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So....I have been working on producing a set of repro (yes, not repo) CIPSA boxes for a friend. I had made up my mind I was only going to do one set for him, but with all of the time and effort I have into the project, I am going to create one additional set. However, before I talk about that, I'll let you in on the labor of love this has become.
I'm guessing it was at least a year and a half back, if not closer to two years, that I promised to produce a set of boxes for somebody. So, I photographed all of my boxes with a huge meagpixel SLR (I think I got a much better result than scanning, which would have been difficult anyway, with the size and design of the boxes) and went to work on the images. First I had to clone all of the dirt, creases, litho tears, etc out of the artwork. Now, I think my set of boxes is, if not in the best condition out there, then darn close to it. However, these are 40 year old boxes from Mexico. They still have a lot of stuff that needed repaired on the images. I spent countless hours cloning and repairing. I then placed the panel images in a layout as they would appear on a flat printed box and soon realized that I missed the one side panel somehow, so I had to go back to my boxes and photograph the missing panel from each box. That's when I realized that the main panel and the side panel were actually one continuous scene of artwork. Some of the graphic was in the fold around the corner of the box and could not be captured photographically enough to be used. So, I had to piece the side panels on to the main panels and correct the color to match and seam them together recreating the missing sliver of image as best I could. Here's a little example of what I was facing. See the Zaius images below. Top is the two pieces placed together and bottom image is after my image editing.
Let me tell you. When I saw the task I was facing here for all 5 boxes, I gave serious consideration to abandoning the project. However, I had so many hours into it that I decided to have at it. So, I was almost finished doing this when we had one of our server drives go down at work. I had our work files backed up but our personal files were way out of date. I was faced with the realization that I had to redo MANY hours of work and I REALLY almost gave it up at that point. I did give it up for several months (I'm into this well over a year at this point, anyway). After returning to the project and recreating the lost work (and triple backing up the files every 30 nanoseconds) I finally got to the point where I was ready to get some testing done at the printer. It was at this point that I discovered that the printer gave me an incorrect maximum imaging area for their digital press. This really had me stumped until I decided to make the flat box into two prints with a glue tab to connect them. There is already a glue tab on boxes to get them from a flat piece to a three dimensional object, so another tab isn't a big deal and where I decided to put it, it wouldn't be visible after the box was together. So,,,,,,,, after all this time, I finally got the files completed and sent one to the printer for testing. Today they delivered the test prints to me and I hand trimmed and assembled the box. There are a few tweaks I want to make to produce a cleaner final product, but the files will work out fine and below are pictures of various angles of the prototype. I am hoping to have the final box sets finished in the next couple of weeks and THEN!!! Now we come to the entire reason for my post (Am I a long winded SOB or what). One set is going to the person I promised. I am only making one extra set of these for a number of reasons. Mainly I don't want to devalue the authentic boxes. Also, I really wouldn't know what to charge. If I figured out a cost based on minimum wage for all of the hours I have into this, the sets would be about $653,595.26 each. I am guessing they wouldn't sell to good at this price. I am going to look for some cream colored heavier paper at Staples this weekend to see if I can make some repro warranty cards for the set as well. I might even be talked into making some repro inserts for the set, although those look fairly difficult. They are a brown cardboard like material on the back side and a glossy white on the front. Not sure where I can find anything like it and it's a difficult cut out and bend as well as needing slits for the figure's arms to go in. But I might be able to make those too. Anyway, to make a long story longer, the 2nd set is going up on ebay starting at $1 with no reserve. All of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Mego Museum. I had meant to have these finished in time for the auction at the Mego Meet. And I would have had them finished too if it weren't for the printer giving me the wrong size and having to rework the files into two pieces. So whatever Museum fund the Meet's auction goes to, I want the proceeds of the set to go for as well. So, look for the auction. I'll post a link in Auction Watch when it shows up. If you want a set of repro boxes for your CIPSA figures, here's your chance. Take a look at the prototype. The final boxes will look a bit cleaner in the tabs areas an I am going to use glue dots to keep the tabs closed so they open easily without any damage to the box. I am pretty excited to see a final piece with all of the work I have into this. Bid these suckers up so the Museum gets a good amount for them!!!!
I'm guessing it was at least a year and a half back, if not closer to two years, that I promised to produce a set of boxes for somebody. So, I photographed all of my boxes with a huge meagpixel SLR (I think I got a much better result than scanning, which would have been difficult anyway, with the size and design of the boxes) and went to work on the images. First I had to clone all of the dirt, creases, litho tears, etc out of the artwork. Now, I think my set of boxes is, if not in the best condition out there, then darn close to it. However, these are 40 year old boxes from Mexico. They still have a lot of stuff that needed repaired on the images. I spent countless hours cloning and repairing. I then placed the panel images in a layout as they would appear on a flat printed box and soon realized that I missed the one side panel somehow, so I had to go back to my boxes and photograph the missing panel from each box. That's when I realized that the main panel and the side panel were actually one continuous scene of artwork. Some of the graphic was in the fold around the corner of the box and could not be captured photographically enough to be used. So, I had to piece the side panels on to the main panels and correct the color to match and seam them together recreating the missing sliver of image as best I could. Here's a little example of what I was facing. See the Zaius images below. Top is the two pieces placed together and bottom image is after my image editing.
Let me tell you. When I saw the task I was facing here for all 5 boxes, I gave serious consideration to abandoning the project. However, I had so many hours into it that I decided to have at it. So, I was almost finished doing this when we had one of our server drives go down at work. I had our work files backed up but our personal files were way out of date. I was faced with the realization that I had to redo MANY hours of work and I REALLY almost gave it up at that point. I did give it up for several months (I'm into this well over a year at this point, anyway). After returning to the project and recreating the lost work (and triple backing up the files every 30 nanoseconds) I finally got to the point where I was ready to get some testing done at the printer. It was at this point that I discovered that the printer gave me an incorrect maximum imaging area for their digital press. This really had me stumped until I decided to make the flat box into two prints with a glue tab to connect them. There is already a glue tab on boxes to get them from a flat piece to a three dimensional object, so another tab isn't a big deal and where I decided to put it, it wouldn't be visible after the box was together. So,,,,,,,, after all this time, I finally got the files completed and sent one to the printer for testing. Today they delivered the test prints to me and I hand trimmed and assembled the box. There are a few tweaks I want to make to produce a cleaner final product, but the files will work out fine and below are pictures of various angles of the prototype. I am hoping to have the final box sets finished in the next couple of weeks and THEN!!! Now we come to the entire reason for my post (Am I a long winded SOB or what). One set is going to the person I promised. I am only making one extra set of these for a number of reasons. Mainly I don't want to devalue the authentic boxes. Also, I really wouldn't know what to charge. If I figured out a cost based on minimum wage for all of the hours I have into this, the sets would be about $653,595.26 each. I am guessing they wouldn't sell to good at this price. I am going to look for some cream colored heavier paper at Staples this weekend to see if I can make some repro warranty cards for the set as well. I might even be talked into making some repro inserts for the set, although those look fairly difficult. They are a brown cardboard like material on the back side and a glossy white on the front. Not sure where I can find anything like it and it's a difficult cut out and bend as well as needing slits for the figure's arms to go in. But I might be able to make those too. Anyway, to make a long story longer, the 2nd set is going up on ebay starting at $1 with no reserve. All of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Mego Museum. I had meant to have these finished in time for the auction at the Mego Meet. And I would have had them finished too if it weren't for the printer giving me the wrong size and having to rework the files into two pieces. So whatever Museum fund the Meet's auction goes to, I want the proceeds of the set to go for as well. So, look for the auction. I'll post a link in Auction Watch when it shows up. If you want a set of repro boxes for your CIPSA figures, here's your chance. Take a look at the prototype. The final boxes will look a bit cleaner in the tabs areas an I am going to use glue dots to keep the tabs closed so they open easily without any damage to the box. I am pretty excited to see a final piece with all of the work I have into this. Bid these suckers up so the Museum gets a good amount for them!!!!
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