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Card Racks

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Gamebot
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It's been a loooong time since I've been active here at BGDF, but today I have some free time so I thought I'd catch up with my reading and posting.

On to the prototyping issue: I am going to be sending a prototype to a publisher. The prototype uses card racks from Ingenious because they work perfectly for the card sizes (CCG sized) in my game. I don't want to send out those card racks because I don't want to "break apart" one of my personal games. In the past I had used card racks from some thrift store game, but unfortunately they were lost with some other publisher.

I've tried the straight card racks seen here: http://www.greathallgames.com/acards/acrdAcc.htm. Unfortunately, because cards are coming and going from the racks, these thinly slotted racks cause too much frustration to be useful.

My question is this: Where can I find Ingenious-like card racks without spending too much? Is there a way I could easily "clone" these card racks without woodworking skills (maybe through clay or paper)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Darkehorse
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From the source?

Gamebot,

You could try to get them straight from the source. I.E. Contact Fantasy flight and tell them you'd like to purchase an extra set of card racks from Ingenious. They have wonderful customer support. I once lost some pieces from one of my FFG games and they sent me spares for free. Great company, so it's a good bet they'll do it.

Good luck!
-Darke

seo
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paper card racks

Here you can get a simple template for a paper card rack that will work for regular playing cards.

You just need to print it on some thick paper and fold. If you want, you can glue the flap, but it's really not necessary, and not gluing makes storing the racks easier.

Obviously not as nice as plastic or wooden ones, but cheap, easy to produce and practical.

Just fold forward on the line-dot-line line, and back on all the line-line-line ones. You should end with a side shape like this:

Side view

InvisibleJon
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Paper maché! Plaster Strips. Plaster? Leather? Sheet metal?

Gamebot wrote:
My question is this: Where can I find Ingenious-like card racks without spending too much? Is there a way I could easily "clone" these card racks without woodworking skills (maybe through clay or paper)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
(It's so odd to be posting a reply here on the BGDF instead of telling you in person!)

You could clone them with paper maché. There's a few ways to do this – I'll start with the most outrageous way. You'll need two Ingenious racks, Vaseline or other petroleum jelly, and paper maché pulp. Slather the outside of one rack with Vaseline and squash it into the second rack to slather the inside of the second rack with vaseline. Coat the first rack with and even layer of paper maché pulp, press it gently into the second rack to smooth and form it, then remove it from the second rack. Let it dry for a while, then remove it from the first rack.

You could do the same thing without pressing it into the first rack – just smooth the surface with your fingers or a spoon's back. You could also just use normal paper maché or plaster strips. I've used plaster strips and Vaseline several times to make casts of faces and to make masks.

You could pour quick-setting model plaster into the racks and make plaster casts of the racks. They'd be heavy and a little dense, but it's be quick and easy. Remember the Vaseline to make it easy to remove the casting!

A far-out idea: Leather. Leather that's ~1/5th inch thick is pretty stiff, but can be cut fairly easily. The nifty thing in that if you spray it with rubbing alcohol it becomes very pliable. Imagine a rectangle of leather that's as wide as you want the rack to be (10 inches?), and as high as the total surface length of an Ingenous rack measured from the bottom front edge to the bottom back edge. What I mean is imagine a flea walking in a straight line over the rack, from the front to the back. Even though the distance on the table from the front of the rack to the back is only 1.5 inches, the flea travels up 1/2 inch, down 1/4 inch, up 2 inches, and down 2.25 inches, for a total of 5 inches. Right. So, imagine a 5 inch by 10 inch rectangle of 1/5th inch thick leather. Now spray it with alcohol and crimp & fold it to match the contours of the tile rack you want.

Given what I know about your game, almost any of these material choices compliment the theme nicely. For that matter, it's not that hard to work with sheet metal in the sizes you want to work with, and you can get it relatively cheap at Home Depot or Lowes. It's relatively easy to cut it and get straight bends. You just need to make the edges safe. A fully folded crimp is time-consuming without exactly the right tools.

Gamebot
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Thanks for your suggestions.

Thanks for your suggestions. I think I will try out the quick and easy paper cut out version, as I am pressed for time. I like the idea of making them of clay or paper mache, so I'll keep that in the back of mind as a potential. I'll try to remember to post how it goes.

Gamebot
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Thanks!

seo wrote:
Here you can get a simple template....

I had my doubts, but this works! I had to trim a bit off of the end of the paper and try a few different folding techniques so the groove would hold the cards, but I finally got it. Thank you so much!

Of course, you know this means that the next time I'm at a thrift store I'll find a dozen perfect card racks for a quarter!

seo
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Gamebot wrote:I had my

Gamebot wrote:
I had my doubts, but this works!

...

Of course, you know this means that the next time I'm at a thrift store I'll find a dozen perfect card racks for a quarter!

Evidently! The technique never fails. If I were some other member, I would have told you about the magic powers of my template and warned you that the Pope and the Dalai Lama will then try to get you silently removed from the surface of the planet. But I'm not. And this isn't magic, it's a fact known to science for centuries.

Glad it worked for you. :)

Darkehorse
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seo wrote:Gamebot wrote:I had

seo wrote:
Gamebot wrote:
I had my doubts, but this works!

...

Of course, you know this means that the next time I'm at a thrift store I'll find a dozen perfect card racks for a quarter!

Evidently! The technique never fails. If I were some other member, I would have told you about the magic powers of my template and warned you that the Pope and the Dalai Lama will then try to get you silently removed from the surface of the planet. But I'm not. And this isn't magic, it's a fact known to science for centuries.

Glad it worked for you. :)

Yeah, I too advocate using Murphy's Law to your own advantage at every possible occasion. Murphy's Law: it's power can be used for good as well as bad.

-Darke

truekid games
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see, it wouldn't be "bad" if

see, it wouldn't be "bad" if he got a bunch for a quarter afterwards. i think this is more the "law of thaw"... which is from magic, and it says any time you search your deck for a land card due to a card effect, thus thinning your deck, lowering the odds of you drawing another land, and providing you with the land you need for your next turn... you will always ALSO (unfortuitously) draw a land on your next draw step.

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