Hi everyone, my name is Brandon Carlson, and I’m the creator of Battle Baubles!

Battle Baubles started in 2021 as a personal side-project for myself while I was working on my degree; I’d just gotten back into playing the Pokemon TCG after having been away from the game for over 15 years, and a lot had changed. Gone were the colored glass beads I remembered using in my childhood; instead, everyone was using six sided dice to manage HP. As someone with ADHD and Autism, my brain doesn’t always work the same as everyone else’s; I always fought to find the right values on the dice, and it slowed down my play to the point where it would frustrate not only me, but my opponents as well.

So I set out to recreate the nostalgic look and feel of those little blue and yellow glass blobs. I found a Japanese product very similar to what I was looking for, but it was expensive to import a single set of little plastic blobs with numbers on them. Cardboard was, well, cardboard; and 3D printing was expensive and out of my league. So I turned to jewelry making supplies. I started by gluing paper to glass cabochons, but the paper could get wet and the ink would bleed. I needed something more.

I found earrings that had a flat tray, so I started cutting off the stems of the earrings with a dremel tool to make them sit flat on a surface, printed a design and pasted it under the glass. My first true iteration of Battle Baubles were complete!

I spent the next three years iterating and perfecting Battle Baubles. The original set began to corrode because of the exposed metal from cutting the earring stems off the trays, so I sourced new materials direct from manufacturers. I opened an Etsy store after other patrons at my local game store said they wanted their own sets, and I began introducing more colors and designs. Soon, I was having ideas for other games, Etsy customers were asking for custom designs, and some were even asking if I would sell wholesale to them so they could share with their local game stores! Of course, I thought getting my product into stores was a pipe dream, but I thought it could continue as a side hustle until I finished my degree.

I finally finished school in the Spring of 2024, and I started thinking about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I knew being self-employed was the only option, but even then I still didn’t think that Battle Baubles would be the answer. I started setting up my media business to offer photography and videography services, but no one wanted to hire me outside of friends or family. I setup a photography booth at a maker’s faire one Saturday in August, and for some reason I thought to bring along some of my inventory. Battle Baubles made me more money than my photography that day, so I decided to pivot.

I talked to friends and family about the plan, and they liked it enough to pitch in to cover my first set of expenses. I sold off some of the more expensive pieces of my video game collection, and I ordered a mountain of supplies. I traveled the Midwest for a few weekends promoting and networking; and the reception was awesome. A few people suggested I check out a few local game stores, and before I knew it I was setting up wholesale orders for a few retailers!

And that’s where we are today. Battle Baubles are available online and at some of the Midwest’s biggest supporters of the Pokemon TCG, with more local game stores coming soon. We’re still at the beginning of the journey, but I’m more excited with every passing day to bring Battle Baubles to more and more communities!