Pixelboy Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) I'm really not sure I should be posting this, because it may serve to get the ball rolling on a project that I'm not ready to tackle (still very busy with the next batch of Team Pixelboy games) but I just can't resist, because I think it's such a cool idea! I believe the image attached below pretty much sums it up rather nicely: What's not to love about ColecoVision trading cards! As you can see, the front side of the card is a scan of the front of the box, and the back side contains a screenshot and some condensed information about the game. The yellow bar above the screenshot would contain a series of informative icons. I haven't drawn these icons (yet) but I already have a good idea of what they would be: [1P] = For 1 player only [1P/2P] = For one or two players [2P] = For 2 players only [overlay] = Regular overlay included [s.A.C. overlay] = Super Action overlay included [Coleco controller image] = Designed for play with standard CV controller [track ball + 4 buttons] = Designed for play with Roller Controller [steering wheel] = Designed for play with Expansion Module #2 [s.A.C. image] = Designed for play with Super Action Controller [crosshairs] = Shooting game [man jumping on platform] = Platformer game [sport items] = Sports game [teddy bear head] = Game for young children / Educational [arcade cabinet] = Arcade game adaptation = Unreleased prototype [house] = Homebrew game [wink + tongue] = Total hoax! The "total hoax" icon is an interesting idea I had: Such a "hoax" card would feature a totally fake box image and a totally fake (yet believable) screenshot. Not really sure what fake games these "hoax" cards would present, but we could have fun with the concept. For example, how about a "Six Million Dollar Man" fake ColecoVision game? I did some research these past couple of days, and I identified roughly 280 potential cards of commercial games (all box variants taken into account) as well as roughly 70 potential cards of homebrew games. As I picture it, each series would contain 40 cards, with games mostly selected at random among all the potential commercial and homebrew cards, in addition to a couple of "hoax" cards. There are enough potential cards to make up 8 or 9 different series! Now of course you're going to say "Wow! We could have these cards printed by a professional printer like MyTradingCards.com!" but sadly, it wouldn't work: Such professional printers have strict policies against printing trading cards that feature copyrighted logos and such. Still, if I were to go ahead full-steam with the project, I would create two versions of each card: One printer-ready version at 300 DPI, and the other as a web-only virtual card, of the same dimensions as the example shown below. Who knows, perhaps one day I could find a private printer who would be willing to print these out as real trading cards. So waddaya think? Edited June 23, 2011 by Pixelboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 While I appreciate your passion, and trying to provide something for the ColecoVision community...I don't think much of this idea. Sorry just my honest opinion. Playing cards with a ColecoVision on the top and standard playing card on the reverse would be sweet. Perhaps the Face Cards, King, Queen, Jack and Joker could feature ColecoVision or Arcade Characters. The copyright thing is a killer. Vegas quality playing cards with a ColecoVision theme would be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoDan Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I think I like the playing card idea as well simply because I would actually use them. Trading cards I never even got into for baseball or any other trading card types that exist so a colecovision one wouldn't interest me either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozma wars Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 dear Luc you have no time to work on my/our desider games and you have time for playing cards ??? let me joke, great idea, but do not spend time on that project before having first released 50 new games by now. ciao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 As others, not much interrested by trading card. But if a set a playing card is done featuring coleco's hero , why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 dear Luc you have no time to work on my/our desider games and you have time for playing cards ??? let me joke, great idea, but do not spend time on that project before having first released 50 new games by now. ciao I only worked a couple of days on the box variant research and the card demo. Don't worry, it was just a little something I wanted to get out of my system, and I'm done with it for now. Tomorrow I'll be finishing up the vectorization of the SG-1000 Star Force box art, and things are moving along where the next batch of Team Pixelboy games are concerned. Well, at least the box templates and the beta-testing. I haven't really started working on any of the manuals yet (I'll be doing that in August or in the fall) and I'm having some serious problems getting the cartridges done... Anyhow, the response here makes me realize that there aren't many trading card collectors among CV fans. Not on AA anyway. But I choose to look at this in a positive way: If and when I go ahead with the project, I won't have to bother with virtual versions of the cards, I'll just stick to the printable templates, and create the cards solely for myself. And in case you're wondering, I'm not interested in doing standard playing cards with ColecoVision stuff of them. I've never been a card player, and probably never will be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Personally, I think the card idea sounds kind of neat....but I would want a professionally printed card rather than something you could print on an inkjet. But as you said, finding a printer who would print copyrighted logos, etc. might be another story. But with the age of the system, maybe they wouldn't question what they were printing anyway. dear Luc you have no time to work on my/our desider games and you have time for playing cards ??? let me joke, great idea, but do not spend time on that project before having first released 50 new games by now. ciao I only worked a couple of days on the box variant research and the card demo. Don't worry, it was just a little something I wanted to get out of my system, and I'm done with it for now. Tomorrow I'll be finishing up the vectorization of the SG-1000 Star Force box art, and things are moving along where the next batch of Team Pixelboy games are concerned. Well, at least the box templates and the beta-testing. I haven't really started working on any of the manuals yet (I'll be doing that in August or in the fall) and I'm having some serious problems getting the cartridges done... Anyhow, the response here makes me realize that there aren't many trading card collectors among CV fans. Not on AA anyway. But I choose to look at this in a positive way: If and when I go ahead with the project, I won't have to bother with virtual versions of the cards, I'll just stick to the printable templates, and create the cards solely for myself. And in case you're wondering, I'm not interested in doing standard playing cards with ColecoVision stuff of them. I've never been a card player, and probably never will be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 It's a novel idea on the trading cards, and if the price were right, I'd pick them up. Poker cards, not so much of an interest. They are even more of a novelty to me, and would be ruined by playing with them. Personally, I'd rather have a 'suitable for framing' set of the 8.5 x 11 promo sheets for hanging in the game room. As for the printer issue, how do you get boxes printed with nothing but copyrighted material on them, but somehow think the cards would be an issue?? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) As for the printer issue, how do you get boxes printed with nothing but copyrighted material on them, but somehow think the cards would be an issue?? lol Printing game boxes and printing trading cards are very different processes. For game boxes, you only need to print art and lettering on one side of the cardboard, the other side stays blank. Obviously, all printer companies that specialize in cardboard boxes can print on a single side of the cardboard. My boxes are printed in Germany, and luckily for me, they look the other way where copyrights are concerned. Printing on both sides of cardboard requires a specialized printing machine, a different type of cardboard, probably different types of ink, etc. Printing companies that have such machinery are much harder to find, and with places such as MyTradingCard.com covering their asses regarding copyright issues, options are severely reduced. I wouldn't mind getting these proposed ColecoVision trading cards printed in another country (like Brazil, for example) if the end product is of the quality I want and expect. Edited June 23, 2011 by Pixelboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfg.gamepassion Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 May be a dumb idea ... why not putting a random card, in each game you sell ? Like a bonus ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 May be a dumb idea ... why not putting a random card, in each game you sell ? Like a bonus ... And gum. I won't buy them unless there's a stick of dry, brittle gum included. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 May be a dumb idea ... why not putting a random card, in each game you sell ? Like a bonus ... And gum. I won't buy them unless there's a stick of dry, brittle gum included. Yeah, but that gum was the bomb back in the day until Bubble Yum, Bubblicious and then Big League League came about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 May be a dumb idea ... why not putting a random card, in each game you sell ? Like a bonus ... A very good idea, but if I were to do this, it would probably not be a random card. I came across another web site that offers "digital" trading cards, which are cheaper and can be ordered in small quantities (minimum is 25 copies of the same card) at a very nice price. So let's say I could order something like 75 copies of 6 cards, I could include one trading card with each copy of my upcoming lineup of six Team Pixelboy games (the card would match the game, like having a Circus Charlie card in the Circus Charlie box). If there's a positive response from buyers to those cards, I could be pursuaded to continue the endeavour on a larger scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 May be a dumb idea ... why not putting a random card, in each game you sell ? Like a bonus ... A very good idea, but if I were to do this, it would probably not be a random card. I came across another web site that offers "digital" trading cards, which are cheaper and can be ordered in small quantities (minimum is 25 copies of the same card) at a very nice price. So let's say I could order something like 75 copies of 6 cards, I could include one trading card with each copy of my upcoming lineup of six Team Pixelboy games (the card would match the game, like having a Circus Charlie card in the Circus Charlie box). If there's a positive response from buyers to those cards, I could be pursuaded to continue the endeavour on a larger scale. Sweet idea actually! , maybe I could do the same so people will get different cards? Maybe Opcode could do it too?, now this would be really sweet!! Homebrew Games Cards!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozma wars Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 why not a plastic model ? the GORF spaceship release inside the Opcode cereals box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crapahute Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Back in the days, in France, we used to have a little catalogue in each game box. Maybe some homebrew editors could think of making such brochures (perhaps with vaporwares too ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 why not a plastic model ? the GORF spaceship release inside the Opcode cereals box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Back in the days, in France, we used to have a little catalogue in each game box. Maybe some homebrew editors could think of making such brochures (perhaps with vaporwares too ) Please please publishers do that!!!!.... include a litter catalogue of your games in each box in the same style that was done in 80's. That's an idea i love!. Being child i spent hours and hours to browse this kind of catalogue dreaming at what game i could have if i were rich... So may, you could do a common catalogue to share cost. (Pixelboy, Collectorvision, opcode, newcoleco and others...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoDan Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Back in the days, in France, we used to have a little catalogue in each game box. Maybe some homebrew editors could think of making such brochures (perhaps with vaporwares too ) Please please publishers do that!!!!.... include a litter catalogue of your games in each box in the same style that was done in 80's. That's an idea i love!. Being child i spent hours and hours to browse this kind of catalogue dreaming at what game i could have if i were rich... So may, you could do a common catalogue to share cost. (Pixelboy, Collectorvision, opcode, newcoleco and others...) It probably would make more sense money wise to do all publishers one catalogue. However I must insist that you follow the Coleco lead and publish a lot of vapor ware on it that will never be done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Back in the days, in France, we used to have a little catalogue in each game box. Maybe some homebrew editors could think of making such brochures (perhaps with vaporwares too ) Please please publishers do that!!!!.... include a litter catalogue of your games in each box in the same style that was done in 80's. That's an idea i love!. Being child i spent hours and hours to browse this kind of catalogue dreaming at what game i could have if i were rich... So may, you could do a common catalogue to share cost. (Pixelboy, Collectorvision, opcode, newcoleco and others...) It probably would make more sense money wise to do all publishers one catalogue. However I must insist that you follow the Coleco lead and publish a lot of vapor ware on it that will never be done and in 30years some crazy homebrewer will create these Homebrew vaporwares! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brockolye Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 God I love where this thread is going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I still like the separate collector's card series, not as a pack in. Pack in is fine, but I'd like to see the cards available separately, too. And I may have a printer for ya Luc. Give me a few days... Waiting on an order from him for something already, and might be able to go from there to help make this work but I wanna see his product first before opening up the conversation further. And I think the catalog is an AWESOME idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 And I think the catalog is an AWESOME idea! In gorgeous silver paper... And I mean true silver paper, the kind Atari Warner used for their later catalogs. To match the nice silver box and silver cartridge label... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 In gorgeous silver paper... And I mean true silver paper, the kind Atari Warner used for their later catalogs. To match the nice silver box and silver cartridge label... ;) But... But... But... THAT'S ATARI! OMG, Eduardo has gone to the dark side! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 In gorgeous silver paper... And I mean true silver paper, the kind Atari Warner used for their later catalogs. To match the nice silver box and silver cartridge label... ;) But... But... But... THAT'S ATARI! OMG, Eduardo has gone to the dark side! lol Come on, the truth is.. grey is cheap. The two colors Coleco manuals looked cheap, and the boxes didn't look much better either (though they got better later). Silver on the other hand looks super retro futuristic cool... Besides something isn't going to look Atari-ish just because of the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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