OT: Where to have Custom Trading Cards printed?

[thecatspajamas]

Anyone have any experience with this? I'm looking to have some "custom" trading cards produced for personal appearances / signings by non-sports personalities, and need to know where best to have them printed up. I see a number of places online where I can have it done for anywhere from $0.05 per card up to $0.50 per card or so for quantities of 1000+ (single card design), but haven't tried any out yet. I have no problem generating the artwork/design in Photoshop and uploading in whatever format is needed. These are to be giveaways/freebies, so cost is a factor, but I do want a quality product the first time rather than going through 2 or 3 rounds of deskjet-quality schlock before settling on the printer I should have started with.

Any personal experiences/recommendations?

[kkkkandp]

I used Jim Bouton's company for my son's birth announcement, but it was a looooong time ago. They're still around, though

http://www.jimbouton.com/cards.html

[rdwyer]

I do my own designs and have them printed on a canon color copier. Registration is key, might take 2 or 3 prints before fronts and backs are lined up right. Be warned that you can only print up to a certain thickness. Don't remember what I did. But they came out thinner than regular cards. I printed sheets with 16 cards per sheet.

[Paul S]

Just and idea: Certainly you have kids organized sports teams in the Nashville area: soccer, teeball, et al. Just call one up and ask them who they use for their printing of the cards that us parents buy (or in my case, bought...I kind of miss that period). If y6u need lots of 1000 for a single event, I'm sure you will get a good deal, especially if you order for more than one event in advance.

[thecatspajamas]

I appreciate the suggestions, but I think you guys may have misunderstood my question. It's not hard to find any number of places that will print up custom trading cards. I'm just wondering if anyone here has any actual experience doing so with good results. (Recent experience is a plus).

[sports-rings]

if you can make professional quaility pdf's you can use gotprint.com they are one of the least expensive printers out there, and you can upload the pdf's, front and back. they have done full 4 color business cards and postcards (2 sides, coated stock)

[bbcard1]

I have done a lot of them over the years....mostly for former collegiate football players or minor celebrities doing autograph appearances. It's pretty easy for me as I work in advertising. I use photoshop and usually just get them printed at Vistaprint or someplace similar.