This quote will be emailed to you and a copy saved into our system. Even if the available options don’t match your project perfectly, this is still where you will need to begin.

Having gone through this process ourselves, we can help you understand the challenges and pitfalls associated with this process and help you be better prepared for what to expect when you place your order.

In order to get a final quote, we’ll need to see the artwork for your project. Whether that is a series of 2-D drawings, or 3-D .stl files, we will need to see the final artwork in order to produce accurate pricing. If you are still early in the process and don’t have artwork, our budgetary calculator is an excellent tool for ballpark pricing. Please use our contact form to send us your artwork.

When we receive your artwork, it will be sent to our production partners for an evaluation of the designs for injection molding. You will be sent a final, price-accurate quote for the cost of the miniatures along with any details about your designs that might affect cost. Please allow up to a week for file evaluation and quoting.

Once you have discussed your quote with your account manager and reviewed the production schedule, you can pay for the order to begin the prototyping process.

This is an essential part of the process and is required for every order. To begin production, the first step will be determined by the state in which we’ve received your artwork.

If you’ve submitted 2-D files:

Our production partners will generate 3-D files based off of your 2-D designs. Allow up to two weeks for this process based on complexity and the number of files being created. 

When 3-D files are completed we’ll email them to you for approval. 

If edits are required you’ll need to submit design edits and we’ll produce a new series of 3-D files. This part of the process is built into the cost, but each revision takes time, so it’s best to get as much input into the edits as possible for each round of edits. 

When you are happy with the 3-D files you’ll approve them for 3-D printed prototypes.

If you’ve submitted 3-D files:

The production partners will communicate if any edits are necessary for the manufacturing process. 

You’ll have the choice of making those adjustments yourself or letting the partners make the adjustments to the digital files. 

This part of the process is built into the cost, but each revision takes time, so it’s best to get as much input into the edits as possible for each round of edits. 

When you are happy with the 3-D files you’ll approve them for 3-D printed prototypes.

It will take about two weeks for the prototypes to be printed, prepared and mailed to you for review. 

This material will not be the same material that is used for the final product. The final product uses a more flexible material that will hold up well to repeated use. The 3-D printed prototypes are delicate so be careful when handling them. 

The final injected pieces will have softer details than the 3-D printed prototypes due to the differences in process and materials. 

If you are happy with the prototypes, you are ready to approve them and move into production. 

If you want to continue to make edits to your files after seeing the physical products, it’s time to go back to the digital files. This new round of edits will take more time and cost $200 for every design that requires an edit and new prototype. You can choose to make a digital edit without getting a new physical prototype as well. This will save you the two weeks and the $200 per edit. 

Once you’ve approved the prototypes the production team will create the tool that your pieces will be injected into. This is the most expensive part of the process. 

They will then test out the tool and create a sample of your miniatures. These are called “production samples” since they reflect the same exact manufacturing style and material as the final product. If your pieces require any post-manufacturing process, like painting, that will be applied to the production samples.  These will be mailed to you for your final approval before production begins. 

This process will take about five weeks. 

Once your production samples are approved it’s time to move into final production. Your pieces will have to fit into a production schedule once they are approved. Depending on the complexity and quantity of your project this process can take 60 days or longer.

If your miniatures will be packaged into a game, we’ll kit the miniatures together with your game at our facilities and ship everything out at the same time. As with our book and game projects, you’ll have the ability to choose either expedited shipping, standard ocean shipping or a combination of both. Expedited shipping takes about one week and standard ocean shipping takes about six weeks. Please note that large quantities and the time of year you are shipping may impact the shipping speed, so make sure to communicate with your account manager about time-sensitive deadlines.