Compact Macintosh replica boxing price questions

[quorten]

Cardboard is cheap, but manufacturing replica shaped foam blocks for the compact Macintosh shipping box is going to have a substantial up-front cost that is difficult to amortize when selling in small volume like 50 boxes total.  It is possible to change the design to make it cheaper, but then again, I'm not sure if that would really be desirable because you might as well just substitute your own packing filler materials like bubble wrap and packing peanuts.

 

Also,  I'm curious to see how I should approach refining a foam blocks design for manufacturing.  If we do decide to proceed on some sort of foam blocks design being manufactured, I'd probably present a design first to get feedback and then open a crowdfunding campaign to see if we can cover the up-front cost of the mold production.

Alternatively, if you're just buying the cardboard, you may primarily be interested in the printed design and not care so much for having space for excellent padding during shipping and storing the peripherals, this is where the reduced box dimensions print comes into play.

Edited November 5, 2020 by quorten
Minor grammar corrections

[quorten]

For reference, here are links to the previous poll and development thread on the subject.

 

 

[quorten]

Hello folks who have voted on the previous poll about what kind of boxing you would want, I could really use some of your feedback on this question about the desired price point.  This will determine which remaining design efforts (if any) will be pursued before creating a crowdfunding or group buy campaign for the product.  I'd like maybe 10 responses to get a good idea.

[PotShotScott]

IMHO the boxes are only worth something if they are original.  Reprints seem like phony baloney plastic banana good-time rock and roll.

[CC_333]

Well, maybe so, but these reprints can be thought of as a sort of budget option for those who are unable/unwilling to spend for originals, so they are in no way invalid.

 

c

[PotShotScott]

Perhaps it depends on the machine.  I have an SE and the box it came in.  Last one I saw for sale on eBay went for relatively low money (under $200).  Maybe other machines in their box are worth more even if its a replica box?

[quorten]

@PotShotScott I'd agree... part of the idea of making the replica boxing, complete with shaped foam blocks, is that it provides additional assurance to the customer that the vintage Macintosh is being shipped in pristine packaging and it is therefore less likely to get damaged in shipping.  Also, it is perfectly fine if the replica boxing itself takes a few "sacrificial hits" in shipping while preserving the Macintosh inside.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Love the notion of box reproductions and your artwork. Even without the foam and scaled down for a snug "Compact Size" fit for dust/UV free storage of a collection they'd be great.

 

If nothing comes of larger size boxes or your half scale notion, your artwork would be fabulous for creating small "Cinder Block" Display Shelves for collections.

__________            __________            __________

|           |            |           |            |           |

|  128K .|            |  512K  |           .|  Plus   .|

|________.|            |________..|           .|________.|

 

 

__________            __________            __________

|           |            |           |            |           |

|..  SE    |            |. SE/30 |            |.Classic |

|________.|            |________..|           .|________.|

 

Scaled down for a stack of about 22 Developer CDs, Caddys, Syquest 270s, in case Zips, a cylinder case of optical media or the like stored in between boxes and you'll have something inexpensive for displays. Smallish stuff the gang can print on inkjets? Box fronts would be doors for storing more mundane items behind them like cables and adapters. Just about anything could fit on the wide shelf in between or the shelf atop?

 

Even without building a shelf set, your notion of smaller storage boxes for display on shelves is fabulous.

 

Just a thought. Also, I searched the other thread and couldn't find the word copyright there or here.