How we got here

I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder—my wife might disagree—but I've always loved cool packaging materials. I still have the starter deck boxes from Magic: the Gathering Revised and Ice Age. And the UltraPro Deck Protector sleeve boxes, from when those used to come in boxes. Every video game box from NES onward. (Maybe I am a hoarder...)

I opened my Pokémon TCG packs with the greatest care, using some of the pack art and clear packing tape to decorate my card boxes. It goes harder 25 years later imo.

For a while I was really into board games, leading Friday game times at my workplace from 2016 to 2020. I read about how to make custom inserts (foamcore and chipboard) and tuck boxes, though I never got around to making them.

The pandemic put a stop to my board gaming, but the rise of pack break livestreams revived my TCG collecting. TCG packaging had come a long way since 1999, and I saved or repurposed every usable bit. Celebrations ETB inserts and special collection boxes became box dividers for my growing collection, or bookmarks for my kids.

A little later, when I had taught my kids to play Pokémon TCG (and then Lorcana), I needed deck boxes. Three Gamegenic 80s fit perfectly in an ETB by the way.

I quickly realized I didn't want to keep spending on deck boxes, and that the decorative ETB inserts could be turned into decent deck boxes. I applied what I'd learned about making boxes for board game components, and I was pretty happy with the result.

As for why I'd blog/tweet about it... when my wife and I were making our first piñata (for our children's birthday party), I had googled for instructions and ideas and come across a piñata blog that was super helpful. Completely free. Just sharing knowledge and advice. I thought that was cool. So here's a space for sharing ideas about this. Feel free to contribute your own ideas too!