Here are some pics comparing the original design with the new ones.  You should be able to see a lot more clarity in the vines and background of the modified back design.  The originals are on the left.  You must click to view the full size image to really see what I am talking about.

Here's a peek at the updated design.

Hello All,

I just did a Google search for "Pandora Vine Backs" and I found this thread.  It would seem that there is quite a bit of speculation going on about this deck.  Hopefully I can answer all questions you might have about the deck.

First things first: I designed this deck.  Before the market was flooded with custom decks(other than ellusionist and T11 decks) I decided to design a custom deck that I myself would like using and perhaps other magicians as well.  I started this process back in 2007 as a fun side project.  I am a professional violinist by trade and for the last 5 years I have been the concertmaster of the Evansville Philharmonic in Evansville, IN.  So with limited time on my hands it took me a while to actually complete the designs as I was doing it in my spare time...it drove my girlfriend nuts!

Once I had the design completed I contacted the USPCC.  I'd like to note that going into this project I was completely ignorant as to how things were done at the USPCC and I even explained that to them.  The weird thing is that, knowing it was my first time doing business with them, they gave me almost zero information about what my options were.  I.E...they didn't tell me that there were two different presses at the factory...they told me nothing about the quality ratings ( Q3, Q1...)...different finishes...not to mention a bunch of other crucial information that would have helped in making these decks a more successful product. 

The initial idea was to have these printed for my own use.  At that time the minimum order was 1,000 decks of cards.  The sales rep that was assigned to my order only told me that much...they failed to mention that they would be printed on the sheet fed press...or ANYTHING about multiple presses AT ALL.  So I thought to myself...."hmmm...I have two designs(black and white)...I wonder if they would print 500 hundred of each?"  So I asked the sales rep and he said "Yes...yeah sure we can do that for you"  Little did I know and apparently him either, that it had to be a minimum of 1000 per design.  So he gave me an inaccurate quote based on the 500/500 idea.

One more important factor came into play here.  I placed my order with them literally weeks before they were about to move to their new facility in Erlanger, KY.  It is also important to note that I had no idea they were relocating or that the sheet-fed press at the new facility would yield much nicer decks...and remember, as far as I knew, there was only one press that they printed everything on.

So I go off to play in the Missouri Symphony for the summer and while there I get a call from the lady in the custom deck division.  She says "Hi Gared, we've finished printing your decks.  There are 1,190 black decks and 1,220 white decks!  Your total is $@,#%&!"

All of a sudden I am handed a bill for more than twice the amount of cards I was expecting to get.  I don't know if any of you have printed decks with USPCC but when the do a run...it is normal for them to over run and produce more than you ordered.  So what happened here was that my sales rep was misinformed...he also didn't communicate with the press team at all because if he had told them I wanted 500 of each deck...they would have laughed in his face and said "Dude!...the minimum is 1,000 decks.  Call your client back and tell them that they need to budget for and be expecting 2,000 decks!"   But of course this never occurred...so the press team just did what they were supposed to and printed roughly 1,000 of each.  Keep in mind here that I essentially signed a contract with them that stated I would be getting 500 of each deck and that I would pay for said decks.  I had the numbers in writing. 

After explaining my situation to the woman in charge or the custom division...we reached an agreement that I would pay a reduced amount for all the extra decks that I wasn't expecting to get.  I was still out quite a bit more than I had budgeted for...but at least the cards were finished.

So the cards were shipped to my home in Evansville (a friend signed for the delivery) and on one of my days off I drove back home to check them out. 

When I opened one of the bricks of white cards I was shocked to find that not only was the cellophane job on at least half of them atrocious...but the finish was nothing like what I was expecting...I had asked for a high emboss and what I got was nearly a smooth finish like Aladdins but with a much inferior coating on them.  Also the artwork was somehow altered...as if they had screwed up the transparency levels of the different layers in my photoshop file.   So then I opened a brick of the black ones to find the same problem with the cellophane but was relieved to see that at least the artwork look pretty much how it should and the finish was just OK.  I had also requested seal stickers and none of the decks had those either.

I contacted the USPCC and gave them my complaints.  I also quickly read over the contract to see what my options for returning them was.  They asked me to send them two bad decks so they could see what I was talking about.  After talking to many people and several mild arguments I had at least convinced them to take back the white decks and reprint them.  They refused to reprint the black decks because they said they thought they looked and handled fine.  I should also mention that I was sent some proof sheets right before the decks were printed that looked nothing like the decks that I eventually received.  The proofs looked perfect.  I even had to sign off on these proofs saying that they looked correct and then send it back to them.

They eventually reprinted the White decks...but this time it was done in the new facility in Erlanger.  I actually drove to KY to pick them up myself and return the defective white decks.  When I got there I was quick to open one and inspect it.  I was pleased with the deck.  The difference was stunning so much so that the new White decks were now of a noticeably higher quality than the black decks that they refused to reprint...this was annoying to say the least.  I pleaded with them one more time about reprinting the black decks as well but they still refused.  One of the printing guys that I spoke with even claimed that he had warned me to wait until they moved to the new facility to have my decks printed because the Cincinnati sheet-fed press was apparently an old piece of junk that was on it's last leg.  He of course never said this to me...maybe he meant to.  I definitely would have taken his advice...I mean think about it...if you were about to invest thousands of dollars in cards...wouldn't you heed the warning of an "expert" to insure that you got the best possible product in the end?

Anyway...that's pretty much the whole story.  It was an undesirable experience for me to say the least.  It left a bad taste in my mouth.  I think it was just a bit of bad timing and bad luck.  Fortunately things are supposed to be much better now that the USPCC has settled into the new facility.  They used to say that if you wanted good cards you should have them printed on the WEB press...but now you can get very good cards off the new Sheet-fed press and a lot of smaller run custom decks are being printed on said press.

I'm glad to hear that people actually like the design.  The good news is that I have cleaned it up quite a bit to make it a bit more striking...and I've also redesigned the tuck cases and court cards.  If I do have them reprinted you can look forward to them having a nicer finish and improved artwork.  I also have about 5 other designs that could be printed some day.  I consider this one to be the most unique though.  The other designs are more classical in nature. 

I'd also like to say that this project was never about making money for me.  I love cards and I liked the idea of having my own design printed.  I have no control over how much people are selling them for.  I just sold what I had left to Murphy's Magic Supplies and barely made back the money I spent on them.  I do feel very strongly though that a deck of cards (even custom) should never cost more than $5.  Maybe $6 but I think that is pushing it.  I've considered submitting my design to the newly unveiled HOPC website in hopes that they could be printed properly some day.  And I would do what ever I could to keep the costs down...I want people to use them and enjoy them...not worry about how much they cost. 

I must say though that now that there are so many custom decks I'm kind of losing my interest a bit.  Like one of you said "they are all starting to blend together"...I agree.  If I had known there would be so many black and white deck sets I would have considered going down a different road.  That being said I have the vineBack design in about 20 different colors ready to go.  I believe even if the design is very modern it should still retain some the classical traits and form that decks like Bikes and Aladdin's have.  I.E....white borders and standard format pips....and I must say that I still prefer court cards that have the border on the face as well.

If you guys are interested I could post some pics of the updated design.

All the best,
Gared Crawford