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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: Don Boyer on February 12, 2013, 02:06:12 AM
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New deck - Founders Playing Cards
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards
Very patriotic, but I think it's done rather tastefully. It will remind some of the Rebels and Sultan Republics, but without the cheesy "JOIN US!" campaign. I was initially off-put by the courts, but when I saw who they all were, it made some sense.
Comments? :))
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I like everything about these cards, but they really aren't worth $13 a deck to me on top of $10 international shipping. The courts are 50/50 for me, with some of them really well done, and some of them just silly-looking and unfitting. The box is beautiful, with all the embossing, I like these subtler american decks without red all over the place, the tax stamp was a nice touch. I think I'd prefer the back design if it were a completely filled rectangle instead of wavy in the middle edges. But yeah, I love the overall theme and design of this deck, but it costs a tad too much for me to justify pledging for them. They'll probably get funded anyway, and I could pick them up from a reseller eventually.
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Oh I definitely agree that this is much much classier than I expected it to be seeing as this is a "founding fathers" themed deck. I think that it will do well just because the deck has been designed in a way that makes it seem like it didn't come out of a museum gift shop.
I think I will consider pledging!
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I like the deck but I don't think it's worth that price
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I like everything about these cards, but they really aren't worth $13 a deck to me on top of $10 international shipping. The courts are 50/50 for me, with some of them really well done, and some of them just silly-looking and unfitting. The box is beautiful, with all the embossing, I like these subtler american decks without red all over the place, the tax stamp was a nice touch. I think I'd prefer the back design if it were a completely filled rectangle instead of wavy in the middle edges. But yeah, I love the overall theme and design of this deck, but it costs a tad too much for me to justify pledging for them. They'll probably get funded anyway, and I could pick them up from a reseller eventually.
Well, no one ever buys just one deck. At three decks they're only $11, and it keeps going down - you could pool resources with other collectors in your country, right?
Having said that, I have my doubts based on price along. I hate accepting attempts to set precedents like letting the MSRP of a deck rise to $13 when it's not exceptionally better than any under-$10 releases. I'm with Michael in that they're nicer than anything coming out of historical museum gift shops, but it's not enough to justify that price. Even if I bought three, it still looks pricey at $11, and I don't even want that many.
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Beautifully designed deck. This deck is tastefully done and very impressive. I'm sure it will do fantastic.
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I think it looks great, and while the price is high, it's not so astronomical that I won't pledge. But what I want to know is:
Who is behind this? The website links to a placeholder with an email address. No names, no idea how much experience they have at making a card set. That worries me a bit.
Second, while it talks about other editions, are they pledge goals that can be unlocked at certain levels? Some of the alternate versions sound cool.
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I like everything about these cards, but they really aren't worth $13 a deck to me on top of $10 international shipping. The courts are 50/50 for me, with some of them really well done, and some of them just silly-looking and unfitting. The box is beautiful, with all the embossing, I like these subtler american decks without red all over the place, the tax stamp was a nice touch. I think I'd prefer the back design if it were a completely filled rectangle instead of wavy in the middle edges. But yeah, I love the overall theme and design of this deck, but it costs a tad too much for me to justify pledging for them. They'll probably get funded anyway, and I could pick them up from a reseller eventually.
Well, no one ever buys just one deck. At three decks they're only $11, and it keeps going down - you could pool resources with other collectors in your country, right?
Having said that, I have my doubts based on price along. I hate accepting attempts to set precedents like letting the MSRP of a deck rise to $13 when it's not exceptionally better than any under-$10 releases. I'm with Michael in that they're nicer than anything coming out of historical museum gift shops, but it's not enough to justify that price. Even if I bought three, it still looks pricey at $11, and I don't even want that many.
In the video it says it uses "casino-grade stock"... if true, could that partly account for the higher price?
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In the video it says it uses "casino-grade stock"... if true, could that partly account for the higher price?
Not really, no. The only "casino-grade stock" at USPC today is Bee Casino - countless decks have been made on that stock which sold for under $10 a pack. Every single deck designed by CARC was made on Bee Casino and none of them retailed that high, as far as I know.
Factor in every special feature of this deck:
- Bee Casino stock
- Magic Finish (default for all custom decks now)
- full-custom design for all faces
- embossed box
- foil print on box
and combined they still aren't enough to justify $13 for a single deck. I'd guess that on a 5K print run, all of that would cost perhaps $3.00 to $3.50 a deck, certainly not much more than that. They can charge someone else 3x-4x the production cost - not me.
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I love this deck. And, being from the States, I could buy a brick or so of these. I wouldnt use all of them, but I'd give away ten or so as gifts. I know tons of people that would love these simply because they're patriotic.
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The first thing that I thought of when I saw these was "The official custom card of The President of the United States of America, and the only cards used in The White House"! They have that official business-like flair to them! I like them!
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I really like these, they're not the usual redneck Amer'ka F-Yeah style all too commonly seen, but $13 per deck is far too much for these.
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Being in the military, I have wanted to like these other patriotic decks...but they have been terrible. This one is a home run in my eyes in the way of design. The price is steep as previously mentioned, and I am sure if they lowered it that they would be funded quickly.
With all that said, I am still in for 4 and a shirt.
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Yes, it is a beautiful design. And I love the project video, very well done. The only thing that troubles me is that the tuckbox has color changes right on the fold lines. That's a big no-no in tuckbox design because if the die shifts, you'll get a noticeable sliding of the color from one panel of the box to another.
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Oh wow, beautiful tuck and back design. The courts are looking great too, but I've got to say that those are some pretty ugly Queens.
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Finally, what appears to be a beautiful, completely thought out project on kickstarter. About time. Accounting for the shipping cost being built in, $13 is high but acceptable. I'll pledge for one.
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I am very impressed with this deck.
It definitely feels like a good deal of effort went into it.
I also like the choice of court cards. Unfortunately I feel there was one miss on the courts. Rosie the Riveter
There are enough influential american woman that I feel they could have chosen a real woman (I know the character of Rosie was based off of a real woman, but still a character) to represent American achievements.
Betsy Ross
Sandra Day O'connor
Rosa Parks
Martha Washington
Abigail Adams
Sacajewea
Molly Pitcher
(you get the idea)
Rosie is indeed iconic and I can understand why she was chosen. It is just something I feel could have been better
One of the only things really, as I said I like this deck a lot and have certainly pledged.
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Even though I may be a neighbour from the north to the USA, I can still appreciate the art that has gone into this deck. The back design is complex yet not overdone and the custom court cards are pretty damn cool. I may have to pledge for one, just need to make sure the books balance first.
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For some reason these cards remind me of (the show) The West Wing. Very cool. Made my pledge on KS.
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I am very impressed with this deck.
It definitely feels like a good deal of effort went into it.
I also like the choice of court cards. Unfortunately I feel there was one miss on the courts. Rosie the Riveter
There are enough influential american woman that I feel they could have chosen a real woman (I know the character of Rosie was based off of a real woman, but still a character) to represent American achievements.
Betsy Ross
Sandra Day O'connor
Rosa Parks
Martha Washington
Abigail Adams
Sacajewea
Molly Pitcher
(you get the idea)
Rosie is indeed iconic and I can understand why she was chosen. It is just something I feel could have been better
One of the only things really, as I said I like this deck a lot and have certainly pledged.
If you notice, each suit of cards features people from a different era. Spades are Revolutionary War era, Hearts are from the early United States, Clubs are from the Civil War, and Diamonds are from the early 20th century. Thus, they needed a famous woman from the early 20th century for the Queen of Diamonds.
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I am very impressed with this deck.
It definitely feels like a good deal of effort went into it.
I also like the choice of court cards. Unfortunately I feel there was one miss on the courts. Rosie the Riveter
There are enough influential american woman that I feel they could have chosen a real woman (I know the character of Rosie was based off of a real woman, but still a character) to represent American achievements.
Betsy Ross
Sandra Day O'connor
Rosa Parks
Martha Washington
Abigail Adams
Sacajewea
Molly Pitcher
(you get the idea)
Rosie is indeed iconic and I can understand why she was chosen. It is just something I feel could have been better
One of the only things really, as I said I like this deck a lot and have certainly pledged.
If you notice, each suit of cards features people from a different era. Spades are Revolutionary War era, Hearts are from the early United States, Clubs are from the Civil War, and Diamonds are from the early 20th century. Thus, they needed a famous woman from the early 20th century for the Queen of Diamonds.
Oh wow nice catch! I didn't even notice that get was a pattern with the suites. I guess that wasn't what my brain was focusing on :D well I can see this become successful (maybe even more successful if they drove the price down a few bucks). And I can even see this spawn into a series if the designer still has great design ideas!
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This looks nice but unfortunately I can't back any more American Kickstarter projects because Amazon is being a dick towards non-Americans.
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I really love this deck and it's the first great one to hit kickstarter in a while. The art is worth what anyone is willing to pay for it and so far I see a lot of people that think it's worth the money and I agree.
Cheers
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Beautiful deck; this is quite a breath of fresh air amongst the mass of KS decks.
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This deck is almost fully funded in only 4 days, $12,000+! That seems to indicate that the price really isn't a barrier for most people.
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This deck is almost fully funded in only 4 days, $12,000+! That seems to indicate that the price really isn't a barrier for most people.
If you think of it as $10 for the deck and $3 for shipping, it's no different than any other deck.
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This deck is almost fully funded in only 4 days, $12,000+! That seems to indicate that the price really isn't a barrier for most people.
If you think of it as $10 for the deck and $3 for shipping, it's no different than any other deck.
But many KS decks are $10 INCLUDING the shipping... And decks bought elsewhere tend to run in about the same ballpark when shipping's included. This is still a bit on the high side for a deck, but apparently the design's struck a chord on Kickstarter. The right concept can take off like a skyrocket.
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I think they look incredible. You can tell from every little detail that they were created by an artist (or artists)...and not a pile of stock graphics.
I think this will do very well....judging by the computer generated images to the campaign video....these folks have their Sh*t together.
Great find.
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This deck is almost fully funded in only 4 days, $12,000+! That seems to indicate that the price really isn't a barrier for most people.
If you think of it as $10 for the deck and $3 for shipping, it's no different than any other deck.
But many KS decks are $10 INCLUDING the shipping... And decks bought elsewhere tend to run in about the same ballpark when shipping's included. This is still a bit on the high side for a deck, but apparently the design's struck a chord on Kickstarter. The right concept can take off like a skyrocket.
Indeed. They're at $14,715 as of now, i.e. fully funded. Could this be the next Pedale Design deck?
And for comparison, my SurrealScapes deck has a bunch of early bird slots at $8 and $9 per deck, INCLUDING shipping, and I'm not getting anywhere near the amount of backers per day as the Founders deck is getting, and those early bird slots are not sold out. It all comes down to the content. Content is king.
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You're right. But not only content.
Note that, for example, you don't have T-shirt, coins, and Founder do have all of that, and have many backers in the pledges where there are T-shirts and coins. Those extras must be of some help to have more pledging.
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I would like to think that the reason my campaign isn't as successful as the Founders deck is because of the lack of extras like T-shirts and coins, but the data just doesn't support that. For Founders deck, there are 451 backers right now, but only 60 of them have pledged for anything that includes a T-shirt or a coin. That's only 13% of the total number of backers who wanted something extra. The remaining 87% of the backers are pledging for only card decks or card decks plus uncut sheets. That tells me that even if I added a shirt or a coin or poker chips or dice or whatever, I wouldn't see an increase in the number of backers of more than 10%-20%.
No, it all comes down to content and design. The content and design of the Founders deck has resonated with a large number of people, unlike the content of my deck, which is much more niche-focused. Hell, even I myself am thinking about pledging for a Founder's deck!
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ok, so how does Kickstarter work when they get MORE money than they need? If someone pledged NOW even though they reached their goal, do they still get a deck?
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ok, so how does Kickstarter work when they get MORE money than they need? If someone pledged NOW even though they reached their goal, do they still get a deck?
Yes, everyone who pledges gets the reward associated with that pledge, regardless of how much above the goal the funding has reached. With Kickstarter projects that are actual tangible products, like playing cards, more funding and pledges just means more people who are getting the product being produced. At the rate the Founders deck is going, it will probably reach $80,000 in total funding by the time it's all said and done, with probably 1500-2000 backers. That's my prediction anyway. ;-)
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I agree with Zaid
"Indeed. They're at $14,715 as of now, i.e. fully funded. Could this be the next Pedale Design deck?
And for comparison, my SurrealScapes deck has a bunch of early bird slots at $8 and $9 per deck, INCLUDING shipping, and I'm not getting anywhere near the amount of backers per day as the Founders deck is getting, and those early bird slots are not sold out. It all comes down to the content. Content is king"
content is king. the cards sell themselves. you must keep "fluff" items at a minimum i.e. T-shirts, coins, poker chips ect. texasplayingcards.com (http://texasplayingcards.com)
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You're right. But not only content.
Note that, for example, you don't have T-shirt, coins, and Founder do have all of that, and have many backers in the pledges where there are T-shirts and coins. Those extras must be of some help to have more pledging.
Zaid's right - just how many poker chips, dice, t-shirts, posters, etc. does a person want or even have room for? I think many KS projects have gone a bit overboard in that department - it's like they're creating a brand rather than simply a deck. It makes the project look a lot like a flea market and a lot less like a serious deck. Unless you're offering something exceptional, like some of the items that were offered with the Bohemia deck (handmade wooden stands, boxes, etc.) I feel a deck project is better off without all the tchotchkes. Pick one or two extra items and leave it at that.
I don't think this will get as strong as Pedale, but I do think it'll have a strong finish - perhaps top-five.
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Wowowow I love it. Superbly fantastic design! Yes, yes it superbly fantastic. Love the t shirt too!
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My point there. If something gets your atention besides the deck, that means more pledges and higher pledge amounts, even if is only by 10 to 20%.
Just check that the 100 pledges have more people pledging only 5 decks with extras instead of 10 decks with no extras.
Or even see the 150 vs 200 pledge with more people in the 200 despite the fact that they have the same number of decks.
And also the quality and usability of the extras is a factor. T-shirt, boxes, other wooden souvenirs. This way the whole project gets more atention and then pledges.
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My point there. If something gets your atention besides the deck, that means more pledges and higher pledge amounts, even if is only by 10 to 20%.
Just check that the 100 pledges have more people pledging only 5 decks with extras instead of 10 decks with no extras.
Or even see the 150 vs 200 pledge with more people in the 200 despite the fact that they have the same number of decks.
And also the quality and usability of the extras is a factor. T-shirt, boxes, other wooden souvenirs. This way the whole project gets more atention and then pledges.
In order to have a zillion additional rewards, you also have to account for the cost of those rewards. It might give you 10% more pledges, but it might cost you nearly that much in terms of what these doodads cost to make, and it makes reward tracking a lot more complex. Why do you think Albino Dragon practically eliminated add-ons for their second deck compared to their first?
"Wooden souvenirs?" Is this a deck of cards or a seaside resort town?
A few add-on items/rewards are fine. But turning your project into a flea market dilutes the intent of the project's goal - to make a customized deck of cards. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it until I feel otherwise.
Also, please remember that the 13% quoted by Zaid wasn't the total additional funds these people brought to the project. It was the percentage of people who pledged for something in addition to playing cards and/or uncut sheets. The actual added dollars are probably much less since some portion of each of the pledges in that 13% consists of playing cards/uncut sheets.
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In this Founders project and in many others on kickstarter, is easily seen many pledging for pledges that have more than just decks.
Founders is one example of that.
Just check the $33 and $55 pledges. Despite being $20 more expensive, many people opted for spending more and get the t-shirt.
Or note that the $100 pledges have more people pledging only 5 decks with extras instead of 10 decks with no extras.
And look at the $150 vs $200 pledges, with more people in the $200 despite the fact that they have the same number of decks.
One can see that extras like t-shirts, coins, prints, can help in raising more interest and pledges.
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In this Founders project and in many others on kickstarter, is easily seen many pledging for pledges that have more than just decks.
Founders is one example of that.
Just check the $33 and $55 pledges. Despite being $20 more expensive, many people opted for spending more and get the t-shirt.
Or note that the $100 pledges have more people pledging only 5 decks with extras instead of 10 decks with no extras.
And look at the $150 vs $200 pledges, with more people in the $200 despite the fact that they have the same number of decks.
One can see that extras like t-shirts, coins, prints, can help in raising more interest and pledges.
Well, in my opinion, the cost/benefit analysis doesn't always add up, and tossing in too many extras does make a deck project look like a bazaar. All those extras mean extra things that need to be purchased, made, tracked, etc., when you could simply offer a lower goal and get the project made and out the door.
Not to mention that when I go deck-shopping, the last thing that comes to mind would be "gee, I'd really love dice/t-shirts/coasters/keychains/pendants/floaties/a coffeemaker/jigsaw puzzles/spark plugs/hairspray/etc. that match this deck..." :))
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Me too :) I think exactly the same.
But, those mentioned facts and smiliar ones, show that extras can call more pledgers atention and that there are many who love to get more than just the decks and thus pay more.
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don - just call all theses extra add ons "fluff" items. if your thinking about it, why would anyone want poker chips. that's a lot of weight. i'm going to try to minimized fluff items. i did find recently a great chicken menu that i'm going to use for the kickstarter. it's so simple.
yes i'm from texas and the third item is tortillas.
texasplayingcards.com (http://texasplayingcards.com)
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Me too :) I think exactly the same.
But, those mentioned facts and smiliar ones, show that extras can call more pledgers atention and that there are many who love to get more than just the decks and thus pay more.
True, they're paying more. But it's also true that it's costing the project creator more, in funds as well as man-hours spent managing an increasingly complicated inventory with every item you add. Kickstarter has no built-in mechanism for managing add-ons - if it's your project, you have to figure it out for yourself. All they provide is what tier was pledged for and how much was pledged.
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Yes, definitely!
But those extras can just attract more people and raise pledge amoonts. I've seeing comments on many projects that I've backed, even one in Founders, where people who would like to have T-shirts or other extra(s), want to pledge and have to pledge more in order to get what they want (think of a pledge which has t-shirt only at a 50 level with more decks - if the t-shirt was added at a $25 pledge or as an add-on, people would go for a cheaper pledge). Extras like t-shirts, dice, coins, can also be very helpfull in funding a project).
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Argh! I like the court cards and the back design but I'm still half half over the price tag that comes with it :/
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I just stumbled upon this kickstarter and was kicking myself for missing the funding period as the back design is literally one of my favourite. However when i stopped drooling and looked at the comments, it seems that this whole project was yet another scam? The amount of effort put into these playing cards is incredible; which makes me doubt that it's a scam. However, the comments shown in the project links below states otherwise. Does anyone have any information regarding this?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/comments
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/posts/545127#comments
PS: Sorry for reviving an old thread, though the comments of scam suspicion are actually very recent and is probably worth investigating as i'm sure that a few fellow Discoursers had pledged to this amazing deck.
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I just stumbled upon this kickstarter and was kicking myself for missing the funding period as the back design is literally one of my favourite. However when i stopped drooling and looked at the comments, it seems that this whole project was yet another scam? The amount of effort put into these playing cards is incredible; which makes me doubt that it's a scam. However, the comments shown in the project links below states otherwise. Does anyone have any information regarding this?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/comments
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/posts/545127#comments
PS: Sorry for reviving an old thread, though the comments of scam suspicion are actually very recent and is probably worth investigating as i'm sure that a few fellow Discoursers had pledged to this amazing deck.
As a backer, I'm absolutely furious with this whole fiasco. The most recent update after months of silence was so ridiculous and cryptic that it was insulting.
Its projects like these that severely shake my faith in Kickstarter.
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Definitely understandable. In a sense, if these turn out to be a scam, it would be more frustrating than if it was and obvious scam right from the start; as you can see how well designed the deck actually is. Honestly i hope that there was just some complication with the manufacturing and that they will actually be produced as i selfishly want a few decks for myself. Absolutely stunning design. Fingers crossed.
Also, with regards to the useless update. Why would the creator even post anything if he intends to just disappear with the money? It has to be of some purpose right..? Even though i agree that if i were a backer id also be incredibly pissed with the whole thing, my hope would increase slightly after that insulting, but nonetheless apparant update. Unless the creator is an absolute doche and just wants to create further suspense and laugh at his backers raging at his ingenious scam.
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According to the USPCC they have not yet been printed. That is all I was told and all that I know.
So much for that July delivery. Poor project management from the creator...especially when the artwork was apparently complete at the launch...and it was well over funded back in March.
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I did a who is look up on his domain name and found the following info:
+1.3123122012 phone number
1231 10th street Washington, D.C.
Not sure how legit it is though.
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PS: Sorry for reviving an old thread, though the comments of scam suspicion are actually very recent and is probably worth investigating as i'm sure that a few fellow Discoursers had pledged to this amazing deck.
Any time anyone has relevant information on an old topic, by all means, revive it.
We should draw up some guidelines for people to help them at least try to fish out Kickstarter scams. For example, never fund someone who's using some company name instead of their own and whose corporate website is a case study in obfuscation.
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To be honest if i had found this on kickstarter during the funding period, i would have pledged too. Sure, there are definitely some suspicious lack of information when you look at the whole picture in hindsight, however there is equally an enormous amount of effort put into the designing of the deck. The backers of this scam arent naive at all, just unlucky. The scam is simply pretty damn convincing. For some reason, i still have a tiny amount of hope that the decks will eventually be delivered.. But im probably just deceiving myself as i admire the design so much.
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ditto - this was one of the decks I wanted, but only found out about it too late....
Define "obfuscation" (or beclouding) is the hiding of intended meaning in communication, making communication confusing, wilfully ambiguous, and harder to interpret.
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Apparently all the money pledged was sent: via amazon, to this guy.
http://www.buffalo.edu/directory/user/gjslabyk?query=gjslabyk%40buffalo.edu&affiliation=student&qualifier=email&perpage=10&start=0
If anyone can confirm this, then getting the University involved would probably be beneficial in finding a solution.
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The KS surveys were sent out this afternoon (got mine at 12:19pm CDT). I'm still holding out hope that these materialize.
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Unfortunately the survey doesn't contain critical info like the sizes for the t-shirts, or how many coins people paid for. Derp.
Note that when you fill that out they get your name and address.... <conspiracy>
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Unfortunately the survey doesn't contain critical info like the sizes for the t-shirts, or how many coins people paid for. Derp.
Note that when you fill that out they get your name and address.... <conspiracy>
The bigger question to me is: what the hell is he delivering, since USPC has never heard of him?
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And also, why is he even bothering if hes already successfully scammed his backers? The surveys are dodgy.. This could get interesting...
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I did not back this project, so I cannot read the latest update. But from what I can see. There is a lot of comments about fraud. I think people are jumping the gun a little. his project says delivered by July, and it's still July. He may not have them delivered by the end of the month, but anyone that has pledged on KS knows this is not uncommon. I just received a deck that was due in June, a few days ago. I've backed quite a few cards on KS. Some project creators are great about updating, some-not so much. A few that I have backed, have had 30 or more days between updates. As far as someone saying USPCC has not heard of this guy. I find it hard to believe that USPCC would say anything about a customer. There is a such thing as privacy laws. As far as the survey not asking about sizes and such- He might just be a dummy, or plans on using backerkit or something. Not defending this guy. if he had updated a little better. this negative feedback may not be happening.
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This was the latest update:
Update #17 - For backers only · Jul 24, 2013 · 23 comments
Surveys are sent.
Cards are sorted.
Coins are coming.
Shirts are printing.
On the surveys, please don't forget to make your Add-On selection (if you purchased one). Also, if there were any custom modifications to your order, please remember to note that as well, thanks everyone.
Still more to come ...
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As far as someone saying USPCC has not heard of this guy. I find it hard to believe that USPCC would say anything about a customer.
If you inquire in the right way, it's not breaking any trust for them to simply say whether they've heard from the guy. They actually do watch Kickstarter very closely and know what projects might be coming down the pipe.
This is a really weird project. Tons of work put into it at a very fine level, great materials, great design, and then.........nothing......... once the money rolled in. Bizarre.
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I did not back this project, so I cannot read the latest update. But from what I can see. There is a lot of comments about fraud. I think people are jumping the gun a little. his project says delivered by July, and it's still July. He may not have them delivered by the end of the month, but anyone that has pledged on KS knows this is not uncommon. I just received a deck that was due in June, a few days ago. I've backed quite a few cards on KS. Some project creators are great about updating, some-not so much. A few that I have backed, have had 30 or more days between updates. As far as someone saying USPCC has not heard of this guy. I find it hard to believe that USPCC would say anything about a customer. There is a such thing as privacy laws. As far as the survey not asking about sizes and such- He might just be a dummy, or plans on using backerkit or something. Not defending this guy. if he had updated a little better. this negative feedback may not be happening.
Because of many recent failures, people have turned up their bullshit meters to 12. This guy makes no updates for what, two months, then comes out with some bullshit post about reaching the moon? Add to this how he attempted concealing his identity AND that USPC never heard of him despite today's claims that the decks are sorted, and things start looking suspicious. If it looks like bullshit, smells like bullshit, sounds like bullshit, feels like bullshit and even tastes like bullshit, it would take some pretty powerful voodoo to pass it off as a rose. This project is less rose-like by the update.
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But its just so boooootiful Don! :( As ive said before, i just cant understand how this is a scam when it is clear that a lot of thought and effort has been put in. I think the creator had high hopes and dedication at the start, but when ~$40k big ones hit his bank account he probably just phased out and couldnt be shitted going through the actual production process as he had already won.
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I never backed this kickstarter project. I did do some basic research on the man behind The Department of Design. The designers name is John Slabyk. His name comes up in the DodSr.com Whois Record.
https://twitter.com/humanot (https://twitter.com/humanot)
https://plus.google.com/109327236914662289129/posts (https://plus.google.com/109327236914662289129/posts)
http://pinterest.com/dodsr/ (http://pinterest.com/dodsr/)
JOHN SLABYK BIO
John Slabyk is the Art Director for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign for President of the United States. [1] [2] [3] Prior to joining the Obama campaign, Slabyk worked as a freelance Art Director and Graphic Designer for various design firms and advertising agencies, such as Ogilvy Mather, FCB (now Draftfcb), and Leo Burnett Worldwide. He also co-founded celsiusDesign, a branding design agency, with friend and design partner, Shane Parrish. John originally gained notoriety in 2003 [4] by creating a public proposal to rebrand the Buffalo Sabres, by modernizing their original identity introduced in 1970. The proposal gained much attention from Sabres fans, specifically after the team released their controversial new identity, returning the team to their original colors, but replacing the crest with a new stylized bison, which earned the nickname "Buffaslug". [5]
http://www.in.com/john-slabyk/biography-149297.html (http://www.in.com/john-slabyk/biography-149297.html)
John Slabyk and Scott Thomas, designers with the Obama campaign oversaw the customization of the logo for 12 different identity groups as well as for each state with 50 additional versions. There was also identity for Republicans and Independents supporting Barack Obama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_logo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_logo)
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Obama did this.
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A few interesting things. Because registering a domain name is close to a "legal" procedure you do have to use a real name when doing so. Transferring domains requires lots of paperwork, signatures, etc. because domain ownership is tied to a specific person/organization.
So, John Slabyk is the registrant of dodsr.com. He also is the registrant of newblueandgold.com. That is a site devoted to the redesign of the Sabres hockey logo and branding. You can google for stories about that, so it would appear "John Slabyk" is not a pseudonym.
If you then google for "john slabyk obama" (one of Google's recommended searches related to his name) you will see that this fellow is a real designer and worked on various aspects of the Obama campaign logos. This can be verified in many places and stories online. You can find John on LinkedIn and see that he lists Obama for America as one of his places of employment. I wonder if the President's staff would be interested to know that someone doing work for them has apparently walked off with nearly $40,000 of people's money...
Interestingly, the wikipedia page for "John Slabyk" was deleted on March 14 2013, just one day after his Kickstarter was funded. Looking at the comments it was clear that the subject of the article was changing information about himself which was flagged as suspicious. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/John_Slabyk
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this was a twisted experiment and we'll never see those cards.
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I and several other friends backed this project on Kickstarter in various amounts. Time has passed, delivery dates and commitment dates have come and gone, and it has become clear to everyone involved that John Slabyk designer and his "Department of Design" has walked away with nearly $40,000 dollars. Neither he or Kickstarter are responding to the issue. No one is sure what or how this exactly happened, the only thing that is clear, is that John Slabyk defrauded Kickstarter backers out of thousands of dollars and "disappeared". As soon as he received the money everything went dark. This guy may be a good designer, but he is a thief, quite literally.
Comments on Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/comments?cursor=3834793
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I and several other friends backed this project on Kickstarter in various amounts. Time has passed, delivery dates and commitment dates have come and gone, and it has become clear to everyone involved that John Slabyk designer and his "Department of Design" has walked away with nearly $40,000 dollars. Neither he or Kickstarter are responding to the issue. No one is sure what or how this exactly happened, the only thing that is clear, is that John Slabyk defrauded Kickstarter backers out of thousands of dollars and "disappeared". As soon as he received the money everything went dark. This guy may be a good designer, but he is a thief, quite literally.
Comments on Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/comments?cursor=3834793
Best course of action is to file complaints with your local Consumer Affairs department, and, if you're interested in making the extra effort, the one where Slabyk lives. Turn up the heat on him. Your local police department might also be able to take on a fraud case like this, and it's even possible the FBI will become involved as this crosses state lines.
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Interesting news - within the last two days or so, a backer convinced the NYS Attorney General to look into this as an Internet fraud case.
If you backed this ripoff, go here (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dodsr/founders-playing-cards/comments) and read what's been going on and how you can join the suit against John Markian Slabyk, d.b.a. The Department of Design.
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To whom it may concern,
I would like to formally join the complaint for File Number: 2013-1133994 at the Internet Bureau of the NY Attorney General's Office, against John Markian Slabyk and his company The Department Of Design. I was also defrauded in the amount of $13.00. Please contact me if you need further information. I'm one of many who have been defrauded. This person has not made any attempt fulfill his requirements to his backers. Basically, When the Kickstater ended the lights went out.
Sincerely,
Russell Leigh Common
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To whom it may concern,
I would like to formally join the complaint for File Number: 2013-1133994 at the Internet Bureau of the NY Attorney General's Office, against John Markian Slabyk and his company The Department Of Design. I was also defrauded in the amount of $13.00. Please contact me if you need further information. I'm one of many who have been defrauded. This person has not made any attempt fulfill his requirements to his backers. Basically, When the Kickstater ended the lights went out.
Sincerely,
Russell Leigh Common
Um, Russ... You do know this has to be sent to the NYS Attorney General's Office, right? And not the rest of the world at large? Posting it here is about as useful as teats on a mule.
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Yea I know. I emailed it to: mailto:ifraud@ag.ny.gov and reference File Number: 2013-1133994 Founders holds a special place in my heart.
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Is there anything an international can do in an attempt to get his money back ? I have put in significantly more than you sprouts.
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So I found this to be interesting. Apparently the guy is "updating" his Facebook page by routinely deleting any negative comments.
https://www.facebook.com/FoundersPlayingCards
corey on Dec 3
scumbag keeps deleting my comments on the founders facebook.
most recent comment was something along the lines of "just wondering how you find the time to delete all my comments but don't have the time to say sorry for this failure of a project and refund everyone immediately".
deleted within a few hours.
I assume people know about how to report his Facebook page as "spam or scam." If enough people do that, at least Facebook might pull down that page.
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Thanks for the info, Don. Email sent.
Also, reported the Facebook page as a scam.
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So I found this to be interesting. Apparently the guy is "updating" his Facebook page by routinely deleting any negative comments.
https://www.facebook.com/FoundersPlayingCards
corey on Dec 3
scumbag keeps deleting my comments on the founders facebook.
most recent comment was something along the lines of "just wondering how you find the time to delete all my comments but don't have the time to say sorry for this failure of a project and refund everyone immediately".
deleted within a few hours.
I assume people know about how to report his Facebook page as "spam or scam." If enough people do that, at least Facebook might pull down that page.
There might be the possibility John Slabyk is dead. Maybe a family member is deleting the negative comments on facebook to preserve his memory? Why not update people on Facebook if they can delete the bad comments? I can't answer that.
I often wonder what would happen if something was to happen to me unexpectedly. People who don't personally know me, that depend on me to deliver on a project might not understand. It's not like my family is aware of online accounts I own or people I might do business with via the internet.
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Is there anything an international can do in an attempt to get his money back ? I have put in significantly more than you sprouts.
Try contacting the Attorney General anyway. Just because you don't live here doesn't mean you aren't protected by our laws when doing business here, I would think.
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I got a response from the New York State Attorney General saying they received my complaint and requesting additional info.
(http://darius.mobius-soft.com/~andrea/images/founders.jpg)
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Any update on this?
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Rousselle my friend. How goes it,? The founders money is long gone We got scammed good on that one