That's good you got a discount!

Thanks, Don.
It's good to know other people have that problem with USPC, not just me.
I think part of the problem is what Marcus said, people always comment that the USPC quality is still better than the competitors. A lot of people hear this and think they need to go with USPC to produce their decks. But I think the quality difference is not worth the cost difference. When I first found out the price to add things like foil or embossing to the decks I though it was a typo because the price was so ridiculous.This collectible playing card subset is based entirely upon perception and I think we need to stop re-enforcing the idea that only the USPC can produce a good deck of cards. The USPC doesn't need a presence on this forum or any other card forum because there are already hundreds of people talking about how their decks are slightly better than other manufacturers and it scares people off from trying those other manufacturers. It also serves to drive up the prices of decks and cut into profit margins which means deck creators are forced to constantly release new decks every two or three months to try and make up for the small per deck profit margin. This constant flow of new decks are competing with each other for dollars and competing in collections for shelf space. You already have deck designers very subtly hinting about not being able to sell off their decks after the Kickstarter is over so in order to keep profits coming in they immediately announce their next deck. This is kind of a vicious cycle that will kill this developing market if creators aren't careful.

I don't understand how he considers it a "Parody" deck. All the actors are drawn very straightforward and are very recognizable. And as for "fan art". When something is mass produced it quickly becomes less fan art. In making this deck he would have to assume that netflix wouldn't care, Kevin Spacey's production company wouldn't care, and every single actor featured on the deck wouldn't care. All of those actors have lawyers whose job is to protect their likenesses. He'd better hope they send him a cease and desist now rather than after everyone has been charged. Right now he could just walk away from the project, but once money has been exchanged it will become a much bigger problem for him.

As a point of reference I recently used the likeness of aviators for my Flight Deck project and had to deal with a few estates for likeness issues. After a lot of research and exchanges with multiple lawyers I can tell you for certain that this sort of item is not protected under fair use and that's the reason why USPC isn't printing it. They have a disclaimer about celebrity likenesses in big red letters on their quote form for just this reason. The would never print this deck. If he wants to make some unlicensed House of Cards products he should make some limited edition art prints. Those would be protected under fair use.

I saw you got a mention in the Kickstarter email, congrats!

Thanks Mike! Talking to you really cleared up some mysteries of playing card production. I love how your new decks came out, especially that unique tuck box.

Airship ace of clubs is up, along with a brief explanation of the first two aces in the airship deck!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/134284667/the-flight-deck-the-dawn-of-aviation-playing-cards/posts

New update is up if you haven't already seen it....
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/134284667/the-flight-deck-the-dawn-of-aviation-playing-cards/posts

Yup, going live today, in about 4 hours! 12 noon PST

It's an aviator skull smoking a cigarette with his scarf blowing in the wind. The deck mostly deals with civil aviation so I wanted a nod to combat pilots in there and I like the idea of the Ace of Spades being different and kind of gritty. There was this great painting from WWI I saw once and it was this pilot flying out of the clouds firing down on some enemies and in the co-pilot seat the grim reaper was sitting there pointing out his targets. So I wanted to create a deck that was positive and full of hope and progress, but at the same time had a couple nods to some darker imagery.

Right now I've got some ideas for some LE decks involving different color schemes and even a sequel set of decks that could involve more advanced flight but if things go well that stuff will all be known in time. So fingers crossed, we get to a point with this campaign that I can produce those LE decks. And you're probably right about the blow ups, I'll add a note!

I like the design a lot - but there's one element that just looks way too out of place for me.

The Ace of Spades on the Airplane deck - why did you make the face that of a horned devil skull?  It doesn't fit the theme very well to my eyes.  I would think a "daring young man in his flying machine" would have been a better choice.  Is there a specific, thematic reason for choosing that image?

A word of advice - make it clear to people that clicking on the images will send them to a blown-up version on a new page.  I don't see many KS projects offering close-ups like that and it gives people a chance to really see the art details up close.  It could convince a fence-sitter to become a backer.

Hey, for the bonus limited-edition deck - are you making a jet-flight deck?  Or perhaps even spaceflight? 

Great project! and Great Art! let me know if you have any questions that I might could help you with. Can't wait to back!

Jackson

You asked for it Jackson, I'm sending you a question!

I'm launching my first playing card project on Kickstarter Monday Feb, 24.
The Flight Deck Playing Cards and Folio set.
Here's an image and a preview link. I've gotten a lot of feedback from playing card collectors, magicians, and aviators. I'm finally ready to launch!
Here's your last chance to take a look before it goes live!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/134284667/2014910784?token=6be6790a