Greetings folks. I have some neat news to share as well as my first “Unpacking” a product blog entry EVER on the Internet!!!! Okay – so not really that big of a deal but still – neat. :)
So first with the news – I have been working on a marketing idea for a few months now and am finally ready to push it live this coming Halloween weekend. The idea comes down to this – it’s this mat you see – you lay it on the ground and it has different ‘conclusions’ that you can jump to. Oh man – how I love Office Space. So – as I was saying – one of the areas of photography I have been working myself more and more into as of late is bar photography (I’m even working on a couple side website projects for a few bars in town that will not only get them more online and social network recognition but also provide me with another venue to display my art and more importantly to display it to a whole new group of possible clientèle.
So – the concept – I really enjoy carrying my camera around while I’m out and about with friends – I mean – you do look pretty badass walking around a bar with a SoCo in one hand and a DSLR with flash and diffuser in the other. Side note to the diffuser – I use the Gary Fong LSUPRO Lightsphere Universal PRO Kit 
Which brings me to the product unboxing I got to have fun with this afternoon. Exactly a week ago – October 11th to be specific, I placed an order from Moo.com for some Minicards, their new Leather Minicard Holder and a couple of their White Label Minicard Boxes. I choose USPS standard shipping and am happy to say they arrived in Wisconsin on my doorstep about 12:30 today. Call me impressed – that is good turn around and I’ll tell you why. If you aren’t familiar with Moo – you should be. They employ a printing technology that has been branded “Printfinity“. The classic example of this amazing service – you order 100 Minicards for $20 and the image on the front side of everyone of those cards can be different. Every single card. As an added bonus – the actual Minicard is a pretty slick little business card that is unique and definitely gets people talking. I am ALWAYS getting asked by people in the field “Where did you get these cards?”. Everything from the nice thick bond of the paper to the amazing quality photo reproduction which is then encased in a silky matte finish – they scream quality – not for just the cards themselves but also for the person who is handing them out.
Let’s get to the unpacking. :)
The box arrived 7 days after ordering (not business days…real days). Moo’s cheapest shipping rates still provide a tracking number however it’s USPS and I always find their system to be a little ‘jumpy’ when it comes to updates. I will see the package be received and then leave the origin hub but then typically not see an update until it has reached the destination service center and is about to be put on a truck and delivered. It’s low cost and fairly efficient shipping – no big deal.
Moo plays the branding game with the best of them. Little details like their logo stamped on the package seal make you feel good inside. I have already borrowed a few of their branding concepts for my own deliverables.
“Designed by Moo and You”
More clever branding. Well Played Moo.
Packaging and shipping are spot on. The exterior box is thick enough so minor dings won’t be noticed on the inside. If a fork truck drives over it – Moo can’t be held accountable. Then again – since everything inside the box is in its own container – who knows – stuff might survive…..but no promises.
I have been ordering from Moo for a long time and their packaging/display cases for cards have definitely evolved…in a very good way. The box they ship in now is made from recycled pulp board and coated paper. It’s a classy container that looks good sitting on your desk but is also solid enough to carry your cards in the rough and tough field and know that they are protected and ready to go.
I ordered 200 cards. There is there nice little price break (well that is running as I write this entry) wherein if you spend more than $50, shipping is free. Because I was ordering the leather case, cards and a few of the white label display cases – I was very close to $50 but not over. However – since standard shipping is about $8 and another box of 100 cards is only $20 – if you know you’re going to need them in the future – it’s definitely a better bang for your buck to just drop the extra $20 and save on shipping. You’re basically getting that $20 pack for $12. Not too shabby.
I picked up a couple of their White Label Minicard Holders. They are exactly the same as the boxes that my cards came in except they don’t have the classic Moo ‘teardrop’ logo printed on them. I have no idea what I’m going to use these for at the moment but they were cheap and might come in handy.
This is the one I was most excited to see – they recently released a new Leather MiniCard holder that boosts storage up to 45 cards with stylish looks.
Packaging was top notch. Check out that thin tissue paper wrapper around the actual card holder which was then inserted in a made to size cardboard box. Classy.
There is is. From what I can tell – the stitching appears to be clean and solid though I can’t speak to how well it will hold up in the real world when it’s stuffed with their suggested number of cards. More on that below.
A little hook – perhaps for your key chain or lanyard.
Ahh you got me. The reason I am doing this review now is because I just got in my cards that I’m going to use for “Show Me The Bokeh”. More on that in the near future. :)
Here you can see how the holder expands to accept more cards. It’s a nice design because it keeps the holder small when you only want to carry a few cards but expands to fit a large number.
Look! Look! There I am pictured in Step 6! (I guess that’s me in Step 1 as well) This fun illustration printed on the inside of their shipping box is just another reason why Moo is hip and appeals to my inner geek.
And now for some detail shots to make you salivate…
This shot is taken with the card holder carrying exactly 45 cards (which is what Moo specifies as its capacity. Personally – I would drop that number down to 30 or so unless you knew it was going to be a high demand card sharing night and you don’t have time to refill very often. The reason I say that is mainly based on ease of use. With 45 cards stuck in there – it is a TIGHT fit and getting the first 5-10 cards out it is a little bit of a pain. I also mentioned earlier that I wasn’t sure about the strength of the stitching with that many cards crammed inside however – now that I think about it – leather expands with use. Perhaps that is where they got the magical ’45 card capacity’.
Woo! All right! So what are you waiting for? I bet you’re just aching to go give them a shot. Oh wow – almost forgot to mention – Moo provides design templates for every one of their products (Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign and JPEG). Not a wiz kid with Adobe – never fear – Moo has also teamed up with sites you use everyday to allow easy importing of images to their system and onto your cards. You can import images from Etsy, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and Smugmug. Super Easy. Super Awesome.