Collectors are a little hesitant to invest because they're used to finding Kickstarter decks that are cheap - cheaper than retail. I can't say that I blame them, really - who doesn't love a bargain. But it's become ingrained in them that a Kickstarter deck is cheap, so when someone comes along with a deck that costs more, well...
I think their issue is that the deck doesn't cost more, nothing Tyler has done sets this deck apart price wise from other decks on Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is set up as a way to "kickstart" ones ideas, so the idea of getting in on the ground floor is kind of part of it, as well as getting in on the ground floor people expect ground floor prices.
That being said, Kickstarter has turned into more of a market place in the last few months than just a place to starter your project or business. Many established businesses are putting projects up on Kickstarter that would be made anyway, sometimes at the same quality or sometimes because of kickstarter they get those last bit of funds. They offer their product at just below retail as an incentive, however they still make profit on them since they don't have to go through retailer.
However this is not the case with Tylers project. Something Don has said before and something that I feel justifies the asking price of this deck is this. Tyler set this project up as a art / design project. I will not comment on if it was done for profit or out of a love of the art form, because that doesn't matter, the fact is he made a great and well thought out deck. If you look at the other playing card projects that were set up as design / art projects you will see they are all in the range of $15 - $20 a deck (the Redraw and Tacoma projects for most recent examples). This is the difference between a deck design/company and a design / artist. The art / design projects are never meant to be as big or go as far they are meant to display the work and talent of the creator first and be a usable deck of playing cards second (I am not saying this deck is not usable). A artist / designer wants to get one or two decks into the hands of multiple people but wants to make sure they get paid for their work. A deck design/company wants to get many decks into the hands of as many people as they can to spread the name of their company and the image of their cards.
Neither of these approaches are right or wrong. Of course the quality of a $15 deck may be the same as that $5 early bird special you picked up. You just have to decide if you like their decision and approach, and then decide if and how you wish to back it.
The thing that makes Tyler's deck different from other art / design deck is the advertising / coverage that his deck has gotten. His deck has been featured on a lot of websites that people with surplus money go to. This has caused his art / design deck to move into the mainstream market and be able to be produced at the levels of the card design/companies.
The only odd example here is probably Uusi. This is a company you probably could hold up against Tyler as why Tyler is asking to much. They are artist / designers selling their decks at the lower "kickstarter" rate. So if you want to compare the two then you could have an argument against Tyler. The point is though that Tyler's is a justified position if you agree with it.
(on a side note though I like Tyler's deck a lot and am glad to see it doing well, I personally feel it does not hold a candle to Uusi's new deck and wish that they could get the buzz going about their deck that Tyler has about his)
Anyway You wasted another perfectly good hour listening to my rambling
and although the IT department permanently wipes all the mainframes when I say it
This is Utterfool
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