Custom or Unique Card Sleeves, counters and more

only legal sleeves are pokemon ones and/or solid color ones.

Also, as soon as you sell any design resembling something dealing with pokemon your risking the fact that your violating copyright rules and risk a lawsuit, and for what? a low priced set of deck sleeves.

Look into your rights to reproduce art and replicate designs first, your opening a bigger can of worms then you are thinking here.
 
I've been looking into all my options since making this post and I don't think any of this is going to happen.

For the sleeves, the ink takes several days to dry onto the back of sleeves and tend to smudge even after several days drying. Other options have proven too expensive for what I wanted to charge or anyone wanted to pay for.

I'd also considered making custom deck boxes, but can't find cheap enough plastics anywhere to follow that endeavor either.

So unfortunately this will all be but a dream. : /
 
Zorua said:
Pokemon Organized Play forbids the use of not Pokemon/Nintendo manufactured sleeves in tournaments so I don't know how big your market would be.
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Really? What about ALL the Ultra-Pro, Dragonshield, KMC, etc brand sleeves used all over the place? Seems like at every tournament that is all I see. From what I can tell/remember, Pokemon/Nintendo manufactured sleeves are a rarity

BTW, my opening "Really?" isn't meant to be sarcastic or mean or anything. It really is a "Really" just surprised to see that.
 
mcoppel said:
only legal sleeves are pokemon ones and/or solid color ones.

Also, as soon as you sell any design resembling something dealing with pokemon your risking the fact that your violating copyright rules and risk a lawsuit, and for what? a low priced set of deck sleeves.

Look into your rights to reproduce art and replicate designs first, your opening a bigger can of worms then you are thinking here.
Click to expand...

It more-so depends on whether or not it's done by commission or it's low-key like anime con artist alleys. Though it mostly depends on whether or not it's the person's own actual art for that. If it's using official art or vectorized art from it, then that's not deserving of any artistic, parody, or fair use policy.

Edit: I know it's all about the legality in tournaments, I'm just saying it's still possible, if done with your own creativity and art, to use them in non-official tournaments or places that are okay with it.
 
so at your local pokemon league you have to ONLY use pokemon branded sleeves?? i understand that at a tournament then ok (still its pretty retarted when deck pro sleeves are fine) but for like when you play your cards 90% of the time, it would be awesome to have custom sleeves!
 
As far as custom deck boxes go, you can use card stock and laminate it with packing tape, since that's how you will also construct the boxes. I make some using existing boxes (booster box, snack cakes, soda, etc.) that I happen to like the artwork for. Just get your measurements right, and you can make some great top loading or side loading boxes. And if you're adventurous, making a dual or triple deck box is a good way to separate your designs from the mainstream
 
Well, it might not be all but a dream. Just because you can't use them at premier events isn't the end of the world. PUSA can't do anything about which sleeves you chose to use at regular old Leagues or with friends.

Also I was of the impression anything with a solid border all the way around was legal, not just one solid color. I've seen plenty of people use non-Pokémon or ultra pro or dragon shield sleeves at big tournaments like Regionals. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Ultra Pro's (most of them) are just one solid color which is why they're legal. I've used them before in tournaments.
 
You can't use overly glossy, holo foil, or non pokémon art sleeves. Holo since they're never even and would be like having marked cards as well as being able to tell what your next topdeck would be if you're slick. Only pokémon art sleeves prevents erotic sleeves. Many masters would have questionable sleeves if they could. Judging events I sometimes have to tell a player to put away their playmat because it could offend another player.

Allowing solid colored sleeves prevents outcry of players unwilling to get pokémon themed sleeves, especially since the best looking ones are from Japan. If someone had non pokémon art sleeves, they probably didn't go through a deck check.
 
Getting sleeves and deck boxes custom printed is not as far fetched as it seems. I have put a couple of years of work into R&D and I have come up with working prototypes. The ink dries in minutes and I then apply a protective coating. The trick is to manufacture the sleeve from scratch (yes, much machinery is involved). There are quite a few other steps involved though, and those will remain my little secret.

I would definitely like some more info as to what would be considered a legal sleeve in Pokemon, since I have not played in ages. I have a few friends that play though, so that information would be useful.
 
Unless you make a solid colored, non reflective backed sleeve, you can't use custom sleeves in sanctioned events. Use of sleeves with artwork is strictly prohibited unless it's an officially licensed product
 
Well, I could make sleeves that appear blank (I have found a source for invisible ink to print full color images). I highly doubt those would be tournament legal though.

So casual play will definitely be the main venue for custom sleeves.

I have been thinking about making myself a set of mirror finish sleeves for laughs.
 
Well, the Kickstarter campaign that I made for the sleeves just passed the 110% mark, so they are indeed going to be a reality. Here is a link so you can check out the prototyping progress:

http://kck.st/LfOglw
 
The sleeves will go into production by August, and I will continue making them afterward, so there will be plenty of product photos to go around.
 
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