six buttons, wiring, memory, power, battery, electrical limits, schematic, BOM, PCB files, or test results.
SourceThe maker page labels Firmware v1.0, links a FrogStarFirmware1.0.uf2 file, and says to flash by copying the firmware file to the badge. It does not state the release date, changelog, source code, license, checksums, signing, toolchain, bootloader steps, target-board configuration, rollback, recovery, or support policy.
SourceTindie calls FrogStar a Defcon pickup preorder and says leftovers would be posted after the con. A separate live Uberflux listing shows $80, seven sold, 23 remaining, a DEF CON 34 drop label, and $11 USPS Flat Rate shipping. These seller contexts do not prove common inventory, an original DC33 allocation, final stock, payment, pickup, shipment, refund, replacement, or completed fulfillment.
SourceOperational history
The catalogue treats these as source-described interactive features rather than asserting a verified challenge system, live service, privacy posture, or preserved gameplay archive.
Readers can locate the declared binary release without assuming it is open source, reproducible, authenticated, safe to flash on every variant, or supportable after failure.
The catalogue retains a useful hardware inventory without representing it as an electrically complete design, general host-compatibility guarantee, or safety validation.
The catalogue records seller-provided state as date-sensitive availability context rather than merging prices, stock, and planned drops into a single proven distribution history.
The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying maker-page, storefront, social-media, screenshot, placeholder, or generated imagery.
The DEF CON 33 attachment rests on a documented scheduled activity without turning it into a claim of universal attendee distribution or a completed event outcome.
The catalogue classifies FrogStar as an independent BadgeLife artifact associated with DEF CON 33, not as an organizer-issued conference credential or admission item.