Designing Display Cases for Cards, Packs, etc. Need help.

gstarling

Ok, so my first attempt at asking for help didn't go very well so I'm going to take another shot at this.

I work for America's largest awards manufacturer. 9 times out of 10, when you see a trophy raised on TV, we made it. From every NCAA trophy to most all professional sports. We also make those 9 foot statues you see out in front of stadiums as well as large displays for places like the Softball Hall of Fame and the Jim Thorpe Museum.

That being said, I've been trying to convince the executive team here to tackle the consumer display market. The only way they'd be interested if we were able to come in with a product that is on the high end. Be it displaying, tickets, packs, cards, knives, die-casts, etc, we'd want to be providing the premium level product.

Here is an example of a box we made for the floor seat holders of the OKC Thunder. This is how their tickets for the season arrived in the mail (this is a real basketball, unravelled):


So if you could put something up on your wall, what would it look like? What materials would you want it made out of? Any cool features you would like to see?

mattinglymint23

So you want a list of ideas that you will profit from and charge me an enormous amount of money to benefit from? For free? Let me get back to you

LarkinCollector

Option 1: I would recommend reviewing some of the 'man-cave' photos on here to get ideas from some incredible displays.
Option 2: Personally, I would like to see a diamond-studded aquarium, completely sealed after being filled with sweat mopped from NBA courts with DNA analysis encapsulated in the acrylic on the back.

Option 1 would probably end up with a more sell-able product. I doubt you will get many serious replies doing your homework for you.

gstarling

<< <i>So you want a list of ideas that you will profit from and charge me an enormous amount of money to benefit from? For free? Let me get back to you >>


I look at it like, I'm trying to find ideas of people who don't have acres of materials and manufacturing capabilities to cut things like 10 inches of asphalt from Daytona's track, but would like to have an opportunity to be a part of making something cool.

I hang out in maker spaces a lot, and this is a pretty common way to go about tackling cool problems.

gstarling

<< <i>I doubt you will get many serious replies doing your homework for you. >>


This is such a weird thought process to me. I'd love to have the opportunity to shape a product I would be looking to buy. Perhaps this isn't the right place.

This isn't my "homework", I'm the VP of technology here. I run teams that make software facilitating employee engagement and performance. This was just an idea I had when I was sitting around the weekly lunch at work.

I see places like quirky and kickstarter, and see how much excitement there is around being a part of creating things, and thought there might be some on here who thought it would be cool being a part of the creative process for something we all enjoy.

bcubs

Include chrome and painted metal, too much wood product already out there. Internal lighting on the bottom of each shelf that holds an item, shining upward on the item would be cool, but it would have to be diffused somehow. Some type of back lighting could also look nice. Allow it to open easily as a door would, but not have any clasps visible, and stay closed when it should be closed. The backing of the case could be a panoramic shot of a professional field, plain black, or use material as you did with the tickets.

Too bad you're already seeing people not want to share. Free collaboration and sharing of ideas often leads to great things. For those worried about someone else making a dime off them, many times those free exchanges can lead to paying gigs down the road.

jeffcbay

If you already have team licensing available, that would be a great addition.

mattinglymint23

High end would be as a yanks fan 24 or 50 card mount made from seats from old Yankee stadium. Crowned with Yankee stadium facade. Shelves should be deep enough to hold multiple slab card stacks as storage. Shelves should have changeable name plates for each slot like a locker room. Fenced gate style door hinged and removable. UV protection where possible.

Edit: lighting. I am a Yankee fan but this would be a team based line and vary based on team.

Look forward to the offering. I will hold off on my display pickup.

esquiresports

Not sure what price point you're looking at when you say "premium level," but if you look at my link below, you will see some basic ideas of what we have created for baseball card displays. We got these displays into places like the NBA Store and were in discussions with a couple stadiums to use the three-card frames as gifts for their club-seat holders and/or to place in the suites themselves (with their teams' big three players included of course), but our real jobs kept us from executing very well on the idea. The same could be replicated for tickets, etc. I think a display that holds 10 or more cards could be a hit. You cant just go with the wood box with slats. It's been done several times over and, in my opinion, doesn't have a lot of visual appeal.

A few possibilities: full UV plexi or glass; etched team logos; remote control LED lighting around perimeter; a frame with true double-siding display potential (this would be extremely difficult); a built in small-screen display that can be uploaded with a few minutes of clips (these displays are so cheap now you probably wouldn't even be looking at $50 in quantity); front-opening display.

On the flip side, all this customization comes with significantly increased costs and inventory carrying.

Feel free to PM if you'd like to discuss further.

dytch2220

The only idea I've had in my head of an ultimate display is something motorized that would rotate the cards in display. I thought about having say 10 or 20 cards that would be held together in a bracket. Then you can show 5 or ten of these in the display pane. Either on a programmed schedule or manually, you could flip through the card collection. Mechanics well hidden to give a classy look.

gstarling

Love some of the thoughts. I'll be following up with several of you guys. I'll make sure everyone in here gets a shot at picking some of the first runs up at our cost. Thanks again.

SidePocket

If you made something to display newspapers I'd be interested. I have close to twenty newspapers from everything from Ripken's 2131st consecutive game to every Laker championship since 1988.

saucywombat

I'd love a large wall display capable of holding say 300 PSA graded cards. 30 rows by 10 cards, etc.

Thickness would be approximately 1-2 inches.

Access with hinged front or possibly by sliding in on the side of each row.

Some sort of linear cabinet style/display lighting.

If you were going to leave cards on a wall need some sort of shade at the top of the display that could be pulled down and cover the cards when not "in use". Car I just got has some pretty cool shades that easily deploy and retract into the door.

ABellPharmD

Having an ability to upload audio would be awesome. I'd love to be able to piece together a 3 minute audio commentary that those looking at the cards could learn about my set, the process of building it, and the highlights. Very much like the idea of at least an audio component. The video component takes away a bit from the idea that we're looking at what's in the display. You have the visual already.

gstarling

Love the audio idea. It's almost like going to the museum at that point. Very cool. You could even pay a guy at voices.com to record something for you in a cool announcer voice.

zurbs17

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Did you make this trophy?

gstarling

<< <i>Did you make this trophy? >>


I'm not sure. Is it yours?

rtimmer

I would be interested in an unopened cello pack display rack. It could be used for individual graded cards I think it would just be made deeper to accommodate the packs. Would be a novel idea in the market.

dytch2220

<< <i>Having an ability to upload audio would be awesome. I'd love to be able to piece together a 3 minute audio commentary that those looking at the cards could learn about my set, the process of building it, and the highlights. Very much like the idea of at least an audio component. The video component takes away a bit from the idea that we're looking at what's in the display. You have the visual already. >>



This would be cool in combination with selective lighting. So, as the display is talking about a particular card it would be lit.

bcubs

<< <i>

<< <i>Having an ability to upload audio would be awesome. I'd love to be able to piece together a 3 minute audio commentary that those looking at the cards could learn about my set, the process of building it, and the highlights. Very much like the idea of at least an audio component. The video component takes away a bit from the idea that we're looking at what's in the display. You have the visual already. >>



This would be cool in combination with selective lighting. So, as the display is talking about a particular card it would be lit. >>



This would be a very cool idea.

smokeybandit

Not even sure if this is feasible but what about some type of front glass that can be blacked out until one steps in front of the display ?

I remember reading about windows that would do that. This would protect the items inside from direct sun light except when being viewed.

EDIT Here is a link to wikipedia about Smart Glass Smart Glass info

If a picture could be displayed in place of the blackout that would really be something just think a display that would look like a picture
of your favorite player or stadium that would disappear when someone moved in front and there would be your display

EDIT Here is another link to the Samsung Smart Window display Samsung Smart Window


You did say High End right

gstarling

<< <i>Not even sure if this is feasible but what about some type of front glass that can be blacked out until one steps in front of the display ? >>


That is awesome