Submitted on behalf of MGX
MGX is partnering with Unifoil Corporation and Leaf Trading Cards for a special PRINTING United Expo promotion designed to show how the right substrate can turn a printed piece into a collectible experience. Throughout the September 23-25 event, attendees can visit MGX Booth N5722 to pick up a limited-edition print produced on Unilustre® digital-grade metallic board.
A different set of athletes will be featured each day of the show, giving visitors a new print to discover on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Quantities will be limited, and each daily edition will be available while supplies last.
The collaboration brings together Leaf’s experience creating sports and entertainment collectibles, Unifoil’s metallic substrate technology and MGX’s expertise in specialty media for commercial digital printing. The finished pieces are intended to do more than promote a product: they let attendees hold the material and see how the metallic surface becomes part of the design.
“Materials aren’t just about function. The right substrate can transform a printed piece from something that’s glanced at and discarded into something people want to pick up, examine and keep,” said Jeremy Underhill, Vice President of sales at MGX. “This collaboration demonstrates how metallic media can become part of the design itself, creating a visual experience that adds value beyond the printed message.”
Metallic impact begins with the material
Digital Grade Unilustre is a metallized paper and board engineered to deliver bright reflective effects without a laminated plastic film. Its surface can be incorporated into artwork as a design element, allowing printers to build metallic highlights, dimensional color and changing visual effects directly into the printed piece. Strategic use of white ink and process color gives designers control over where the metallic surface shines through and where colors appear more opaque.
For printers and brands, this approach can create premium visual impact while simplifying how metallic effects are produced. Depending on the design and workflow, printing on a metallic substrate can reduce the need for separate foil-stamping or film-laminating steps, making high-value effects accessible for digitally produced work.
Premium appearance with a more sustainable construction
Unilustre products are plastic-free, solvent-free, recyclable, and repulpable, providing printers and brands with a more sustainable way to achieve foil-like visual impact without film-laminated construction. The result supports a central message of the collaboration: environmental considerations do not have to eliminate creativity, color or shelf appeal.
The athlete series also demonstrates how material choice can influence perceived value. Trading cards are designed to be examined, handled and collected; the movement of light across the metallic surface makes the substrate part of that interaction. By changing the featured athlete each day, the promotion brings the same ideas of scarcity, variation and collectibility used in successful card programs to the show-floor experience.
Attendees can collect the daily limited-edition athlete print at MGX Booth N5722 during PRINTING United Expo, September 23-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Each edition will be offered only on its featured day and only while supplies last. Visitors can also review additional Unilustre samples and speak with the MGX team about digital press compatibility, artwork preparation and potential metallic applications.
Learn more at mgxdigital.com.