Newbie questions about printing

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

So, I'm planning to print out the 400-and-change cards that HPP had originally finished — the core set, the three large expansions (No Holds Barred, Extra Credt, Ponyville University), and all the finished mini-expansions (basically anything that was a completed card) — and I've got some questions swimming around in my head.

• I'm using the site that HPP linked on their site. I'm assuming that they're a fairly good place to do business, yes?
• Would there be any discernible difference if I chose 310 gpm over 300?
• Is there any advantage to choosing fully plastic cards? (I can see them being extremely slippery)
• Are there any additional cards people would recommend printing out along with all of these? Due to the size of the order I have to choose the "up to 504 cards" option, so I'm paying the same whether I print 409 or 450. It's actually what led me here.
• Is there an ETA on the CoF updates to the expansions? I'm wanting to take these cards with me to Nightmare Nights Dallas in about a month and a half and I'm currently making plans assuming those updates won't be for a while.

My current plan is: print the 1.1.5 ed. core deck and all the currently-up-to-date expansions, then at a later date when the CoF updates have all been made I'll print a second set; from there I can engage in shenanigans or simply give the gift of shipping to someone.

[Ithry]

I'm using the site that HPP linked on their site. I'm assuming that they're a fairly good place to do business, yes?

They're fine, though their prices have raised a bit lately. You could also use Make Playing Cards. Since you're printing such a small print run, the prices wouldn't be much different, if at all. If you use Make Playing Cards, they have two "Poker" sizes, standard and metric. Standard is slightly larger and what the original HPP Core/Expansions and many of the older fan cards are. Metric is slightly smaller and what 1.1.4 Core and many of the new fan cards are (Slice of Starswirl Academy, Bronycon 2016 promo, Lunar Shine/Sweet Cream's group printing of 1.1.6 Core). Sleeving solves the size problem, so up to you who to use. Standard is what Printer Studio prints out at.

standard: http://www.makeplayingcards.com/design/custom-blank-card-traditional-size.html
metric: http://www.makeplayingcards.com/design/custom-blank-card.html

Would there be any discernible difference if I chose 310 gpm over 300?

Yeah, linen finish is noticeably different than smooth. Current cards are 300 gsm smooth.

Is there any advantage to choosing fully plastic cards?

Not that I can think of. If you're worried about long term damage, just sleeve them.

Are there any additional cards people would recommend printing out along with all of these?

May as well print out all of the official cards like the workshop cards and con promos as well if you weren't considering it. Cupcakes! from It's Practically Canon has finished art. As far as fan cards, Inconvenient Trixie and the Children of Kefentse promos (Pardon Our Dust, Online Chat Room, and Dizzy Frizzy, Patron Saint of Shippers) have full bleed files on Shipficbooru you can use. Alternate art Druid Fluttershy is on there as well.

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

Sorry, gsm. I'm obviously new to this.

I've been washing back and forth on Cupcakes! since going through all the bleed files from the github repository. On the one hand the art is nice and its mechanics are obviously done. On the other it's obviously got placeholder flavor text and that's arguably the best part of the game (personally I enjoy the house rule that you must read out the flavor text of every card you play). Similarly I've been washing back and forth on the CoK promo cards, although to be honest Online Chat Room is just too good to not include even if I do just houserule it to always activate.

Thanks for all the tips, though. I didn't even know about the two different sizes of cards floating around.

EDIT: Now I looked at that site you linked and it has me wondering if I should order a box for these things. I mean, 400-some-odd cards is a lot and I don't really know what kind of box this place ships with, in either quality or size. Honestly I hadn't given any thought to how I was going to store these yet.

[Ithry]

it has me wondering if I should order a box for these things

I'd imagine the tuck boxes they ship in aren't super sturdy and won't fit sleeved cards if you're going that route. You could always order a few card boxes on Amazon. I use a 1000 count longbox that you can get at your local game store (or Amazon) for a few bucks and that's worked out well for me so far: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnsoKWwVMAI7fQv.jpg

Without a tuckbox, sites like Printer Studio just ship the cards shrink wrapped in a standard shipping box.

[N.A. Larson]

My current plan is: print the 1.1.5 ed. core deck

I wanted to point out that Core 1.1.6 is already available for printing (and likely available for purchase at Nightmare Nights). If you're wondering what we changed, here's the errata. I'm hoping to get Extra Credit and Ponyville U uploaded this week.

it has me wondering if I should order a box for these things

I'm with Ithry: you'd be better off buying a trading card box. Check your local comic/card store.

just houserule it to always activate.

Why would you houserule Online Chat Room? Don't you WANT to have an edge on your friends? :3

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

My current plan is: print the 1.1.5 ed. core deck

I wanted to point out that Core 1.1.6 is already available for printing (and likely available for purchase at Nightmare Nights). If you're wondering what we changed, here's the errata. I'm hoping to get Extra Credit and Ponyville U uploaded this week.

Ooh. In that case, I'll hold off for a little bit to see if that pans out (I know best laid plans often get pushed down the to-do list when other responsibilities get in the way). I'd love to have the full, corrected crop of cards. If I'm being completely honest part of it was that I already had ALL the bleed images uploaded to that other site, and the work to replace the core deck with the updated version would have been a major pain; though now I think starting fresh in metric with the Make Playing Cards site will be better in the long run. Circumstances are that I won't be able to get to that until this weekend, anyway.

Again, thanks for all the help here. I'm glad there's people around to indulge a newcomer like me (I've not always had that kind of an experience in new forums).

[Ithry]

Glad to help!

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

Okay, new question I just thought of now that I'm waiting: about how long should I expect the cards to arrive after I order them, assuming I'm ordering the ~500 cards I said I'd be. I know I can choose different shipping speeds, but how long does it take to actually make the cards before they're shipped out?

Of course, I might be asking the wrong people and if it was right in front of me feel free to yell at me for being an idiot.

[Ithry]

Turnaround time is about a few weeks to your door, depending on area. The card printing itself is usually 3-5 days-ish, depending on volume and the amount of orders they have. You can get more specifics here:

http://www.printerstudio.com/shipping.aspx

http://www.makeplayingcards.com/shipping.aspx

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

I mean, that was what I meant when I said "if it's right in front of me". Sorry about that. 

But it seems it expects around 10 days. Just to be sure, then, I'll plan to order the cards around the first of October. Hopefully life lets the expansions fully corrected by then.

[Lord LunaEquie is me]

So... what's the status on Ponyville University and Extra Credit? I don't mean to be rude, but I'm getting a little nervous and I don't want to put off ordering the card for much longer here.

[N.A. Larson]

We just finished reviewing them and they should be up later today.