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Topics - Fred

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Playing Card Plethora / Bicycle Kingdoms of a New World (KS)

« on: October 24, 2013, 03:35:42 AM »

A fantasy themed custom deck of playing cards by Nathanael Mortensen. Printed by USPCC. Bicycle branded. Kickstarter.

Kickstarter link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1657065264/kingdoms-of-a-new-world-playing-cards-printed-by-b/comments

1 set of Blue and Red decks along with 1 Limited edition 'dark edition' with colour changed courts/back (Limited to 10,000 decks).

Judge yourself on the art. I don't think i need to stress how elegant and impressive it is. Various pictures attached below.

Goal of $18,000 is going to be absolutely raped. I foresee this project going well above the $100k mark.

Get in quick for the limited deck pledge tiers if you're interested! Prices are very reasonable.

Project description quoted directly from the Kickstarter page.

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The New World playing cards was inspired from my previous work experience with Jonas Akerlund on Dragon's Hoard. I and many others instantly fell in love with the art that came to life because of backers like you through a kickstarter campaign much like this one.

After Dragon's Hoard was sent to the printers, I was ready to start a new project. I contacted Jonas, and asked him what he thought about creating a deck of 54 playing cards together. He was so excited that it became his pride and joy project. A short while later, Jonas sent me a handful of his favorite sketches. I was blown away. Jonas enriched the ideas I sent him and added his own incredible influence to build a playing card deck I'm very proud to be a part of. And now, I'm very excited to be presenting it to all of you.

Playing Card Plethora / Playing Arts - a Deck of Poker Cards by 54 Artists (KS)

« on: October 12, 2013, 09:33:26 AM »

A new deck on Kickstarter organised by Digital Abstracts, featuring the individual artwork of 54 designers all over the world in one single deck!

Description of the kickstarter page:

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From the two of clubs to the ace of diamonds, each of 54 participants has illustrated a single card in their own individual style.

Hi Kickstarter! We are Digital Abstracts – online magazine where we handpick and thoroughly edit our posts to deliver the best in creativity and innovation to the public. Digital Abstracts brings news, current trends, products, professional opinions and interviews, and design insight. We also take our readers behind the scenes with some of the world's best artists and studios.

At the moment we are working on our new project that will bring together the most talented artists in the field of graphic design – the project is called the Playing Arts.

The project

The idea of the project is to create a deck of uniqueplaying poker cards. From the two of clubs to the ace of diamonds, each of 54 participants has illustrated a single card in their own individual style and technique.

The artists

We've invited 54 world's best designers/painters/illustrators from all over the world. David Mack, Conrad Roset, James White, Agnes-cecile, Joshua Davis and Sara Blake are just a handful of the talented artists involved. The full list of invited artists can be found on the project's website http://playingarts.com/cards/

Doesnt look like a USPCC deck! =( The artwork is absolutely stunning, and in my opinion, far superior in terms of artistic quality than of Stanger Danger/DnD's Ultimate deck.

Their previous deck, as shown at http://creativecards.cc/ , is equally beautiful and is still available for $26 USD shipped worldwide!

The pricing for this deck is as follows:

1 deck: $20 shipped worldwide
2 decks: $36 shipped worldwide
3 decks: $51 shipped worldwide.

For the sheer amount of quality art, the prices are definitely justifiable. I also love that for once, i'll be paying relatively the same as you lucky US buggers ;p

Pictures attached below. Credits in order from top to bottom:

Ace of Clubs by Andreas Preis from Germany.
Eight of Spades by Gary Fernández from USA.
Jack of Diamonds by Newfren from Chile.
Nine of Clubs by Chuck Anderson from USA.
Eight of Hearts by Raul Urias from Mexico.

Playing Card Plethora / Oracle - Mystifying Playing Cards by Chris Ovdiyenko

« on: October 09, 2013, 10:24:26 PM »

Chris Ovdiyenko, the creator of the Calaveras playing cards, has just launched his new project on Kickstarter, called the Oracle playing cards. Project goal of $20,000.

Introduction directly taken from the project's page:

Quote

A NEW deck of USPCC playing cards based on the spiritualist movement.

Talking boards, spirit photography, seances, ectoplasm, and levitating tables—the spiritualist movement has a rich history. I want to capture some of that history in a deck of USPCC playing cards.

The spiritualist movement grew out of mesmerism—which is what hypnosis used to be called. But with so much loss of life with the civil war, the spanish flu, and WWI, spiritualism became the hope for many across generations to contact more than the subconscious mind. It was a chance to reach their loved ones who had passed on. Many spiritualists believed they were able to reach "through the veil" and contact the spirit world.

Considered by some to be at best an interesting parlor distraction, by others as outright fraud, still many more viewed it as a chance to find solace, comfort, and closure to those whose lives meant the most and who's absence was unbearable. In disguise, Mary Todd Lincoln went to a spirit photographer and captured an image of her with her late husband. It's also rumored that she held as many as eight seances in the White House. Arthur Conan Doyle was a devout spiritualist (despite the analytical and deductive reasoning of his most famous protagonist). Houdini's wife held seances for years after her husband promised before his death to find a way to contact her if a way was there to be found.

All this history has for me added a lot of meaning and depth to this project. I hope you find it as interesting as I do

Early bird prices:
1 deck: $11 (int shipping +$7) Limited to 200 backers
2 decks: $20 (int shipping + $12) Limited to 200 backers

Normal prices:
1 deck: $15
2 decks: $25

Initial impressions: I am extremely impressed with this deck. Ouija boards aren't my cuppa tea but the artwork execution is done superbly. (Pictures attached below). The tuck box is also very appealing and i can already expect a high quality matte texture/embossing tuck box reminiscent to the Ultimate deck by Stranger and Danger.

Personally, i'm in for 2 decks right now. The international prices are pretty steep, though justified by USPS' upcoming price rise. Very excited!

Playing Card Plethora / | Good luck with that | Playing cards, Kickstarter

« on: October 08, 2013, 12:18:39 PM »

New 'side project' USPCC deck promoting Wesley Chan's 'Knock on Wood' custom laser engraved wood poker chip set.

Url: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1871507336/knock-on-wood-good-luck-with-that?ref=recently_launched

$15 CAD/deck
- Free shipping in Canada
- $2 CAD shipping to US
- $4 CAD shipping worldwide.

Images taken from the project page:

Playing Card Plethora / Court Cards: Madison vs Split Spades

« on: October 04, 2013, 12:54:30 PM »

Quote from: volantangel on October 04, 2013, 12:27:06 PM

Fred do you like the madison rounders deck ?

I think the Rounders is quite an attractive deck (Note the specific use of the word 'attractive'). From a minimalistic design perspective, Rounders is very well put together. There is so much technique involved in minimalistic/abstract work. This is why you often hear people/artists say that abstract art, though 'simple', is one of the hardest to master.There is actual reasoning and artistic justification/technique in placing the two logos exactly where they should be, and exactly how far they are. Too close and the focal point is muddled and balance is dismissed, too far and the eye/our attention would float too much to the edges/corners of the card back. The back seems easy and simple to achieve, but in actual fact there's a lot of artistic norms that one should follow to create such a simple yet aesthetic design. The Madison logo is also, in my opinion, quite attractive. Everything flows wonderfully and the mix of hard and soft (straight and curved) lines balance nicely.

The custom courts are beautiful (I especially like the London chick Madison works with.. I apologise for forgetting her full name). However one criticism that i have is that the deck is incomplete; as not all of the court faces are custom (Jack of Diamonds for example). Even if Madison only has like 9 real friends that he can put on his deck.. i honestly think he shouldve at least chosen someone else for his artist to depict on the remaining courts, instead of using standard USPCC faces. This incompleteness greatly depreciates the artistic value of the deck in my opinion. It's just one of those things that is so 'simple' to fix but is instead ignored.

Overall, I do like the deck. I have one myself and have from time to time admired the courts quite extensively. I hope you didnt ask me whether or not i liked the Rounders so that if i said yes, you would call me a hypocrite for hating on this shitty Anarchy deck. You may see an almost identical back design, but these two decks arent even comparable. It's not even apples to oranges.. it's apples to sloth fecal matter.

I have a very strong personal opinion (Which probably explains my lack of reputation =p). None of my comments are intended to insult anyone or cause any harm. I hope people can objectively comment on their own thoughts instead of being affected by other opinions/subjective perspectives.

Sorry for writing a 'Don' response.

tl:dr, y yes raunders r noice. <3

Playing Card Plethora / Anarchy Casino Black Playing Cards (made by the USPCC)

« on: October 03, 2013, 12:54:50 PM »

A new project by Adam Mills.

Kickstarter url: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1988485900/anarchy-casino-black-playing-cards-made-by-the-usp?ref=recently_launched

Now, a few things i would like to point out because it's pissing me off:

Does it remind you of a particular deck? Anyone with any decent knowledge of playing cards would recognise this immediately as the illegitimate brother of Daniel Madison's Rounders. In fact, it's not even that. It's pretty much a clone. A subpar clone. Riding on the success and simplicity of the Rounders. There is absolutely minimal amount of effort here. The back design, tuck box, ace of spades are all pretty much the same- 10minute created image. I assume that the courts are standard as there is no mention of them. Here is a quote directly from the page:

Quote

It is my pleasure to introduce the Anarchy Casino Black playing cards. This project has been in development for the past 8 months where the inspiration behind the design began. Since then there has been many alterations to the back design and the tuck case.

The Anarchy Casino Black deck is ready to go. I have been in constant discussions with the USPCC and I am now at a stage where they have produced me several prototype decks and the design and card stock have been agreed.

The Anarchy Casino Black deck has a similar feel to the Artifice cards produced by Ellusionist. My goal was to find a similar card stock to the Artifice playing cards as they maintained a quality feel and durability like no other playing cards that I tested.

From the mention of discussion with USPCC and the creator's knowledge of Ellusionist, it is quite evident that he has some knowledge in this hobby. He says he is attempting to emulate a similar feel to the Artifice cards. This is no rookie mistake. I cannot fathom the possibility of him knowing Ellusionist, Artifice, and not Rounders. I love how he states that he has been working on perfecting this back design for the previous 8months. As an artist myself, Statements like this simply piss me off. Greatly.

And to top off this huge pile of dugong shit, the backer pledge tier wording AND structure is pretty much DIRECTLY taken from the BlueBlood Redux kickstarter by uusi. Feel free to compare: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1244376122/blueblood-redux-limited-edition-playing-cards?ref=live

Projects that simply have bad artwork but displays evidence of the creator's originality and effort are on one level. Projects like this are worlds below. No personal disrespect to the creator. This is my honest opinion and if you can't tell already, my jimmies were rustled. Hard.

The Conversation Parlor / Badass Kickstarter projects

« on: September 30, 2013, 11:58:46 AM »

Hey lads and ladettes,

I'm sure all of us have at some time wandered upon a finished kickstarter project and kicked ourselves for not being able to back it. Well, i have created this thread in attempt to allow awesome kickstarter projects to gain more recognition; and also for the community to share the projects they're backing/want to back. In other words, if you spot an awesome kickstarter project, share it here!

- Please avoid playing card related projects and post them in the Playing Card Plethora instead.
- Please, no self promotion (unless it's genuinely awesome)
- Please adhere to the template below:

1- Project category
2- Project name
3- Project kickstarter link
4- Project goal (optional)
5- Project end date (optional)
6- Description/why you love this particular project (optional)

I'll start off!

Category: Food/BEEEEERRRR
Name: PicoBrew Zymatic: the Automatic Beer Brewing Appliance by PicoBrew LLC
Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1708005089/picobrew-zymatic-the-automatic-beer-brewing-applia?ref=recently_launched
Goal: $150,000. end date 30th Oct 2013
Reason: Self explanatory. IT"S A FUGGIN AUTOMATIC HOME BEER BREWER!

Playing Card Plethora / Theory11 FIVE uncut sheets for $50 Sale

« on: September 27, 2013, 11:40:59 AM »

Via Theory 11's Facebook:

Quote

FIVE Uncut Sheets. $50 SET. This Weekend Only! Just posted - while supplies last. Includes Artisans, Steampunk, Rebels, Silver Monarch, and Sentinels.

I had to read it a few times to believe it.. because common uncut sheets are usually marked up to about $30-$50 a pop (which in my opinion is ridiculous as its not as if USPCC has to go out of their way to make uncuts.. Sure shipping expenses are high because of the poster tube but the mark up on the actual uncut is unjustified).

As the quote states, 50$ for FIVE UNCUTS IN TOTAL ($10 each essentially)! Pretty good deal if you are into hanging repetitive pips on your wall..

The Pasteboard Bazaar - Sales, Trades & In Search Of (STISO) / [ISO] Rare decks! Froggo's thread.

« on: September 27, 2013, 12:28:25 AM »

Hi everyone,

My name is Fred Cao and i reside in Australia; aka the shipping shithole. I am a big sucker for collectable decks but always have trouble finding the right stuff and price on eBay. Please help a fellow collector out and help me fuel this glorious addiction! If your 'rare' deck is not listed in my ISO, chances are i may have just forgotten about it, thus if you could drop me a message/email that would be much appreciated!

I have numerous additional decks in my collection that i am willing to trade/sell. Please note that all prices are in USD and are highly negotiable!

Please view the table attachment below (or save it!) and inform me if you're willing to kindly sell any of the decks i am searching for or if you could like to instead conduct a trade/purchase some of my additional decks.

The best form of contact would be directly through email: epical_feefee@hotmail.com

I look forward to conducting business and i hope we can all help each other in fulfilling our dream collections!

Take it easy,
Fred Cao.

Playing Card Plethora / Can-eh-diana by Phil DaCosta (coming soon to CL)

« on: September 09, 2013, 11:32:35 AM »

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/897082388/can-eh-diana-deck-of-playing-cards?ref=card

Quote

A Canadian themed deck of cards featuring top Canadian magicians as the court cards, and other symbolic Canadian icons throughout.

I have been a deck collector for quite a while now, and have yet to find a Canadian deck that isn't filled with stock photos of scenery (basically a souvenir deck). So, having combined that fact and my passion for playing cards, I have designed a deck of playing cards with a Canadian theme.

The deck will feature maple leaves instead of the the typical spade suit. The suit colours will be two shades of red (bright red, and maroon), instead of red & black like in a typical deck of cards.

The most customization for the deck can be found on the court cards. I have featured nine world famous Canadian magicians. They are (in alphabetic order):

Bill Abbott

Very poorly put together. Minimal effort. Court faces are disproportional and simply look glued on. I can however see the card back going somewhere if its refined.

International shipping for 2 decks= 40$. wat.

Lastly, check out the Queen of Diamonds. I'm honestly not sure what to think.. That has got to be the most derp looking card i have ever seen. period.

Disclaimer: No hate, these are simply my observations.

Playing Card Plethora / Dan and Dave: Woody Clip

« on: September 07, 2013, 09:14:18 AM »

There may be some controversy concerning the Buck twin's reputation but their card clips are straight up sex. I love the carbon fibre one best but this new one is very luxurious.

Quote

The all new Woody Clip is engineered from a light industrial-strength aluminum, beautifully inlayed with 100% genuine veneer.

Each wood panel is laser cut from a collection of exotic woods and then sanded, stained and lacquered to perfection. It is the most luxurious Card Clip we have ever produced.

Handcrafted in Los Angeles. No two Woody Clips are the same. Designed to hold 52 playing cards inside their case.

http://shop.dananddave.com/woody-clip.html

dat price tag doe.

Playing Card Plethora / Ellusionist Ignite playing cards

« on: September 06, 2013, 09:31:38 PM »

A new deck coming soon from Ellusionist. They sure pump these out fast! Theme -as far as the teaser shows- strongly resembles the Fathom deck (Fire instead of water of course).

Pictures via their Facebook:
The second picture also seems to tease the back design (behind the Fathom card). Borderless and very striking.. maybe a little too much. Though way too early to judge.

Introduce Yourself / What's up in this haauuuse!

« on: June 29, 2013, 01:17:46 PM »

Helllooooooo everyone! Cute little community you have here (:

3,000th post! Pretty good timing for an introduction if you ask me!

.
My name is Fred ("why the fuck would anyone be named Fred.." i know right..). I'm 18 years old and have just started studying a Law and Commerce double degree at Adelaide University (Australia). I have a great passion in art and design, sports (mainly basketball), and bodybuilding! One of my friends has just recently informed me about magic, cardistry and playing cards in general, and i've been addicted to this shit ever since! I love searching for well designed decks and wish i had known about this hobby earlier so that a single deck of nice cards doesn't cost $50 to obtain.. (The isolated shit hole that is Australia doesn't help with shipping expenses either!)

I am a huge sucker for minimalistic yet intricate and sophisticated designs (My favourite decks include blue JAQK, Mana, Monarchs, Blue crown luxury edition (blue), Aurum, and a few more that i cant remember at the top of my head). Although i appreciate the amount of work and talent some artists/designers put in to their designs, I honestly hate it when good ideas/illustrations are overcomplicated and, in my opinion, end up turning in to an absolute mess (Examples im referring to include Federal 52, EMPIRE, etc.) Over simplification also gets on my nerves (e.g. the NOCs that just look like UNO cards...). I strongly believe that a good representation of a complete artistic product not only requires precision and talent, but also a good demonstration of overall balance, sophistication and style. This is of course only my subjective opinion, I hope i haven't offended anyone (I am a simple honest, straightforward lad). I would love to hear each of your own personal views!

I have just literally (as of yesterday) finished my exams and thus have a few weeks break where i plan to draft some ideas/sketches of my own playing cards! I love symbolism and double imagery and often incorporate such elements into my artwork. A demonstration of some of the art i've done recently may be viewed in the attachments below! (Only 5 attachments are allowed =s) Keep a look out for future deck designs! (I hope I don't end up making a Brite Neon v2s or something..) =p

Please post a little about yourselves and what you enjoy doing/the style of art you prefer! I would love to get to know you guys and I hope that my stay will be pleasurable for everyone!

Cheers,
Fred.

P.S: Time zone differences suck.. nearly 3am here..

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