| Crusaderminis | 20 Oct 2009 1:41 p.m. PST |
Hi there, I'm trying to find printers in the UK that can do die cut counter sheets for board games. I am after the same type as you see in all the usual boxed board Wargames (from GMT for example). Heavy duty card, full colour print both sides, partially stamped. They would be A4 sheets with 5/8" counters, approx 250 sheets at a time so not big orders by any stretch but not just print-on-demand either. I have experience with printers and game components but I have had absolutely no luck finding a UK source for these. I've checked the obvious sites for links, my next attempt will be asking other manufacturers directly who they use and hope that they are friendly enough to tell me! UK would be my first choice but basically I'll work with anyone that can do the job and doesn't charge the Earth for shipping. Ideally I would like a company that already has experience of this sort of printing so they both know what I am talking about and – to save money – already have the tooling. Any help would be very much appreciated. Mark |
| headzombie | 20 Oct 2009 1:49 p.m. PST |
Weird. I have been trying to find a US source for the same thing. I e-mailed all the big game companies and none responded. |
| Lou from BSM | 20 Oct 2009 2:55 p.m. PST |
Bring an example to a local print shop and chances are they can produce/re-produce exactly what you need. It worked for me at my local print shop, it should work for you too. |
| Craig Grady | 20 Oct 2009 6:24 p.m. PST |
Have you tried asking on boardgamesgeek? |
| rmaker | 20 Oct 2009 6:59 p.m. PST |
What you need to find is a die-cutting establishment, then find out if they have a die to do what you want. When we did Source of the Nile, we were able to rent Excalibur Games' die. And, as a suggestion, save yourself some money and have the counter sheets letterpress printed on board stock. We learned that the hard way, by having the sheets offset print and then glued to the board. Even after we got it through the laminators thick skull that a strip of glue around the outside edge of the paper wasn't sufficient, the failure rate on that method was too high. |
| napthyme | 20 Oct 2009 7:23 p.m. PST |
seems like one of the US dice manufacturers used to have heavy card counter sheets, but they may have only been the 1/2 inch sized counters found in the older wargames. Drat my memory in failing me as to which one it was now… not finding it, so I wonder if they have stopped making them now… |
| Crusaderminis | 21 Oct 2009 8:23 a.m. PST |
I've had a go at most and while I can get initial interest from printers, when I tell them the quantity I need I see their eyes glaze over and know I'm wasting my time :-( I had a good lead from BGG about custom card decks though – which was a nice surprise :-) Thanks for the suggestions – much appreciated. |
| headzombie | 21 Oct 2009 9:53 a.m. PST |
If you find someone that will do low-run counter sheets, let me know! |
Tumbleweed  | 21 Oct 2009 6:47 p.m. PST |
Crusaderminis:
Twenty years ago a friend of mine with a small print shop here in Virginia had another shop make him a set of dies for forming counter sheets. It only cost him 200 dollars at the time. The die was a simple affair, mostly made of wood, cork and a little metal. He ran off his counter sheets in WWII and Napoleonic colors. The chances are that the same guy who makes your die will be happy to run off your sheets as well. Over the years he sold about 60 large boxes of counter sheets at $1 USD each, so it was a real money-maker.
Make the rounds of all the larger print shops you can, and take along a few counter sheets as samples. Perhaps some of our board game professionals at Clash of Arms games and the like can steer you in the right direction. |
| normsmith | 24 Oct 2009 12:54 p.m. PST |
Try these people for a die cutting machine – by hand it is hard work but may deal with your low run issue. link |
