Red Majors Playing Cards [KS Live]

[HankMan]

Red Majors Playing Cards now live on KS.



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835389969/red-majors-playing-cards/?ref=kicktraq

"The Red Majors Playing Cards have been a dream of mine for the past 2 years. I wanted to incorporate different elements from some of my favorite playing cards and create a deck that was simple, yet marvelous. After months of research, sketches, trials, errors, and headaches, the Majors were born.

The Red Majors contain a mirrored back design, similar to the design found in many popular cards such as: Wynns, Jerry's Nugget, Madison Rounders, etc."

[Don Boyer]

So, we have "Red Majors," a.k.a. "yet another deck trying to imitate the brown Wynns"...

Back design: borrowed from the Wynns, and far from being the first to do so.  Back logo looks like a pair of tongs, or perhaps a pair of scissors.

Face design for courts: borrowed from an unsuccessful series of Bicycle decks from about a decade ago, modified with custom Jacks that look like the creator (all that, and modesty, too!) and completely clash with the Queens and Kings.

Other faces: standard.

All that for $11 a pack, free domestic and international shipping.  (That guy's gonna take such a hit on shipping if he actually reaches his goal.  He'll be lucky if he doesn't LOSE money on it, or just start stiffing people.)

Hmm.  OK, then.  I can pass.

What the hell ever happened to originality?

[HankMan]

So, we have "Red Majors," a.k.a. "yet another deck trying to imitate the brown Wynns"...

Back design: borrowed from the Wynns, and far from being the first to do so.  Back logo looks like a pair of tongs, or perhaps a pair of scissors.

Face design for courts: borrowed from an unsuccessful series of Bicycle decks from about a decade ago, modified with custom Jacks that look like the creator (all that, and modesty, too!) and completely clash with the Queens and Kings.

Other faces: standard.

All that for $11 a pack, free domestic and international shipping.  (That guy's gonna take such a hit on shipping if he actually reaches his goal.  He'll be lucky if he doesn't LOSE money on it, or just start stiffing people.)

Hmm.  OK, then.  I can pass.

What the hell ever happened to originality?

Originality is running out of Ideas 
I wonder what he means by Research, Sketches and etc...
Looks really simple to me, even the court cards are from another deck

[HolyJJ]

I'm not at all a fan of decks where people put their own faces (or faces of friends, family, etc) on courts, unless they are famous cardmen (or cardwomen)... and so I don't mind the court cards used in the Madison and Blaine series of decks.

However, the jacks on this deck... sorry, that ruined it for me brother.

This particular style of design, made famous by the Wynn logo decks and the Madison Rounders, I do not mind... even though it's been done to death. It looks nice, especially in red, if the logos are cool... however, having an M logo (and I agree with Don, they look like tongs) makes it look way too much like the "research" was nothing more than a few hours spent on trying to make a poor man's version of the scarlet Madison Rounders.

[Jay Losa]

I got curios and decided to look this project up (I just recently joined).

What a learning experience this was !! Haha

[Don Boyer]

I got curios and decided to look this project up (I just recently joined).

What a learning experience this was !! Haha

What would be the lessons you've learned?  What would you tell someone in a similar position to where you were when you created this project by way of advice and recommendations?

[Jay Losa]

I learned a lot from this project, and there's not to say I won't make mistakes in the future. I see everything as a learning experience. Here's a few things I learned from this first project of mine:

1) Don't be a copy

Just because a lot of people in magic and cardistry are all doing the same thing , doesn't mean you should jump in the bandwagon as well.
Yes the Wynns are awesome, and many others made careers out of releasing similar looking decks, but I would recommend to be an original. Think outside the box. Be Different!

2) Be part of a community like this

I wish I would have known of this forum before I embarrassed myself on kickstarter.
I am glad this forum exists. I love the input and criticism that other members give you. Some of it is harsh and maybe unnecessary. Some of the members may be "too picky" and will always judge your work no matter what you do, everyone has different opinions, taste, and ideas. However, if there's something MULTIPLE people are saying, then we do have a problem.
If I would've asked for advice here before releasing these, I would've saved a lot of money and embarrassment.

3) Hire a professional

If you are not the graphic designer, make sure you hire someone who has playing card experience. Someone you know has made many beautiful decks (wether on his own, or for someone else). That was a big mistake I made, one of the main reasons all the Jacks were me    designer thought it was a good idea...

If you are the designer, talk to other experienced people and asked for input and advice. DO NOT TAKE CRITICISM PERSONAL!! It's for your own good.

4) Don't be afraid to fail

Yes, I said to ask for advice and don't embarrass yourself, but if you do, failure is the best teacher. Educate yourself, but also step out in faith, if it doesn't work, move on.

 "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
-Michael Jordan


One last thing... I NEVER offered free intl shipping. Just to clarify 

Thank you for reading!

[Don Boyer]

I learned a lot from this project, and there's not to say I won't make mistakes in the future. I see everything as a learning experience. Here's a few things I learned from this first project of mine:

1) Don't be a copy

Just because a lot of people in magic and cardistry are all doing the same thing , doesn't mean you should jump in the bandwagon as well.
Yes the Wynns are awesome, and many others made careers out of releasing similar looking decks, but I would recommend to be an original. Think outside the box. Be Different!

2) Be part of a community like this

I wish I would have known of this forum before I embarrassed myself on kickstarter.
I am glad this forum exists. I love the input and criticism that other members give you. Some of it is harsh and maybe unnecessary. Some of the members may be "too picky" and will always judge your work no matter what you do, everyone has different opinions, taste, and ideas. However, if there's something MULTIPLE people are saying, then we do have a problem.
If I would've asked for advice here before releasing these, I would've saved a lot of money and embarrassment.

3) Hire a professional

If you are not the graphic designer, make sure you hire someone who has playing card experience. Someone you know has made many beautiful decks (wether on his own, or for someone else). That was a big mistake I made, one of the main reasons all the Jacks were me    designer thought it was a good idea...

If you are the designer, talk to other experienced people and asked for input and advice. DO NOT TAKE CRITICISM PERSONAL!! It's for your own good.

4) Don't be afraid to fail

Yes, I said to ask for advice and don't embarrass yourself, but if you do, failure is the best teacher. Educate yourself, but also step out in faith, if it doesn't work, move on.

 "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
-Michael Jordan


One last thing... I NEVER offered free intl shipping. Just to clarify 

Thank you for reading!

This is excellent advice.

I would add a "codicil" to 1):

Yes the Wynns are awesome, and many others made careers out of releasing similar looking decks, but I would recommend to be an original. Think outside the box. Be Different!

It's not that they made careers out of it - it's that they had careers already, then made the cards and attracted their fans to buy them!  Daniel Madison and Dan and Dave have made many decks that I personally considered to be pretty uninspired - but that never stopped them from making money selling lots and lots of them.  People bought them not because the cards were awesome as much as the cards were from this really cool magician/cardist dude.  If Zach Mueller hadn't built a reputation as a cardist and one of the public faces of Theory11, his Fontaines would have likely fallen flat with the public, never taking off even close to as well as they did.  He's bragged publicly about how little time it took him to "design" the deck - and he's completely sold them out.

Part of the secret to that would be to also not overproduce - make the precise amount needed for a sell-out while maximizing profit - but no more!  It's a tricky balance to strike.

I'm glad you decided to share this.  I respectfully request that you go to THIS TOPIC and add your experiences there.  That topic is in "The Source - Card Collecting 101" - that's our top-of-the-line board, where only the best, most vital information goes.  That board is to the other boards as the Smithsonian Museum is to other museums.  If the form were virtually "on fire," that's the board I'd want to save first, risking digital life and limb to pull it from the flames!  Your experience as you've related it here most certainly qualifies.  Only admins can make a topic there - most were moved there by admins from elsewhere - but any member may post there, and I really want your post in the topic, "How to make cards?"  Tell your story of your experience and add the lessons you learned from it so others will benefit.