The most expensive mistake in kit packaging is sizing the box to the finished model on the lid artwork. Nothing in the box is that shape. What is in the box is a stack of flat plastic runners, a paper booklet, a decal sheet and some bags, and the box is a container for that stack.
Lay the sprues out and measure the largest
- Lay every runner flat on a table, the way they come off the tool.
- Measure the largest runner corner to corner across its frame, not across the parts.
- Check whether that runner can rotate inside the footprint you are considering. A box the exact size of the sprue makes loading slow.
- Stack all the runners and press the stack gently flat. That pressed height is your starting internal depth.
- Add the booklet, the decal sheet, any bagged small parts and a pad if the parts need protection from each other.
If one runner is much larger than the rest, that single part is dictating your box, your shelf space and your freight. It is worth asking whether it can be split at the tooling stage, because a smaller maximum runner shrinks the whole package.
What goes in and what it contributes
| Contents | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Largest sprue | Internal length and width, the hard floor for the footprint |
| Full sprue stack | Most of the internal depth |
| Instruction booklet | A footprint floor if folded to A4 or letter, plus a few millimetres of depth |
| Decal sheet | Very little depth, but it must lie flat and unbent, usually on top |
| Bagged small parts, clear parts, photo etch | Local depth, and a reason for a divider so they are not crushed under runners |
Tray and lid, and the shelf it sits on
Kits are traditionally packed in a two piece tray and lid, which suits a flat stack, lets a retailer display the lid art, and survives being opened and closed by a customer in a store. The lid laps over the tray, so the external size is larger than the internal cavity on every axis, and that external number is the one to check against retail shelf depth. If your kits sell through a chain with a fixed planogram, get the shelf depth before the dieline, not after.
A deep kit stacks poorly on a shelf, so where the stack allows it, a shallower, wider box usually merchandises better than a tall one with the same volume. Weight is rarely the problem with plastic kits, which is why print quality and board smoothness matter more here than board strength. That said, boxes in transit still need to resist crush in a carton of twelve, so ask for the shipper spec at the same time as the kit box.
Minimum, price and lead time
The minimum is 100 boxes, from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on your written quote. The die, the plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before printing are included, so a box cut exactly to your largest runner costs no more to tool than a rounded size, and cutting to the runner is usually the cheaper package over a production run. Production is quoted per product in three lanes, rush (expedited production plus air freight), standard (air) and cost saver (sea), from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 for delivery, with specialty imported work up to about 12 weeks. Two plants, West Chicago and Guangzhou.
Send the largest runner size, the pressed stack height and the retail shelf depth you have to fit with your quote request. If you are packing kits alongside other hobby lines, toy boxes is where that ordering happens, and rigid box versus corrugated box explains the trade if you are considering a premium collector edition.
