I really, desperately want to get my hentai card game in print.
However, no printer seems willing to touch such a controversial subject (which doesn't bode well for my school-shooting cardgame or TokeBhong either).
Any know/recommend any printers who don't give a tinkers cuss and would know my money is as good as anybody's?
Preferably ones that do POD or low print runs.
They DON'T have to be card manufacturers.
Have you tried printers in China or India?
Or... Or... Japan. Find out where the hentai is printed in the first place. *THEY'LL* print your game for sure.
The communications barrier is problematic.
I know Taiwan does cheap printing but it seems only for larger runs than I can afford.
Really looking for someone operating more on a POD scale.
Not going to find it stateside.
The closest is a prototyper in Arizona, but thats expensive as well. A quote for my game (54 cards, 1 six sided die, rulebook and box) ran me $19 per unit per 300 units. They're great for promo priniting however- getting 2500 of a promo card for about $375.
The other, DeLano, here in Michigan, is generally considered the best stateside. They run about $7.35 per unit for 1,000.
One thing to remember too: each packaging is considered a seperate project. They'll discount each run if they are done concurrently, but its still pricey. Even looking at my project, the die doesn't make a huge impact. The rulebook cost me $.27 per unit whereas the dice cost me $.09. The quotes from DeLano are actually going to be close to industry average in the states here.
I had Final Twilight, my TCG, printed through PrintMasters in India. Had 2016 decks produced for $1.81 (including shipping) per unit. Another $530 covered customs charges and $60 in gas and a day road trip to Detroit to pick them up.
If you want a POD style set up, heres my suggestion (and something I've been looking at myself): Either produce it as a PDF printable on card stock (business card sheets come precut even!) or a web program to generate a random PDF packet for your boosters or randomized decks. People can then print as they want to order, you can even set up affiliate programs with business sites to sell business card stock, printer ink etc.
Lemme put it this way: Took me $6000 or so to print my game at 2016 and thats not only the cheapest but the least amount I could feasably order. Unless you want to sink that much into it, look into the PDF.
Hell, I'd print them for ya, but they probably won't be cost effective.
You should pose the question at the BoardGame Designers Forum, http://www.bgdf.com/
They have listed several sources for card printing.
Someone printed Phil Foglio's Xxxenophile game, and I thought it was in country. Maybe some effort put towards finding who he used would be fruitful.