Custom boxed sets.

[Umbra]

I'm not sure how many people here have actually done this, but I'm considering making boxed sets for some of my PlayStation / Xbox series (think the PS2 sets for Medal of Honor, Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid, etc.), for display purposes. I've run into a couple of questions along the way.

Firstly, what kind of material would work best for this? I'm thinking some form of cardstock or something rigid, but I'm not sure what would be best.
Secondly, which way would be best to construct the box? I don't have access to something that could print out one massive sheet of paper in order to have the entire box be one sheet of paper that is folded (I think Wiggy did something like this, unsure).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Thom Grayson]

I did something like this a while ago for the PS2 GTA games. Printed on cardstock, with the front on one sheet, back on another, top/bottom on another, and one for the side, with each part having a trapezoidal tab on the side adjacent to another piece. Glue the tabs together, and presto, a sleeve!

I don't have it or a template anymore, but I know it can be done. Mine didn't look very good, but that had more to do with my cutting and gluing abilities than anything else

[Umbra]

Yeah I was thinking of doing something along those lines for my Final Fantasy games. It'd be a big box set for like nine different games (the PS1 versions, X, and XII). Wanted to get a less flexible material for the box though, since card stock can be really flimsy unless I double or triple-layered it.

Also was considering doing the same for the Halo trilogy, since Halo 1 and 3 are both on 360, and Halo 2 is backwards compatible.

[Krypticklown]

I've always wanted custom box sets and even custom slip cases for a few of my personal favorites. I think I have a few templates I'll try to find for you. Final Fantasy boxed set and Lunar with it's sequel, and the original Gameboy Pokemon games need a box set collection.

[Umbra]

Yeah I've wanted to do fancy slipcovers for my personal favorites as well; unfortunately I have a hard time making ones that are durable for some reason. I'm starting to think that double-stick tape would be more effective at holding it together than whatever glue I've been using

Kind of bummed because since I didn't get the Halo Anniversary remaster on launch day, I missed out on a slipcover and haven't been able to find one since.

[FritzWhite]

Yeah I've wanted to do fancy slipcovers for my personal favorites as well; unfortunately I have a hard time making ones that are durable for some reason. I'm starting to think that double-stick tape would be more effective at holding it together than whatever glue I've been using

Kind of bummed because since I didn't get the Halo Anniversary remaster on launch day, I missed out on a slipcover and haven't been able to find one since.

I might be able to get it for you. They had one at Lamestop today. They let me have some manuals for free. I'll try to remember to ask if I can have the slip.

[CMDLineKing]

If you know about video game box protectors are, I think something similar that holds a variety of DVD's would work well for this.   I looked around a bit and found a few clear "gift boxes" that hold 3-4 DVD's.  You could print it on card stock and inlay the clear box..   Might even be worth sizing them to hold the 3x DVD slip case boxes for the GTA and Metal Gear collections.. :-P

[Umbra]

Yeah the clear gift box idea sounds good; I'll have to check it out. As for slipcovers, seems I missed out on Theatrhythm as well. Just grabbed a copy today and the same thing happened

[Umbra]

Quick update: Made a box just to see how it would turn out. Seems decent enough for a quick half-hour project, and it fits in well enough on the shelf.




The inside isn't as pretty, however. Had to reinforce the sides and bottom since I made it a touch too big. I know it looks pretty ramshackle, but for my first box I'm okay with it. I'll probably try and improve it later. Not sure what to do on the design so I settled for the "it's Final Fantasy, go minimal" look for starters.


Working on ideas for slipcovers now. I'm not sure what to do for some because I don't really have that much ink to freely print covers, and none of the printing services around here will print for me since box art has 'copyrighted material' on the document. 

[wiggy]

^ very much so like the minimal design you've got there.  Pretty much can't go wrong pairing a simple design with the FF series


I've done this on a couple of occasions.  The material you use will partially depend on how substantial the box needs to be. For instance, I made a slip cover style box for the Mario advance games. They're small and light, so I just used heavy paper stock, no backer board or anything.  For bigger boxes like that FF dvd case box, I'd go with something closer to a card stock. And then if you want to go all out and make a box with hinges and such so you can open and close it, then you'll want to use some sort of paperboard and either an adhesive-backed printer paper, or normal paper with some spray adhesive and "skin" the board with it.

The bigger the box, and the thicker the stock, the more planning you'll have to do. It can take a lot of prototyping to get right. I usually start off making protos with cheap-ass poster board.

If you end up with more questions, then feel free to ask me directly. Designing and building packaging is a fairly large portion of my job

[Umbra]

Yeah for this box I actually used photo gloss paper that was nearly as rigid as cardstock. It would've been sturdy enough to hold the boxes if not for me missing the dimensions by about a half inch.

The next box I work on may be for something a bit less huge in terms of sheer number of games; maybe something like Kingdom Hearts or Prince of Persia. You said just regular cardstock would work? Or is it something a bit thicker?

[wiggy]

How many games?  If it's just a few, than a 10-12 pt stock should work fine on its own. Any more than that, and I'd consider using a heavier paper board and mounting prints to it in order to make a rigid enough box.

[Umbra]

For most of the sets, no more than three games. Final Fantasy was the exception since I needed a box to hold nine games.

I'd assume the 10-12pt Stock would be the same to use for a slipcover as well.