Custom Plastic Medals vs. Trading Cards That Teams Keep

Yes, and that's one of the most common ways coaches and league directors use Snapshot. You can order pack options that cover multiple athletes and structure your order to include unique photos for each player. The pack pricing tops out at $49.99, and you can place multiple orders if your roster is large. There's no bulk minimum, so you're not locked into ordering a fixed quantity. Whether you're outfitting a roster of eight or a full travel club of thirty-plus, the process is the same — upload photos, pick templates, and ship to one address or multiple.

Standard smartphone photos work well for most cards. The sharper and better-lit the original image, the crisper the final printed card will look — so action shots taken in good lighting will always outperform blurry or low-resolution images. You don't need a professional photographer's files. A well-lit photo taken courtside or on a field with a recent smartphone is usually more than sufficient. If you're working with photos taken at an indoor gym, try to use images where the athlete is well-lit and in focus. Our templates are designed to make good photos look great.

Every single card ordered from Snapshot includes a free magnetic case — the same style collectors use to protect valuable cards. That's included automatically with every single card purchase at no extra cost. Card packs come packaged together. The MEGA 11-by-15-inch poster card is a standalone product that ships flat and protected. All orders include free standard shipping anywhere in the USA. There are no handling fees, no packaging surcharges, and no surprise charges added at checkout. The price listed is the price you pay.

It's genuinely one of the best uses for the MEGA card. At 11 by 15 inches, it's large enough to mat and frame — which is exactly what most families end up doing. High school coaches have used MEGA cards for senior night recognition, presenting them at half-time ceremonies or banquet dinners. Club coaches use them as end-of-season gifts for standout players. Because it uses the same pro sports-card template format as our standard cards, it looks like an oversized version of something from an actual card collection — not a generic certificate or plaque.

Absolutely. The card templates aren't limited to football, baseball, or basketball. Teams and groups from martial arts, swim clubs, cheerleading, dance, esports, rodeo, lacrosse, and dozens of other activities have used Snapshot cards successfully. Any sport or activity where you have a photo of an athlete in action or in uniform can work. The sport name and position fields on the template are fully customizable, so you're not forced to pick from a predetermined list. If your team competes in it, we can put it on a card.

Standard awards vendors typically require minimum order quantities, charge setup fees for custom engraving or artwork, and have production lead times of one to two weeks or more. Custom plastic medals from those vendors are also generic — they carry a sport icon and maybe a name, but they don't carry a photo or tell a personal story. Snapshot has no minimums, no setup fees, two-to-three-day production, free shipping, and every card includes the athlete's actual photo. The per-unit cost is comparable to mid-range medals once you factor in engraving and shipping costs from traditional vendors.

Every card is produced in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. We're not outsourcing production overseas or routing orders through a third-party fulfillment center with variable quality controls. Our team handles printing and quality review in-house. That's part of why we can confidently stand behind a two-to-three-day ship window — we control the production process from start to finish. Supporting a USA-based operation also matters to a lot of the coaches and league administrators we work with, especially for youth sports organizations that prioritize buying American-made products when possible.