Congrats!  That is also on my wishlist, but I doubt I will be pursuing it for price reasons unless I can find a damaged or incomplete deck like you did.  That's really all most people are able to or willing to get some of these classic antique decks which are in very short supply.  Great find either way, even if it is 52-J! 

Well it only took well over 3 years, but I finally got all my uncuts framed and up on the wall.  I really liked the idea I saw once about including the actual deck framed with the uncuts, but that makes framing even more of a challenge and requires shadow box frame, etc.  So I just created informational images with the tuck and then used that instead.  I got quotes on custom framing these and basically for the cost of one of them I could buy a higher end mat cutter (Logan Artist Elite, although I got with 60% off list with coupon) and buy mat board in bulk to do it myself, so that's what I did.  Another reason it took so long.  That and getting nearly a dozen frames and mat was pretty expensive while money and time was being spent building out the basement where most of these are now on display.

I just have 3 left to do, the pipmen pair and the Dondorf uncut once it arrives.  The Pipmen using the MPC layout means they are wider than the frames and matboard (over 24") so either I will have to do without the deck image or place it to the right/left instead of underneath.

I did use acid free mat board, but due to price just went with cheaper IKEA poster frames with acrylic instead of glass.  I also would have liked to do proper archival style mounts with t hinge, but with the tolerances and size I had to instead use linen tape in more liberal amounts (I have to go back and fix the art of money set as that's how I found out it really only works with smaller and thicker photo prints).  Still, the house is pretty well conditioned and these are away from sunlight for the most part so willing to take a chance.  I went with mat board and frame size of 24x36 (IKEA Link) and the USPCC uncut actual card area size is 21 1/4" x 25 1/4", but you'll want to slightly decrease that so the cut indicators on the edge don't show.  This is also important is that edge gives you something to mount to the mat as actual uncut size is just under 22x26.5".

Other sources for uncut framing help
http://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=5066.msg77516
https://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=8796
https://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=3756

This maybe obvious, but regarding costs and setting price, what you really need here is a spreadsheet.  Just use Google Sheets if you don't have Excel or something similar.  Put in all your fixed costs, things like artist fee, website, marketing budget, etc.  Then put in all your variable costs and have those as a condition of how many sold, if you sell 100 at $10 you bring in $1,000 and Kickstarter fees taken out and then the cost per deck at 100, etc.  Repeat this in another row/column for what if 250, etc depending on the qty cost change from gamecrafter.  This should help you find your break even point and then help you determine what your kickstarter goals needs to be.  This will also tell you your sunk costs that you are stuck paying if it fails to fund.

Good luck!

Goof off or Goo Gone would likely be similar to lighter fluid technique, but I would imagine the yellowing is probably from age as Don said.  Definately proceed with caution there and in small amounts. 

I learned quite a bit about acid free paper (or lack of as possible in your case) and the damage they can cause as I researched and taught myself how to do proper mat cutting/framing for my uncuts.  It's quite possible the inside tuck yellowed due to the acidity in them leaching out over time and now shows on cards?  https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/yellowed-why-does-paper-turn-yellow-with-time.html

For the smoke smell issue, I know there were a few threads over at BGG about that and some suggested methods.  Here's an example https://boardgamegeek.com/article/25314555

Since you mentioned color... One thing a few first time designers have had problems with is faithful color reproduction on the final print.  I'm not sure if it's due to not properly reviewing the sample, making changes after, relaying on different monitors/pictures or making the mistake of designing in RGB vs CMYK, etc.  You sound like a professional so probably not an issue, but something to double check - better to be late than wrong.  Which brings up another point, build in buffer time into your schedule - better to ship early than disappoint and be late.

You may also want to talk with Ben Jones from Elephant Playing Cards or Harris Soetikno of Cardazine (don't think active anymore though) since they did recent decks and were based in Australia.

I'll be shocked if I buy more than a handful of decks in 2017, but this will be one of them.  Well done.

If you are in the US and don't mind open, but unused decks send me a PM.

And the Aces have faces!     And the number cards!  All in, love the custom details.

Tank Masters is now live on KickStarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2115236027/tank-masters-world-war-ii

I really like the art, it's different and fun, but still has good artistic merit!  The only thing holding it back is it feels like it's great art thrown onto a card instead of a great art playing card.

• The first is the layout used where the image is a framed artwork with the colored background instead of faces directly on the card.  In the case of the KoC it seems like you could easily remove the yellow background and push the faces right/left and resize to allow for the entire crown to be shown.  However, in the case of other images that's not really possible.  Making the image and background to take up the entire card and removing the white border entirely obviously has playability concerns, but if it's art deck who cares.  Still, I think it's better to continue on your current track and keep a white border for playability and retain your general layout and consider ways to minimize the downsides of this layout.
• You have a lot of white space on the edges, check with your planned printer and see how close you can push the indices to the edge and then also see how much closer you can pull the central artwork towards the indices and still make it flow.
• Additionally, or alternatively, you could utilize that white space on the edges to add related decorative elements.  Perhaps something as simple as a long wavy line of the same color as the background on the left and right sides under the indicies to make it feel like the borders are part of the artwork instead of a thick white border.

I've had to greatly reduce my purchases lately due to lack of space and have become very selective, but this will mostly likely be the exception that I'll buy, especially if further changes are made to address the concerns mentioned.  Nice work!

This is FINALLY live!  With any luck it will fund and we can actually get our hands on it!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1460165270/gorilla-deck-bicycle-playing-cards

Quote from: ecNate on June 14, 2016, 10:15:01 AM

I thought I created a thread for this last year, but can't find it.  Anyhow, this goes live today.

Very excited! When does it happen?

See title - 2pm Eastern 6/14

I'll also update text of OP