So exciting to see the experienced collecting community connecting with modern card design culture!

Is this not rather significant? For us ,largely, modern collectors and designers to broaden our historical knowledge of the art and craft of the making of playing cards will surely be essential to us fully appreciating our part in its ongoing legacy.

I've seen decks from the new design and production scene appear with greater frequency in society journals over the last few years but attending a meeting with the IPCS and WCMPC recently made me think that the vintage and modern collecting communities are still hugely separate, despite their common interest.

This news has made me quite a bit more optimistic that we may become one community which would be truly excellent!

Quote from: NDL on December 01, 2013, 09:39:39 PM

Hi guys thanks for all the feedback, we have taken what you have said into very seriously and looked again at the design of the cards to answer your concerns, we have only made educational cards in the past but love playing poker which is why we thought we would design our own cards. 

The font issue was caused from transfer from Mac to PC - we should have noticed its been rectified, the indices are intentionally off centre from the suit but please provide feedback and we will change based upon your opinions.
The border - we spoke to the manufacturer about the border and we were assured it wouldn't be a problem but taking your feedback into consideration we have removed it.
We have added the joker and Ace cards inspired by our theme.

Please have another look and let us know what you think, we really appreciated the feedback and really want to produce the best card possible, so we will take it all on board.

Thanks!

I did neglect to ask yesterday - what do you say to the fact that unless your decks cost not more than one British pound to make AND distribute, you would appear to be in a position to lose money?  Are you contributing funds out-of-pocket to the project, beyond your stated goal?

What do you mean Don?

If they only reach £2500 they will print far fewer than 2500 decks. Their campaign says 'no more than 2500 decks'.

Ah, they seem to have cancelled the project. It says:

'Funding Canceled Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator about 3 hours ago'.

I think I can clear up a few things:

1. 'Our first custom limited edition deck will be limited to no more than 2500 decks. ' -this implies that if the target is just reached and no other funding is sought, then they will print fewer than 2500. If they surpass their initial target, they will cap production at 2500.

2. The printer is referred to as Paul Middleton points out. If they pay the same as DMC did then they will make very little money on this project, selling at £6.50 a deck. I believe they will pay in excess of £3.00 per deck.

3. The Cartamundi / Ivory Graphics combo makes for a decent deck. I believe that the print / cut alignment is far better than USPCC decks unless they've had Q1 casino quality control. So perhaps they will just about get away with the thin border...

That's not to say that I think the design is perfect! I've never been a fan of printing to the edge of the cards because of how small scuffs show so easily and we've yet to see how Ivory's cut handles this. There seem to be a whole bunch of design mistakes in their images on Kickstarter (also posted here). If they are design professionals it is hard to imagine that this is their finished proof but then why not wait a week to show us something better?

It is so hard to tell how serious they are about this project. The lack of add-ons, a video, better finished designs. But perhaps that is all innocent. Us Brits are less familiar with Kickstarter and are just finding our feet at quality custom card production. Where some here might be suspicious of lack of detail in the project, this may be a sign of taking caution and not being too ambitious. Perhaps they know their limits and have judged the market correctly to not have completed designs for multiple versions, extra paraphernalia etc.

But despite my defence, I agree that they need to do better to get funded. I hope they take note of what people say here and sort it out. I'd personally be happy to see more quality decks made in the UK.

 

 

Oh yeah... It's Erik not Eric.

I have to speak up for the brick. Well at least for the well designed brick box.

I have a few DnD bricks that look great amongst my collection. I bought them because they looked pretty, just the same as I would a deck of cards that I wasn't intending on using.

It may not be a great investment and people shouldn't spend more than they can afford but surely every collector would like to have a few nice brick boxes as well as uncut sheets, original artwork etc.

Before I am accused of being one of the 'borderline obsessed' collectors, I do stick to a budget and sometimes a brick of a deck I love wins out over a dozen individual decks that I like. I think a nice brick box full of cards is a nice object.

As my collecting matures, I'm leaning towards displaying a handful of beautiful cards, bricks and uncut sheets rather that filling a room with hundreds of clashing designs of individual decks. If you love the design of your cards surely you want to display them like they are an artifact in a museum or a painting in an exhibition rather than a poster in a warehouse full of posters!

So I say buy a brick if it looks great and will make you happy every time you see it and don't worry about missing out on a few other designs.

I couldn't resist a brick of Browners straight from E, not for the Blue deck particularly but for that lovely Wynn brown!

Not sure what to make of this offer. If you can afford a brick and manage to sell your Blue like this ebay listing then you've got a practically free brick brick of Browns!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Madison-Rounders-Limited-Blue-Playing-Cards-Ellusionist-RARE-Sealed-Free-Brown-/271309036541?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2b475bfd

But I suppose you can't blame E for our crazy purchasing habits.

P.S. I don't mean to encourage re-selling, you probably wont get that much and then you wont have a blue deck!

Found this via J P Playing cards facebook page this morning:     http://enigmaltd.com/product/expert-at-the-card-table-porper-clip/

Seemingly sold out in one evening and at a reasonable price. The description suggests that Joe didn't do the leather-work and the company (responsible for the moonshine deck) is based in the UK, so I suppose that there could of been just a few made.

Did anyone get one? What's the story?

Strange - now says 1 backer, 300% funded.

Is this allowed?

So it's not quite my full collection but rather than lining up all my duplicates on the floor I thought it would be better to show you how I keep my cards- part formal display and part lived-in mess:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4CdrNU20fA&feature=youtu.be

A nice novelty.

At the price, I'd agree that they are a decent collectable but I wouldn't play with them and of course wouldn't be practicing sleight of hand.  Perhaps best for tarot but then I don't really approve of tarot!

I really love wood and cards so I'm a little tempted but actually I'm not that keen on the artwork and only have a use for the standard deck. So in the end I probably won't support. Still, I think it's a decent idea.

I'd guess that the project is driven by the guys wood-work skills rather than a specific passion for designing cards. They do already have a company selling really nice looking games (website via kick-starter) and so the capital investment in producing their products may be little more than buying some good wood. I guess this has been reflected honestly in the funding target.

So I'd agree with Don's suspicion that Kick Starter here is being used as a cheap marketing tool. I don't, however think that this is in too bad taste and I wish him all the best.

A long-overdue introduction as I've been reading the site for years!

I've been a hobbyist card magician since my youth, very briefly performing in my late teens, and a serious card collector for just over two years. I found the modern 'custom' card scene via magic but now have a growing interest in antique and vintage cards as well. I have been referring to the forum ever since I started collecting and have benefited from all the info. Thanks.

Based in the UK, I'd love to see the culture continue to grow over here and hope to make a small contribution myself.

Robert D. Adams is my name but you may find me posting elsewhere online as 'majikbob'. It is not meant deceptively, it is just some baggage from my teenage years.

This is my first time using a forum in about 14 years and I sincerely look forward to conversing with people with a shared passion.

 Cheers!