Market Research!

[tugrik]

Monoceros Media is coming together nicely. It's being set up as a service company that is the "fulfillment" end of other companies and individuals that sell to the public. A few product lines are already coming together.

One of the more popular ideas with the folks I'm working with is laser-engraving custom dog tags, for sale on the web or at conventions. One friend already has a design and things are in motion. A few others are thinking about it. This means it's time for me to line up vendors and get raw materials priced out. As part of this, I need your input!



What color dogtags do you think would sell best at scifi, comic, anime and anthro cons? This selection (all made from anodized aluminum) is from one of the bulk suppliers that I'm talking to. They can mix-and-match any of these colors, so I want to get an idea of what interest folks. The image engraved onto them would show the shiny aluminum through the anodized top-coat color, kind of like this: (image shamelessly ganked from Google Images)



The actual images would be ones done by the individual artists selling the tags. They'd be selling them, not me. But for 'stock on hand' I'm the one who has to choose what to order. Thus why I'm asking all you here in LJ-land. :)

[Poll #1260766]

Thank you for your input! Oh, and if you're curious to have these kind of things made for your own sales, please drop me a line. :)

Comments

[snowwolf42.livejournal.com]

One thing that isn't out there as far as I can tell are oversized dog tags. The smaller ones are okay, but something maybe 3 to 5 inches wide would be welcome for fursuiters. I tried making one out of some stuff I got at TAP plastics, but a dremel tool and xacto blade make for a really amateurish looking product.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

I had the same thought. The issue with dogtags is finding someone with the right die-size to stamp them out. Anodizing them and engraving them is easy. I have a few suppliers I can get just about any size from (up to 24x18!) but the uber-cheap ones are always just standard dogtag size. Getting custom sizes triples the price per square inch.

Still... they'd probably sell quite well. And I don't have to use aluminum. Thin wood or plastic is just as engraveable and those I can cut myself to any size I want.

If one were to make plastic or wood tags, what'd be the optimum size for 'suiters?

[cjthomas.livejournal.com]

"Something you can manipulate while wearing an oven mitt" would probably cover the bases };>. Business card sized would work well for a more realistically proportioned suit, and cell-phoned size for a more mascot-type one, but that's just my own preferences.

Bonus points for being able to take orders for personalized ones at FC };>. Not saying I'd definitely buy one, but it'd be tempting for me, and probably for a lot of other people.

-Deuce

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the idea. A seller would have two classes of tags: one with just their design on it (one or both sides), and a slightly higher priced one with custom name work along with the design.

They're quick and easy to customize, so the additional labor isn't very much at all.

[cjthomas.livejournal.com]

The biggest appeal for the buyer would be if they could get the tags back before the end of the con. I assume you've already worked out the logistics for that.

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

nerds are a predictable market :)

[coppercheetah.livejournal.com]

Speaking on color choices...

Camo is an obvious on-hand, color, due to the military nature.
Being in the SF Bay area... pink and purple. 'Nuff said.
I imagine the Black, Grey, Red, Copper, and Gold ones would sell, because they're simple enough colors that can be worked into other outfits easily enough.

Other colors would largely depend on the art being put upon them, as it forms the color in between engraving lines, and thus could potentially enhance the picture.

[cjthomas.livejournal.com]

The last bit of this raises an interesting possibility: Doing the engraving cameo-style, so that you end up with a coloured picture on a silver background. Probably easier to do with a mill than with a laser (and either one would be harder than an image with silver lines).

Food for thought, at least =^.^=.

-Deuce

[zefel.livejournal.com]

Definitely the black, with all the 'goths and geeks' The rest is really going to depend on the suit/costume that it's going with, if that.

Odd thought, will paint/ink stick to the surface if someone wants to 'color in' the lines? Might need something designed for metallic surfaces, like model paint. .