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What do collectors look for ?

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What do collectors look for ?
« on: August 18, 2015, 11:12:14 PM »
 

Jay Losa

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Hello there!

I have a quick question, if someone already asked this please direct me to such post (I'm new at this).

What do card collectors look for on kickstarter decks?
Design, prices, features, anything helps.

Also, what are some good add ons collectors like?

I had a campaign that failed. It was a minimalistic deck (of course it was  ???  haha )

I know I want my main audience to be collectors when I create playing cards. I also know the minimalistic (double logo, letters, clip art) trend HAS TO STOP!

I'm very passionate and willing to learn and receive input.

Thank you !
 

Re: What do collectors look for ?
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2015, 01:32:25 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Hello there!

I have a quick question, if someone already asked this please direct me to such post (I'm new at this).

What do card collectors look for on kickstarter decks?
Design, prices, features, anything helps.

Also, what are some good add ons collectors like?

I had a campaign that failed. It was a minimalistic deck (of course it was  ???  haha )

I know I want my main audience to be collectors when I create playing cards. I also know the minimalistic (double logo, letters, clip art) trend HAS TO STOP!

I'm very passionate and willing to learn and receive input.

Thank you !

Asking what collectors look for in a deck is like asking a thousand different people from different parts of the world what their favorite meal is and why.  You're very unlikely to get the same answer twice.

That deck type your talking about has been popular for a reason - people like it.  It's originally a design that was used in casinos (still is, for some) and arguably the deck that kicked off the current trend is the Wynn Casino's brown deck that Theory11 was selling for a while - something about how that deck (and not the other colors, interestingly enough) handled made it popular with cardists (people who separate card flourishing from magic and make it a new art form of its own).  As the deck became desirable, people started equating the deck with desirable design, even though when you really think hard about it, the design's about as dull as dishwater - it's a simple logo shown twice on a field of color.

Also interesting is that the original deck didn't have standard faces like all the "Wynn clones" do today - it used Jumbo Tech Art II faces, of the type typically used at a casino's blackjack table.  Combined with a mirror in the table, it allows the dealer to not know his or her exact hand, but to know whether they're holding a blackjack or not - it reveals the presence of Aces and all cards of a value of ten.  Tech Art faces, however, are not well suited for ordinary card play because of the varying placement of the indices from value to value.

Collectors look for things that are interesting and unique, but also attractive and professional in appearance.  They should look like they were designed by a professional and not your eight-year-old niece with the glitter-and-unicorns addiction on her first attempt at designing anything.  That doesn't mean it can't contain hand-drawn cartoon art, but it should look like a professional did the work - it should look like the kind of thing people would read in newspapers or pay money for at a bookstore.

On the subject of design themes, there are trends that should be watched.  You watch them not only to know what's popular, but what's overdone and fully saturated in the marketplace.  Everyone remembers the first team that reached the peak at Mount Everest - almost no one knows the 12th team, the 432nd team, the 16,543rd team, etc.  If you're team #43,864, you'd better do something truly unique if you want to be noticed, like have the fastest time to the top, jump off the peak in a wing suit or hold Burning Man Nepal up there.  For those same reasons, if you're making the tenth "minimalist" deck of the year or the fifteenth steampunk deck or even the third clown/circus deck, you need to find some way to make your project unique.  Either add something to it that no one else has, or do it better than all those that came before you (not just most, ALL).

There are certain rules of design that hold true for playing cards, especially standard decks, and there are certain needs for different audiences.  For example, a poker player that's hardcore into tournaments will never use anything other than a matched pair of plastic, bridge-sized cards with 100% bog-standard faces and a fairly simple back design that's two-way (exactly the same when rotated 180 degrees).

Magicians will get a little more adventurous - they'll use poker-sized decks (unless they have smaller hands; then they'd use use a bridge-sized deck) with enough standard features that the audience will recognize them as being like the cards they have back home.  If the back is one-way, it will be subtly one-way rather than obviously, with barely perceptible markings to indicate orientation.  Back designs can vary widely - some will go for something whacky and custom, others will stick to the standards.  People occasionally think that if a magician breaks out a custom deck, it must be a trick deck - nothing could be further from the truth.  If anything, it's the magician using the standard Bicycle Rider Back deck that you should be wary of - there are arguably more trick decks and gaff cards in that design than in any other design in the entire world!  But when performing for a general audience, a magician will often stick to a design that people will recognize.

There are other types of people, other features they look for in a deck, etc.  The design rules of playing cards, much like any design rules, can be bent or even broken - but again, like in any other field of design, if you're going to break a rule, you generally should have a reason for doing so that's integral to the design and isn't "because I didn't know any better."  When breaking such rules, you may reduce the playability of a deck's design - however, you might be doing something else to that design that makes it more appealing in a different way; you might be making it more artistic, you might be appealing to a specific audience and their unique needs, etc.  For example, I think the Bicycle E-Z See Lo-Vision deck is ugly as sin, especially when factoring in that the cards have suits in four colors.  However, that deck wasn't designed for me or for a general audience - it was designed for people with failing vision, so it has exceptionally large markings.  The use of four colors instead of two for the suits means that you don't have to rely on seeing the suit clearly to identify the card's suit - the color will do that for you, and make it more difficult for you to mistake one red suit for the other or one black suit for the other.  It makes certain types of solitaire a pain in the ass to play, but the deck serves a specific purpose and does so very well.

I think I've rambled on long enough here!  But I hope you're getting some sense of what I'm trying to convey here.

If you want to take a new design over to Kickstarter, ask yourself a few questions before you launch.

  • Is my design unique?  If my design is not unique, is it special in some way?  Is my design borrowing in any way another person or company's intellectual property, and if so, do I have either permission/licensing to use it or the legal right to use it (and do I have the resources to defend that legal right, should the IP owner become litigious)?
  • Does my design have a theme?  Is it a common theme shared by other designs, and if so, am I doing it better or in a unique way when compared to what came before?
  • What is my target audience?  What design features appeal to that audience?  Have I incorporated most if not all of those features in my design?
  • Am I breaking any rules of design?  If so, do I have an adequate reason for doing so that will increase rather than decrease my design's appeal to my audience?
  • Who will manufacture this deck?  What services, features, etc. do they offer?  What level of quality do they provide, and is it enough for my needs?  Are they trustworthy and reliable, with a proven track record?  Are they experienced at making playing cards, and more specifically, the kind of work I need done for this design?
  • Have I accounted for every single penny I need in order to make this project a reality?  Have I adequately accounted for shipping and handling costs, both domestic and international?  Did I remember in include a modest-to-robust profit margin while at the same time not pricing the deck too high for my target audience?  Will potential backers think they're getting good value for what they're spending or will they feel it's overpriced (or underpriced)?
  • What arrangements have I made for the logistics of getting those decks from the printer into the hands of my backers?  Do I have contingency plans for when things go sideways and pear-shaped?
  • What do I need to legally sell playing cards in my state/province/country at wholesale and at retail?  Do I need to register or obtain licensing as a commercial entity?  Will I be selling remaining stock after the project is fulfilled at retail or will someone else do all the retail selling for me - and if so, at what cost to them and at what price to their customers?  (In the US and probably elsewhere, you're legally prohibited from setting retail prices for the retailers that buy at wholesale from you, but you can ask retailers to voluntarily sell your cards at a specific price, what's commonly called the "manufacturer's suggested retail price," or MSRP.)
  • How will I account for this income when filing my income taxes at the start of the new year?  Have I discussed this with an accountant or a tax attorney?  How do I go about paying taxes correctly?  (Failure to collect taxes or report the income can create a world of problems that most people simply don't want to live in!  The greater the income, the greater those problems can be.  Kickstarter is legally obligated to withhold income taxes from projects exceeding a certain financial threshold, and it's not a high one, but you still have to properly account for the income and insure the correct taxes are paid in the right amounts - and if you overpaid, that you get your excess money back!)
« Last Edit: August 19, 2015, 01:34:49 AM by Don Boyer »
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Re: What do collectors look for ?
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2015, 01:49:09 AM »
 

Jay Losa

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Wow wow wow wow!!!

Thank you so much !!

Very thorough and informative.

I will re read this over and over again to ensure I'm covering every aspect.

I look forward to your input on any future projects.
 

Re: What do collectors look for ?
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2015, 05:45:25 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Wow wow wow wow!!!

Thank you so much !!

Very thorough and informative.

I will re read this over and over again to ensure I'm covering every aspect.

I look forward to your input on any future projects.

My services are for hire and reasonably priced, if you need a consultation on your upcoming project.
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
Playing Card Design & Development Consultant
Deck Tailoring: Custom Alterations for Magicians and Card Mechanics
Services for Hire - http://thedecktailor.com/
Pre-Made Decks for Sale - http://donboyermagic.com/