Introducing Bokes on TGC (but should I Kickstarter?)

[MinasTirith]

I've drawn my first deck of cards!    It's a goofy deck called Bokes; a shitty version of those cards your great great grandpa played with. I had a few printed by The Game Crafter, but my narcissistic affection for my own art can only earn them so many brownie points. My art kicks ass. TGC cards are expensive though, and because of the nature of small print runs every deck has a few defects. I wanna gauge interest for a more serious print run. Here's some links to the cards:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/bokes-blue-playing-cards
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/bokes-red-playing-cards

My email is ngreenepersonal@gmail.com
I'll read replies to this thread too.

[Don Boyer]

There's no reason why you shouldn't at least attempt a Kickstarter project for these.  They bear a mild resemblance to standard (Rider Back) Bicycle playing cards on the backs, but your quirky, hand-drawn art gives them a certain charm.  The one change I'd recommend immediately would be to make them more standard as a "righty" deck - I'm lefty myself and even I find a lefty deck difficult to use, plus we live in a world where about 90% or more are right-handed.  Come up with a cool box design and you're good to go, at which point you would just need to figure out who will do the printing.  There are a few options:

* US Playing Card Company
* Cartamundi

These are the big card makers in the US, but they do have departments for dealing with smaller custom orders - meaning at least a thousand decks.

* Expert Playing Card Company
* Legends Playing Card Company

These are boutique playing card makers that are high quality and very popular, affordable alternatives to the big makers.

* MakePlayingCards.com

One of the less-expensive alternatives that will allow you to make tiny print runs, as little as a single deck, though you will pay more for smaller orders on a per-deck basis.  I've seen Kickstarters with goals of as little as $1,000 succeed by using MPC as their printer.  They're not as good as the others, but they're far from bad - they use a digital press with a laser cutter to make the decks less expensively.

[MinasTirith]

Thanks! I already knew about USPCC's small print run option but these other printers look more realistic. I think I've actually got a shot at this!

[Don Boyer]

Thanks! I already knew about USPCC's small print run option but these other printers look more realistic. I think I've actually got a shot at this!

USPC's minimum used to be as high as 5,000 - it wasn't until it was competing more heavily with smaller firms like Expert and Legends that they lowered their minimums to comparable levels.  Expert has a minimum of 1,000 and Legends has a minimum of 900.  I don't know Cartamundi's minimum, but I don't imagine it's lower than 1,000.  MPC is the absolute best bet for someone looking to make a really small quantity as a vanity printing or for a low-run Kickstarter.  I know many artists will actually use them for their prototype decks rather than their own printers - USPC charges several hundred dollars for a single prototype deck while MPC can get a few for you, box and all, for a fraction of that price, with the more you order, the cheaper they are per deck.  (That's the general golden rule of deck printing - larger orders have lower per-deck costs.)