HI All,
I am new to this forum and I am currently in the phase of preparing my game to be manufactured.
One of the companies I am having quote me is Panda Game Manufacturing, but I am curious if anyone has used them before? Any comments on these guys?
They have a good rep and many small companies have used them. They come recomended. I'm getting a quote from them right now in fact.
You can also try LUDO Fact in Germany. But I find they are the most expensive. Panda is usually 15-20% less but they do manufacture in China - just under strict supervision. Then there are other China companies which is basically a crap shoot (with odds against you) which are usually 25% or more cheaper.
I can't attest to the quality, as I haven't printed with them, but I can say that Panda is very competitive for pricing, and they are great at communication. I have sent them several quote requests, and every time they have a quote in my inbox within 2-3 weeks. They are very clear about what that quote includes, about pre-press and production time, and will help you a great deal with recommendations if you aren't quite sure about specifics for parts for your game.
So I guess based on that, I would highly recommend them..check out their website and portfolio..they have done games like Pandemic and Tales of the Arabian Nights. High quality stuff.
If I have my druthers, they are my printer of choice.
I'm also awaiting a quite from Panda. Some of the games they show on their site seem decently made. But other than that I can't say more.
Have you looked into 360 Manufacturing? http://www.360manufacturingservices.com/
They are based in the US. So that'd probably cut down on shipping and importing costs. And I believe they allow smaller runs as Panda had a minimum of 1,500 (if I remember right). And 360's quality seemed top notch from what I saw on the site.
Hi Quixotic, I do know that they are the company responsible for printing the Viticulture game that was on Kickstarter by Stonemaier Games. Stonemaier Games is also having them publish/print their latest Kickstarter, Euphoria. I don't have Viticulture but I did back them for Euphoria so I am vested in them putting out a good product. You might want to contact Stonemaier Games to get their recommendation and specifics. I hope that helps.
This is brilliant news all round - I had initiated some enquiries with Panda Games and had received some feedback fairly quickly. I am awaiting the quotes but am looking forward to them in light of this. I had enquired with a group in the US whose numbers (minimum quantities) were prohibitive. I am also looking at a Melbourne-based manufacturing group in order to see if I can keep it local. Initial prices may seem higher but I will pay less postage and a more straightforward tax arrangements with concerns about importing.
I look forward to hearing how it works out.
I've got copies of Road to Enlightenment, Mage Tower and Viticulture, all of which were produced by Panda.
The boxes, boards and wooden components are all very nice.
The cards are pretty dreadful - the poker size cards in RtE and MT feel thin and flimsy, and even the smaller cards in Viticulture don't slide especially nicely.
The dice in RtE were badly made, and are longer on the 1-6 axis than the 3-4 or 2-5 axes. In a game where combat is based on rolling sixes, that's a pretty big deal!
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/961549/manufacturing-defect-great-news
All in all, they seem to be one of the best printing options. I don't know whether they have a better quality card available, but it might be worth looking into...
To address your point on card quality: I'm not sure what card types those particular games used, but I have gotten a quote from Panda in the past and I can say for sure that they do offer a variety of card core types and thicknesses. It's possible these games simply did not splurge on the higher quality.
Ah - that is good to know. I might fire off a couple of emails to the people who designed those games, and see whether they're able to identify which quality card they went for.
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Yep, I've already talked with Ludo Fact, nice people. Still waiting on them to get back to me.
I've seen a couple anecdotal comments on Panda, but no one that has actually had a game manufactured.
As for other Chinese manufacturers, I've read some of the other posts hear and elsewhere, so I am definitely aware the quality is spotty at best and you really have no recourse if things go awry..