Hey Everyone,
I'm getting back into collecting decks after a good 20 years off. I use to collect decks while traveling or just when i came across something that would catch my eye. but my 300+ deck collection was "lost" while my family moved 20 years ago and i never got back into it.
Recently clearing out my old room at my parents house i came across 2 decks that i had packed separately. They were an old pack of Italian cards, the last desk my grandfather played with before he passed away. So that was an amazing surprise.
So now i'm back and WOW decks are beautiful. Just wondering how i can jump back in quick. should i just go for an eBay lot of randoms and start there? Or can you guys suggest some popular websites i can find some interesting decks from?
Thanks and be talkin to you 
M
Hey there, M!
Chasing after rare decks on eBay is a recipe for disappointment - pricing on the more sought-after ones can hit the stratosphere pretty fast.
The best way to get back into the hobby and NOT go broke at the same time is to:
1) visit retailers like PlayingCardDecks.com, ColllectablePlayingCards.com, etc. and see what's new and affordable, and
2) visit Kickstarter.com to see what new playing card projects are in the works, perhaps deciding to back a project here and there.
Kickstarter's not like buying at retail - you're backing an artist's project before it's been fully created, while it's still in the design phase. There can be some risk involved, but if you stick to either a reliable artist who's delivered consistently before or limit your investment in a newer artist without a track record, odds are you'll do just fine. The business model is called
crowdfunding.How it works: a project gets posted to the site and goes live, usually with a time limit of between a week and 30 days. The project has a goal - a fixed dollar amount they're trying to raise to get the job made. Backers like you would make a pledge - a promise to pay a certain dollar amount into the project at the time it closes. But you aren't doing it for charity - you get to pick rewards based on your pledge; the bigger the pledge, the bigger the reward you are eligible for, and they're generally directly related to the project itself - either a product of the project or something connecting to the project (such as a t-shirt advertising the product, etc.). At project's close, if they didn't meet their goal, no money changes hands - the project has failed. But if the goal was met, you get charged for the pledge you made as does everyone else, Kickstarter (and often the government) take their percentages and the rest goes to the project's creator, who now has to make good on his rewards, and within the stated deadline if possible. Sometimes, for unforeseen and unforeseeable reasons, projects do get delayed a bit on reward delivery, but often it's the case that they deliver either on time or close to it.
Some projects will have "add-ons" - these are things you can get above and beyond your reward by pledging a little bit extra. For example, you might be pledging for a dozen decks of cards, then adding on a small amount extra to get an uncut sheet of the deck, straight off the printing press, or perhaps a t-shirt with the King of Spades on it, or something like that. Another thing that some projects will have is "stretch goals" - these are secondary goals beyond the goal of simply getting the project made, at which point some enhancement to the project is added. Examples of secondary goals might be to have a second or third version of the deck made, either in a different color or a different design, or to have the boxes/cards "gussied up" a bit with features like metallic inks, embossing, stamped foil, gilding, etc., or to offer a deluxe add-on like a wooden case or a tabletop display for your decks, etc.
The best parts of catching a project in Kickstarter rather than waiting for retail are:
1) for some projects, they're made in such small quantities, they never make it to retail
2) you get to help the artist get his project off the ground and made, where otherwise it would be impossible
3) you're usually getting your decks at below what they would cost at retail.
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