EDIT: This Kickstarter is over! Just sharing the final product.

There is a Kickstarter for vinyl mats using deep space photography. Some are real images (any if the galaxy or starfield ones), some are color mapped (nebula ones). I mentioned this in another thread, but since there are only 2 days left I thought I'd bring it up again. It's funded and all if the stretch goals for additional image selections are met.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/374295421/dstone-art-space-game-mats-wave-2

They have a variety of sizes, including epic 3x6 mats.

I got a mat from their first Kickstarter and am very happy with it.

Here are some of the options:

Their target delivery date is September, but they got their first mats out a month early and that was with some printing issues they got sorted, so I'm expecting them in August

If your curious how they took the photos, he describes the process pretty thoroughly in the comments section.

Added at the 55 dollar level. Man are these pretty.

Added at the 55 dollar level. Man are these pretty.

Yeah, I'm getting an epic mat at the $55 level

You can just go to build a sign .com and upload a picture from the hubble. I had 2 maps made for about $30.

For those about to check:

Pledge $30 or more

Redshirt Level - Backers at this level will receive one 3x3 mat of their choice from the unlocked images.

Add $45 USD to ship outside the US

I've been looking at this one, myself. If I go in, it'll be to get one 3x6 Orion Nebula and one 3x3. Haven't decided between the Sadr with the Butterfly Nebula, or the lunar Eclipse one.

For those about to check:

Pledge $30 or more

Redshirt Level - Backers at this level will receive one 3x3 mat of their choice from the unlocked images.

Add $45 USD to ship outside the US

Yeah, that bit sucks, but some sorta good news for Canadians at least? I think it's a Kickstarter rule.

We also are acutely aware that International Shipping is expensive. In order to accommodate as many backers as possible, we are only able to offer individuals outside of the USA the ability to back at the 3' x 3' levels. This is due to the fact that the US Postal Service has restrictions an shipping packages over 42" to some countries.

We are also concerned that International Shipping to some countries is less expensive than others, namely Canada. As such, Canadian backers will receive a bonus mat due to the difference in actual shipping cost charged via Kickstarter as opposed to the actual postage expense we will incur.

For those about to check:

Pledge $30 or more

Redshirt Level - Backers at this level will receive one 3x3 mat of their choice from the unlocked images.

Add $45 USD to ship outside the US

Yeah, that bit sucks, but some sorta good news for Canadians at least? I think it's a Kickstarter rule.

We also are acutely aware that International Shipping is expensive. In order to accommodate as many backers as possible, we are only able to offer individuals outside of the USA the ability to back at the 3' x 3' levels. This is due to the fact that the US Postal Service has restrictions an shipping packages over 42" to some countries.

We are also concerned that International Shipping to some countries is less expensive than others, namely Canada. As such, Canadian backers will receive a bonus mat due to the difference in actual shipping cost charged via Kickstarter as opposed to the actual postage expense we will incur.

So... 75$ for 2 mats? That's still pretty steep...

Yeah, I'm in the US, so $55 for 2 mats seems pretty reasonable for me. There are other options out there for international players, but I thought it was at least worth sharing for US players.

I bought the UK versions of the Harry Potter books for my now wife and paid like $75 to ship them here, so it seems getting things over oceans just sucks in general.

I got some from the first wave of mats. I highly recommend them. Not only are the images great, but the material is PERFECT. Unrolls and gets flat pretty quick, even if stored rolled up. The material is heavy enough to not really roll up. And the mat has enough grip to really help lessen bumping issues. Sadly, I'm not quite sure what my budget will allow, though I am at least getting the moon eclipse, because of all the rave reviews I heard about the first moon mat.

I got some from the first wave of mats. I highly recommend them. Not only are the images great, but the material is PERFECT. Unrolls and gets flat pretty quick, even if stored rolled up. The material is heavy enough to not really roll up. And the mat has enough grip to really help lessen bumping issues. Sadly, I'm not quite sure what my budget will allow, though I am at least getting the moon eclipse, because of all the rave reviews I heard about the first moon mat.

Yeah, I got the Rosetta nebula from the first one, they're fantastic.

If it wasn't for the shipping costs of have some of these

Honestly, Is there any place in Canada to buy something like this?

Any place I've looked at online the shipping costs as much or more as the mats. I've even asked my local game store

If it wasn't for the shipping costs of have some of these

Honestly, Is there any place in Canada to buy something like this?

Any place I've looked at online the shipping costs as much or more as the mats. I've even asked my local game store

That $55 level is seriously tempting. Not sue if I want vinyl over mousepad material, though.

Vinyl is going to be slippery, you should try to find the neoprene mats or the ones made out of that mouse pad material...

That $55 level is seriously tempting. Not sue if I want vinyl over mousepad material, though.

I have a couple of vinyl ones. No wthat I have had a chance to compare them to the mouse pad material mats, I would rather do the mouse pad ones.

I assure you, the vinyl isn't that slippery. They are above and beyond the Gale Force 9 mats.

If it wasn't for the shipping costs of have some of these

Honestly, Is there any place in Canada to buy something like this?

Any place I've looked at online the shipping costs as much or more as the mats. I've even asked my local game store

Like I mentioned above, Canada gets a free 2nd mat. Get a friend to go 50/50 and each take a mat. That's $38 each for a mat, not terrible? It's a thought anyway.

You can just go to build a sign .com and upload a picture from the hubble. I had 2 maps made for about $30.

Only problem with this option is finding I high enough quality base image.

Last day

You can just go to build a sign .com and upload a picture from the hubble. I had 2 maps made for about $30.

Only problem with this option is finding I high enough quality base image.

The telescopes I use are high-end equipment, better than what is in use at most universities. Likewise, the mounts are high-end. They are all actively guided, so there is no blurring even for long exposures. I generally use 300, 600, and 900 second exposures, so active guiding is the only way to ensure there is no blurring. That means there is a second camera working in tandem with the main imaging camera. The second camera takes continuous images of a single star. The guiding software calculates how much that star has drifted from where it should be in the guiding image, and sends pulses to the mount to make minute corrections in its position, thus keeping the star right in the middle of the guiding image. With this method, I've taken exposures as long as an hour with no blurring side effects.

You can just go to build a sign .com and upload a picture from the hubble. I had 2 maps made for about $30.

Only problem with this option is finding I high enough quality base image.

http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/search/

that one has a search option for minimum picture size, e.g. around 100 pics with 70mp or more

some are large enough that you can use subsections of images and still retain enough pixels for a reasonable dpi rate.

A bit of a necro bump here, but I edited the first post to help remove confusion.

I just got my new mat today for epic, and it's gorgeous. August 1st, well ahead of the projected date. Hope everybody else is as happy as I am. It's still a bit wrinkly from travel, but that'll smooth out if I leave it out for a day.

Also, I haven't actually played an epic match yet. Holy crap it's huge.

I ended up grabbing two of these. They just came in. Can't post pics at the moment, but they look awesome! I'll get to play on one tomorrow.