A Question on Preferred Deck Colors and More:

[CthulhuWho1]

Greetings from Fullerton, California!

Under the name, Harthaven (the name of my home [last name Hart = male red deer]), I’m currently working on my first, second and third decks for a series of future Kickstarter projects, and I’d like a little input from the Group Mind here.

My original intention was that I would release the blue backed version of the fairly traditional Bicycle branded deck first at the initial goal level, with the options to add the red backed version at a higher goal level, and then to add the black & gold backed version at an even higher goal level too.

But then I woke up from that dream, and realized several facts that helped clarify things for me.

I’m a first-timer at Kickstarter and Card Deck design.

Handling the logistics of one 2500 deck Bicycle order, including storage of decks (plus uncut sheets, and uncut tuck cases), packaging materials, postage and shipping, will be enough to fill the patio room of our small house here in California; and if I’m so lucky as to need to place a 5000 deck order (in my dreams/nightmares), things will really be tight for a while!

Kickstarter projects for more than one type of deck at a time, requiring very high goal numbers, very often fail to reach their goals.

And quite often too, when multiple deck formats are offered, it’s the deck at the highest goal level that most people wanted, but they didn’t want to make large investments to reach that goal level for the “special” decks.

I’ve also seen projects that are successful, but then get bogged down with all the work of pulling together all the extra rewards they offered, e.g., T-Shirts, Poker Chips, Dice, Wrist-Bands, Posters, Magnets, and trying late in-the-game to get Bicycle branding approval, etc..

So here’s where I ask for the thoughts of the Group Mind here:

I will get Bicycle Branding approval on the design of all three Tuck Cases, and decks of cards before releasing any visual information, but given the choice for the release of a fairly traditional, but colorful Bicycle branded deck, would you rather see released first, as a separate deck, a Blue Backed, Red Backed, or Black & Gold Backed deck (with distinct reveals and tie-ins on some of the Jokers, and Aces to match each back color)?

I will seek input on this everywhere I can; and based upon the feedback, I will release the most highly requested deck first.

And after I have proven myself, by having fulfilled all of the first deck pledge rewards for decks, uncut sheets and uncut tuck cases (signed or unsigned), assuming a successfully funded project (of course!), I’ll once again seek public input on which deck to release next.  Of special note: My wife and I are both retired, and we have plenty of time to spend on this project.

So keep watching for the word “Harthaven” (which will mean, “From my house, to yours!”); and I think you’ll enjoy what I (with my wife’s input and advice) am planning to release!

Will Hart
Fullerton, California



 

[Shebhnt]

Well Blue is my favorite color so I will always pick that first.

With that said, without seeing any design concepts it will be hard to vote either way.  Even though I like blue, I often will find myself drawn to different colors depending on the back designs.  There are times where I will pick up a deck of cards and choose the red version, green version, etc over blue because of the actual design of the cards.

[MrMollusk]

It relies entirely on the design. Is it a nature-themed deck? Futuristic? Vintage-themed? Abstract? It's nearly impossible to determine without ever seeing your design, or not seeing any background on the deck.

That goes for the Bicycle branding, too. If the tuck is good enough, you may not even need it.

Can't wait to see more!

[Don Boyer]

As others have said before me, it would depend on the type of design you're working with.  Plus, there are more options than you've given - for example, let's say that you like blue and want your first-ever deck of cards to be blue.  Did you want them as regular blue, or "inverse blue"?  Inverse blue would be something that looks more like a negative image from a black-and-white roll of film, except blue-and-white.  A prime example of this would be many of David Blaine's "Split Spades" releases, in particular the Bee Split Spades he used for performances.  They came in black and inverse black, which looked like a negative image of the black deck's back.  The effect is pretty cool, and it's also easily distinguishable in the event you were making a "poker pair".

Some advice regarding choosing of colors and rewards and such:

Consider starting with a deck, just one, and use perhaps a second color as a stretch goal.  Don't do more than that unless you're planning to make more than one project out of it.  I say this because some people are starting to feel "stretch goal fatigue".  Jackson Robinson's Federal 52 Project (both parts) added up to a total of TEN decks spread out over two KS projects, half of which being Bicycle-branded, the other half unbranded.  Randy Butterfield's current Ornate project takes a deck design that already had four color variants and introduces TEN MORE decks with the same branded/unbranded split in the Bicycle name.  Once upon a time, it was people offering one deck and fans buying a brick of it - now it's people offering a humongous variety of decks in a single project and backers watching their wallets die of starvation.  A backer can only do that dance so many times before the fatigue sets in - money isn't exactly easier to come by for most people these days!

Also, limit the tchotchkes you offer to go with your deck.  I've seen everything under the sun as far as extras - the furthest out there has to be a tie between designer jewelry and a CD of the creator's music (he's a deck designer AND a musician, wow)...  The best tiers have a few bonus pieces and that's about it - things like custom dealer coins, dice, chips (either individually or in larger poker sets designed in the same style as the deck), t-shirts, art prints and uncut sheets.  You need not choose ALL of them - the uncut is pretty much a must these days as there's a strong enough audience for them, but the rest should be a pick-and-choose affair.

I understand you've reached that fortunate time in your life where you and your wife are retired and enjoying the golden years together - trust me, I'm envious!  But look into the services of a fulfillment company.  You'd be amazed at just how much labor and tracking is involved in putting together a thousand or more packages bound for destinations all over the WORLD, not to mention tracking all the add-on items in your project to start with.  Contact Jackson Robinson at Kings Wild Productions - he now has a fulfillment company with full-time employees that specializes in playing card projects.  (Either that or consider starting your own fulfillment business and become his lower-priced competitor!)  Just kidding!  But I'm not kidding when I mention the time and effort needed to take on a project like this.

Think as well about the possibility of a shorter deck run and perhaps not even using USPC as your printer. Bill Kalush's Expert Playing Card Company makes top-notch cards at highly-competitive prices to USPC and the quality equals or exceeds their competitor.  Better still, he's permitting "boutique" print runs of as little as 1,000 decks, something USPC just doesn't do, especially for new first-time clients.