They are coming (soon)! The CustomGameCases.com GB/GBC/GBA Game Cases!!!!

[Shadowfox]

Ok! So I sent off the request to the plant asking them to let me know the cost/time it would take to give these cases a solid back and place the logo as a stamp in the top righthand corner of the left side of the case. Since these cases have a sand finish the logo would be glossy like the original Nintendo DS logo is in the authentic DS cases.

I don't expect to get a reply until Chinese Spring Festival is over. (So Monday-ish)

So! in the mean time, let hash out these beauties prices... 

[palmer6strings]

I just look at it this way,

Price for 10 Nintendo DS cases is about $8
So about $80 for 100 cases. (Roundabout)

I know with custom work, cost goes up.

So let's say for 10 of your cases the cost is $15
So $150 for 100 cases sounds pretty good to me.
 I'd be willing to spend that much for cases I don't have to modify. If it ended up getting any more expensive than that I would prolly just stick to making my own. That's where you have to be logical, because a lot of people are used to making their own cases so it honestly can't cost much more than what's on the market already.

But anyway around it. I think your cases looked fine to begin with.

Plus I PM'ed you.

[Shadowfox]

I just look at it this way,

Price for 10 Nintendo DS cases is about $8
So about $80 for 100 cases. (Roundabout)

I know with custom work, cost goes up.

So let's say for 10 of your cases the cost is $15
So $150 for 100 cases sounds pretty good to me.
 I'd be willing to spend that much for cases I don't have to modify. If it ended up getting any more expensive than that I would prolly just stick to making my own. That's where you have to be logical, because a lot of people are used to making their own cases so it honestly can't cost much more than what's on the market already.

But anyway around it. I think your cases looked fine to begin with.

Plus I PM'ed you.

I saw that. PM me your mailing address

[wiggy]

i think the logo looks ugly but, that said, i'd buy a ton of these just for the Game Boy functionality alone.  

how would these fare with the clear GBC carts?  is there a way we could get cases for the battery pack games as well? (like Pokemon Pinball, Missile Command, etc)

Would need to be much thicker for the rumble games, and considering how few rumble titles there are, it's totally not worth it from a manufacturing and distribution standpoint. Better off just making double DS cases by hand


For me, the price needs to be sub-$2. Anything over that and I'll just buy used DS cases on eBay and modify them or one of the many other aftermarket replacements.  The only way I would ever consider paying more is if the quality were significantly higher than other aftermarket cases, and judging by the smell you're describing, I'm having a hard time believing that they are   It would also be really nice if the color more closely matched the original cases too. The black plastic just reminds me if the cheap-o cases that are already out there and cost about .25-.50 a pop.

I HIGHLY recommend that you do some research and find a handful of wholesale buyers before moving forward. Our thoughts are one thing, but they will tell you point blank what they are willing and not willing to accept regarding the design. I'm guessing that you'd like the keep these exclusive to your own store/site, but your retail price will be insane as a result and you may NEVER recoup your tooling & production costs. 

[mojoeskateco]

I just look at it this way,

Price for 10 Nintendo DS cases is about $8
So about $80 for 100 cases. (Roundabout)

I know with custom work, cost goes up.

So let's say for 10 of your cases the cost is $15
So $150 for 100 cases sounds pretty good to me.
 I'd be willing to spend that much for cases I don't have to modify. If it ended up getting any more expensive than that I would prolly just stick to making my own. That's where you have to be logical, because a lot of people are used to making their own cases so it honestly can't cost much more than what's on the market already.

But anyway around it. I think your cases looked fine to begin with.

Plus I PM'ed you.

If 10 were $15 I'd expect 100 to be less than $150.

[Dreamcast99]

I can see someone paying 5$ to case a Pokemon,Zelda,Final Fantasy,Dragon Quest (top tier games)
For myself, a semi serious collector, the price would need to be much cheaper, near the 1-2$ area to consider it based on total cost.
I had my Game Boy collection on ebay near christmas and several Mint CiB games I had went for under 5$, with a few going for .99 cents.

I think the market for 5$ cases would be the top few % of game boy game collectors (who mainly go for boxed only), and general collectors for a select tier of games.
By lowering the price i think the Demand would be higher, and open the possibility of smaller game stores to order. I dont think there is a single store in my area with 1000 game boy games for sale to make it into the price needed to make it worthwhile for resale. I sincerely wish there was, I would be there today.
I do sincerely appreciate the effort and time you are putting into this. Its refreshing to see others so passionate about there hobby.

[Shadowfox]

i think the logo looks ugly but, that said, i'd buy a ton of these just for the Game Boy functionality alone.  

how would these fare with the clear GBC carts?  is there a way we could get cases for the battery pack games as well? (like Pokemon Pinball, Missile Command, etc)

Would need to be much thicker for the rumble games, and considering how few rumble titles there are, it's totally not worth it from a manufacturing and distribution standpoint. Better off just making double DS cases by hand


For me, the price needs to be sub-$2. Anything over that and I'll just buy used DS cases on eBay and modify them or one of the many other aftermarket replacements.  The only way I would ever consider paying more is if the quality were significantly higher than other aftermarket cases, and judging by the smell you're describing, I'm having a hard time believing that they are   It would also be really nice if the color more closely matched the original cases too. The black plastic just reminds me if the cheap-o cases that are already out there and cost about .25-.50 a pop.

I HIGHLY recommend that you do some research and find a handful of wholesale buyers before moving forward. Our thoughts are one thing, but they will tell you point blank what they are willing and not willing to accept regarding the design. I'm guessing that you'd like the keep these exclusive to your own store/site, but your retail price will be insane as a result and you may NEVER recoup your tooling & production costs. 

Hey Wiggy, PM me your address I'll ship one out to ya!

And yes, the actual run will be the Dark Grey coloring matching the Authentic Nintendo DS cases.

These cases snuff out the existing after market ones by a million miles, and the photos do not do them justice.  

[Shadowfox]

Hmm... ok. So, what would be a price structure you think would be suitable? One price fits all? Base price for 1-5 cases? What should Base price be? What should 1000 cases price per case be?

You all are my "test market" and your input is golden. All of you hunt the web and are savvy with the current game market, I'm the type of guy that would pay $3ea without thinking... but I want these to be epic and everywhere, just like the UGC is.

Be brutal. Be real.   

[larryinc64]

I would want it to be $1-$2 at most.
I need around 60-70 cases, and I would not pay over $100 for the cases.

[sheep2001]

Hmm... ok. So, what would be a price structure you think would be suitable? One price fits all? Base price for 1-5 cases? What should Base price be? What should 1000 cases price per case be?

You all are my "test market" and your input is golden. All of you hunt the web and are savvy with the current game market, I'm the type of guy that would pay $3ea without thinking... but I want these to be epic and everywhere, just like the UGC is.

Be brutal. Be real.   

I think asking what WE would pay is not going to give you a true reaction of what they will sell  for out in the real world.   You need to  push the price down to what will cover your startup costs and production  of first 1 or 2 runs and not be looking at profit until after you've shifted those.  You can then tweak the price up or down without worrying about  how to shift another 100 cases.  If you want them as widespread as UGCs you'll need resellers.  Perhaps riviera in the UK would be a good place to target?  They will be  wanting an even lower price as a reseller - so it all comes down to your production costs really..  Getting in touch with Seymour onion might also be a good idea - if he's prepared to sell your cases on his site  or at least link to you might be a big help.  For both of you.

[Arseen]

$1.50 per case starts to sound interesting...

And every $0.10/case of the price is $100/1000 cases which makes it even more tempting as postage will be high for such patch + customs.

Include shipping in to the price of bigger patches (lets say 1000+ cases) and I would definitely buy 1000 cases @ 1.50/case (maybe bit more).

[Arseen]

In my opinion logo can be screaming pink in color ad be in many spots as long as it's not holes!

[Arseen]

Price wise it would be nice if you could get reseller that is in EU so we can save on the tax and customs... that again would increase the price I would be willinbg to pay.

[Harbertus]

This might be too much to ask for, but wouldn't it be wonderful if the cases had sharper edges? Kind of like the UGCs but shorter and thinner;

I think it matches the look and feel of the original cardboard boxes more closely.
[Feel free to ignore]

[wiggy]

Hmm... ok. So, what would be a price structure you think would be suitable? One price fits all? Base price for 1-5 cases? What should Base price be? What should 1000 cases price per case be?

You all are my "test market" and your input is golden. All of you hunt the web and are savvy with the current game market, I'm the type of guy that would pay $3ea without thinking... but I want these to be epic and everywhere, just like the UGC is.

Be brutal. Be real.   

I think asking what WE would pay is not going to give you a true reaction of what they will sell  for out in the real world.   You need to  push the price down to what will cover your startup costs and production  of first 1 or 2 runs and not be looking at profit until after you've shifted those.  You can then tweak the price up or down without worrying about  how to shift another 100 cases.  If you want them as widespread as UGCs you'll need resellers.  Perhaps riviera in the UK would be a good place to target?  They will be  wanting an even lower price as a reseller - so it all comes down to your production costs really..  Getting in touch with Seymour onion might also be a good idea - if he's prepared to sell your cases on his site  or at least link to you might be a big help.  For both of you.

I imagine recouping the tooling costs will require the sale of MANY thousands of these, and that simply won't happen if they're $2-5 a pop.   Retailers are gonna be hard to convince since there are already very similar products on the market, and I'm sure they are paying .25 or less per case in most instances.  Very few retailers are gonna give two shits about GB/GBC compatibility, especially if wholesale is 3-4 times what their used to for a retail price.

This product is very niche. VERY.  It's not gonna be easy to make money with these. You may want to consider adding functionality to them before moving forward. Possibly Game Gear support and any others that can be shoehorned in there.  There's definitely no need for DS support. That's pretty well covered by the market already.  For these to be successful, I sincerely feel that they need to fill a larger gap in the market, and holding GB games just isn't filling that gap.