perforated playing card sheets

How long did shipping take ?
Are the end result satisfying ?

I've ordered them, more than once. They're okay provided you understand what you're getting: these are not "real" cards. They're just regular thick paper stock, kind of like a thin 3x5 index card. They are not glossy, do not have a black core, and in strong light you can kind of see through to the other side. When punched out, the perforated edges are a bit fuzzy or ragged in places. They're not as stiff as real cards, and don't shuffle as well.

But they're good for knocking out a cheap set of cards for an early prototype. Slip them into card sleeves with opaque backs and they're just fine. They take inkjet printing well. They would probably work with laser printers BUT I wouldn't try it unless your laser printer has a straight-through paper path. Any rolling or bending and the perforations are liable to come unstuck and jam your printer.

A while back, Protoparts test-offered some glossy stock that is much more like a real card. I tried it, but found that the glossy surface would not take inkjet well -- it smeared and bled -- and I couldn't use my laser printer because of the straight-path restriction, so the glossy card stock was of no use to me. I don't know whether he now actually offers the glossy stock.

Protoparts service can be intermittent. I understand that the owner runs Protoparts as a hobby and a service for us BGDFers. He's not making money at it, and you can't expect the service to be as prompt as (say) Amazon. Think of it as more like buying on eBay, I guess. I haven't had any problems -- and I'm grateful for the service, because he sells things that I can't seem to get anywhere else!

I have used Plaincards many times, I get them to lineup like 100% of the time, although I didn't get them to print to the edge for a while until I found that EPSON has an "extended bottom margin" setting.

I have no problems with the finish or the durability.

I also have about zero problems getting them to lineup. I built my own template in Serif Page Plus 10, and they print appropriately pretty much 100% of the time. Now, if you are so foolhardy as to try to print to the edge, then of course, you will get some text cut off, as most home inkjets don't have feeds and print heads that are all that accurate. These are problems with the printer, not the medium, as nominally it should be no easier to line up your printer to print on labels. The only difference is that Avery labels' print layouts are in about every piece of major software on the market right now, while you have to custom build the print layout for using Plain Cards.

I find that Plaincards print no better and no worse than any 110# card stock. The coating on the back makes the cards fairly sturdy. The pattern on the back makes it harder to see through.

Overall the only problem I have with Plaincards is that for some insane reason they are neither bridge sized nor poker sized, but right in between. Really
odd.

Buying blank playing cards plus labels sounds really expensive for most purposes.

I'm also sort of perplexed as to why the Protoparts sheets are only 6 cards per sheet, when you can easily fit 8 (with small gaps between the cards) or 9 (with almost no gaps) cards per sheet. Seems like a waste of paper, honestly.

My ink-jet printer didn't grip the card sheets well, so they kept slipping. I eventually gave up and just printed onto ordinary unperforated card stock, cut them with a paper cutter, and slipped them into card sleeves. This is probably more of a problem with my printer, which is almost 10 years old, than with the cards.

There was some delay in confirming and shipping the order, but not unreasonable. The quality of the game boards is excellent, and the game boxes are decent (a bit thin).

Yes, that it is a bit pricey. In the past, I have also printed on "do it yourself business cards". This solution works reasonably well, but there are some gotchas:

1) The highest quality brands (like Avery) treat one side of the cards with some sort of nylon-esque coating on which ink jet printers can't print. I think laser jets work OK, but I just bought a cheaper brand that is uncoated on both sides.

2) These cards bend easily and don't shuffle well. Card sleeves would solve both these problems, but there may be other difficulties with this solution (I've yet to try them). You can greatly improve the shuffling by dusting the cards with baby power (just "shake and bake" them in a plastic baggy before use). After a couple games, they will shuffle fairly well.

This is an inexpensive alternative to some of the other methods, and something immediately available to people who live close to office supply stores.

K.

For playtesting, if you're in Europe I use and recommend the ten-per-sheet perforated 200g business cards (85x65mm) made by Sigel in Germany (www.sigel.de ref no. DP939 name 'Visitenkarten'). They work well with my inkjet printer -- one side is slightly more absorbent than the other -- separate cleanly and can be shuffled decently.

They're available in the UK from Viking Direct: www.viking-direct.co.uk

If there's an ideal solution to card prototyping I've not found it, but having tried various solutions over the last fourteen years, the Sigel cards are the best I've found.

I was able to get plain-faced playing cards (bought at a local Scholar's Choice) through my inkjet at one time (I think I taped them all down to a sheet of paper).

There were errors here and there with the margins and whatnot, but it made for a much nicer print and finish.

A few backwards riffle shuffles and the bendies were all but gone.