Why the new tube boxes?
Price wise, they are about the same. We could use the smaller cardboard tubes on Brandywine because it fit. We can get longer cardboard tubes made but they are going to be a problem. When pieces get wedged and stuck in the bottom, there is no way to get them out! It is too long and narrow to reach with your hand and you can’t remove the bottom. Huge problem. This is going to be a bigger problem with bigger battles and more pieces. I’m thinking we are going to need bigger bags to fit all the Gettysburg pieces in!
It’s not just Marengo either. Gettysburg will have huge maps. Chancellorsville. Waterloo if we include all the matching campaign maps. Our Pirate game. Dracula. Our strategic game in Europe.
It will greatly streamline production and inventory if we have 1 system that is versatile and works for everything. There are other advantages as well:
- Air tight, helps prevent yellowing with age
- Water tight, helps prevent damage
- Lighter, decreased shipping & packaging costs. This is a big deal for our international orders. We’ve been trying to absorb most of the extra charges but it really adds up.
- Bigger diameter which reduces the rules ‘curl’ effect. That helps.
- Virtually no shelf wear on the box because everything is protected on the inside.
This type of storage is nearly bomb proof. The game should look virtually brand new in 50 years with this.
The downside is that it looks more modern. Not period like the cardboard and metal. …but then we got to thinking. Industrial cardboard tubes with pressed metal caps aren’t really ‘period’ either. They couldn’t make those back then.
That got us thinking about what would be period? Probably something leather or wood like these.
So maybe it would be better to go with light and efficient and then offer the fancy tubes as extras for the people that want them. We might be able to get them in bulk from India / China. What do you guys think?
Are those just map cases?
When I first heard you were going for a bigger storage system I thought maybe the same cardboard tubes could be fitted with some different end cap on the bottom, something plastic with threads for screwing on the end cap, or removable in some other way.
Yes, just cases. I’ve seen some in bamboo also.
Yeah, we weren’t able to find anything like that, without going crazy.
Awesome, but you may have trouble with retail (if you do retail).
Some of my eccentric European games have come in plywood boxes with latches.
Solid.
My personal vote would be leather tubes.
Yes, we’ve been drooling over wooden boxes. Just trying to figure out how to make those work! 🙂
I’d want to be careful about outgassing from any finish on your container that could degrade your game over time.
I am interested in the highest quality tube; one that displays well. It would be great there was no or minimal outgassing.
For what it’s worth, I think the “map case” concept is a fantastic way to go. It looks classy and feels hobby-relevant.