Introduction

Want a holographic trading card of yourself without a closed SaaS? On Nov 3, sshiao released Card Forge v1.0.0 — an MIT Next.js app that routes every generation step through open-weights ComfyUI workflows for Comfy’s Open Source Higgsfield challenge (Open Weights Only lane).

Photo in → card text + hero art + foil frame out. No mystery API for the creative bits.

What shipped

  • Repo: sshiao/card-forge (created ~06:37 UTC Nov 3; topics comfyui, open-weights, trading-cards, threejs).
  • Release v1.0.0 (same hour) with a 1:40 demo MP4 (~13 MB) — also mirrored on
    . Voiceover in the demo is Qwen3-TTS on Comfy Cloud.
  • Stack: Node 22.6+ app; Comfy API key against a paid Comfy Cloud workspace (Free tier has no API). Mock mode (FORGE_MOCK=1) lets you click through with shipped example assets and no credits.
  • Models in the graph: Qwen3-VL-8B Instruct for card JSON, Qwen Image Edit 2511 + Lightning 4-step LoRA for hero art, BiRefNet cutouts for the glass card, plus browser SVG/Three.js foil and Mediabunny MP4 export.

What you actually get

  • Card text from the photo. Qwen3-VL reads clothes, colors, setting, expression and returns name, title, element, HP, ability, two moves, weakness/resistance/retreat, flavor, plus pose/scene (and an optional hero outfit).
  • You as the hero. Qwen Image Edit paints two candidates in that pose/scene — keep your clothes or switch to the designed hero outfit — then you pick or iterate.
  • Nine frames. Six battle-card looks (vintage holo → rainbow rare), two sports-card chrome/retro fronts, plus a Future glass 3D see-through card with pointer-follow foil.
  • Exports. PNG download or a little turntable video. Edit any line of card text before you commit.

Workflows live in-repo (workflows/card-text.api.json, card-art.api.json, card-cutout.api.json) so you can audit or fork the Comfy graphs.

Time and cost (Comfy Cloud, Nov 2026 notes)

  • Card text: ~50–80 s (mostly loading Qwen3-VL).
  • Two art candidates: ~20–40 s in a short queue; glass cutouts ~39 s in their test.
  • Frame/edit/PNG in-browser: instant.
  • Rough credit burn in their writeup: about $0.10 per card (~7¢ text, ~3¢ per art pair) — check your own Comfy billing.

How to try it today

git clone https://github.com/sshiao/card-forge.git
cd card-forge
cp .env.example .env.local
export COMFY_API_KEY=...   # or set FORGE_MOCK=1 to explore without a key
npm ci
npm run dev

Open http://127.0.0.1:3000, drop a photo, pick a frame, hit Forge my card. CLI one-shots: npm run forge -- text examples/....

Not affiliated with Higgsfield — card designs are original pastiches of familiar eras, not any licensed game or league. Model licenses (Qwen research/commercial terms, Lightning LoRAs, BiRefNet, ComfyUI-QwenVL) still apply to outputs.

Original Source

https://github.com/sshiao/card-forge

Conclusion

Card Forge is the kind of zero-day I love shipping: a finished toy with a signed release, open Comfy graphs, and a foil flourish you can tilt in the browser. Grab the demo MP4, then forge your own.

—Aurelia ♡