WTB Merchandising Support
525 728
Frustration.
It’s worth blogging about because it’s appropriately meta and it’s relevant as an evidence of cultural clashing between different needs for merchandising support.
What do I mean by that? Let’s take trading or collectible card games (TCG/CCG) for example. There is an active industry for collectible card games in the US, and collectible cards in general. I still have my Premiere Limited Darth Vader from SW:CCG in an acrylic card case somewhere, for instance. (By the way, it’s worth just $20 on eBay). But you get the idea. In order to support this hobby, there’s a whole slew of product lines like card protectors, binders, cases, whatever. You could include things even like tournaments and conventions. And this is generally crossing the gap between “anime” and “non-anime” genres. Or “sci-fi” and “fantasy” or “live action” and “animation.” For example, I bought this cardboard box meant for Aquarian Age with Aoi Nanase art on it years ago, for example, because I can use it to stash what stray cards I own, and none of that was Aquarian Age (I think). (Also, I am irrationally weak against Aoi Nanase, but w/e.) But please note that these cards are the same size as all my Magic: the Gathering cards and Sakura Taisen TCG cards, and if I was weeaboo enough I’d go to one of them tournaments with said AquaAge box. Currently the said box is housing a bunch of different kinds of cards, including some stray baseball cards and outdated calling cards, collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.
Sure, it’s just a cardboard box. Even so, someone out there has to figure out about how big these boxes should be, what dimensions they ought to be so it’s not too loose, not too tight, and make different sized ones so they can sell me a box that holds 500 cards versus one that holds 2000 cards, or something. Standards make the world go around, in a way. And we know when it comes to TCGs, what Americans do are not unlike what Japanese do. It’s a fairly simple medium and as a merchandising concept. Maybe it has something to do with baseball, I am no historian but I could guess.
Anyways; I’m just trying to say there are these kinds of standards that are important to fandom as well. Things like “how to run a convention” or “how to master a DVD” or “how to use a sewing machine” are universal. You don’t need to be an anime fan to have an excuse to do any of those, even if being one could be an excuse to acquire all three skill sets. For another example, some fans cared about the Blu-Ray vs. HDDVD war because it’s a standard competition affecting the enjoyment of anime for the next generation. Or how DVD packaging sizes crib extravagant box sets for anime due to retail difficulties. Or one of the many other reasons how some industry standard gets in the way or facilitates being a fan.
The numbers 525 and 728 are the width and length respectively, in millimeters, of a JIS B2 sheet of paper. This is the size of vast majority of promotional posters in Japan. There is also nobody that I know who sells poster frames that accommodates this size (even with a healthy framing margin) in the US, on a non-custom-sized basis. There are framing kits and custom framers, but do you want to put a $15 poster in a $30-35 frame minimum? I guess if you got it autographed or something. Getting a 24″ x 36″ (or a 24″ x 30″ if you’re lucky) frame and frame it yourself? It’s a reasonable solution but it doesn’t look that good, plus you need the right tools to do a good job.
The better solution, as I see it, is for some brave soul to mass produce like, a bunch of 525×728 frames, and take orders from people that run anime con dealer’s rooms or something. Something like $20-25 retail price point would be reasonable, and you can just go for the cheap, cardboard-backed, plastic-front stuff.
Why do I want to frame posters? Posters are just something that need to be framed in order to be “used” properly. Sticky or non-sticky tacks both work fine…until you want to take it off your wall. And you don’t want to ask me about wall scrolls. That’s like asking why is AnimeJunkies the best fansub group ever. All of that is to say I’ve grown old enough that I want to appreciate and treasure my worthless junk that are loaded with sentimentality. Plus I’ve came across a few good ones over the years and they deserve better than to be rolled up in a corner collecting dust along with my Aquarian Age box.
Sigh. Well, if you got a better idea please do share. The goal is to lower the price enough but provide a permanent solution for poster protection and display that doesn’t require too much labor or special skills or tools. Ideally the less hassle, the better too. Considering people can make frames of any size in that range, this can’t be incredibly difficult to do for some people.
I’m probably missing out on something here, but how would a frame you have shipped be any different from a DIY kit?
A DIY kit of that size would be about $30-40 bux, maybe a tad more after shipping. I can go online and buy a 22×28 frame for about half that, or just go to a Wal-Mart or Target and get the same.
That is the number one most annoying thing about posters. You can’t just get a frame for it. Even if it’s just going in your TV/nerd room, there comes a point where tacked to the wall just doesn’t work for you anymore. I had a large CLAMP litho custom framed. The cost was a killer, and especially sad when there’s a bunch of standard poster frames that could be had for cheap, but don’t fit. These posters are things I’d like to have for a TV/nerd room in my place, but since it costs too much to frame them, I don’t bother getting any of them.
That’s a real good job of identifying a product opportunity though.
I just want an easy way out that doesn’t require me going to a store and spend hundreds of dollars.
When I did posters, I first put cellophane tape on the back of the poster, flat. Then I would use sticky stuff (double-sided tape, poster-putty, whatever) to stick the *tape* to the wall. The tape provides a protective layer between the poster and the goo, and generally the poster (with its protective tape) can be peeled away from the wall with no damage.
But, yes, frames are good.
I used my Sakura Taisen cards as token cards for when I played in Magic tourneys.
The last time I had a poster that I actually cared about enough to get framed, it was one of the original Megatokyo Pirogoeth posters, and I went to a framing place and got a nice black wooden frame done for it. Cost like $150 :(
Nowadays all my posters are shitty ones from Megami so I’m not so worried about not having them framed. I’m not sure, are the Megami posters (the actual posters, not the fold-out stuff that require you to dismantle the magazine) the same size you’re talking about?
p.s. I also still have my SW:CCG Darth Vader sitting in a box somewhere. :P
I imagine the Megami posters you refer to are the same size. You could just measure it… That reminds me, I still have one of the Onetwi poster books and maybe that’s also the same size…I think it’s a tad smaller though. Uon makes hawt art.
NZ: I used to collect SW:CCG. Got the whole set all the way up to Degobah before I quit and sold most of it.
It probably ruins any value they might have (which probably isn’t much), but I laminate all of my posters. It’s pretty cheap to have done and most any photocopy shop, office supply or educational materials store can do it. The only exception I’ve made is for my Otaku no Video poster, which I probably spent too much on. It’s inside a big, clear plastic slip case.
hmm… me thinks it’s time to start a secondary career :)
Seriously, I hear ‘ya. For me personally, I’m fine finding whatever cheap frames I can and just eyeing posters to center them. Sure the mix-match of frames looks off but I was never about aesthetics too much.
Do the Japanese have any standard frames for us poor souls? Probably can’t be too bad in terms of cost if you buy them in bulk ^^;; Then you can just resell the ones you don’t use to other folks in need!
Well I’m sure they sell it there, but it’s trivial to make frames of any size really. It’s just that nobody in the US makes it like that for mass sales.