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Evan · « **on:** January 22, 2012, 02:53:36 PM »

Just found yet another steampunk deck on Kickstarter
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1762124010/steampunk-playing-cards?ref=live

My opinion: The theme obviously isn't original but the designs are pretty creative. I don't like the designs at all but they are creative... EXCEPT for the back design! The back design is a complete rip off of Lance's Actuators decks!

dmbaggs · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:08:53 PM »

Wow... I second what you said about the back and them ripping of the Acuators. These just look cheap and not as detailed as the the other two steampunk decks on the market. I'm going to pass on these, but I'l be following their progress closely.

john · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:21:20 PM »

Mimicry is the most sincire form of flattery isn't it. I can't wait to see what Lance has to say about this.

awesomeness12 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:44:34 PM »

Yea, I'm gonna pass on these

dmbaggs · « **Reply #4 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:50:30 PM »

Quote from: john on January 22, 2012, 03:21:20 PM

Mimicry is the most sincire form of flattery isn't it. I can't wait to see what Lance has to say about this.

This is true. But it's probably not the smartest form of business

I doubt he'll say anything. His project will speak for itself and like you said "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery".

loldudex2 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:51:26 PM »

I must admit, I like the faces.

Derek · « **Reply #6 on:** January 22, 2012, 03:54:40 PM »

He must have put a ton of work into that deck BUT I don't really like it.. at all.

moonexe · « **Reply #7 on:** January 22, 2012, 04:19:49 PM »

One word: Ugly.

I don't care how creative it is, it looks bad, and I won't buy a deck that looks bad. Let alone USE it.
And as nice as the court card designs are, the shading of the skin totally breaks the consistency of the whole image and stands out pretty badly to me. Not to mention how horrible the pips look.

dmbaggs · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2012, 04:34:39 PM »

Quote from: Moon.exe on January 22, 2012, 04:19:49 PM

One word: Ugly.
I don't care how creative it is, it looks bad, and I won't buy a deck that looks bad. Let alone USE it.
And as nice as the court card designs are, the shading of the skin totally breaks the consistency of the whole image and stands out pretty badly to me. Not to mention how horrible the pips look.

You're right the shading on the skin does look a little strange. When I went back to look at that I noticed that the cards almost look camouflage. I noticed it quite a bit on the king court card. It looks a little strange in my opinion.

Evan · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2012, 05:29:25 PM »

I showed it to Lance and here is his response, "meh"
Yea thats what he said

KPopFever605 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2012, 05:57:59 PM »

A high rip off of Lance's deck, it even has the gears to prove it. The worst thing is that it's not an AC finish, it's "Plastic Coated Card Strock" - whatever that is. Although, I would like to see what the Gold Limited Edition looks like, even though I doubt it's any different as far as the design goes. I do give him props for chasing his dreams. Keep at it kid!

xela · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2012, 06:15:56 PM »

The artwork has nothing to do with Steampunk again. First T11's trash, and now this. Though, I wouldn't call this trash, the art is great, it's just not Steampunk.

Lance was the closest to getting the theme right. T11's deck was just an atrocity, and this one isn't worth talking about since it seems their demographic is not card collectors or magicians. On a 2.5k budget you can't get much at any decent manufacturer.

joshzachmatt · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2012, 06:24:46 PM »

I agree, it is a complete ripoff of Lance's Actuators, but it does look kinda cool.

Paul Carpenter · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2012, 07:49:29 PM »

I'm afraid that on that budget, it won't end up a "real" deck of cards like we expect these days. They put a lot of work into the art and the court is kind of cool in that different kind of way, but the overall impression is a bit off for me. The back in particular looks unfinished. The pips are darn near unreadable and the the pretzel-heart looks kind of horror-movie-ish (like dripping intestines or something).

I'll pass.

Don Boyer · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2012, 07:51:22 PM »

Any deck with a Kickstarter goal of only $2K ain't exactly aiming high on the quality meter. This could be the world's greatest design and I'd still pass. The kid thinks if he gets enough over the $2K goal he'll get it made at USPC - more like TEN TIMES that goal.

Steampunk is more than just gears, folks! It's steam, it's adventure, it's Victorian imagery and style, it's dirigibles, it's high technology done a century earlier using the tools of the era.

Gears worn as jewelry is fashion, not steampunk. Looks nice, sure, but it's not steampunk.

phantom1412 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2012, 07:58:10 PM »

It's not USPCC deck, so I don't think this deck is designed for our community.
I don't like the deck so much, but I think there are high chances for this deck to be funded. It's only 2k goal.

Don Boyer · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2012, 08:38:22 PM »

Quote from: phantom1412 on January 22, 2012, 07:58:10 PM

It's not USPCC deck, so I don't think this deck is designed for our community.
I don't like the deck so much, but I think there are high chances for this deck to be funded. It's only 2k goal.

Funded, perhaps, but the quality? Ugh. At three times that it will still be a poor deck.

MrLukeCarroll · « **Reply #17 on:** January 23, 2012, 01:28:28 AM »

Whilst they do look okay, its deffinetly the lack of quality that will stop me from getting these

Don Boyer · « **Reply #18 on:** January 23, 2012, 02:15:44 AM »

I can't honestly think that this guy's even serious. I've never heard of anyone getting any deck project off the ground on only $2,000 in funding, unless it's something printed from daddy's color laser machine. There's no way they actually approached a card company - he must have just guessed off the top of his head what it would cost. And did you notice that he's offering a special gold version of the deck as a premium? So - he's making TWO versions of this deck for only $2,000?

I can practically smell the steam coming off of this pile from here. Pass. As I said before, could have been the greatest design on Earth, but it appears to be coming from someone with absolutely no experience and no knowledge of how card manufacturing works. So many of his design elements are way off - those indices are freakin' huge, and done in a Stencil font. Stencil = Steampunk? Feh. Rusty gears - why rusty? You'd think they were new and well cared for, unless we're discovering them in the present...

It's like watching Westerns where every single building looks like it's been standing over a hundred years in towns that were supposed to have been established only a few years earlier. We recognize them as "the Old West" because if we go to an Old West town today, it is over a hundred years old! But I doubt someplace like "Gambler's Gulch" or whatever looked that old when it was built two or three years prior. The guy didn't do his research - he just saw what others were doing and said, "hey, I can do that too, and make money at it just like those guys did - it's so EEEEASY..."

Paul Carpenter · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2012, 10:16:12 AM »

I get the impression from the written wording that the designer is a rather young fellow, with a bit more passion than sense. Good that he's giving things a try but doing this right does take a lot of research, planning, marketing, money and time. As you said, he'd need a goal 10x higher to make "real" cards so these will no doubt be a novelty, certainly not a usable deck.

Gotta chase your dreams, but chase them with authority, not just random whims.

MrLukeCarroll · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2012, 06:36:14 PM »

According to the comments he is getting it printed through http://www.customizedplayingcards.com/ , I havn't heard of these guys before, how about anyone else here on the discourse?

Evan · « **Reply #21 on:** January 23, 2012, 06:46:19 PM »

Quote from: MrLukeCarroll on January 23, 2012, 06:36:14 PM

According to the comments he is getting it printed through http://www.customizedplayingcards.com/ , I havn't heard of these guys before, how about anyone else here on the discourse?

I've never heard of them either. All of the decks that they've printed look crappy. Lets just say its probably not as good as the USPCC

Don Boyer · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2012, 12:58:37 AM »

I got a healthy look at the website myself. It's a no-name manufacturer that operates out of the US and China. "Quality Playing Card Company." They claim they print out of the US as well for American domestic orders. But seriously - these are "souvenir" and "party favor" decks. The kid says he's printing at "high quality" - but it's the next-to-lightest stock offered, below casino grade. At best, these would probably be on par with Streamlines, I'm guessing - the deck that sells for a buck at Wal-Mart. At worst...well, I imagine everyone here at some point in their lives got their hands on some insanely cheap and poorly made decks. Worst I've seen sell in blister packs, two for 99c in a 99c store. They don't even have a brand name, the paper's horrible; I wouldn't give them to a kid I hated, they're so bad.

Frankly, I have no interest in them. Paul/Xmetal hit the nail on the head as far as the designer's passion-to-sense ratio being out of whack.

Aaron · « **Reply #23 on:** January 24, 2012, 01:59:37 AM »

This guys back design, Sort and sweet, Is Not good(I wont say Ugly because he obviously spend some time on it) But I am a fan of the face cards! They are acctually very nice and look really realistic. I think this guy should have worked on the deck a little longer and then went to the USPCC because, like sabacc said they are going to be HORRIBLE to handle.

Don Boyer · « **Reply #24 on:** January 24, 2012, 02:21:03 AM »

Quote from: Aaron on January 24, 2012, 01:59:37 AM

This guys back design, Sort and sweet, Is Not good(I wont say Ugly because he obviously spend some time on it) But I am a fan of the face cards! They are acctually very nice and look really realistic. I think this guy should have worked on the deck a little longer and then went to the USPCC because, like sabacc said they are going to be HORRIBLE to handle.

Go ahead, you can call them ugly if you want to. There's a saying: "Opinions are like @$$holes - everybody has one, and most of them stink!"

(just a joke, bro!) Seriously, you are free to have whatever opinion you want to have.

The USPC isn't the be-all-and-end-all of playing cards, though they are the market giant. There's other companies he could have gone to in order to get a decent product to market. I just don't think the "Quality Playing Card Company" of the USA and China is one of them! I'd love to be proved wrong, and see they can outstrip anything coming out of Erlanger - but I'm not exactly holding my breath waiting for it to happen.