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Here is a KS that just launched. These guys play at our FLGS. They are keenly interested in hearing ideas about mat content and size for future releases.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ment-game-mats
If you have any questions for them, either contact them through the KS or tell me, and I will pass on the info.
It doesn't say on the kickstarter page what material the actual mat is, but I haven't seen the video yet. Still it could be nice to be able to see that.
There's no shipping for Europe on the 4x6 mat. Is that intentional?
Otherwise I think it's great!
These mats look great, I especially like the Crystal Cove one.
Looking at the KS funding trend it doesn't look like they will make their desired target unfortunately.
Very nice mats indeed. The Crystal series are my favorites also (the island one in particular).
I am working for a company that creates game mats from Europe.
You can google Deep-cut studios. Their square mats are roughly the same price, and as I see, they have included some seascapes recently.
Several of space mats there are painted by me.
Afraid the postage kills this for me
Extremely high postage to Europe is too common on Kickstarter.
Apparently there was no video. Then I think it would be good to describe the mat.
I agree with the others. The high cost of postage is a killer.
Nice, but when shipping exceeds the cost of the item its hard to get enthusiastic. The mats do look nice though and I'm sure they wil be very successful selling to the US market
The designers are eager for input, so maybe something regarding shipping can be addressed, if not now, then in the future.
I guess I'm now at a point to where I can post on the site. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by 7eat51
As 1/2 of DS'tone Art, I'll addess the shipping concerns as best that I can.
The 3x3 mats weigh about 13-14 oz (370-400 g) each. Since the package as a whole is over 13 oz and over 12 inches, we have to use Priority International to ship the mats. That's unfortunately not cheap.
The biggest hurtle to overcome, in all honesty, is the sticker shock from the first mat. Once the package is "on the way" so to speak, the price only increases slightly due to the added weight of each new mat. The best way to overcome the huge shipping costs is for players in an area to pool resources and back as a group. With each new mat added to a post, the overall price of shipping is distributed at a more manageable level.
For our second KS based on space mats, we had two groups from Australia jump in at the 6 mat level because they saw that by spreading the initial postage out between them all, they could each get a mat at a fairly reasonable price (as opposed to what they would have to pay at MSRP for another product available in their area).
While we'd love to partner with a printer in the EU so they could print and distribute for a lesser postage fee, we also want to be sure every mat we send out is printed well. Honestly, we're just two gamers doing this for our love of games and to help others get as excited as we get when you see how great a game looks when you are playing on something more than a plain piece of felt. We use a local printer here in our town to print the mats and we do not have the means available to ensure the quality of the product if it's printed somewhere else.
~Duane
Greetings Duane. Thanks for your post and explanation. Also, welcome to the Anchorage! :salute:
Hi Duane,
Aaron showed me a couple of mats on Monday - very nice.
What's the largest you can print?
We need to kibitz sometime about future designs.
I have a set of the space maps from DS'tone and they are really nice. They are just thick enough to be durable yet roll easily for storage. I can also say that it is one of only a few KS projects I supported that actually came in ahead of schedule!!
For me I have enough sea mats in-between the Ares mats and previous ones I made from cloth that I don't need them. I can recommend them though!
They're close enough to $2,000 that I'm going to back the project now. I really only want the Crystal mats, which are perfect for SGN. Now the Crystal mats are available! :happy:Quote:
Originally Posted by DeRuyter
Received my KS mats today. My photos aren't the best, but the mats are very nice. I'm quite happy. In retrospect I probably should have gone with a 3' x 5' and trimmed it to fit my table, but the 3' x 3' are excellent.
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Very cool, Jim.
I am going to purchase a large vinyl ocean mat, and probably will sell 3 of the 4 Ares mats, keeping one for small games.
:beer: personally I use a map from Hotz ArtWorks (Hotz Mats) Its 4 x 6 with 3 inch hexes on it. I have one that is blue and one that is green. both are mounted on a piece of plywood. :beer:
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7eat51
Both are great ways to go, but I know the folks who use blue cloth for their oceans are happy too. Much less expensive I would guess as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loki 13
I went to Joann's Fabrics and bought a large 4x8 piece of blue vinyl (with no pattern). It looks great, and should last a long time.