Garage production run

Hi All!

I have a game that I developed some time back. I did some testing with it
but didn't pursue sales or licensing because I had other projects on my
hands at the time. I have an opportunity right now to go out and sell some
of these games at a local school fair.

I've see two options in terms of my doing a short manufacturing run out in
the garage. Both have drawbacks.

The easy way:

Fold a piece of paper around a 5x7" metal plate, which is sold as "flashing"
at the hardware store. I then paint magnets two different colors and drop
everything into a zipper bag with a die. I'll have instructions printed up
along with a piece of cardboard to fold over the top. This is more-or-less
how you'd see a cheap game hanging on a pegboard hook at a drug store.

On the plus side, this is the way I built and tested the original prototypes
so I know that the concept does work. The cost of making the product this
way is pretty cheap so I'll be able to pick a low price point, about $5, and
still hit a decent margin. The problem is that the game looks ultra cheap.
Also, the magnets scrape up the paper after a while.

(I'm fixin' to go to the office supply store right now to see if I can find
a sticker that will fit the flashing, and maybe I can glue a piece of fabric
to the bottom of the magnets so that they don't scratch the paper.)

The other way:

I can buy white mouse pads from http://bestblanks.com/mousepads.html and put
the artwork on the pads using heat transfers (iron ons that I can print on
printer.) I would then package the product in a white gift box. The game
pieces would be "flat marbles" from the craft store. It sounds nice in
theory but I've never done a prototype run. Given that the fair is in a
couple weeks, I don't even have the time to do a prototype run. The risk
here is minimal, but I don't want to get all setup to sell these things and
then find out there are quality problems. I do think the games would look
classier and bring in a slightly higher price. In the end, though, I would
loose on margin. One real problem I've been having, by the way, is finding
the right size box.

The big picture: I have a short time to manufacture a 50 piece run of a
simple product. If somebody has done something of this nature before, or if
you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

I posted a Picture of the prototype at http://www.miketurco.com/proto . I'll
have nicer artwork when I go into "production".

Thanks!

Mike