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La Catrina playing cards

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La Catrina playing cards
« on: February 18, 2016, 04:09:59 PM »
 

La Catrina

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Check out La Catrina playing cards: A sophisticated deck of classical aesthetic cards inspired by the attractive image of La Catrina and its beautiful meaning.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lacatrinaplayingcard/la-catrina-luxury-playing-cards-by-joc-foratm
 

Re: La Catrina playing cards
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2016, 04:54:18 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Check out La Catrina playing cards: A sophisticated deck of classical aesthetic cards inspired by the attractive image of La Catrina and its beautiful meaning.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lacatrinaplayingcard/la-catrina-luxury-playing-cards-by-joc-foratm

I'm going to offer a few bits of advice - they're constructive criticisms, not personal attacks.  I personally prefer to see a deck succeed far more than to see a deck fail.

We've seen many, MANY Day of the Dead-themed decks in recent history.  Yours stands out just a little in that you're more about the women on the court cards, less about sugar skulls everywhere.  But it might not be enough - ESPECIALLY when you factor in that all four Kings are the same woman with different makeup and dress, right down to the pose and facial expression, and the same holds true of the Queens and Jacks.  Some might consider this lazy design work - better to change it up more, give them different poses, difference faces, etc., and not just new makeup and wardrobe.  We all know who made it to the top of Mount Everest first, but few if any people remember the 784th team.  If you're that team, you need to do something (and not just anything, but something genuinely noteworthy) to make your trip to the peak special enough to be noticed.

Never, EVER, quote an exact date for when you're going to deliver or are scheduled to deliver.  Quote a month, like most people do, but if you quote a specific 24-hour period, your chances of disappointing or upsetting at least some of your backers increase about thirty-fold.  Card manufacturing is many things, but it is NOT an exact science, and schedules have a terrible way of changing when you least expect or desire it.

Why are you declaring that "the Jarden Corporation" is making your deck?  It's not the company as a whole, it's the US Playing Card Company (USPC), a subsidiary of Jarden, that's making your deck and that's recognized as a maker of playing cards.  Jarden likely won't even exist by the time you go to print - they were sold to Newell Rubbermaid, which is changing its name soon to Newell Brands.  Saying Jarden is making it is a sure way of telling collectors that you don't know playing cards or the market that well.  But I do give you credit for not saying your cards are being made by "the Bicycle Card Company" - which never existed and is simply a USPC brand.  That would be equivalent to saying your Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sports car was made by "Stingray Motors" or "the Corvette Company."

It occurs to me that you might be referring to Fournier as your card manufacturer.  If that's so, then just say so.  It's straightforward, it's a venerable brand in Europe as far as I know and many card collectors on this side of the Atlantic are familiar with their quality work, especially since Lee Asher, an administrator at this website, is a world-renown magician who's signature deck is the Fournier 605, manufactured especially for him!  I'm going to continue to write under the assumption that you're referring to USPC when talking about who is making your cards, for lack of better information.

On the subject of USPC - there's a chance, like with any project, that you won't hit your goal.  It's not the end of the world - simply time to look at other options.  There are several alternative playing card manufacturers that do decent-quality work with shorter print runs - it increases the per-deck cost, but can make the overall project more affordable if the demand isn't there to meet USPC's minimum.  A popular alternative used by fellow project creators on Kickstarter is makeplayingcards.com.  They aren't the best of the best, but they have improved their output significantly and allow for print runs as small as a single deck at affordable rates - the tradeoff being that it's all digitally printed rather than using an offset press.  Creators have used them and set goals as low as US$1,000 - a number any decent project can reach in its sleep!  You've already reached more than double that amount.

Be VERY CAREFUL about your shipping costs.  You're offering free shipping to anywhere in the world, but your prices look exceptionally high as a result.  Better to break out shipping separately, I think - this allows you to charge only what's needed for a product to reach a person in their country.  Additionally, consider using a US fulfillment service for your North American customers.  As it presently stands, your product has to go from the US to you in Europe only to wind up back in the US for an American, Canadian or Mexican customer.  A company like Gambler's Warehouse could receive a drop-shipment from USPC at no extra cost, allowing you to drop shipping costs to US customers and not charge them for the Customs fees you'll be paying when receiving your cards in Europe from USPC.  They're experienced with handling shipments of playing cards - they now handle all shipping for David Blaine and the Conjuring Arts Research Center (CARC).  They also sell cards at retail - you might be able to cut a deal with them to sell some of your decks in their store.

Consider next time having a native speaker of English on board to proofread your project's home page.  If you're going on an English-language website, a mastery of English looks more professional - you page lacks this little touch of polish that would help to sell your project to native English speakers.  It's plain to native speakers that you aren't a native speaker of the language.  I'm not saying this is terrible on some personal level - I wish I knew Spanish half as well as you know English - but when trying to sell a product and attract investors, you want all the polish you can get to look like professionals.

What the hell is "Radiant Finishing?"  Collectors know what USPC produces, and Radiant Finishing is either a name you created or a product that's so new, no one's heard of it yet - I'm inclined to guess it's the former and not the latter.  Better to be straightforward with collectors - they know USPC's products almost better than USPC themselves, so a name like "Radiant Finishing" comes across like presenting pig slop and calling it "Rose-Fresh."  (In plain terms, it gives people the impression that you're trying to deceive them - even if you aren't.)  And it's not "you" that's applying any kind of finish to the cards - it's USPC, during the manufacturing process - again, it comes across as a bald-faced attempt to deceive, whether that was your intent or not.  And "our photoengraving process?"  Again, you AREN'T photoengraving the cards!  Be honest - people have finely-tuned bullshit detectors and you don't want to set them off, even by accident.

You mention respect to the traditional poker design.  This is NOT evident in the court cards at all.  Traditional poker design bears certain design conventions, conventions which players use and have nicknames for.  There are two "One-eyed Jacks" in the deck, there's a "Suicide King," a "Bedpost Queen," a "Man with the Axe," etc.  Without those features, collectors will be OK, mostly, but poker players will be disinclined to buy and use the cards.  It's hardly mandatory to have these features, but it's worth being aware of when talking about "traditional poker design."

I wish you great luck in making your project a success.  It's not a requirement that you follow all or any of the advice I've given, but it's worth at least being aware of these things as you go forward.  Informed, intelligent decisions are usually the best kind.
Card Illusionist, NYC Area
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