Custom Booster Packs
With only 1-20 cards in each packet, custom booster packs may seem simple to manufacture. However, there are several manufacturing challenges involved in producing booster packs.
First, consider that there are two “kinds” of booster packs, “not-random” and “random.”
“Not-random” Booster Packs
A “not-random” booster pack is the easier of the two to make. Think of this as a functionality extension for a card-based role-playing game. Say you’re designing a game about teenage zombies – an example of this booster pack might be “Prom-bies,” a pack filled with 10 zombie characters with special dancing abilities. If you make 1,000 “Prom-bies,” they’ll all be the same. Customers that want to add a specific functionality to their game simply buy the booster pack for the functionality that they want.
“Random” Booster Packs
If you want “random” custom booster packs, you’re moving into the realm of trading card games. These booster packs include a random assortment from hundreds of cards that you have designed and printed. Customers buy multiple booster packs hoping to get an especially powerful card. This revenue model is attractive to card game producers, retailers, and customers! However, it’s a revenue model that is not easily accessible to small creators.
The main producers of booster packs – games like Pokémon, Magic the Gathering, or Yu-Gi-Oh! – are toy companies that have millions of dollars to produce their products, which gives them the financial ability to produce something like booster packs. The amount of units required to create any significant randomization is around 20,000. As a result, a creator who wants to create random custom booster packs needs to be prepared to spend somewhere in the $100,000 range.
Additionally, printing on foil packaging requires very high order minimums due to setup costs, so for most orders we are unable to print directly on booster packs. With that said, labels and stickers are cost-effective alternatives many game designers use to decorate their booster pack contents.
If you’re prepared to invest in creating custom booster packs, we can simplify the production process. Contact one of our Customer Service Ninjas to get more information.
Looking for more information on taking your custom card game from dream to a reality? Head back to our card game hub to be guided through all the steps of creating your card game, from the design process and industry standards to manufacturing and marketing your game.
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We’ve created a custom card game pricing calculator for you to explore all our different printing choices, shipping methods, and get an instant price for your project. You can also customize just about anything, from size and packaging, to specialty options like metallic ink, foil stamping, and so much more.
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