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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

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kt123
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I need some blank boards, boxes and cards for home made finished games to sell on ebay and my own website. Would you say the quality is high enough for a finished game, or is it strictly for prototyping? Or are certain componants good enough and others not?
As far as i can see this is the only place selling blank boards and boxes on the net,(apart from boardgamedesign.com) anyone know of any other places?

Zzzzz
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123,

From what I was told, everything is for prototyping. The quality of the cards are not professional level, you might be able to do something to improve the finished look/quality but it will not be easy.

The board might allow you to create a high quality board, but again this is limited to what you can to to apply finishing products. Again, it might not produce a professional quality product, but might be high enough quality for you to sell, maybe...

In general, if you are looking for a professional quality game, it will take a lot of effort to produce high quality prototypes by hand. It really comes down to what resources you have for printing and finishing thise prototype parts.

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

I don't mind too much if the cards aren't that good, i was thinking about using blank business cards anyway, do you think that would provide better results?
The board is my main worry and area of focus. I plan to have my artwork printed on adhesive paper, stick them on, then possibly laminate it. Are there any other steps i can take to improve the final product?
Also, what exactly is the difference between 'professional' products and 'prototype' products? Is it a difference in weight and thickness? Or the fact the board comes pre scored?

Anonymous
what are your opinions on protoparts products?

How long does it take to get an order from ProtoParts? I placed one the other day and haven't heard anything about it since, not even to just pay for it. (I hope the message didn't go to my spam-catcher!)

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Yep same here, the man who runs it, is SO slow to reply, i think he only checks his emails once every week, no way to run a business, and very frustrating

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
I don't mind too much if the cards aren't that good, i was thinking about using blank business cards anyway, do you think that would provide better results?
The board is my main worry and area of focus. I plan to have my artwork printed on adhesive paper, stick them on, then possibly laminate it. Are there any other steps i can take to improve the final product?
Also, what exactly is the difference between 'professional' products and 'prototype' products? Is it a difference in weight and thickness? Or the fact the board comes pre scored?

Prototype products are just components that are intended to make it easier for you to create a rapid mock up prototype of your game. They aren't really intended for public use as the quality is not as good as a professional game should have. You're supposed to use them to get to playtest your game and get a good feel for what the game *might* look like if it was profesionally produced.

I wouldn't call the cards from protoparts anywhere near professional quality. Too flimsy. Of course you could apply some post processing to make them higher quality, but it would be time consuming and expensive. As for the board, it is rather high quality and if you printed your board graphic and applied it on a professional level, I think it would be pretty close to professional looking in quality.

-Michael

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

theicemage wrote:
How long does it take to get an order from ProtoParts? I placed one the other day and haven't heard anything about it since, not even to just pay for it. (I hope the message didn't go to my spam-catcher!)

Quote:

Yep same here, the man who runs it, is SO slow to reply, i think he only checks his emails once every week, no way to run a business, and very frustrating

I'll contact him to see if I can't figure out what's going on. I know a lot of times he is away on business so he is not able to send anything during those times.

-Darke

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Hi, Darkehorse

Quote:
As for the board, it is rather high quality and if you printed your board graphic and applied it on a professional level, I think it would be pretty close to professional looking in quality.

Could you explain what you mean by applying the artwork on a professional level?

Also, what's your opinion on the protoparts box? Is the quality as good as the board?

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
Hi, Darkehorse

Quote:
As for the board, it is rather high quality and if you printed your board graphic and applied it on a professional level, I think it would be pretty close to professional looking in quality.

Could you explain what you mean by applying the artwork on a professional level?

Also, what's your opinion on the protoparts box? Is the quality as good as the board?

Just that. You use professional quality printing on high quality media with professional quality adhering and lamination techniques. Can it be done? Yes. Do *I* personally know how to do it? No, not without actually attempting to do it and tweaking the procedures and materials. It's a trial and error process really.

-M

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Ok thanks, and what's your opinion on the protoparts box?

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
Ok thanks, and what's your opinion on the protoparts box?

I'll put one together tonight and let you know..

-M

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

You have to put it together yourself?

Brykovian
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
You have to put it together yourself?

They are shipped flattened ... you need to unfold the sides and setup the corners to form the full-sized box.

-Bryk

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Quote:
They are shipped flattened ... you need to unfold the sides and setup the corners to form the full-sized box.

Thanks Brykovian, i assume this just takes seconds to do, does it?
Have you bought one of the boxes yourself? If so what was your opinion of them?

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
Quote:
They are shipped flattened ... you need to unfold the sides and setup the corners to form the full-sized box.

Thanks Brykovian, i assume this just takes seconds to do, does it?
Have you bought one of the boxes yourself? If so what was your opinion of them?

You actually have to tape the corners up yourself. It's probably not what you're looking for. It doesn't have any sort of finish (just rough cardboard) so you'd have to wrap a label on it to make it look good.

-Darke

Zzzzz
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Darke,

Where do you need to tape them? You might be able to something like these two scrapbooking items

Photo corner mounting stickers, double sided:

What I can freaky, how the hell are they so sticky dot things (also double sided sticky):

Both of these might allow you to piece the box together by placing the double sided material into the corners. But I could always be wrong since I have not purchased any of the products yet.

Zzzzz
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Oh and before anyone else says it, yes I seem to know alot about scrapbooking industry (this is not the first time I mention or referred ppl to items from this hobby). The reason, if you care, my current fiance loves to do this scrapbooking hobby. And because of my game design addiction, I welcome the scrapbooking hobby since I have a valid arguement about buying my own required items!!! Not to mention I get her to buy things that I can then steal and use for my needs!

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Quote:
You actually have to tape the corners up yourself. It's probably not what you're looking for. It doesn't have any sort of finish (just rough cardboard) so you'd have to wrap a label on it to make it look good.

Do you know anywhere that sells ready made boxes with a nice finish, suitable for a 20x20 board?

Also, have you ever thought of running a protoparts type service yourself Darkehorse? It'd be nice to deal with someone who cares about the business and not having to wait weeks for a reply.

jwarrend
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:

Do you know anywhere that sells ready made boxes with a nice finish, suitable for a 20x20 board?

Are there other components for your game that you're going to need? If so, you might as well ask now and get it over with...

I think what you may be finding is that what you're looking for is somewhat outside the expertise of the group. We are great at answering questions about design issues, but relatively few of us have tried to source components for a homemade game, let alone a game with the exact specifications of your project. I encourage you to continue asking questions as you have them, but also point out that you're probably going to have to figure some of this stuff out on your own. Checking out the web resources section of the site is a good place to start -- it represents the compiled knowledge of the group as to web sites that sell resources. You might particularly look at the Discover games site or the Protospiel site, both of which have links, I believe, to various bits resources and such.

Hopefully, when you do find what you're looking for, you'll share with the folks around here what you've found out!

Quote:

Also, have you ever thought of running a protoparts type service yourself Darkehorse? It'd be nice to deal with someone who cares about the business and not having to wait weeks for a reply.

I am probably far off here, but my guess is that the guy running the protoparts store is probably doing so in his spare time, and probably without making a whole lot of money off of it. If you're not happy with the service, I encourage you to shop elsewhere, if you can find somewhere else that sells comparable products. The fact that you probably won't be able to may not fill you with warm feelings for the customer service you've received, but perhaps it will at least make you appreciative that the store even exists...

Good luck,

Jeff

DSfan
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Quote:
Also, have you ever thought of running a protoparts type service yourself Darkehorse? It'd be nice to deal with someone who cares about the business and not having to wait weeks for a reply.

Although I am not Drakehorse, I will make a reply to this.

Yes, he may have thought of it once, but it would be very tough to accomplish, and then run.

You would first have to find enough room all the supplies you are going to carry, this could easily take up a garage, which is needed for most modern day families. All those products laying around is a huge task to get around, and then getting ready for selling to potential customers. Having a garage taken up with game supplies is most likely an easy way to get yelled at by the wife.

You would then have to either make the products yourself, which would be a huge pain in the rump, or you would order supplies from another company.

To me, running a game supply company is a waste. In today's modern world more people are into video games in which you don't have to have many people, or have to set-up.

Think about this: You spend thousands (Rough estimate) in a month to order or create these products. Then would have to think about how much money you are going to make. For a small company like ProtoParts, this is not a lot, and wouldn't be enough to support a family without having another decent job.

Shipping. While I do not know if the buyer, or the man who runs ProtoParts has to pay for shipping, this is yet another way you are losing money.

While I am only 13, and do not know most of the troubles of bussiness running, from what I can see, running a small bussiness selling game supplies is a hard-way to make a living off of.

-Justin

Anonymous
what are your opinions on protoparts products?

DSfan wrote:
While I am only 13, and do not know most of the troubles of bussiness running, from what I can see, running a small bussiness selling game supplies is a hard-way to make a living off of.

I'm impressed. That was a more intelligent post then I've seen from people _I know_ are in their 30s.

Sorry to have diverted the thread.

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Zzzzz wrote:
Darke,

Where do you need to tape them? You might be able to something like these two scrapbooking items

Photo corner mounting stickers, double sided:

What I can freaky, how the hell are they so sticky dot things (also double sided sticky):

Both of these might allow you to piece the box together by placing the double sided material into the corners. But I could always be wrong since I have not purchased any of the products yet.

Well the corners are not attached and you have to attach them yourselves. The flattened boxes come reseambling fat, stubby plus signs. They are scored to fold easily into the square shape, but there's no built in mechanical way (i.e. tabs or slots) to bring the corners together to make the necessary box shape, hence the need for taping or binding.

I'm sure there is a more professional way of putting together these boxes. If someone has a good method, please share.

-Darke

phpbbadmin
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:

Do you know anywhere that sells ready made boxes with a nice finish, suitable for a 20x20 board?

Also, have you ever thought of running a protoparts type service yourself Darkehorse? It'd be nice to deal with someone who cares about the business and not having to wait weeks for a reply.

KT,

One thing you need to understand is that that there are VERY LITTLE sources for finding game parts. So while there may be a box available to fit the game board, it will literally be like finding a needle in a haystack. Most components for games are custom made for that game. Very rarely can you get away with using preexisting components (besides obvious things like generic tokens, standard dice, etc.). Trying to sell a game that uses 100% preexisting components and packaging will be VERY difficult and it's something you may need to accept now. You will almost certainly need to have some things manufactured for any game you want to sell in large quantities. If you can use preexisting components/packaging to cut your manufacturing costs , you're doing good. But to think you can use preexisting for everything might be unreasonable.

As for running my own prototyping store, there is no need. Protoparts is better than I could ever hope to do on my own. He actually does care about the business (in his day job, he is actually part of the game business). In reality, he has invested a lot of his own personal money to offer this service to us, the game designers. He is doing this to help us, not for any expectation of turning a profit. I happen to know that most of the money he 'makes' on the store goes into finding newer and better products for us to use. So if he's running a little late on getting products out, there is a good reason. Most likely he's attending a trade show or is doing some other industry related event. Before Protoparts, you would be hard pressed to find blank playing cards or game boards anywhere. The BGDF worked very closely with Protoparts to try and get products that would meet a wide range of members' needs. Does it have everything? No. Is it perfect? No. But it's better than what was available before, and it will continue to get better as time progresses.

-Darke

Brykovian
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

kt123 wrote:
Do you know anywhere that sells ready made boxes with a nice finish, suitable for a 20x20 board.

You might want to try Uline (http://www.uline.com) ... they have many standard retail boxes (example link) and corrugated boxes, for example.

-Bryk

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Quote:
You might want to try Uline (http://www.uline.com) ... they have many standard retail boxes (example link) and corrugated boxes, for example.

Thanks Brykovian, unfortunately they don't ship to the UK.

Brykovian
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?
seo
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

Quote:
Thanks Brykovian, unfortunately they don't ship to the UK.

Actually, they claim they do, through other companies:

Quote:
We also ship to stateside freight forwarding companies who can ship your order overseas.

And the S-7095 (two piece 17x11x2,5) seems a good option for games with a 20x20" quad folding board. At $27 the package of 50, the price seems good, and while they ship flat, they require no gluing.

Seo

Anonymous
Shipping/response delays

Allow me to interject :)

For those of you who are not aware, this is not a full time occupation for me. I actually consider it as more of a service than a business, very similar to the BGDF that Darke set up in the first place.

The profits earned from the webstore are very meager and are 100% re-invested to add new products to the line as well as to try to maintain inventory. Darke, you are correct that I have put $2000-$3000 into getting the items in stock and available.

I do appreciate the patience so many have shown, and I do apologize in the occosiaonal delays in response to questions as well as shipping. I will be enlisting some help so that I can service you better in the future.

I have been doing a lot of traveling lately, but should be gronded for a while now and will get everyone caught up in the next few days.

Feel free to send me questions and I will reply ASAP.

Thanks again,

Protoparts

kt123
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

still waiting patiently for a reply...

Anonymous
what are your opinions on protoparts products?

theicemage wrote:
How long does it take to get an order from ProtoParts? I placed one the other day and haven't heard anything about it since, not even to just pay for it. (I hope the message didn't go to my spam-catcher!)

I got an invoice yesterday, paid it, and got a "your order is shipping" e-mail today. Order turnaround time: a little over 2 weeks. Note: This isn't a complaint - just a report.

BTB
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what are your opinions on protoparts products?

These are lightweight boxes, the kind that grandma sends you your christmas sweater in. Not sturdy like a monopoly box.
Bryanna

+++

And the S-7095 (two piece 17x11x2,5) seems a good option for games with a 20x20" quad folding board. At $27 the package of 50, the price seems good, and while they ship flat, they require no gluing.

Seo

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