@ShelbyLohman
Aside from the critiques of the linen mousepads looking more like burlap than linen IMO you hit it out of the park with Pawnerai's red/black board pictured in post 81
Will you be making that specific board available (hoping you saved the file used to create it)?
Capital letters for file labeling? (Is this because the old Drueke has capital letters?)
budh9534,
Nope, it was because some of the people on the forums were looking for me to take the notation from the old Legends products boards. They were saying that the regular notation I use on boards was too bold and obnoxious.
Shelby
@ShelbyLohrman
Big/small, bold/thin, and upper/lower-case, are 3 different attributes.
I would LOVE to see a pic of the Drueke board compared side-by-side with a Legend Products board. Someone get Shelby one of them LP boards, stat!
Capital letters for file labeling? (Is this because the old Drueke has capital letters?)
The Drueke linen board had no letters and numbers. I know I had mine out yesterday.
I feel you have the colors about right but I think the "linen grain" is overdone.
Beat me to it. Just my .02 worth but it seems to me the 'linen' is too pronounced
When I took my board out last night the "linen grain" is hardly noticeable. Just my vision and opinion. The reason I brought this topic up to begin with was for the colors which no one came close to manufacturing in a thin flex board.
I totally agree with you.
'
@ShelbyLohrman
Not that my opinion weighs more than other opinions on here. But I am a customer that WILL buy at minimum one or two flex pads as soon as they are done if it wows me. Others are giving opinions and also state they will NOT buy the board. You decide if you would make it to specs for someone who will never buy the board or listen to customers who WILL buy the board.
I respect the EYEDOCS opinion 100% as you communicate with him since he had both boards and he knows what looks good. If the EYEDOC okays the final workup put me down for two.
You have the original board Ron sent you, when you glance at it you really can not see the gain of the linen. It was made of that material because it would not crack, lay open flat without too much of a noticeable divide, and could be cleaned fairly easily. Linen wasn't used for the grain pattern. That is my opinion but that is also facts. I had my board for well over 30 years and it looks like new. These boards were A#1 quality who no one would ever duplicate properly (someone came close with a 4 folded linen board but the gap was too noticeable for me). When the new company took over Drueke they stopped making everything eventually that had to do with chess, very sad, and a bad management decision. <<<<<my opinion.
Others are giving opinions and also state they will NOT buy the board. You decide if you would make it to specs for someone who will never buy the board or listen to customers who WILL buy the board.
For the record, I believe I am the only person who has said I am not buying this board. I have 3 Flexpads. Green, Grey, and Red&Black. It's more than enough for any sane person.
TundraMike, if you want a board specific to what YOU want. Why don't you just get on the phone and speak with Shelby? He'll print you a one off. That's exactly what I did. It took 15 minutes. We kicked around some ideas. He sends over a proof. A round of revisions. I approve. Shelby prints and mails it out. It was actually pretty fun. Shelby is a great guy to talk to. I was frankly surprised he had all this time during the day to chit chat. Hah!
You started this topic thread Dec 21, 2020. Three months ago. I suggested to you on the same day of your post, to contact Shelby. I think you will be much happier.
Others are giving opinions and also state they will NOT buy the board. You decide if you would make it to specs for someone who will never buy the board or listen to customers who WILL buy the board.
For the record, I believe I am the only person who has said I am not buying this board. I have 3 Flexpads. Green, Grey, and Red&Black. It's more than enough for any sane person.
TundraMike, if you want a board specific to what YOU want. Why don't you just get on the phone and speak with Shelby? He'll print you a one off. That's exactly what I did. It took 15 minutes. We kicked around some ideas. He sends over a proof. A round of revisions. I approve. Shelby prints and mails it out. It was actually pretty fun. Shelby is a great guy to talk to. I was frankly surprised he had all this time during the day to chit chat. Hah!
You started this topic thread Dec 21, 2020. Three months ago. I suggested to you on the same day of your post, to contact Shelby. I think you will be much happier.
I am the one who initially asked Shelby to make the Drueke board. And again why would he listen to someone who has no intention to buy the product vs someone who will buy the product if it looks 95% the same as the original. And bold number/lettering looks hideous to me, I will not buy any board that is so distracting. Again it is all my opinion but I am the customer here who initiated this board. Ron the EYEDOC mailed him the board to make it from. The linen look is not part of the board as on the original board you hardly notice it and that is not why it was made out of linen. My 30+-year-old Drueke Linen Board looks better than anyone vinyl board hands down of that age. That is a fact not an opinion. My board is probably more like 40 years old.
And yes I am in contact with Shelby. I always have been. I just want to have more input as a buyer of his flex board than someone who is not. You make the product for the buyer.
He made the BEST plastic set on the market hands down in his Ultimate Set 3.0 and I hope this flex board will follow suit. The Drueke linen board was so popular for a number of reasons and one was the colors.
Going back and forth with colors is very hard. There is only one person that sees the ACTUAL COLORS and that is Shelby who is getting all the samples. COlors look totally different when you scan or take a picture and post than what they are in "real-time" under normal light. Some look so different in a picture you would not think it is the same.....So in the end, I will trust Shelby that it looks 95% like the original board. That will be good enough for me. I will buy one without and one with a border.
Well, I have talked with Shelby. Here are a few points:
* He is going to make the board both with notation and without notation marks.
* The graining or linen effect looks fine in real life, under normal lighting and with pieces on it. Yes this was his call, which I trust from experience with him.
* These boards are customizable so you can get any stinkin’ color or effect or lack thereof you want. All you need do is contact him.
* The original Drueke linen boards that I own, yes I own 2 of them, have the light squares being too yellow for my tastes. My Noj European Maple pieces and the new Ultimate plastic white pieces clash in color on that board. This is why Shelby is changing that to be less yellow.
* The letters being upper case is a direct copy of the Legend vinyl board type that I also sent him. You will note the letters and numbers are noticeably smaller than before. Also the upper case letters aren’t that bad. This also is why I am getting boards both with and boards without the notation markings.
@EYECHESS Hi Ron, At one time Shelby told me he was thinking of putting the color spectrum on his website so you can order any color you want but decided not to.
That would be great as if you chose to make your own board with custom colors you pay for it ahead of time and you own it. I still think it will be successful for whoever comes out with this idea first. Basically, he is going on the "color spectrum" and then ordering you a custom color board. The problem is you might not see the same color as he does. I would rather order my own(mistake or not) and pay for it in advance and get it shipped direct.
Colors look so different from either scanning or taking a picture with your phone. I know I take pictures and list items on eBay and also scan in certain items. Some items are so far from their "real" color you would think the picture is wrong.
Just shooting around some ideas is all. The "linen marks" do not look good in the pictures on here. If they look different in "real-time" that will be fine. When I look at my Drueke board I do not even notice "linen streaks".
@TundraMike My custom board literally took 15 minutes on the phone and over email. Your board is going into its 4th month. Shelby asked for any and all opinions. So I opined. No need for drama.
Colors look so different from either scanning or taking a picture with your phone. I know I take pictures and list items on eBay and also scan in certain items. Some items are so far from their "real" color you would think the picture is wrong.
@ShelbyLohrman
I mentioned this before in Post #72
In a pinch,,, when taking a photo and using it to show color representation, it's helpful to have a piece of white paper somewhere. And something with a constant familiar color like a red can of CocaCola. So we can see if there is color shift or lighting correction needed to see a truer representation of the color on screen. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing. It might help with some frustrations. Think of it as a ghetto color checker card.
Kids....KIDS...play nice! Take a step back and breathe. The drama can be fun for some, but it is mainly tiring for the rest of us.
I know what I asked for and we all need to play well in the sandbox together else I stop asking and just do whatever I want instead of polling the masses. We don't want that...that leads to too many mistakes.
Mike, if someone wants to chime in and give their opinion...let them. At least he is being upfront and honest about being in the market to buy another board. That is better than most other out there!
Personally, I like the heavier texture on the design. it will be less visible the more yellow I take out of the design mind you. Look at the pics of the original
board (TOP) vs. the Legends products vinyl (bottom).
Sorry, I took that at my desk. picture is not to what I normally do.
Thanks,
Shelby Lohrman
American Chess Equipment
No problem here and no drama. I will take 2 boards that I see in the picture. One with and without rank/file. Love the colors of the Drueke and the Legend both. They are 99% similar.
Well, those are the boards I sent him. And they are not that close in real life.
The Legend board is really yellow, almost like the butter ultimate, believe it or not.
We are better off looking at the board colors with the plastic Ultimate version 3 and boxwood pieces on the board.
Well, those are the boards I sent him. And they are not that close in real life.
The Legend board is really yellow, almost like the butter ultimate, believe it or not.
We are better off looking at the board colors with the plastic Ultimate version 3 and boxwood pieces on the board.
If the flex board comes out close to what the Drueke board is I will be happy with it. I still think letting people order their own custom boards and letting them make their own mistakes or triumphs will be met with lots of orders. I know it can be done. I am going through something very similar only with a custom "casino" chipset. I noticed what they show me in a picture and then what they send me as a sample sometimes looks different enough for me to be glad I paid for a sample before ordering a whole set.
Not one, but TWO, vintage folding Drueke linen boards (2.25" sq) on a popular auction site at the moment. $120-$100. Get them while they're hot.
***EDIT***
Aaaaand...... they're BOTH SOLD in under 6 hours.
$100 (Buy It Now.) And $120 (Best Offer Accepted.)
You snooze you lose folks 
Better luck next time.
Shelby, I keep checking your web page for the flex pad boards. Any timeline for putting them there for orders? Thanks-Bill
Shelby, I keep checking your web page for the flex pad boards. Any timeline for putting them there for orders? Thanks-Bill
SwimmerBill,
Not sure what you are talking about. "Flex Pad" boards are the thin mousepad boards. If you remember, I am usually the creator, not the copier. I had the thin mousepad boards on my site before Raphael did. He just came up with a WAY cooler name for them. I would post a link, but I am being careful not to violate the ToS here on Chess.com. The input by all of you is just WAY too valuable to me creating and getting feedback on new products.
That is unless you are referring to the "VinylPad" boards. Those are the ones with the Vinyl top and Mousepad bottom. There was a small problem with the adhesive that was used to mount the vinyl to the mousepad bottom. Right now, we are looking for an adhesive that is slightly more aggressive to bind the 2 together. The new adhesive is not due in for about a month. That's the delay with those boards.
Hope everything is going well. Keep healthy and safe!
thanks
Shelby Lohrman
American Chess Equipment
+1