I'm all for being inspired by other work, but...

https://encarded.com/pages/upcoming-projects

From 2014. While I haven't released that design this one is a little bit close for comfort.

BTW, hopefully in time for a special release at the 52+Joker convention, my new deck Radia is in progress. It should be pretty darn special.  Here's something I wrote about it...

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In 2012 I designed Aurum, the critical followup to Encarded's first deck, Tendril. Aurum was inspired by my travels to Italy and featured dramatic purple coloring, metallic inks, unique edge patterns and high detail. Over the years, Aurum has become a favorite of collectors and the ultra-limited Aurum Laser Cut decks routinely top the lists of most valuable modern decks.

Aurum has always been one of my personal favorites and I’ve wanted to make a deck that pays homage to it for a long time. For several years I’ve had a design motif in my files which I feel speaks beautifully to some of the original design ideas from Aurum, but until now I have not found a way to make this new deck truly special. Luckily, Expert Playing Card Co. approached me last year with a new possibility that I think perfectly accents the design and allowed me to create something brand new in the world of playing cards. The result will be quite spectacular.

I call it RADIA, and it will be (tentatively) released at the 52+Joker Annual convention in October, 2017. RADIA will combine the purple and gold of Aurum in a dramatic new way, it has incredible levels of detail, will be limited in nature, and will be housed in a beautiful but simple box just like Aurum was. I will also be keeping a limited number of RADIA decks aside to create a new laser cut version that I hope will eclipse Aurum in every way.

For now, I will leave you with this teaser image, but rest assured that RADIA will be a deck worthy of your collection. Watch for more information in coming weeks.

Sincere thanks, as always, for the support over the years and I hope that RADIA finds its way onto your shelf in the near future.

Tom and Judy are some of the most genuine folks I've run across in my life. Some people you just "know" immediately, and you can tell that they have wonderful hearts and a desire to share their blessings. Tom was so willing to share his vast knowledge of cards and I learned a lot by talking and having some dinners with him at the conventions. He will be greatly missed!

Judy, I am terribly sorry to hear of your loss and please know that you and husband have touched so many people around the world in such a wonderful way. I'm sure I speak for everyone to say that knowing you both is a blessing.

This deck has stolen my heart.  Plus the serial # is my friggin' birthday and makes me love it all the more.

I'd like to say I planned that, but....

Didn't get enough of the (nearly identical) Fontaine's then, huh?

I will probably have a few handfuls for sale here and there, but I do know there will be a couple people/companies selling them on the aftermarket, so you will have some chances to get a few.

Encarded + EPCC... too good for me to pass on!

The 5th or 6th Monarchs recolour from T11 interests me as little as the first recolour, and the recoloured SWE from Ellusionist is not something I care for either. I've never purchased any D&D decks. So, despite a fair few releases this Black Friday, there isn't anything from the usual suspects that will make me part with my money... and so that meant more money to spend on Paul's new deck!

I ordered 5 decks of Chancellors

I wholeheartedly applaud your decision making process. 

So here's a conundrum for you. Considering the cars on the left and right below, are they "recolors"? They look mostly the same to most people with just minor different details, they are from the same maker, they do pretty much the same thing, and to make it even more mind-bending, they are even the same color.

Just for you forum folks, here's a look at some of the cards in Chancellor, with a look at the unique court colorations and other details.

As many of us have learned over the years of designing things, it is patently impossible (and I do mean that in the strict sense of the word) to please every person in the audience. That is just fact, and it is borne out time and again. So, the best approach as a creator is to do things that inspire yourself, do the very best that you can, and then (provided of course that you have some level of common sense for your market) you put it out and hopefully people will like it.

I've personally found that with my audience, smaller projects bear more fruit in the end. However, there are many fixed costs and compensation for time that don't change, so a small run project is naturally going to cost more to the end consumer. Doesn't matter what product or service you are talking about, that's just reality. I chose to do projects like Zenith, the Standards or the upcoming Chancellor without the complexity of crowd funding, but they are not "artificially" limited. They are limited by financial models, the many (many) costs involved, the need to be profitable and the realities of fulfillment.

Jackson has a market that is used to Kickstarter, so it's seamless for him to use it and that's why he returns. It makes complete sense for him to use KS as it's where people expect him to go for each new release. Only a moron purposefully makes it harder for their customers to buy, so as long as he's ok with the fees and other costs, why fight the momentum?

To be blunt, if new people find it difficult to compete then the market is working. There are too many people putting out shoddy work and their respective games need to be stepped up, experience needs to be gained and their effort raised. I'd wager that most of the "top" card designers had decades of experience (which has both a value and a cost) before they got into cards and folks with a week of experience in Photoshop should expect to be crushed. Those with humility and a willingness to learn will try again, and those who don't will go away. Which is exactly how it should be. Nobody starts in the mailroom and is CEO the following week, though it seems that culture has developed this insane notion that everyone is entitled to instant success.

While I probably could have finagled one from Jackson directly, I luckily remembered that this was happening while sitting on a bench at the Edison-Ford Winter Estates. Thanks to good cell coverage and the iPhone, I grabbed a couple since I like to support the projects from the people I admire.

Quote from: Fes on August 01, 1974, 05:49:37 AM

I think the price and limit also has something to do with it. These are expensive decks right out of the gate. I'm very interested in checking out the black stock too. My gut feeling is they should be pretty good, I don't think Lotrek would make an attempt at these without having faith in the stock. Time will tell of course.

I would consider the price and limit of this deck comparable to gilded decks. I like gilded decks as much as the next collector but they're getting a bit too standard for me. I liked them b/c they were an added bonus to amazing decks but they've lost their allure with every creator/project doing them. Black stock is different and I would like to see more in the future. I just hope it doesn't become like gilded decks.

Don't worry, some of us are thinking of ways to make gilded decks and special editions even more special. Why gild a deck if you are just going to seal it up in a normal box?