Tuesday, February 5

Shopping For Quotes

Now that I'm committed to Jorvik, I need to get a few things sorted out. I'm feeling the pressure, but like Dave suggested, it's a much needed kick up the backside. Yesterday I dropped out of my weekly games night at Paul's to work on the computer art for a new prototype. This evening, I've finished the art, so all I need to do now is print it.

Another thing preying on my mind is: How much is it going to cost? I've got a rough idea of what I think is a reasonable price, but can I get it made cheaply enough? Being only a card game it'll definitely be cheaper than It's Alive! And it'll be lighter too, which means postage will be cheaper (especially for Europe & the World).

This evening I sent a load of quote requests of to my usual suppliers:

Initially, I was thinking I'd make tuck-boxes, but that looks really complicated and I had concerns about the gluing (though Phil did a nice job on Archaeology). The introduction of the priest means the box needs extra room for the wooden pieces, so I was afraid a tuck-box might get damaged in the post. As a result I've gone back to a rigid tray & lid box like Border Reivers and It's Alive!

I've already got the quote back for the boxes, just waiting on a few more...

4 comments:

Rob Bartel said...

If you're interested in comparing quotes on an international level, you may want to consider some of the following:

Carta Mundi (Europe) - http://www.cartamundi.com

Playing Cards of India (India) - http://www.playingcardsindia.com

BS Industries (India) - http://www.bsplayingcards.com

Unfortunately, Quebecor here in Canada recently filed for bankruptcy.

All of these should be able to handle both the cards and packaging although the priests may cause you some trouble (you could always purchase them from SpielMateriel and have them shipped to the printer for inclusion).

Carta Mundi has the benefit of having offices (and printing facilities?) in UK, USA, Brazil, and throughout Europe, which might ease your distribution woes.

The two Indian manufacturers will probably be able to offer lower quotes (even after shipping), without some of the language barriers that often occur with regards to Chinese manufacturing.

I have no experience with any of these companies but any quotes from them should give you a general sense of what your options are.

Jackson Pope said...

Hiya Rob,

Thanks very much for this info. At the moment I'm still talking the short runs I've done for It's Alive! and Border Reivers, too small really to be dealing with manufacturing companies, but this list will be useful for the future when I hopefully will have worked my way up to this level...

Cheers,

Jack

runehardt said...

I'll gather up a bunch of manufacturers for quoting purposes while I'm at the New York Toy Fair. I'll send you whatever info I get! I already have appointemnts with a couple of the companies that I've already rec'd quotes from.

Jackson Pope said...

Hiya Bobby,

Thanks! I'm interested in US manufacturers as it would be cheaper to ship a few copies here and pay US prices for the shipping rather than ship lots of copies there and pay UK prices for the shipping!

Cheers,

Jack