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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: Evan on August 29, 2012, 07:38:00 PM
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Release Date: August 31st, 2012 at 11am EDT
Where: www.theory11.com
These are NOT LIMITED.
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Wow. Theory11 are turning into new D&D, with color variations for Monarchs, Steampunks, JAQKs... I find it kind of ridiculous to have a fourth color in this series. Plus, how will the back design of the silver monarchs be any different from the normal ones? I'm guessing only the box will be different.
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As someone that puts 6+ months of design into a custom deck, these color changing guys are starting to annoy me.
Step 1: gain following making interesting cards
Step 2: stop innovating and just swap colors
Step 3: profit off the collectors!
Boo.
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I really hope this trend of re-colouring comes to an end, the market us just being flooded by these un-innovative decks. The White Monarchs looked good, these just look like a cheap attempt at sucking in more of our money.
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Definitely didn't see this one coming... :-\
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These and the Rebels will be unlimited.
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As someone that puts 6+ months of design into a custom deck, these color changing guys are starting to annoy me.
Step 1: gain following making interesting cards
Step 2: stop innovating and just swap colors
Step 3: profit off the collectors!
Boo.
This.
I'm really glad I don't collect new releases anymore. This is just a big "fuck you" to everyone that actually puts time into their designs and gets 1/100th the profit T11 does.
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Love these... Although I understand the dissension, I've got to say that Monarchs were one of my favorite decks, and they kickstarted me collecting after many years... The white decks are just fantastic and the silver looks sick as well... Looking forward to these...
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I will need to see more images of this to make up my mind. I am hoping to God that they did not make the box like the silver steam punks. I just think they may just be killing off the already astounding deck. I didn't think the monarchs needed another addition and this was a suprise. Again, I will need to see pictures to make up my mind but still...
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I admit the silver box will look great in the row with the standard/white monarchs.
If the cards inside are no different like the original monarchs...well just sent me the flat box in a envelope ;-)
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Wonder just how much can they alter the monarchs, they're already beautiful as they are!
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Huh not bad another monarch deck :)
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I am hoping to God that they did not make the box like the silver steam punks.
Chances are...and by the way they are looking, they will be
Plus, how will the back design of the silver monarchs be any different from the normal ones?
I'm thinking that the back designs will have more patches of grey/black/silver/metallic colors.
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While I'm not a huge fan of the whole recoloring trend, I will still pick up a deck of these so that I can have the complete for versions of this deck. Hopefully they'll end it here though. The monarchs is an average deck and the recoloring is getting way old.
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Trailer is up but still no sign of them or exposé.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnvZ9nI-Q4Y&list=UUl1WwbVpKUdQerivZpUxZLA
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In case you didn't find them, they're here: http://www.theory11.com/playingcards/silver-monarch-playing-cards
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Meh...I'm not overly excited about them. In my opinion, the Gold and/or White Monarchs will still be the best of them all.
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From what I see... seriously... just replacing the ink to black on white.... but we expected nothing more than that anyway...
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From what I see... seriously... just replacing the ink to black on white.... but we expected nothing more than that anyway...
As I see it, there's a breakdown to this that makes sense.
Gold Monarchs: pre-release, super-limited, not really intended to be released. Gold on black.
Monarchs: white on navy blue, because the the gold didn't pop on the blacks, considered a disappointment by T11. Also hyped like the second coming of Christ, Mohammed and Buddha all rolled into one - a big letdown to customers. But in the end, considered a solid deck, well-made.
White Monarchs: rare release, limited, looks great. Gold on white.
Silver Monarchs: unlimited (presumably the Monarchs are as well), and offer a perfect compliment to the Monarchs as a readily-available two-deck COMMON set.
Decks that don't come in commonly-available pairs don't sell to poker players. Magicians can use them for awesome color changes as well without having to risk damaging a rare collectible deck. Collectors, well - no one is twisting arms to get you to buy them, and they are an unlimited release. I want some, but I'm waiting for my paycheck next week. It's also great for people who liked the aesthetic of the White deck but couldn't afford it or missed out on buying it.
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Awesome view point Don! I feel like everyone has been overly whining about this, theory 11 did good by this. These are almost exactly the same cards as the white monarchs, and every one raved how wonderful and beautiful they were. Now these were made unlimited because of all the people who got pissed off about the white monarch release. Now for the people who wanted the white monarchs because they were beautiful and didn't just like then because they were rare can now own something extremely similar. But as it always seems everyone is always pissed off about something. If you're a designer and don't approve of just changing the color, I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't want to make a deck wonderful enough to
just be able to change the color and sell them , I mean think about it, not counting the gold monarch mess up (which really wasn't a release) there are three different colored monarchs, less then the amount of crown decks, and I really didn't hear anyone complaining about the "atrocity" that the blue crown cane out with blue ref and green crowns haha
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Awesome view point Don! I feel like everyone has been overly whining about this, theory 11 did good by this. These are almost exactly the same cards as the white monarchs, and every one raved how wonderful and beautiful they were. Now these were made unlimited because of all the people who got pissed off about the white monarch release. Now for the people who wanted the white monarchs because they were beautiful and didn't just like then because they were rare can now own something extremely similar. But as it always seems everyone is always pissed off about something. If you're a designer and don't approve of just changing the color, I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't want to make a deck wonderful enough to
just be able to change the color and sell them , I mean think about it, not counting the gold monarch mess up (which really wasn't a release) there are three different colored monarchs, less then the amount of crown decks, and I really didn't hear anyone complaining about the "atrocity" that the blue crown cane out with blue ref and green crowns haha
Darryl, I agree with you completely and to be honest I find the colour changing of decks to be interesting and not annoying whatsoever. I was originally worried about the silver monarchs but now I think the are a great idea for the obvious reasons that Darryl stated. All in all if you like it get it.
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haters will always hate. just as simple as that. I personally don't see how T11 or any other company is wrong for doing color variations. it lower cost (no design cost or additional payroll) to make the the exact same amount of money as creating a new deck. the margin just got so much bigger. why not~ of course this is from a business point of view.
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they dont need to do 4 variations in about 10 months though, it is a little overboard.
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they dont need to do 4 variations in about 10 months though, it is a little overboard.
Of those variations, one was rarer than most and one was among the rarest of decks made. Only two are commonly available at reasonable cost and without having to race to the web just before a deadline and watch servers crash as you're trying to order...or pay a princely sum to an eBayer or aftermarket retailer. They are attractive, complement each other, are cheap and plentiful.
To the more casual collector, the working magician or to someone who (gasp) actually PLAYS with their cards, it's pretty sweet. No one in those categories will lose sleep over not having the rare versions.
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they dont need to do 4 variations in about 10 months though, it is a little overboard.
Of those variations, one was rarer than most and one was among the rarest of decks made. Only two are commonly available at reasonable cost and without having to race to the web just before a deadline and watch servers crash as you're trying to order...or pay a princely sum to an eBayer or aftermarket retailer. They are attractive, complement each other, are cheap and plentiful.
To the more casual collector, the working magician or to someone who (gasp) actually PLAYS with their cards, it's pretty sweet. No one in those categories will lose sleep over not having the rare versions.
I realize that but over that short of time it is a lot of decks on top of their other releases.
I also open most of my decks (ussually get 2 so one open one sealed) and when playing with the deck no the rarity makes no difference, but when you are a collector it does.
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From what I see... seriously... just replacing the ink to black on white.... but we expected nothing more than that anyway...
As I see it, there's a breakdown to this that makes sense.
Gold Monarchs: pre-release, super-limited, not really intended to be released. Gold on black.
Monarchs: white on navy blue, because the the gold didn't pop on the blacks, considered a disappointment by T11. Also hyped like the second coming of Christ, Mohammed and Buddha all rolled into one - a big letdown to customers. But in the end, considered a solid deck, well-made.
White Monarchs: rare release, limited, looks great. Gold on white.
Silver Monarchs: unlimited (presumably the Monarchs are as well), and offer a perfect compliment to the Monarchs as a readily-available two-deck COMMON set.
Decks that don't come in commonly-available pairs don't sell to poker players. Magicians can use them for awesome color changes as well without having to risk damaging a rare collectible deck. Collectors, well - no one is twisting arms to get you to buy them, and they are an unlimited release. I want some, but I'm waiting for my paycheck next week. It's also great for people who liked the aesthetic of the White deck but couldn't afford it or missed out on buying it.
they dont need to do 4 variations in about 10 months though, it is a little overboard.
Of those variations, one was rarer than most and one was among the rarest of decks made. Only two are commonly available at reasonable cost and without having to race to the web just before a deadline and watch servers crash as you're trying to order...or pay a princely sum to an eBayer or aftermarket retailer. They are attractive, complement each other, are cheap and plentiful.
To the more casual collector, the working magician or to someone who (gasp) actually PLAYS with their cards, it's pretty sweet. No one in those categories will lose sleep over not having the rare versions.
actually that does make sense...
Gold Monarchs (Rare - Expensive & limited), Normal Monarchs (Common - Affordable & 'unlimited')
White Monarchs (Rare - Expensive & limited), Silver Monarchs (Common - Affordable & 'unlimited')
:o :o :o :o
In a sense, there's a cheaper substitute if you wanted the Monarchs and missed it out for whatever reason, the artwork's still the same, colour combinations are nothing short (Still looks amazing but the 'rarer' version may/may not look better).
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Hey guys,
Lyle here from theory11. I am the guy you will get 99% of the time when you send off an e-mail to theory11 support. I just thought I would hop in here and give you theory11's two cents on the topic.
Don hit this one right on the money. Yes, there are four different decks of Monarchs. No, they are not all that different from one another. Here is the reasoning for it all.
Gold Monarchs (Gold on Navy) - These were meant to be the original, but the gold ink turned out to be really dark looking on a navy background. This was an oversight on our end, and 144 decks ended up in the hands of collectors because we were rushing to get things shipped (delays with delivery) after our pre-release. These decks were shipped out to customers before we made the call to shred them, as the decks we got in our hands from that 144 were the ones that failed to impress us after final printing. We shredded the rest. These were never intended to be rare, and we really don't consider them an official part of the Monarch line, though they certainly are our cards.
Monarchs (White on Navy) - The standard Monarch deck. Like them or hate them, you can't ignore them. We hyped these things to death because we knew they were something special. They are the best selling deck we have ever released. They are also my personal favorite deck. They represent a striking change in the direction theory11 was heading with playing card design.
White Monarchs (Gold on White) - Intentionally limited. This is our way of catering to card collectors. If you don't think there is demand for exclusive and limited decks, you were not around when we released these. Twice our site was crashed from incredible numbers of button mashers refreshing on our site. This deck was created specifically as a collector's item.
Silver Monarchs (Black on White, Silver Foil on Tuck Case) - We had a TON of mad people after each White Monarch release. They weren't mad about the crashes, they were mad about the fact that they liked the White version of the deck but couldn't get their hands on it to USE IT DAILY. These were not collectors, but people who wanted the White Monarch to be their standard deck. The Silver Monarchs were created to give these people what they wanted, an unlimited white variation on the Monarch deck.
We try to cater to as many people as we possibly can. Yes, we are a business. Yes, we want to make money (shocking, I know!). That said, we do it by trying to give our customers what they want. If you don't like the Silver Monarchs, you don't need to buy them, and absolutely no harm done. If you do like them, suddenly you have a new playing card option. If you just like to collect every deck that comes along, that too is your call and you now have something else to get your hands on. We get accused a lot of trying to "suck people dry." We aren't forcing anyone to buy anything, but instead attempting to give our customers what they want. We simply hope to make a buck along the way, as that is what a business does.
Some people don't like the color variation trend. To each his own. Again, nobody is forced to buy anything. Instead, we offered (primarily) two colors of the Monarch deck because not everyone liked the Navy. The same is likely to happen with other decks of ours. The Rebels were recently released too, and we already have complaints that it is a black and white deck. Black and white fits the theme, but obviously does not fit everyone's style. The Rebels may have color variations to cater to more people. It all depends on what our customers tell us. We take feedback very seriously. You guys keep us in business, so you are the most important people to us.
Sorry for the long reply. I hope it clears things up for you all. There is a reason behind all this madness. There is more to come. The next deck release is something VERY different from what we have done until this point. Many of you are not going to like it or use it, but it caters to another group of people that has been mostly ignored in recent playing card production.
Hit me up via PM or here is you have any questions. I am happy to answer anything I can!
Keep it real guys.
// Lyle
theory11 Interactive
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Thanks Lyle for sorting everything out!
Best of luck to theory11, your attitude is commendable. It's something I look up to and the other members of Joker and the Thief draw inspiration from.
Thanks again,
- Joker and the Thief -
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Welcome on board Lyle. It's awesome when a rep from a big magic company comes to the forums to answer queries once in a while. This shows that they are really listening. Soon Syd from dnd might also be a member here.
I def plan to buy the silver monarchs but not now as they won't be gone in the near future and t11 decks generally handle well for cardistry and magic.
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Thanks for posting here Lyle! I read the whole thing and I really do agree now that I think about it.
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Thanks Lyle for sharing this information with all of us. I definitely gained more insight with this whole Monarch debacle.
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Hey guys,
Lyle here from theory11. I am the guy you will get 99% of the time when you send off an e-mail to theory11 support. I just thought I would hop in here and give you theory11's two cents on the topic.
Don hit this one right on the money. Yes, there are four different decks of Monarchs. No, they are not all that different from one another. Here is the reasoning for it all.
Gold Monarchs (Gold on Navy) - These were meant to be the original, but the gold ink turned out to be really dark looking on a navy background. This was an oversight on our end, and 144 decks ended up in the hands of collectors because we were rushing to get things shipped (delays with delivery) after our pre-release. These decks were shipped out to customers before we made the call to shred them, as the decks we got in our hands from that 144 were the ones that failed to impress us after final printing. We shredded the rest. These were never intended to be rare, and we really don't consider them an official part of the Monarch line, though they certainly are our cards.
Monarchs (White on Navy) - The standard Monarch deck. Like them or hate them, you can't ignore them. We hyped these things to death because we knew they were something special. They are the best selling deck we have ever released. They are also my personal favorite deck. They represent a striking change in the direction theory11 was heading with playing card design.
White Monarchs (Gold on White) - Intentionally limited. This is our way of catering to card collectors. If you don't think there is demand for exclusive and limited decks, you were not around when we released these. Twice our site was crashed from incredible numbers of button mashers refreshing on our site. This deck was created specifically as a collector's item.
Silver Monarchs (Black on White, Silver Foil on Tuck Case) - We had a TON of mad people after each White Monarch release. They weren't mad about the crashes, they were mad about the fact that they liked the White version of the deck but couldn't get their hands on it to USE IT DAILY. These were not collectors, but people who wanted the White Monarch to be their standard deck. The Silver Monarchs were created to give these people what they wanted, an unlimited white variation on the Monarch deck.
We try to cater to as many people as we possibly can. Yes, we are a business. Yes, we want to make money (shocking, I know!). That said, we do it by trying to give our customers what they want. If you don't like the Silver Monarchs, you don't need to buy them, and absolutely no harm done. If you do like them, suddenly you have a new playing card option. If you just like to collect every deck that comes along, that too is your call and you now have something else to get your hands on. We get accused a lot of trying to "suck people dry." We aren't forcing anyone to buy anything, but instead attempting to give our customers what they want. We simply hope to make a buck along the way, as that is what a business does.
Some people don't like the color variation trend. To each his own. Again, nobody is forced to buy anything. Instead, we offered (primarily) two colors of the Monarch deck because not everyone liked the Navy. The same is likely to happen with other decks of ours. The Rebels were recently released too, and we already have complaints that it is a black and white deck. Black and white fits the theme, but obviously does not fit everyone's style. The Rebels may have color variations to cater to more people. It all depends on what our customers tell us. We take feedback very seriously. You guys keep us in business, so you are the most important people to us.
Sorry for the long reply. I hope it clears things up for you all. There is a reason behind all this madness. There is more to come. The next deck release is something VERY different from what we have done until this point. Many of you are not going to like it or use it, but it caters to another group of people that has been mostly ignored in recent playing card production.
Hit me up via PM or here is you have any questions. I am happy to answer anything I can!
Keep it real guys.
// Lyle
theory11 Interactive
Thanks for coming in, Lyle. I take your comment about my posts as a compliment! For that, I want you to know I appreciate it.
I hope to see you here more often. We've occasionally had people from the various card and magic companies check in here and offer some insight - I feel that it strengthens bonds between the company and their fans/customers.
I look forward to hearing from you again!
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So apparently there are now another deck of monarchs.
http://instagram.com/p/XGFy9UjAJS
And from MJ and Dan White's responses, they are the Eleven Madison Park monarchs. Notice how there is a EMP instead of aegis. Anyone been to that restaurant before? Anyone see. Another of these before?
EDIT: The design above the snake is also different as well
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So apparently there are now another deck of monarchs.
http://instagram.com/p/XGFy9UjAJS
And from MJ and Dan White's responses, they are the Eleven Madison Park monarchs. Notice how there is a EMP instead of aegis. Anyone been to that restaurant before? Anyone see. Another of these before?
EDIT: The design above the snake is also different as well
Looks like a privately commissioned job. I have no info on it other than that. I can tell you the Flatiron District is known for two things - really good (and often expensive) restaurants, and the narrowest-angled building on Earth... :))